Unlimited Texts, Limited Intelligence

(After purchasing a cell phone a few hours ago, a teenager and her mom return, saying they’re having difficulty.)

Me: “What seems to be the problem?”

Customer’s Mom: “She’s having problems sending a text message to her dad.”

Customer: “Yeah, it keeps saying that it doesn’t recognize his phone or something.”

Me: “Oh, that’s odd. Here, show me.”

(The customer types a short message along with her dad’s number, and hits send. After a few moments, a message reads ‘Error: Your message was not sent. Address is not a recognized mobile device.’)

Me: “Oh… are you trying to text it to his home phone?”

Customer’s Mom: “Yes! Why does that matter?”

Me: “Because only cell phones can receive text messages. It’s not going to work.”

Customer’s Mom: “What? Since when? Well, she’d like a plan that can do that.”

Me: “I’m sorry ma’am, it’s not up to me. That’s just how phones work.”

Customer: “But it’s an unlimited texting plan!”