Some of the most exciting stories in the Bible present situations where God’s people had their fortunes totally reversed in a very short time – like over night or in one day. In the Book of Revelation (NOT “Revelations” – but that is another post) God destroys the Babylonian worldwide government and economy in ONE DAY (Rev. 18:8). In the Old Testament (II Kings 7) there was a severe famine. The Syrians were coming to destroy Israel, things looked bleak! But then four lepers decided to enter Samaria as they reasoned there was nothing to lose by doing so (II Kings 7:4). They entered, found everything that the Syrians had left, and immediately Israel went from famine to plenty!
What does that have to do with “No More iPhone?” One week ago I was joyously using my beloved iPhone as I had since June 29 (see posts below). On Wednesday evening after church I logged on to the AT$T website to see about upgrading my wife’s phone. Strangely, the link to upgrade was not present and I was offered the magnaminous option to “upgrade with no contractual commitment” which in plain English means “pay full price” for the new cell phone! So I called AT$T and found out they wanted to get rid of me! We were using too many “off-network” minutes and they determined I wasn’t making enough money for them. My monthly cell phone service bill, with unlimited data transfer on the iPhone, was $110-120.
To make a long story short, after three calls and 2 hours on the phone with AT$T customer service, they offered to buy back my iPhone (which I paid $499.95 for, now sells for $299.95, another post!) at full price and cancel me out. I could see the Lord’s hand on this as I am trying to cut back on expenses, so I went for it. Saturday I got set up with T-Mobile at the Costco kiosk with two free Razrs and much cheaper service. I heartily recommend ALWAYS checking with BJ’s or Costco if you are getting anything. The deal there was much better than elsewhere. The Razr I bought is usually $149 or more with a $50 rebate after. I paid $0.00. No rebate needed!
On Monday (September 10) I received my refund from the local AT$T store minus a 10% restocking fee which later on was refunded to me via a helpful AT$T customer service rep.
So, no more iPhone! I loved using it, but the Lord bailed me out of $500 spent and $30-35 per month extra on the cell bill each month. In a matter of 48 hours I went from thinking I’d be using it for 22 more months to not having it at all!
