My iPhone Story:

So, I got an iPhone and I wanted to keep my Verizon Wireless number, so I called up AT&T Wireless customer support. I type in my number, I sit on hold, yadda yadda yadda, and finally, I speak with someone who claims they can help me. I explain: “Well, I just joined AT&T and I want to switch over my Verizon number to this phone.” So, the girl says: “Okay sir, first I’ll have to see if the number is available for the porting, then we’ll have to call the Porting Department, and then it may take between 2 - 3 business days…” So, I responded with: “What? All I wanna do is use my iPhone and get rid of my old phones!! Cmon!” Now, as soon as I mentioned the word “iPhone”, she immediately began treating me differently. It was like being part of a secret club. She said: “Oh, an iPhone? Hold on.” [click, click, type, type, click, click] “Okay, sir, power down your iPhone and then power it back up.” So, I powered it off, then on. And voila. “Okay, sir, you’re all set.” I was like: “Really? You sure?” She said: “Oh yes, sir, all taken care of, go ahead and test it by calling a different phone.” I did, and it worked. She even ended with: “Enjoy your iPhone, sir!” And I did!

Man, I felt like I was in the super-secret Steve Jobs fan club. I felt like I should have a decoder ring and password. Oh wait, I do: iPhone Power—Go!

My Blackberry Story:

So, I was helping a friend who also switched recently to AT&T. He bought the Blackberry Pearl that seemed to have dropped in price dramatically as soon as the iPhone came out (The final cost is 1 penny on Amazon, with a 2 year commitment, pretty sweet). So, being the more technical person, I decided to call AT&T on his behalf in order to port over his Verizon number. So, I call in, put in his number, I sit on hold, blah blah blah, and I speak with someone. I explain the situation, and the girl says: “Oh, well, I’ll have to check with the Porting Department, and it may take about 2-3 business days to take effect…” I say: “Well, can’t we just do it quickly? I’ll give you the number, you guys port it over, bing bang boom.” She says: “Sir, this is quickly.” I said: “But I was able to port over my Verizon number to my iPhone really fast, I mean it took literally 3 minutes.” She said: “Yes, well, that is an iPhone. This is a Blackberry.” I stayed silent in disbelief. Then I couldn’t help but ask: “Why is the iPhone so special?” And she said: “Well, it is within our AT&T network, so we can do things quicker with it.” Mmmm hmm….

I won’t bore you with the rest of the details, but it took me 3 representatives and some other personal information in order to make the switch. We’re talking Social Security number, my friend’s 16 digit Verizon account number, billing address, etc. etc. And she ended it off with: “Okay, we should expect the switch to go into effect by end of day (at this point, it was 11:00 am) Mmmm Hmm….

Moral of the Stories:

Apple and AT&T, you guys should really be promoting the fact that it is so darn simple to get your number ported over from anywhere, because I imagine many people are hesitant to switch because they are still afraid it will be a hassle (like it was for the Blackberry) and all providers should be learning from this experience and make it easier to port phone numbers from another carrier (I’m lookin’ over at you Research In Motion!)