The real villians

Well, the post below this was going to be my last word on the "event", but I feel I have a legitimate screed to launch into.

All told, the folks who jacked me made off with $80 in cash, $100 in free range balls, $58 on my debit card, an iPod shuffle, some nice headphones, a cheap pair of sunglasses, my work laptop, a bluetooth headset, and a BlackBerry Pearl. Pretty nice for 30 seconds of work, even if the phone and laptop are largely worthless. I've been told that renters insurance may actually cover some of the other losses, which would be strangely fantastic.

But this is where Verizon steps in and pisses on my shoe while telling me it's raining (sorry mom and grandmoms, that's just the best phrase for what is happening). Since I didn't buy the insurance on my new phone Verizon is requiring that I pay full retail price for a replacement phone. They just renewed my contract (locking me in for 2 years) 10 days ago, so I am ineligible for any of the deals they offer. I phone I got for $150 (actually, $50 after some other rebates) will cost me $425. I didn't look very closely, but most phones have retail prices well north of $300. The guy at the store today told me I might have some luck finding something on eBay.

$425. The Verizon guys didn't even bother to show me the gun, they just flat out held me up.

To put this into perspective, here's how dumb this is: I can currently get a brand new BlackBerry Curve for -$50 through Amazon.com. Sure, I have to pay $175 to end my contract with Verizon, but do the math. $425 to stay with Verizon. $125 to leave them. You've got to love corporate policies that encourage customer attrition.

Please add Verizon to the list of companies that are now dead to me.