I have had a wireless phone for so long that I don’t even remember when I first got a wireless phone.  Tom insisted on me getting a car phone back in the late 1980’s for safety.  He wanted me to be able to call for help when I was out driving by myself.  All I remember about the car phone is that it was a Motorola and it was the size of a loaf of bread.  I got it through the American Automobile Association.

As car phones evolved into cell phones, Tom and I upgraded with each iteration.  Small cell companies got bought up by bigger and bigger cell companies.  We were with one company that was acquired by Alltel.  Alltel was then acquired by Verizon in 2009.  We have stuck with Verizon since then.  On my Verizon app homepage, it says I have been a loyal customer for over 30 years.  Considering Verizon wireless has only been in existence for 26 years, they are definitely counting the previously acquired companies.

Usually we have had three or four lines on our account.  John shared our account until he got married.  At that time they were offering family plans, where you got a deal on four lines.  So we added my mom and dad to our plan.  The family plans went away a while ago, but we have continued to keep them on our plan.  Mom writes us a check every month for her share of the bill.

We like Verizon because they really do have the very best wireless network.  In the last twelve years, we have lived in some pretty remote spots.  If any network can get a signal, it is Verizon.  Not only have we upgraded our phones, we have also upgraded our service.  When cell phones first came out, service was slow and the amount of data available was low.  These days Tom and I both have unlimited service with our cell phones for less than we used to pay for slow and low.  Although we switch plans, we don’t switch providers.

When we were in Europe, we used our cellphones connected to wifi for all our communications.  My dad loved calling us and finding out where in the world we were at that moment.  He thought it was amazing that we could have a conversation while we were on a ship in the middle of the ocean.  I did too!

I recently called Verizon to cancel my dad’s service and return his phone.  He got a new iphone a couple of years ago when his old phone died.  Dad used his phone a lot and always had it with him.  He always got the biggest phone available because he had “fat fingers.”  Canceling his service was hard.

For some reason, when I started my call with the customer service person, I told her “I have been a loyal Verizon customer for more than 30 years!”  After conducting our business regarding my dad’s phone, the representative said, “I would like to offer you our customer loyalty discount of $10 per month for one year.”  I asked some questions but was assured that there was no hidden cost, just a discount for my loyalty.  Score!

Verizon is not the cheapest wireless service available, but I am satisified with their service.  They have always been helpful and clear when I have needed to change plans or upgrade a phone.  They were wonderful with my dad, who would just drop by when he couldn’t figure out how to do something on his phone.  It is nice to get a little discount for staying with them all these years.

What wireless phone service provider do you use?  Are you happy with them?  How long have you been a loyal customer?