An Interesting Trip to the Cell Phone Store Posted by:Sally--Wednesday, July 28, 2010

When Cathy and I were working on Cisco's Home Contract we covered so many situations carefully but were pressed for time and did not clearly decide how to handle the use of a cell phone. As a result, Cisco took it upon himself to reconnect his old cell phone by borrowing money off of a friend and paying for the service 'as you go'. After a discussion with Cisco's P.O. we decided to let Cisco keep the phone provided of course, that he hands me the phone at 11 o'clock each night. As you read in the previous post; we also used the phone as leverage when Cisco did something wrong, this was an easy and effective consequence. Even though he pays for the cell phone, I have the right to confiscate it if he is not living up to par. We took a trip to the cell phone store to purchase a cell phone service contract. You see, I had Cisco 'do the math' and he realized that if he continues borrowing from friends and scrounging up every penny of his hard earned money to pay for the cell 'as you go'; he would be spending at least $120.00 a month to keep in contact with his peers. Cisco was completely in charge and knew exactly what he wanted at the cell phone store. I was merely the driver and Cisco did not need any advice on how to secure a service contract. Oh! What a rude awakening it was. Cisco browsed the store while he waited for service. He was very happy to inform me that he had fifty dollars from his grocery store job and that he could purchase a new phone for only $19.99 and a two year contract. I tried to interject what a 'two year contract' entails but Cisco was too interested in playing with the soon- to- be purchased new cell phone. The service clerk was ready to help Cisco now. Cisco explained to David, the service clerk that he would like to purchase the $19.99 phone with the two year contract. Cisco did not hear David say that the phone was $69.99 upfront and then he would receive a $50.00 rebate in the mail. After David repeated this twice, I translated for Cisco and explained to him that he did not have the resources to buy the phone.
David told Cisco that he could come in at anytime with seventy dollars and buy a new phone and even receive a penny back in change. So Cisco decided he would save up the dollars and was now interested in the service contract on his old phone. The best deal was to get the two-year contract for $59.99 which included unlimited texting. Cisco was now more interested in hearing about what a two year contract means. I offered to lend him the ten additional dollars which he needed to get his service contract and be on his merry way.
Oh! No! There was one more hitch. Cisco needed to either have a co-signer on the service contract or David would have to run a credit check. Depending on Cisco's credit there would either be a zero, $120.00 or $400.00 deposit that the store would have to keep for one year at 3% interest. David asked me if I wanted to cosign and I said no. Cisco gave the clerk some identification to run a credit check. Cisco has to return to the store another time to complete the credit check because he also has to bring in his social security card which he does not carry in his wallet.
On the way home Cisco commented that a lot of his friend's parents pay for their teens cell phones but the he is not a 'pansy kid' and he will save up the money to get his own phone. I labeled this mature behavior. Cisco was a little distraught and I agreed with him that it all was indeed a very big hassle. I agreed full-heartedly because it was a lot of red tape. Never the less I did not co-sign.
This was rather a long drawn out story about our adventure in the cell phone store but I found it agreeable to stand back and let Cisco,who feels that he knows all that he needs to know in life, deal with the situation. It was an ideal learning situation. I did not critisize or act sarcastic. I simply did not want to be responsible for his phone bill when I do not feel it is fully necessary for him to have a cell phone. I really do feel that this is a hard lesson for an eighteen year old to learn. It is really an eye opener to realize how much money it cost to buy something that in the past was just taken for granted.