Phone/Palm Woes

(Wow, a blog that's not plugging something for a change.....)

So I am looking to buy three electronic gadgets in the next little while. In order of importance:

(A) A new Palm or PDA (mine broke a while ago) and I need it to keep track of everything.

(B) A new cellphone (My contract with Telus expires in December)

(C) Some sort of MP3 player (though probably not an iPod, just because of price. And in truth, it's more a "want" than a "need" right now).

So I got to thinking about this and looked at devices that do all three. They seem to be too expensive. Then I started looking for ones that are phones/PDAs and found some options that are more reasonable.

As though they were reading my mind, someone from Telus called me on Sunday night, and reminded me of my contract coming up for renewal. They also suggested I'd get a discount on the phone upgrade because of my "loyalty" to the company since 2001.

I go to a Telus store, find a model I like that's priced at about $150 (provided I renew the contract for three more years). I asked for my discount on that phone and it was.... $150 under a three year contract. The hell?

The next day, I called up the company, told them I was confused because I was told I was getting a discount. They explained to me that they would offer me discounts on certain phones. The one I wanted; not so much. So I shopped around, and I can basically get the same phone for a similar price, but.... (and this is a big but), the airtime package I have at Telus (which I negotiated five years ago) would be FAR more expensive.

So, somewhat defeated, I head back to Telus to buy the f'ng phone at the same price as the "commoners". That's when they tell me this is a "data" phone, and even if I don't want to order data services on it (I don't), the monthly cost will be an additional $20, on top of my normal bill.

Furious now, I called up the company again and explained that no one ever told me this, and that all I want is the damn phone, not the data service, thank you very much. Telus claims they're already giving me a price break, because the phone normally costs $500 (!?!). I calmly explain that, if you've got $20 a month extra from me over 3 years... there's no damn discount at all.

So screw that. IF I stay with Telus (and reasonably, I don't want to lose my good airtime package just to make a point), I'm getting a free phone with no bells and whistles on it and then buying some sort of Palm Pilot separately. Unless, of course, someone out there has another solution for me that won't cost an arm and a leg?