Bob Lewis
Columnist

And now, time for some self-indulgence

analysis
Mar 6, 20082 mins

I use a Treo 700P. Not the newest technology, but certainly not obsolete.I don't travel to Europe very much, but I do have a trip next week, so I called my cellular provider to activate international roaming.I waited in the various queues, was only transferred once, and then was told, "to activate international roaming, call this number:" followed by a toll-free number.Think about this for a moment - it's a tele

I use a Treo 700P. Not the newest technology, but certainly not obsolete.

I don’t travel to Europe very much, but I do have a trip next week, so I called my cellular provider to activate international roaming.

I waited in the various queues, was only transferred once, and then was told, “to activate international roaming, call this number:” followed by a toll-free number.

Think about this for a moment – it’s a telephone company, and its customer support representatives can’t transfer me to another number in the same company!

Which leads to the first piece of advice: If you’re responsible for the company’s telephone technology … Don’t. Do. This. It. Makes. Your. Company. Look. Stupid. And. Incompetent.

Are we clear?

And now for the coup de grace: I called the number and talked with a very nice person who told me the Treo 700P isn’t compatible with European cellular telephone standards – it can’t be made to work.

This leads to my second piece of advice: At least be honest. The 700P works fine in Europe, for providers that use GSM. My cellular provider doesn’t support international roaming on the Treo 700P. Blaming Palm isn’t just cheesy.

It assumes I don’t know how to use Google.

– Bob