My Sprint Sagas
July 7th, 2005
Today, I placed an order with Cingular to switch our cell phone service from Sprint PCS to Cingular. Between Terah and I, one or the other of us has been a Sprint customer continuously since 1999, and since 2002, we have both been.
Cliff inspired me to write this.
I would now like to relate a few stories from my experiences with Sprint PCS. My overall experience with them is that if you have a signal, you get good performance, but their customer service and billing *sucks*. Yes, Googlers: Sprint PCS sucks.
Saga 1: We get married, and Terah needs to change the name on her account. Sprint phone people tell her she must go to a Sprint store. She went to one (which are always annoying, making you take a number and wait an hour with nowhere to sit). They told her that she must call customer service.
Saga 2: Sprint charges me twice for a two-week period of service. It takes about 10 e-mails to them to get them to finally understand the error and correct it.
Saga 3: Sprint continues to send me bills even after I canceled my phone with them (work got me a phone with a different carrier). It takes about 4 months for this to stop, even though every time I call, they insist “it’s really fixed this time!”
Saga 4: I decide to get a cellphone with Sprint. They managed to botch this up so very many ways so very many times it’s amazing. You can read the first half of it. After that message was written, they managed to over-charge me by $145 one month, fail to cancel services they said they would cancel (and thus charge me again). It was literally DECEMBER before the phone purchased in August worked correctly and my bill was correct.
Saga 5: Sprint claims our payment was received late, even though it was automatically electronically scheduled to arrive there early *AND* my bank confirms that it did. Several form letters later, I finally get a billing person with a pulse. They admit their was some glitch on their end, and they refund me the fee.
Saga 6: Back in March, I check the Sprint website. It says both our cellphones’ contracts expired in October, 2004. Earlier this week, it says they expire in November, 2005. Yet I did nothing to the account (and certainly didn’t agree to an extension) since March. Lots of confusion ensues on Sprint’s end. I am given three different expiration dates from three different departments (including one of “the end of August”, who knows where that came from).
So, it is time to move on.
Now, let’s see if they really got that contract expiration date straightened out.
Categories: Reviews
I think the pioneers had it right. Get on a horse and go talk to the folks. But only if it’s really important.
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jgoerzen Reply:
July 8th, 2005 at 7:08 am
I guess their long-distance fees would be measured in terms of the price of grain?
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Laura Mitchell Reply:
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I have hated Sprint since i joined them in 2003 and they do suck! But I have found a ray of light.
(703-433-4401) Sprint executive services phone number. You will get an American — who just might understand.
Such a very different experience!! i am amazed. I can keep Sprint 4ever if they keep this number for helping customers.
L
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JGOERZEN’S NIGHTMARE WITH SPRINT SOUNDS VERY MUCH LIKE MINE…AND ABOUT THE SAME TIME? I GOT THE 2 PHONES I ORDERED IN JUNE/WITH THE INTENT TO PORT OVER MY CINGULAR #’S OVER……(COOL PHONES) AND I USED THEM(SPRINT)ONCE BEFORE IN 2001 WHEN I LIVED ELSEWHERE + I COULDN’T RECALL ANYTHING OVERLY NEGATIVE….
WELL, I GET THE PHONES BY MAIL…CHARGE THEM…TURN EM’ ON AND……NO SIGNAL….OH WELL, I’ RATHER HAVE OLD PHONES THAT WORK(W/CINGULAR) THAN NEW PHONES THAT DON’T…CALL CUSTOMER CARE FROM MY LANDLINE(HOME) AND ASK THEM TO CANCEL MY PLAN//AND TO NOT PORT THE NUMBERS OVER.//AFTER HAVING THE REP. TRYING TO TALK ME INTO GIVING THEM I TRY FOR A FEW DAYS..I SAID NO…I DIDN’T WANT TO TAKE ANY CHANCES…KEPT THE PLAN FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES…HEY NO PROMBLEM, RETURN THE PHONES IN A RETURN ENVELOPE/PACKET OR TURN THEM IN TO AN AUTHORIZED STORE…I CHOSE TO PERSONALLY GOT THEIR CLOSEST AUTHORIZED STORE 45 MILES AWAY..JUST IN CASE! I GET RECEIPTS/PROOF THEY UPDATE THEIR SYSTEM…ETC..ETC.. BUT THE NIGHTMARE WAS JUST BEGINNING….
A MONTH LATER(JULY)I GET THE 1ST BILL $842- WHAT? O.K. MAYBE IT WENT OUT BEFORE A SYSTEM UPDATE..CALL, TALK TO ADRIANA,…SOME MIX UP ON THE NUMBERS I WANTED TO PORT AND THE OLD NUMBER I HAD IN 2001? THEY’LL CORRECT IT..THEY SEE THE PHONES AS BEING TURNED IN/ IN THEIR SYSTEM..NO PROBLEM, JUST FIX IT…NO PHONES/NO PLAN/ NO BILL RIGHT? ALL WITHIN THE PROPER GUIDELINES// NO FAVORS PLEASE…WELL……NEXT MONTH, AUG..SAME THING! AGAIN …NOW $901- CALL AGAIN, GET BOUNCED AROUND FROM DEPARTMENT TO DEPARTMENT…CUSTOMER CARE HAS TO DO IT, NO WAIT TELESALES? OH IT’S IN INTERNAL COLLECTIONS NOW! WHAT? A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE USE TO SAY” YOU EITHER DON’T KNOW, OR YOU DON’T CARE”
THE FIRST BILL, O.K MAYBE SHE MISSED THE 20 TIMES I TOLD HER TO CANCEL…MAYBE A GLITCH? BUT FROM THE 2ND BILL ON…THEY JUST DON’T CARE.. I’VE CALLED TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT AND IT’S ALWAYS THE SAME B.S.- WE’LL FIX IT! SORRY! NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO A MANAGER? SO NOW
I’VE WRITTEN TO THE BBB….AND THE CALIF. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMM. TO FILE A COMPLAINT….BUT BECAUSE THE LAST BILL THREATENED TO BE SENT TO AN OUTSIDE COLLECTIONS AGENCY….? I PAID THAT FREAKIN’ BILL ON 10/04 AND FIGURE I NOW HAVE TO TRY TO GET THAT MONEY BACK THAT I SHOULD HAVE NEVER PAID TO BEGIN WITH….BUT I FIGURED, ONCE THEY SEND IT TO COLLECTIONS…IT’S ON YOUR CREDIT… ONLY THE COMPANY THAT SENT THE ITEM THERE CAN CORRECT IT! AND IF THEY HAVEN’T WANTED TO DO IT NOW, THEY DEFINETELY WON’T AFTER THEY PASS IT ON TO 3RD PARTY COLLECTIONS AGENCY…IT’S RIDICULOUS!
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY…OBVIOUSLY THEIR MANAGEMENT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT PREVIOUS,CURRENT OR FUTURE CUSTOMERS… AND BAD WORD OF MOUTH TRAVELS FAST…. MY IMMIDIATE GROUP OF FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS AND I PERSONALLY WILL NEVER RECOMMEND OR DO BUSINESS WITH THIS WORTHLESS PIECE OF A WIRELESS CARRIER…EVER.
BE CAREFUL, DON’T BE FOOLED BY CLEVER MARKETING…. THEY SHOULD BE SPENDING THAT BUDGET ON ETHICS CLASSES….AFTER THEY FIRE EVERY LIAR THEY HAVE WORKING THERE….
STAY AWAY….
OR YOU WILL LEARN THE HARD WAY, LIKE I DID…
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