I hate sprint i hate sprint i hate sprint i hate sprint

[Breadfan]

On about August 4th I made a mistake. I renewed my plan with Sprint Wireless.

I almost didn't. After my January fiasco with them in which all I wanted to do was switch numbers on two phones I had in my family plan, I was told "Sure no problem" at one end of the spectrum and at the other end "I can't do that and you shouldn't even be asking that as it is fraud and illegal." (WTF was that?)

The people that work for this company must all be incompetent fools.

So anyway, I go to the Sprint store with my mom - I pay for her cell phone on my family plan. It was my way of getting her to actually have a cell phone...she never wanted one before. But that's not important.

What is important is that the manager at that sprint store helped me out. He was a really cool guy and he waived activation fee on ALL lines. I added another phone for my sister so I basically got 3 new phones with a plan that was $79.99, minus a discount from my company, and $50 that day to pay for my phone (the others were free phones with the contract.)

Again, activation fees were waived, plan cost would be less than $80/month once I got my discount applied.

Soooooo...first bill comes, no problem.

I check online today...second bill is here. Bill is $200.

WTF...$200? Check the bill...nope didn't go over my minutes...not even close. What could it be?

Then I see it.

Monthly Service Charge: $125.07 (This should be less than $80)
Then "Other Charges: $90" - looking at the breakdown, $18 for my phone, and $36 for the other two - these are the ****ing activation fees.

So what should be no more than $70 or $80 bucks on the bill is $200.

These lying cheating stealing pigs.

Keep this in mind, it's how Sprint cares about their customers. If it wasn't so late I'd be at the Sprint store now and let me tell you I'd probably be getting removed about right now.

I'm sick of this crap. Somebodies getting an earful tommorrow.

:mad: :nono::bs:

[TAF]

My lovely wife decided 2 weeks ago that it was time for new cell phones (unbeknownst to me)...and due to the fact my oldest daughter is swimming on the U.S. Swim Team (Development Squad)and practices daily at Georgia Tech (the leftover, incredible facilities from the '96 Olympics) as a "safety device" while she waits to be picked up at night.

In the middle of the day...my Nextel stopped working at the shop. I get home...and I'm presented with the most girlie, flip-phone you've ever seen. I don't need to search the web, take pictures...etc. I want to call and be called...PERIOD. The phone is the biggest piece of crap I've seen since the white fox-body Mustang on my rack (that was just for you Rider)...I tell the wife...I'm throwing the thing out the window of Big Yeller...I'm over it. I go to the Sprint Store...and I'm told there are really no different choices for phones...."But, you & Nextel are the same now, right? Can I just switch back?" Clerk: "Well...not exactly...and yes I agree...the sprint phones are far inferior to the Nextel units."

:mad2: :mad2: :mad2:

I have my old Nextel phone back...it's 5 years old...works....and I'm happy again.

AVOID SPRINT!!!!!!

[Joe Walsh]

Some of NEXTEL most have rubbed off on SPRINT when they bought NEXTEL...

NEXTEL SUCKS!!!!!!.....:mad:...... :fire:

They went from being the best cell phone company to the absolute worst in 2 years.

Poor coverage, constantly dropped calls, 'busy system' problems.....

How can you LOSE coverage??? Don't you keep adding towers???

I HATE NEXTEL!!! (But I'm stuck with the *********S because our company is signed up with them.:mad2: )

[TAF]

Let's face it...they ALL stink...just for me...Nextel's "smell" is a little less offensive to me personally....

I'm going to make my own phone.....maybe I'll use some PVC.....

*did he just say that?^^^^

[Hauser717]

The people that work for this company must all be incompetent fools.

Ahem. I work for Sprint. I do take objection to this comment.

A lot of honest, hard working people work for Sprint and all of the other carriers. They do the best they can with the tools they have and the budget they are given. This goes for any company, including the one you work for.

As far as the activation fees, go to the store and talk to the same manager you talked to before. He should be able to get the fees waived since he promised to do so.

As far as service, customer satisfaction, whatever... You'll be able to find people getting the shaft from all of the wireless carriers. Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, etc. have all done stupid stuff to run off their customers.

[fastblackmerc]

I've had a Nextel phone & service for over 5 years (just upgraded to an i870) and I've have the Sprint wireless card for my laptop for 18 months so far and I've had far fewer coverage / dropped calls in those 5 years than my wife & daughter have had with Cingular, who claims to have the fewest dropped calls, in the past 2 years....

[TAF]

Ahem. I work for Sprint. I do take objection to this comment.


Don't take a generalized rant so personally....seriously...



















BTW....y'all's phones are the largest pieces of crap available in the marketplace....only the most remedial folks would ever want to use them :P ;)

[Breadfan]

Ahem. I work for Sprint. I do take objection to this comment.

A lot of honest, hard working people work for Sprint and all of the other carriers. They do the best they can with the tools they have and the budget they are given. This goes for any company, including the one you work for.

As far as the activation fees, go to the store and talk to the same manager you talked to before. He should be able to get the fees waived since he promised to do so.

As far as service, customer satisfaction, whatever... You'll be able to find people getting the shaft from all of the wireless carriers. Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, etc. have all done stupid stuff to run off their customers.

Well regardless of my comment I'm sure you and many others don't fall into that category. If you think I feel EVERY SINGLE PERSON there is incompetent you take it too literally. I'm sure there's some really bright hard working people there. But there's plenty of bad apples and they seem to work in the wireless dept.

Trust me every time I get a glimmer of hope from someone there another employee comes along and ruins it for them. :)

NOW...why should I be responsible for driving 30 minutes to this store, stand in line, hope the guy is working, and if he is get him to follow up on his promise and make it right? My point is so far dealing with them NOTHING has been done right the first time. Why should I take time out of my day to do this? I don't have that time, by the way.

Don't pity me, I did it to myself.

[TAF]

Did I mention that Sprint's handset pieces are exactly that...pieces of CRAP!

Here......here's a picture of their "top-o-the-line" model they gave me to use......



http://www.pawstogo.com/ProductImages/dogtoys/toy_talk_talking_plush_phone_d og_toy.jpg

[Hauser717]

I wish I could help with the retail problems, but I work in a department that deals with features such as voice mail, etc. Even if I went to my VP, that's a completely different department and little or nothing would be done if I brought it up.

I honestly wouldn't be suprised if the only retail employees that knew everything about all the plans and phones were the ones that work on the Sprint campus in Kansas City.

As far as the phones, the only ones that I show interest in cost at least $150 after rebates. I want bells, whistles and oogah horns on my phone. Doo-dads = cool.

[Hauser717]

http://www.pawstogo.com/ProductImages/dogtoys/toy_talk_talking_plush_phone_d og_toy.jpg

That's my favorite phone! It's so happy!

[Breadfan]

A
As far as service, customer satisfaction, whatever... You'll be able to find people getting the shaft from all of the wireless carriers. Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, etc. have all done stupid stuff to run off their customers.

BTW I feel this comment to be very valid - it's one reason I stayed. It was just easier to go the way I did knowing I'd probably get a hassle from whoever I was with anyway...

Sounds like the system needs some streamlining...

[Bigdogjim]

Well I have a sprint phone cheapest one they sell. No flip phone for me!

I sometime get a re-condition one for half the price.

My Company pays the bill no matter who I call and where I am.

Good deal for me because if they did not give me one I would not have one.

[usafsniper]

;lkjerj suoui poiujkljer sljdfl;asje poioiuur wpiuend wpejjks cms;jre ldsj jdskle iepueio dj;le...

Ooops, wrong language, thought I was typing to a typical cell phone call center representative. Had Cingular, had US Cellular, got Sprint...have to say Sprint is by far the best service I've had. They're not perfect, but who is? I'm learning to live with that fact from most service oriented companies this day and age.

[duhtroll]

I gots US Cellular and Todd, you'd like them. They don't HAVE phones that do music or video or downloads or ringtones or . . .. :D

They just make and (sometimes) receive calls. Their download service is so incredibly slow no one wants to use it. BUT, they are cheap ($65 including all taxes and fees for my wife and I every month with more minutes than we could ever use and free nights/weekends) and their coverage area is really nice for where I live.

My main beef with them is I can't get the damn phone to ring when I receive a call. I'll be sitting around waiting for a call and I'll get a voicemail alert instead.

When the college kids all come back for the school year and are on their phones 24/7 (what interesting lives people must lead thet they are sitting at a restaurant with friends and ignoring them in favor of their phones :rolleyes:) the rest of us lose network service.

*****ers.

You're right. They all suck. Some just suck harder and louder.

[LordVader]

Over the past 3 years due to work and the Mrs. I have probably had every carrier there is (except for NexTel). As you are all aware, they all have their own issues with customer service. But as far as totally bad coverage I would say that honor lies with Sprint. More spotty coverage, than any of the others. Just my .02.

[STLR FN]

I've had Verizon for 10 yrs now. Only 2 issues and both were taken care of very quickly. A few guys I work with recently switched from Sprint/Nextel to Verizon because of S/N spotty service.

[RoNiN77]

I've never used Sprint/Nextel due to all of the problems my friends have had with them. Poor products and customer service top the list of complaints. I use Verizon and have yet to have a problem that wasn't taken care of to my satisfaction.

[sabtaj1]

I have had sprint for 4 years now. I havent had any problems at all. I work at the local sheriffs dept. and they told me law enforcement gets 25% off of each monthly statement. So for me it works out great.

[CRUZTAKER]

You ALL are too funny.:D

I've been in Telecom 22 years and still don't OWN a cell phone. I rarely even answer the land line. I hate phones!

All I can say is...it's ALL about the equipment and presence when it comes service. There is no way (for most of us) to control the employees they implement to sell the services.

Verizon, US Cellular, and Cingular-(AT&T / SBC) have descent presence in the mideast region, and all frequently co-locate within a single compound.

Funny as well...I have been auditing a particular providers equipment for a few weeks now. They do good.
I made this vis last week for Mom.
CLICKY-ME (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/misc.php?do=downloadfile&i=4856)

[TAF]

Do all the "equipment rooms' come with a blonde....who coyly act like they aren't paying attention...yet make you utter the word "Wife" within the first 5 seconds of meeting?

:P :D ;)

[Donny Carlson]

Do all the "equipment rooms' come with a blonde....who coyly act like they aren't paying attention...yet make you utter the word "Wife" within the first 5 seconds of meeting?

:P :D ;)

>WOW!< that was like one of those internet "gotcha" sites where you stare at a picture then something scary pops up and makes you wet yourself!!!


BTW, my Cingular phone worked a full two years after I dropped it in the toilet at Team Ford. Finally died and I found out my mother, who had the same phone but rarely used it, had been conned into a flip phone by a Cingular store rep. I switched the SIM card, et voila, back in business.

Oh, cell coverage in Birmingham SUCKS BALLS!

[hitchhiker]

;lkjerj suoui poiujkljer sljdfl;asje poioiuur wpiuend wpejjks cms;jre ldsj jdskle iepueio dj;le...

Ooops, wrong language, thought I was typing to a typical cell phone call center representative. Had Cingular, had US Cellular, got Sprint...have to say Sprint is by far the best service I've had. They're not perfect, but who is? I'm learning to live with that fact from most service oriented companies this day and age.

That may be, in large part, because they have dumped their hard-working American employees in favor of outsourcing, Sprint included.

:D

[hitchhiker]

>WOW!< that was like one of those internet "gotcha" sites where you stare at a picture then something scary pops up and makes you wet yourself!!!


BTW, my Cingular phone worked a full two years after I dropped it in the toilet at Team Ford. Finally died and I found out my mother, who had the same phone but rarely used it, had been conned into a flip phone by a Cingular store rep. I switched the SIM card, et voila, back in business.

Oh, cell coverage in Birmingham SUCKS BALLS!

Wet Yourself!

:eek:

How about phones with...

:lol:

[TAF]

That may be, in large part, because they have dumped their hard-working American employees in favor of outsourcing, Sprint included.

:D

You mean...you don't like talking to New Delhi...more than you talk to anyone else?

[CRUZTAKER]

Do all the "equipment rooms' come with a blonde....who coyly act like they aren't paying attention...yet make you utter the word "Wife" within the first 5 seconds of meeting?

:P :D ;)

He he...I edited the clip once so that very statement wouldn't...how do I say...come up.:P


Totally professional. A contractor working with me on this project.
Most of these rooms come with a rodent of some sort ranging in size from a swarm of bees, mouse, an agry dog, or the all too common llama.:eek:

[hitchhiker]

You mean...you don't like talking to New Delhi...more than you talk to anyone else?

@#$$@$#&!

:D

[LILALLEYKATT]

I have used sprint for 5yrs now @ 6K min a mo for $189 that includes a second line for free. Being in real estate the phone is my lifeline. The only problems I have had are when I bought a trio phone from them for $500. What a waste of time and money lost calls ect so I went back and purchased the cheapest phone they have and now 15 mos later and nearly 90000 minutes later it still works. I make sure I drop it or throw it down at least once a day...

[Breadfan]

Well I found my original receipt, and it includes the name of the guy who helped me out. So tommorrow I'll call them and see when he's working, come down and show him my bill and my receipt/contact and see what he can do.

I was darn near flying off the handle last night. It didn't help that just after I saw the bill my nextel work phone started ringing. (Blackberry 7100) That didn't help my mood I guess. :)

Anyway...

My main gripe is the time and effort it will require me to devote to fix this error. I hate that.

And the root of my gripe is that these days the service side of so many industries is in SERIOUS need of reform or help. The technology of these phones today is phenomenal, the backbone and techs who keep it running are great. I can't think of anytime the infrastructure took a tumble and I know there's a whole ton of people working hard ot make it that way. (I know b/c I've been in similar situaitons with a 24/7 supported system)

The bad link is the customer relations / service outlets. This is failing miserably in many industries not just cell phones.

[TAF]

The bad link is the customer relations / service outlets. This is failing miserably in many industries not just cell phones.

that's why you get better service via Bombay....than you can here...and they speak English (well...a form of it, I guess)

ain't that right hitchiker?

[Joe Walsh]

Nextel UPDATE!

Today my NEXTEL phone dropped a call for the umpteenth time!

I proceded to throw the open cell phone at my sturdy F150 passenger's side dash... and .....VOILA!

The flip portion, complete with all the LCD info screens came detached.
Permanently!

I laughed so hard when I picked up my new two-piece phone that I almost went off the road.

Strange thing was that my office called a short time later on the Direct Connect and the phone worked great.
I just couldn't tell who it was because the inner and outer LCD screens were 'non functioning'.:D

Oh well! I'm off to the Nextel store tomorrow to get my next victim.

(P.S. I know that what I did was so immature....but it felt SO DARN GOOD!)

[Loco1234]

I have used Nextel for about 8 years now. I used to have the I1000Plus model. I must have gone through about 15-20 of these flip phones.

I have had many times where the flip top has broken off of the phone and although I couldn't even use the headset; the speaker phone and direct connect function still always worked.

Now I have the I850 flip phone. I had to send back for repair once and may have to again soon. It is turning itself off; and resesting itself at random times. It's really annoying when you go to look at the date or time on the phone and it decides to restart itself and your left waiting for it to finish restarting.....

Cell Phones are a PITA....

[hitchhiker]

that's why you get better service via Bombay....than you can here...and they speak English (well...a form of it, I guess)

ain't that right hitchiker?

I need a drink!

:D