All I can say is, Thank God for Cell Number Portability
Written: Dec 11 '03 (Updated Dec 10 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Local Coverage: |
 |
|
| Plan Flexibility: |
|
|
| Customer Service: |
|
|
|
Pros: Night minutes now start @ 7PM; good variety of plans; good selection of phones
Cons: dropped calls; dead areas; not the best signal strength indoors; poor customer service
The Bottom Line: Sprint needs to put their money where their mouth is: there is a difference between saying you value a customer's business and actually valuing it. Go with Verizon.
|
|
|
| t_habrock's Full Review: Sprint Mobile Phone Service in Los Angeles |
Let me start by saying that I was a Sprint PCS customer for 3 years. I am, by nature, a loyal consumer. I do TONS of research and when I choose a company I stick with them, maybe much longer than I should, although before the cell number portability rules went into effect the thought of changing my number was daunting.
When I first signed up for my three year contract, I did not have much of a credit history - due to my lack of credit they only offered me a single phone line with a spending limit, and could not get a shared plan with my then girlfriend (now my wife). I figured it was better than nothing and that I would rarely ever go over that spending limit. Well, now I am self employed as an independent contractor and I move from job to job on a regular basis; my cell phone is the only way to reach me on a consistent basis.
I was locked into a long term contract and couldn't upgrade my minutes and routinely went over my monthly minutes. The second my overage charges hit the spending limit of $ 200.00, my service would be disconnected - never-mind that there was no payment due or that I paid my bill early or on-time and was rarely delinquent, if I had been it was by maybe two days. however, that was what i agreed to and I could hardly fault them for that.
In November 2003 I as usual went over and they again shut off my phone without warning. It was at this same time I heard that Cell Number Portability was going into effect. My original service contract was expiring one week after cell number portability went into effect, so I figured enough was enough, I would ask for the removal of the spending limit or look for new service.
I contacted Sprint and explained to them that I had been with them for three years and felt that given my now extensive and positive credit record as well as my positive payment history with them, they should consider removing or upgrading the limit. First they said I must file a request on-line, which I did. Then I received a response saying that there was actually no system that would allow them to do this and that as long as i was a Sprint customer I would have that very restrictive spending limit. I pointed out that with number portability going into effect and my service contract set to expire they may want to reconsider. They responded with a third answer saying that accounts are occasionally reviewed for possible upgrades and that if one qualifies the upgrade is automatic. When I asked for specifics on how and when accounts are reviewed they were unable to give me any specifics, they did however write about how much they value my business, blah, blah, blah...
I decided to switch to Verizon, after exhaustive research of mobile providers. The day I planned to switch to Verizon I called Sprint PCS one last time and told them, here is the deal, I do not want to leave Sprint by choice, but feel their refusal to review my account to consider removing or upgrading my spending limit shows a lack of respect for my business; I told them I was giving them one more chance to make this right before leaving. They said they were unable to BUT again said how much they valued me as a customer?!?!
One hour later I was in a Verizon store porting my number; they ran my credit and it was extremely good, I was able to get a 2-line America's Choice shared plan for me and my wife, so she also ported her number.
Now that I have left, I have to say I used to think the Sprint PCS signal was, overall, good; a few dead areas, especially in rural areas and in buildings. I had no idea how bad it actually was until I was with Verizon, today for the first time my wife was able to call me from INSIDE the grocery store in Studio City instead of having to go outside stand perfectly still with her head cocked left to point her phone antennae south-west. Ahhhhh...simple pleasures.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 49.99/month
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
t_habrock
|
|
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.