These other reviewers MUST be kidding. Either that or they are undercover workers for Voicestream, which in that case, ePinions should sue them. Alright, I was with Sprint for 1 year and very rarely had any problems with them. The two times during that year when the service was down for about an hour each time, the customer service was more than happy to issue a $ credit to my account. Other times when i had questions or concerns, their customer service was 90% of the time friendly, courteous and helpful.

In October I switched over to Voicestream only because I saw the Nokia 8290 and loved it and the rate plans seemed decent. Although they have 1st incoming minute free, they don't offer Nationwide long-distance as a standard feature like Sprint and their local time minutes are only for weekends as opposed to NIGHTS & weekends. But whatever, not such a big deal. First month or so, i had a few problems with missed calls or calls not going through. I figured it was because i was a new customer and my account wasnt fully integrated into the system yet. 5 months later, i can honestly say that i do not receive service about 75% of the time. Whats worse is that the message that Voicestream gives users is that "the number has been disconnected" as opposed to "the number is not receiving service" or something like that. For most of my close friends, they know by now that my number is not really disconnected and just try to call back later, but for those people who call maybe once in a while, they're probably thinking that my phone number was changed!!! On average, my friends say that they try calling me about 5 times before it goes through. And thats when im actually getting service. There have literally been periods of about 8 hours where i could not receive or make calls on my cellphone.

On top of this, Voicestream's customer service is the worst bunch of representatives i have ever had the displeasure of speaking with. First, they do not seem to give a **** whether you stay with Voicestream or not. I honestly do not belive that they are trained in the art of customer relations at all. They are rude and inconsiderate. Half the time they are eating while talking with you and dont even listen to what youre telling them. When they do listen, they do not offer any kind of assistance and basically say that theres nothing they can do and basically laugh in your face because they know you signed a 1-year contract and if you cancel your account you will get hit with a nice $200 jammy charge.

Aside from the countless times ive called in to complain about not receiving service, I was 3 weeks late paying my bill on one occasion because I was on a business trip to California. Without notice, Voicestream shuts off my service and informs me that they will not re-activate it until the past due amount is paid in addition to the next months base charge. When i asked them why i wasn't given any type of formal notice that my service was about to be shut off, they said that it is standard procedure to terminate service on any account that is over 15 days past the due date. With Sprint they not only give you 30 days notice, but they also offer to let you pay in installments in case of financially difficult times. 2 out of my 6 months with Voicestream I did not even receive an invoice and had to call THEM asking what my balance was, to insure that my service wouldnt be shut off again. Another time they overcharged me $260 by switching my account with someone else's phone number.

My friends and i are all very avid and serious mobile phone users, with some of my friends relying solely on their cell phones as a means of communication. This being said, i have about 6 friends with Voicestream service including my roommate and his girlfriend. They ALL have the same problems i have. I am not alone here in my anguish with this terrible service provider. Seriously, when i glanced through the service provider listings here on ePinions and saw these positive ratings, I couldnt believe my eyes. My belief is that they are employees of Voicestream, because everyone i know that has the Voicestream service in NYC hates it. Regular blackout periods, terrible customer service, no assistance. Bottom line, they do not know how to run a mobile phone service company at Voicestream NY.



Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 39.99