Beware of Customer Service Advocates
Written: Apr 14 '01
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Pros: affordable long distance service , first incoming minute free; add a phone plan
Cons: Customer Service causes more problems than it solves
The Bottom Line: Sprint Mobile Phone Service offers a variety of plans, Try to keep track of your minutes or you will pay more than expected. Customer Service is Useless
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| lorirobe's Full Review: Sprint Mobile Phone Service in New York |
I am going to be blunt and to the point.
Sprint has the worst Customer Service Representatives or "advocates" as they call them, that I have ever experienced with any company.
I am sure no one wants to read all the details of my nightmares in dealing with Sprint Customer Service, so I will try to sum all of my woes using just one of my many, many horror stories in dealing with Sprint.
I currently have the 500 minute Sprint Free and Clear Plan.
I have the add a phone feature which means my husband and I each have our own phone. We have 500 minutes to share between us. It does not have to be an even split. At the time that I first signed on for this plan each additional minute over the 500 costs $0.25 each. This was a great plan because it included long distance which helps my husband freely communicate with his out of state relatives.
The cost of this plan is $65. $50 for the one phone and an additional $15 for the add a phone feature. When the taxes are added on, I pay about $78 per month.
Sprint was advertising a special which stated that I can increase my monthly minutes to 1500 at no extra charge. I read this newspaper ad several times. I cut it out and kept it to be sure I could verify any of its details.
I called a Sprint Customer Service "Advocate" to make the changes to my plan. I just find it hysterical that these people are called advocates since they really are there just to cause confusion, chaos and aggravation for the customer.
A very friendly lady was able to switch my plan in no time.
I was pleased with the quick service and was anxious to begin using my increased minutes.
THE PHONE BILL CAME. IT WAS ALMOST $200. I ran to the phone. I waited on hold for almost 20 minutes. I was pacing and nervous and very anxious to resolve this matter.
It turned out that rather than give me the free plan that was advertised, I was switched from a 500 minute add a phone plan, to a 1500 minute add a phone plan.
The customer Service Representative had no idea about the promotion I had asked for. Getting my plan switched back to the original one took about 8 phonecalls filled with grief because no one seemed to know how to switch me back or even of the plan I was speaking of. With Sprint, the customer is more informed than the people who work for them.
First they switched me to a plan that did not include long distance. More phone calls, more waiting on hold and more explaining my increasingly detailed story.
Then they switched me so I was paying $0.30 a minute instead of the $0.25 a minute over the plan that I originally had. They also started charging me for roaming charges.
Everytime a Sprint bill came I had to emotionally prepare myself for some sort of error. I had to only open the bill when I was sure I would be in the right mood to deal with the good old advocates. Everyone knows that these sort of dealings can take a toll on the mood and spirit.
I did not get my service plan back to its original until I looked up the President of the company on the internet, wrote a letter to their offices and waited for a response. It was only then that my account was properly credited and my plan was switched correctly.
Oh my, all the stress is coming back again. Let me put it this way--I would NEVER EVER switch my plan again. I just have no faith in their ablilty to do so correctly. I'll just be happy with what I have.
I also find that Sprint constantly offers free minutes through newspaper and t.v. ads. Notice they are called "Weekend Minutes" or "Anytime Minutes". Sprint is very deceiving. Weekend minutes begin late on Friday, and end Early Sunday evening. How do you keep track of these Weekend minutes? How do you know how many of your long distance minutes are left? Many of these plans only offer 250 long distance minutes with 1000 weekend. There is just no way to keep track of which minutes you pay for and which you don't. But isn't that what Sprint wants?
Sprint also lets you use a counter on your phone to keep track of all the minutes you use. Eventually, you'll find out that the timer is innacurate and when it says you used 500 minutes, you really used about 530 because it rounds up
your seconds to the next minute everytime. As a plus, the first incoming minute called to your phone is free.
The only reason I use Sprint is because many Cell Plans do not include long distance and if they do they are very expensive. I know I can't get a long distance plan like I have now, so I just stick with it.
So if you are looking for a long distance cell phone plan, I would recommend choosing one, and sticking with it. The less interaction with Sprint Customer service, the better.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 65
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Epinions.com ID:
lorirobe
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Location: New York City
Reviews written: 63
Trusted by: 96 members
About Me:
I'm back with concise, easy to read and "to the point" reviews!
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