Location: Houston
Plan: 500m-f/500n&w
Cost: $49.00/mo + taxes
Phone: Samsung 3500 (Dual Band)

Let me preface this by saying how much I hate to write a negative epinion, but this giant company's got the formula flat wrong, and they need to know about it.

Activation

I should have known I was getting into trouble when I first activated my phone in July of 2000. Despite paying the higher monthly fee, and opting out of a year long contract, Sprint wanted my Social Security Number upon activation. I think they ran a credit check - not sure, though. Other than that, activation went smooth and I was on my way.


My First Real Problem

For four months life was good. I couldn't use my phone at work because the huge building superstructure interfered with the signal, but it was acceptable. One day my phone began to have serious technical problems. I didn't purchase my phone from a Sprint store, by the way, but this shouldn't be problem since I was dropping $60-70/mo in service fees and taxes. I called their technical support line and waited nearly half an hour before I was connected to a woman I could barely hear (free and clear?). After explaining my problem, I was told that since I did not purchase my phone from the Sprint Store, rather one of their authorized dealers in the mall, I was out of luck. I would have to take my case up with Samsung, the phone manufacturer, while I continued to pay the monthly rate. Samsung has no technical support numbers listed to call. Thinking this was slightly unhelpful, I politely asked to speak to her supervisor. She told me there were not any supervisors available to talk to me, which I found incredible. I asked again, politely, and then I heard a click. I was speechless.

I called back, waited another half hour, and got a much nicer attendant this time. She instructed me to go to a Sprint Store, which I did. At the store, they kindly agreed to test my phone.

Annoying Side Note: The staff have this pattern they go through. They talk to customers, take the phone to a back room, stay back there for 5-10 minutes while the line grows, then come back and tell you to wait 30-45 minutes. OK, I'm game. Just fix my silly phone.

Well, the geniuses took 15 minutes to determine what I had in 2, the phone was dead and it wasn't just a dead battery. They stopped just short of telling me that I broke the phone. But I was super nice, befriending the young guy behind the counter, going out of my way to make small talk about girlfriends and marriage. After helping the line of customers, the guy decided to give me a break because I was loitering around looking pitiful. He told me that usually when customers come in with the same problem, they get all upset and he never helps them because they get rude, but since I was such a nice guy, he'd swap my dead four month old phone out for a new (actually refurbished) one. He did that, and I drove off with a slightly used replacement, with a much much much older battery. I hadn't noticed that they took the new battery on my original phone. Ugh! I was back in business, at least for two more months until the refurbished battery pooped out. I wasn't about to fight another long battle over a battery, so I bought one on Ebay for $21. By the way, Best Buy charges $100 for a replacement battery. Talk about sticking it to you. The phone cost $149 new!


Inaccurate Billing

I use a bill collection and payment service call Paytrust (www.paytrust.com). I love it. My billing address is in Illinois, while I live in Houston. I review and pay all my bills online, and I LOVE IT. It frees me from the paper monster, but even better, it frees me from the JUNK MAIL sent by associates of the credit card companies. What does this have to do with Sprint PCS? Glad you asked. Since my billing address is in Illinois, Sprint's computers think I am physically located there, so I must pay Illinois cellular taxes, which are much higher than Texas. Sprint's response: we can't change it, so either unduly pay the tax, or change your billing address to your physical address in Houston.


Life Goes On

I used my phone until May of 2001, when it began having major call drops and other funky problems, like people being able to hear me, but not me to them. So after another visit to 'the Store', a reprogramming, I am sad to say the phone works worse than ever. It seems to work fine in the Sprint Store.


A Sad End

It's June (almost a year since I signed on for this ride), and I am canceling this plan, and this company. What good is it when you cannot make calls, and the company is so over-subscribed, that you become a number to them?


Conclusion

Cellular phones break. It's not if, it's when. And when it does, Sprint will help you, if you bought that overpriced insurance. They have no trouble cashing my checks every month, but when crunch time hits and it comes time to perform, Sprint PCS fails miserably. Avoid them and your life will go smoother.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): $175, $60/mo