Sprint PCS? More like Sprint POS!
Written: May 26 '02
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Pros: If you can get a signal - your conversation might be loud and clear.
Cons: Advertised features don't work, dropped calls, poor signals, poor customer service, etc.
The Bottom Line: Poor customer service, dropped calls, weak signals, poor coverage, features that don't work, employees that lie and feed you bull to get your money. Sprint PCS - It's a POS.
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| PrinceVincent's Full Review: General Reviews of Sprint Customer Service |
I did an awful lot of research before choosing a cell phone provider. I needed a very specific plan to fit my needs. I am a student at Penn State. Home for me is Boston, Mass. I spend my summers in Orlando, Florida, working for Walt Disney World. I needed a plan that would give me free long distance, and let me make calls anywhere in the country. I was excited to find Sprint PCS - I'd get 350 "Anytime" Minutes (daytime) and 3650 Night and Weekend Minutes (9:00 PM - 7:00 AM). Sounded good to me.
There were other things I was looking for though, too. Call me stupid and corny, but I wanted to be able to download ringtones - those songs you can download onto your phone, so when someone calls you, instead of just hearing "ring, ring", you actually hear a real song being played, like something pop off the radio or something like that. I also liked having text messaging, and having the Internet on my phone. I was excited to get all these features, and FINALLY join the rest of the world in owning a cell phone.
Little did I realize that I was about to embark on an expensive, stressful journey that would cause me nothing but trouble.
COVERAGE
I bought my phone and plan at a Sprint PCS store near my home in Boston. I explained my living situation to the guy, and he looked everything up for me - said I was going to have perfect coverage everywhere I needed to be - Penn State, Boston, and Orlando.
I got my phone home that night to discover that it doesn't work in my house. Or in my yard. Or driveway. Or anywhere on my street. In order to get a signal to use my phone, I had to drive a mile and a half across town. So I did it - just cuz I was excited to finally download a ringtone. Too bad that feature doesn't work either.
RINGERS AND MORE
To make a long story short - I've had my Sprint plan for over 2 months now, and for over 2 months I've been calling Sprint Customer Service to complain about various features. "Ringers and More" - their service where you can download ringtones, and screen savers for your phone - doesn't work. And the story you'll get from their web support staff is this: "Ringers and More is a new feature for Sprint PCS to be offering, which is why we're offering it to all of our customers for free for the first three months - because we're still working out the bugs. But don't worry, you're not alone, there's over 30,000 people nationwide who don't have this feature working properly."
Somehow, that just didn't comfort me.
WIRELESS WEB
I still have no Ringers and More service. My Wireless Web quite often stops working or disconnects in the middle of something I'm doing. Oftentimes, the Wireless Web just can't connect - but it sure as heck wastes one of my minutes trying to.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I generally want what I pay for - so I have no hesitation to call up and complain when I'm having a problem. I've never dealt with such a futile, clueless company as Sprint is. The first night I got my plan, I called because Ringers and More wasn't working. I was told since it was a new plan it takes a day to kick in. 2 days later, I called back - now it would take another 24 hours, because they needed to reset my settings. A day later, it would take another week. Then another couple days. Then I was told it would take another 4 days. Then, I was finally told that they don't know when it will be working, I'm just going to have to wait and keep on trying. This was NOT what I wanted to hear. I've been waiting for 2 months now and this is still not working. And every time I try the feature hoping it will work, I waste a couple of my minutes.
Every time I would call Customer Service, I would have to speak to one of those annoying voice recognition computer systems. They call it Claire, and it talks to you and you're supposed to talk to it, and it is supposed to help you solve your problems without needing to talk to a representative. What they don't realize is that some of their customers aren't stupid and clueless, and we already know most of what "Claire" can tell us.
When you finally get to talk to a Customer Service person - you have to tell them who you are. You have to tell them your phone number, social security number and name. They're the freaking phone company, and they don't know my phone number when I call them? And when they transfer you to someone who can "better assist you", you have to go through that whole process again. It's annoying, and a waste of time.
Every time I call, they start to go through the same process of trying to fix my settings and make sure everything's ok. When I tell them I've done it before, they just tell me to wait it out.
My general feeling is that Sprint PCS should not advertise features to go along with it's cell phone plans, if they themselves don't know how to make these features work for their customers. They need to get it together before offering something to the public.
I decided to go with Sprint mainly because of the features they offer to go along with their plans, and none of them work properly. When you sign up, they don't tell you that "Ringers and More" is really only free for the first 3 months, because it's likely not to work. They don't tell you your Wireless Web will crash every 5 minutes. They tell you you'll get coverage inside Walt Disney World - but you really won't. Yes, Disney World - wouldn't you assume Sprint would want to have plenty of coverage at Disney World? But when I'm standing outside my breakroom in the middle of Epcot, I can't get a signal for more than 5 seconds. Customer Service's response to this is to get my phone checked out at the store - which I've done....and it's fine. I was just lied to so that I'd buy a plan.
I am currently fighting with Sprint to get out of my contract - there's a $150 termination fee, but I am refusing to pay it, due to the fact that Sprint is also not upholding their end of the contract. I want out of Sprint PCS. If you're considering Spring PCS, please, be smart, and take my advice - DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 39.99
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Epinions.com ID:
PrinceVincent
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Member: Tommy Cox
Location: Dracut, MA
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 27 members
About Me:
I'm a Music Theory Major at Penn State and I work in Walt Disney World.
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