Buyer Beware… of Nextel

By Arryn Groom


Over 2 ½ years ago my husband and I purchased Nextel phones. Nextel has become a bane on our services list. Most every billing problem we have encountered has resulted in a hold time of at least 20 minutes and as much as 45. I have 2 small children and staying on hold for longer than 5 minutes is a challenge. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just the hold time I had to worry about, however, I would also be transferred and inevitably disconnected multiple times leading to me having to call back, wait again just to be disconnected again. To make matters worse the personnel with whom I spoke were usually as unhelpful as one could possibly be. The final straw for us was a termination fee and our unsuccessful attempts to have it credited. My warning here is for the general public to first read your contract and REMEMBER what it says because Nextel customer service feels no obligation to remind its customers of impending fees.



In August my husband lost his job due to the Andersen debacle. In order to save money while he was on job search we cancelled my phone. The Nextel customer service representative did not mention there would be a termination fee of $200 nor did the person mention that we had an option for idling at a cost of $5.99 per month. So now we have a termination fee, which after two phone calls to their customer relations people has yielded no willingness to cancel the fee because it is a “valid fee.” It is a valid fee because it was outlined in our original contract 2 ½ years ago. Never mind that when I changed my rate plan twice in the last year the representative never mentioned that I was now on a new contract which would last 1 year and result in a $200 termination fee. I was never told about a new contract or any fee. . I don’t yank out my contracts every time I need to modify a service I receive. I call the customer service representative and rely on them to communicate to me the options available as well as any penalties that are probable.



If that is not enough for anyone to decide which wireless company not to use then perhaps the fact that if you do change your rate plan with Nextel you cannot count on it taking effect. Amid all those calls and disconnects we had to call 4 times in 3 months just to get the rate we called and changed during the first phone call. The final representative I spoke with prior to this termination fee dispute was a model customer service representative who actually effected the rate change we asked for 3 months before and 4 phone calls since the initial request. The last customer relations representative I spoke with about the termination fee had the gall to suggest that we did not “deserve” to be credited for overage charges (80 minutes) that we would have incurred if Nextel had effected our original rate plan change. So weren’t they generous for not charging us for 80 minutes overage? Hmmm. All that hassle we went through and now a $200 termination fee? Let’s calculate 80 minutes times 35 cents overage cost… $28 According to Nextel we did not deserve a $28 credit but had been given it anyway.



I count on customer service representatives to inform me of impending fees as a result of my actions and also to notify me of the options I have with their company. I do not have time to jump through hoops just to rectify a simple problem. Nextel’s customer service and customer relations are merely reactive to problems and not proactive in order to facilitate customer satisfaction. Do we still have Nextel? Yes, only because if we cancel our phones before one year (since I just reactivated my phone prior to finding out about this termination fee and we just changed my husband’s calling plan, which puts him on a new contract for one year) we will each get dinged with another $200 termination fee.

If I had $600 to throw away to an undeserving company I’d cancel my service as soon as I could get through and had the time to stay on hold interminably.


Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): $39.99/mo