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You can't here me now, can you? (Reply to this comment)
by swamprat16
I signed on for Sprint through the "helpful" advice of a Radio Shack salesperson. This was in July '02. I should have taken notice when he told me he personally had 2 cell phones with different providers. But he raved about Sprint's PCS service and the clarity of reception. I opted to go with Sprint because of the PCS option. I asked about the phone number I was assigned and was assured it was a local number. Local in area code only I was to find out later.
See, my wife takes care of our home phone bill so I rarely look at it. I happened to check it out once about 6 months after getting the Sprint phone. Turns out every time my wife called my phone from home we were charged long distance fees. I immediately called customer "service" to get this remedied. After being transferred from rep to rep for a good hour or so, I was finally able to speak to someone who seemed to know what they were talking about. I was given a new phone number.
Guess what? That number was long distance from my home as well. Called again. I was on hold for another hour or so and did get someone who was genuinely (or at least put on a good act) concerned about my problem. He was willing to change my number but I needed to take care of my contract cancellation fee first before any action could be taken. This guy told me I owed over $200 in cancellation fees and past billing. I had to explain to him that I never canceled my service. He then tells me that every time I change my number it ends the previous contract. So now, because I had my number changed twice I was doubly charged the cancellation fee. The rep told me to call back the next day to speak to his manager.
After being transfered from person to person for an hour and a half (by this time I was getting very loud with the poor lady that didn't speak English very well.), I was finally able to speak to a manager. He told me he would gladly take care of my problems as long as I took care of the over $350 balance that was on my account. This charge included 2 cancellation fees. I argued my point for a half hour before he finally agreed to waive the cancellation fees.
So I FINALLY get a local number. But my one year contract was now set to expire 6 months later than the original contract because I had my number changed through no fault of my own. This contract expires this coming Wednesday. Thank God! Ever since that terrifying 2 days spent on the phone with Sprint customer service I preached the word to everyone I know to avoid Sprint at all costs. I've been counting the days until the end of my contract.
The coverage area is terrible. I live in a small city in Upstate New York. If I am on one of the interstates or a city like Syracuse or Utica, the reception is fine (better than my home phone at times). Unfortunately, I don't spend much of my time making or receiving calls from those areas.
Making and receiving calls from my city is a nightmare. I am constantly being cut off or have such a poor signal that the calls are choppy. I can actually sit in the parking lot outside the Radio Shack where I bought the phone and not get a signal.
I sent an e-mail to customer service about my lack of signal. The only way they said they could help me is if I were to make a log of where I was, what time of day it was and where I was calling when I was losing signals before they could do anything. Guess they weren't going to take my word for it.
Well, I knew my contract was due to expire soon. Of course I am unable to find this info on the Sprint website and I have not received any notification either my e-mail or snail mail about my impending renewal date. I called customer service last week to find out the exact date of my renewal. This call to customer service was surprisingly short. I did have to speak to "Claire" however. After finding out that my expiration date was next Wednesday I then asked what I needed to do to change my contract or end my contract. The guy I was speaking with says, "Well sir, we'd really like to see you stay with Sprint." I told him how I couldn't even get a signal right outside the store where I bought the phone. There was a pause and then, "Well.... that's just terrible. I guess I can't blame you then." That was the extent of my conversation.
I have since started polling my friends and checking out online reviews for a new provider. I have narrowed my choices down to Verizon and Cingular but am not really getting any more positive info about either. Guess I'll have to take my chances again.
All I can say is, if you live away from an interstate, stay away from Sprint. Their coverage area outside these areas is terrible.
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Dec 13 '03
11:19 pm PST
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