Loyal Customer Looking to Move On
Written: Aug 01 '08 (Updated Aug 01 '08)
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Pros: Good signal coverage
Cons: Can't authorize purchases for family members, Dissimilar insurance replacement phones
The Bottom Line: Only suitable for singles that don't use phone insurance or don't care what replacement phone they get. Busy married couples should avoid the inconvenience and look elsewhere.
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| rivergirl37's Full Review: General Reviews of US Cellular Customer Service |
I've been a US Cellular customer for 12 years. Over those 12 years I've had a few issues with customer service but in the past we've always been able to work things out, but I’ve had it.
This time it all started with my husband's phone. My husband is hard on phones so I purchased insurance for it for $5.99 per month. About 2 years after purchasing his last phone this phone broke and wouldn't hold a charge. We submitted it for insurance replacement and paid the $50 deductible. His model was no longer available so they sent him a different model. The paperwork says that when the same model is no longer available they will send you a similar model, but this phone looked nothing like his previous model. He prefers a standard phone, with just easy to read numbers and maybe a camera. What he got in return for his standard phone was a Strobe, which has a keyboard, tiny numbers, and is about twice as large as his previous phone was. When we called USC to complain we were told they couldn't do anything because the phone is provided by the insurance company. We were assured that the phone he received was of equivalent features and that's why he got it. My husband tried to like it but after several weeks he still didn't like it so I tried again to see if there was anything USC could do. This time they said he was eligible to upgrade his phone since his contract was almost up, so he went to the store to upgrade. Because I’m the account holder and he didn’t know the last 4 of my SSN and he couldn’t reach me at work, he was told he couldn’t do anything but look at the phones. He went back a few days later with my SSN and he picked out a new phone, but they wouldn’t let him buy it because I had to be there to sign the contract. I called USC customer service to plead with them to let me add him to the contract (I’d made this plea unsuccessfully several years ago as well) and they said they couldn’t. So working married couples beware, if you ever want to be able to buy a phone without your account holder partner you’re out of luck, even in a community property state like Washington.
He finally got the phone, for $59.99. Calculating the cost of getting a phone like the one that broke worked out to $5.99/month for 20 months for insurance ($119.80 + tax), $50 for the deductible on the phone he didn’t want but couldn’t trade in for a model similar to the one he was replacing, $59.99 for the phone he actually wanted, and 3 hours of our time during working hours traveling to the store multiple times and talking to unhelpful people on the phone who couldn’t help us. That’s over $229.79 to replace a phone out of contract, not counting our time. When I called USC again to complain I was told I could contact the insurance company and try to return the unwanted phone. Up until that point I wasn’t even aware that was a possibility. The fact that my husband’s phone was eligible for replacement and that the insurance phone he hated could be returned would have been good things to know the FIRST time I called USC. I called the insurance company, but by that time it had been 50 days since the phone was shipped so I was told it was too late to return the unwanted phone for a refund.
I had insurance on 2 of the 3 phones we’re paying for, I’ve since cancelled both because I know now that you can’t be sure you’ll get a similar replacement phone and USC will not help you when that happens.
I’ve contacted Verizon and learned that unlike USC, with Verizon I CAN authorize a user to buy phones WITHOUT the account holder signature. We will be returning the phone that was the replacement for the insurance replacement phone, and purchasing a Verizon family plan.
If you don’t think it matters that much that the non-account holder on a family plan is able to purchase a phone, consider that in a working couple family, if the account holder is out of town on business and something happens to the non-account holder’s phone, that person is helpless to help themselves and do something as simple as purchase a replacement phone with the company they’ve faithfully done business with for 12 years. USC insists they have to do business that way. Well, I don’t have to do business with USC. It’s sad because they actually do have good cell phone coverage, my only complaint is dealing with USC customer service. When things go wrong with their phones or service it's always very painful, frustrating, and a huge waste of time. They place absolutely no value on customer loyalty.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 144
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Epinions.com ID:
rivergirl37
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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