I've Had It With Sprint ! ! !

-----

Here is a copy of a letter going to Sprint Customer Service.
-----
April 15, 2007

Sprint PCS
P.O. Box 8077
London Kentucky 40742

Dear Customer Service Representative,

I’ve had it with Sprint/Nextel.

I have been trying to make a call all afternoon and I get the same message that I get more and more frequently, mostly on weekends. “Sprint PCS Svc not available.” Why Not???

My service has gotten progressively poorer since the two companies merged. In January I went into a Sprint Store in Greensboro. I wanted to purchase a new phone because the one I was using seemed to be worn out. The dial didn’t light up and I was not able to see the address book, calls record, etc.

The employees watched me as I looked around at the selection of phones. They seemed only interested in selling me a new service plan. I said that I didn’t want a new plan and didn’t want to renew my old plan for an extended period. They were not interested in helping me after that.

I have been a Sprint customer for many years and with the service getting worse and worse, I did not want to get tied into a long-term commitment. I just wanted a new phone. All phones were several hundred dollars unless they were purchased with a service contract. So, I went to the desk in the front of the store and waited for awhile before being told by the woman there that she didn’t know anything and I would have to go to the back of the store to get any service.

At the “Service Desk” at the back of the store, I asked the attendant if I could just use an old phone that I used before I got the one that didn’t work or if I could get the bad one fixed. She told me that they didn’t repair equipment. She played with her computer a few minutes and told me that I didn’t have an account, or that she couldn’t find one for me.

I left the store.

I found my old phone and called Sprint Service to have it activated. It took 5 days to get the phone activated. On some of the calls I was transferred to several different people. Each time I called, I followed the directions I was given and I was told that it took awhile and would work in a few hours. It didn’t.

On one of the calls, a nice lady told me that I was not on the Sprint network. My account had been transferred to another place and I would have to call another number to access a service person. I called, but there was no one there to help me. When I finally got a person I followed instructions and got the same result. No Service.

The weekend arrived and I called again and found out that there was no service on weekends and I would have to call back Monday morning. The phone was finally activated Tuesday. Service has not improved. If I try to reach customer service about a dropped call or to get an account of my usage, I can seldom get through. Either the call is dropped or I get a recording that I can’t get information about account usage.

Even before this problem with activating my phone, I have had many problems with the service since the merger of Sprint and Nextel. I started dropping lots of calls. I dialed the trouble number and told an automated answering service that I had a dropped call.

I did this so that the service provider would know that I was getting lousy service and maybe they would fix it. After several months of this, I started getting messages that said stay on the line because my phone needed some updating or something. I did this for the first few times and it took several minutes. But that didn’t stop the problem. Later, when this message came on, I waited, let them do their thing and when it didn’t work I was then told to wait for a technician. After waiting up to 10 minutes, the phone cut off. This happened several times. I waited. I never talked to a tech person. I think this was just to get rid of me. And it finally worked. I will change my service this week.

The check that I have been sending Sprint for many years will not contribute to the $20 million+ salary of Gary Forsee ever again.

A long-time, patient customer who gave Spring more than enough chances.




Diane G. Davis
Cell phone number ----------

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

My family just left Sprint. We went to Cingular. All cellular phone stores suffer horrible employee attrition, despite this they were still helpful, patient and polite to us at the Greenville store. It took 3 hours to move our old phone numbers over to the new carrier- you just need the Sprint account number when you got to a new carrier. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

check out http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2007/02/an_open_letter_1.html
for more spring complaints

Diane Grey Davis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives
/2007/02/an_open_letter_1.html

Darkmoon said...

If you're getting a "Sprint PCS service not available" then that means that your coverage area was always poorly covered. In fact, I can tell you for a fact that the merger has had nothing to do with your service. I work on the technology, and I know the Sprint network in Greensboro.

They've actually filled in more holes and have done some pretty interesting things to make sure that there is coverage along I-40 where there used to be drops. All of inner-city Greensboro is covered.

If you got a newer phone, and started getting those signals, then it could also be because your antenna in your newer phone doesn't pick up the signal as well as your old phone. Certain models fare better than others. I've seen the test results in Overland Park.

Can't help you with the sales and service from the Sprint Store. Each one varies and customer service varies.

The other issue that I see with this letter is that you deactivated your old phone before getting a new one. Why? There was no need for the reactivation. It's a simple ESN change if you have a new phone, or if you do not, then nothing changes.

You don't have to do PRL updates. Just hit "0". PRL updates just tells your phone that certain basestations have better power. It optimizes the phone better to fit the network itself.

And "no, I don't work for Sprint."

Diane Grey Davis said...

Thanks Darkmoon,
But if I make a call in my dining room and then try to make another from the same spot and I get the message that service is not available, I doubt that it is my phone. I live in Downtown Greensboro.
I got wonderful service from Sprint for a long time, but I can't stand what is happening now.
I am not cancelling my service, just moving it to another company.

Darkmoon said...

You live in-building? heh. No wonder. If you live in downtown, then it has everything to do with where you live.

To provide cellular coverage indoors, means that the signal has to penetrate through rebar and structural constraints. Most large buildings have indoor repeaters. If your service is being provided by a similar base station in a similar area, then another service won't help you any.

No offense, but your technical issues are actually not a problem of the service (outside of the customer service) if you live downtown unless it's getting inteference from another source (either RF or physical).

Good luck with your move to another company. But don't blame them also, if you have the same signal degradation. RF is finicky within urban areas.

Blue and White Collar Eat Out said...

The filling in of Sprint dead areas in the network is a myth. Try driving down Wendover Ave near Friendly Center or in Irving Park on Cone Blvd. There is no rebar or bricks in that area, but dropped calls are frequent.

Anonymous said...

I changed my service to Verizon. The reception is better, the coverage area is better.
I traveled by car from greensboro to portland oregon and had coverage all the way.
There were a few blips, but nothing like the hours of non-service I had when I used sprint.