My customer service debacle for the past 2 weeks

[MikeOD]

11 months ago, I was up for an upgrade on my old Samsung flip phone, so I went to the sprint store, and got an HTC touch pro. I changed my plan to everything data, as I didn't think I'd need 450 minutes then, and since then they've changed it so the 450 minute limit is ONLY to land lines...so the plan got even more attractive.

Over the course of 11 months, I had the touch pro replaced 2 times on warranty due to issues with either the screen flickering off when sliding the phone open, or the keyboard ceasing to function.

2 weeks ago, the third touch pro's keyboard began to get intermittent, so I called Sprint, and asked them what my options were. They immediately said "we will send you a new touch pro right away"...I pointed out to them, that while I have the TEP ("total equipment protection"? I guess) plan, that the phone itself should be covered by a 1 year manufacturers warranty...and that this would be my 4th phone, in less than one year...I also pointed out to them that every phone came back looking essentially new, as I'm careful to never drop them, and never put them in my pocket with my keys or anything else that could hard them.

The agent sent me to "advanced tech support" where I explained the problem again, and the woman on the phone was very nice. She offered me a list of other devices that they would send me instead to replace the touch pro. That list included the Palm Pre, HTC Snap, HTC Hero, and a few other phones.

I pointed out to her that less than a year ago, I spent $300 for the phone, and it was at that time, the most expensive you could buy from Sprint, and that every phone she had just listed to me, was less than half of that price, so none of them would be acceptable to me.

She offered me another Touch Pro, and I said "no, I'd like you to find out if I can have it replaced with a Touch Pro 2". She came back on the line after a minute or 2 and said "my boss has approved it, if we charge you what would have been the difference in price, which is $50"...so I was ok with that, I don't want a free lunch...I just want what I paid for.

So the TP2 came in the mail, with no envelope to return the old phone...the previous replacements had come with that. So worried that I might be charged the full price of the phone (over $600) if I didn't send an old phone back, I called tech support.

The woman I spoke with was very rude, and after putting me on hold for about a half an hour, she informed me that I did need to send the phone back, but that she was unable to mail me a return package to do that, so she was going to credit my account $7 for me to pay for a postage due envelope at the post office...

So a week went by...I couldn't get out of work in time to get to the post office, and last night, I decided I was sick of the hassle, so I called sprint back.

After speaking to 4 different people (because instead of transferring, people would hang up, or accidentally send me back to the main menu) I hung up and called back and said "hi, put a supervisor on the phone right now"...I got a supervisor and said "hi, before we get started, let me make this clear, you will not put me on hold, and you will not transfer me...you are the 5th person I've talked to in the past hour because of incompetence of the others, and I will not stand for it, you are going to solve my entire problem and that is that".

So he said "I'm sorry, please tell me what the problem is"...I explained the entire situation, including how I was ok with being charged $50 for the replacement, but that it was not suppossed to count against my upgrade, and that I was credited $7 I don't want, so I wanted them to take that back, and all I really wanted...was a padded envelope so I could send them back their old phone.

He kept me on the line while he looked at my account, and he said "wow, nobody can read, right here, at the very front, it explains how this replacement was to work, and how you were to be told you did not need to send the old phone back"...then he apologized a few times.

So I said "you've got to be kidding me...I just drove 60 miles, while talking to 5 different people, 4 of whom are clearly useless...just to find out I didn't need to be on the phone at all...and that I waited on hold for a half an hour last week with someone also for entirely no reason...and I pointed out that if I did that to any of my customers at work, the boss would tell me to get my ass out the door and never come back.

He apologized again, then he said "know what, this is ridiculous...I'm sorry, I'm going to credit your account the $50 fee as well, you don't need to send anything back, you don't need to worry about paying for the replacement...I hope you'll stay with Sprint"...so I thanked him, told him to have a nice day, he told me the same...and I hung up.

So...apparently it pays to deal with the idiots first...just keep arguing and then when you're ready to go bananas...demand to talk to a supervisor, explain how absolutely ridiculous the entire situation is...and avoid losing your cool, but make sure they understand how angry/frustrated you've become...and they actually do take the extra few steps to make you a happy customer.

[JDM_SOHC]

Damn, thats shitty... All I had to do was just tell'm I upgraded to the new ROM, gave'em a few issues, and my new TP2 was here the next day "with a padded envelope to return my old phone"... I guess some of us end up with the right people and some get the short end of the stick when it comes to Customer Service Rep's...

And BTW, if you're ever experiencing problems with your phone call Advanced Tech Support first every time... That'll save you loads of time repeating your situation to 20 different reps...

Welcome aboard though =)

[Nillaz]

I hear stories like this about Sprint's customer service all of the time and it never ceases to boggle my mind. I've been doing business with Sprint for 7 years and I have never dealt with one person there who was anything less than professional, courteous, and overwhelmingly helpful. In most cases they have gone way beyond the call of duty to ensure that I'm satisfied.

In May of last year I upgraded from my Mogul to the Touch Pro. I was cool with the price, but the gentleman at the Sprint store processing my upgrade literally INSISTED on trying to get Sprint corporate to apply an addition credit to my account to help 'ease the pain'. He was unsuccessful....but he did talk them into waiving the monthly fee for my data plan....forever.

So I had the TP for a couple months, and in December the screen stopped registering when you touched it. Called Sprint and they overnighted me a new phone and a return envelope. Thought it was all good but the new phone would periodically freeze for a few seconds at a time before resuming. I called to ask for another replacement and was instantly transferred to advanced support. They didn't mess around at all....just told me I could choose any phone Sprint carried, regardless of price, and they would overnight it to me with no extra charges. Naturally I chose the TP2.

So now I have a TP2 with unlimited data that they give to me every month, gratis. This is a typical example of the kind of service I've ALWAYS received from Sprint.

It sucks you had to go through so much hassle to get a satisfactory outcome, but I'm glad you were able to get it taken care of. Hopefully they do better for you in the future!

[Mojary]

some of the store reps are the same too. i remember when i upgraded october last year. i upgraded to the bb tour. the manager of the store was showing me how to work it (like i haven't had a smartphone before). now i knew what the problems were with the tour when they first came out and i did my research on it. when i got the box, looked at the manufacturing date to make sure i was getting a phone without any of the problems i read about. when i got the phone home, i started to get the trackball problem and my nav stopped working. so i brought it in to the store just so they can get my nav going again...because that weekend i was set to go out of town and needed it. was gonna live with the trackball problem because it was minimal problem IMO.

well...when the same guy (manager) that sold me the phone looked at it, he immediately said that i had a defective phone and asked me who sold me the phone. i stood there with a blank stare on my face looking at him and politely told him he did. he didn't say anything else after that. so i followed up and asked him that if he knew it was defective right when i handed it to him, why didn't he tell me it was defective when he was setting it up for me when i bought it? he acted like he didn't hear me and said he needed to order me a new one.

well 3 weeks come by and they kept telling me that their warehouse is still out of stock. so i asked them if there was a way that i can just get the tp2 and pay the difference as far as the upgrade is concerned. he was happy when i said that because i was getting a more expensive phone...i asked him if they can just give me a loaner phone for the time being. he didn't want to give me one. but, he then said that i will need to surrender my tour and have to be w/o a phone for 2-3 days while waiting for the tp2. i told him it was unacceptable because i need my phone for work and that i'll keep the bb tour while they get me my replacement tp2. finally he said i can get a loaner phone. then while he told me that since they weren't able to fix my replacement problem the past 3 weeks, he will get me my tp2 overnighted free of charge. so i gave him my credit card to finish the transaction.

the phone came the following day. but lo and behold...i look in my sprint account and i was charged th $15 for the overnight fee and got charged another $30 for activation on the tp2. i called customer service right away and explained the situation. told the CSR that i just got charged twice for the activation for upgrading and renewing my contract and charged for overnight shipping when it was supposed to be free. good thing the rep i spoke with was able to look at my account and see what happened and credited me back those charges and then some more.

[Dr.8820]

to all those living in jacksonville, don't go to the baymeadows store on southside, those guys suck! they are very rude and half of them couldn't tell a cell phone from a hole in the wall! if you have problems with speaking with a rep, always hang up and call right back.