[Jesse Buck]

My wife purchased a new TP1 in June, by Oct. the keyboard had failed. Fine. Warranty claim, refurbed device, but the refurbed phone won't receive calls consistently, 8 out of 10 calls won't come through (I have 3 TPs on the account testing side by side). I called back and the rep slipped that they could only process 3 warranty exchanges per year. I stated that replacing a broken device with another broken device wasn't solving the problem. I stated I wanted a NIB TP1 or a TP2 because I knew that many known issues had been cured in the TP2. I got the refurb same device or Curve/Tour/PalmPro offer but stated that they weren't comparable and a refurb was not adequate after such a poor first go around and after all I'm only entitled to 3/yr, I shouldn't have to use all three because Sprint TP refurbs are crap. Rep 1 was excellent, she spoke with her manager, approved the TP2 but said it was OOS and that I could check back each day until it was in. Called back day 2 and got a bullsh*t run around. My acct. was notated "customer requested nib tp or tp2 but item is out of stock, customer will call back periodically to check availability...", I had her name, id #, and state she was calling from. The representatives (and supervisor) on day 2 completely refused what I had been told was approved by representatives on day 1. I had to threaten cancellation, and talk to several more departments. Unacceptably poor customer service, why should I have to go through this twice with account notation. I spent maybe 40 min. troubleshooting with the representative on day one before she agreed to a NIB TP or a TP2, it took me nearly 2 hours on day 2 just to get back to where I was on day 1.

The fact that this is at Sprints discretion is horrible, they wasted my time for no reason. Their refurbed devices are obviously faulty and inconsistent treatment within the system is terrible. I would have gladly accepted a nib TP, the other 2 on my account work fine. Sprint has acknowledged the device (especially refurbs) has many issues so to offer an upgrade or a nib device makes sense. It is about supporting your product not getting something for free. Sprint could have spent money investing in R&D for the TP1 or invest in a better refurb dept. but chose to spend that money on R&D for the TP2 (I know its htc but must of spent some $ on development) and advertising the Pre. They left all TP1 owners w/ issues to suffer an endless tirade of poorly refurbished phones. People aren't scamming Sprint for an upgrade, hardware is basically the same, save for screen size and some things are lost, like the flash. Sprints problem is not acknowledging such a drastic rate of failure in their refurbs and then doing their best to cop out on responsibility.

Phone companies don't make their money selling phones, the service is where profit is. Most smartphone users have higher end plans and therefore make them more cash. It would be in Sprints interest to maintain good relations with these customers. Most TP1 customers are not as discerning as those on ppcgeeks.com, they are everyday schmucks who just bought the Ferrari of phones to be cool, they don't flash or look for apps anywhere but the Sprint Marketplace. Sprint is banking that most of these people won't notice what they are losing when trading for a Tour/PalmPro. For the rest of us, we must argue for a reasonable replacement. If the TP2 has been offered to other customers as a replacement there is a reason. It is a more stable, better developed phone but comparable in hardware. From what I've read they are banking on a lower return rate. By ever offering the TP2 as a replacement they are acknowledging that the TP1 is faulty in ways that have been fixed by the TP2. But whats happening is they are not acknowledging this to everyone.

Why should one customer get drastically different treatment then another? All cash is green, why give some a run around? The answer is...because sometimes they get away with it. Its the same reason you receive the "sorry but your rebate could not be processed" postcard. Most everyday schmucks go "Oh darn I wonder what I did wrong, better luck on the next rebate". They don't fight the system for what is rightfully theirs. Sprints responsibility is to provide the product as advertised. When the phone is poorly built or serviced inadequately that is Sprint not living up to their side of the contract. Ppcgeeks.com should take poll to see how many refurbs don't have to be returned. I've read most of this post and other insurance claim posts and it seems not many with a refurb are very satisfied. I will continue to call back for a week or so to check on OOS availability before I escalate it again. I want to state this again the TP2 is not enough of an upgrade in devices that you should feel bad about getting one. By ever placing the TP2 on the WEL list Sprint was acknowledging that it is a comparable device. The fact that they gave me two very conflicting stories means they are hiding this fact.