This FAQ is in no way authored by any carrier. By reading on, you agree
that you are fully aware of this. I see many questions asked repeatedly
about problems with cellular service, and thought an "Unofficial FAQ"
was in order. I have no association (i.e. never been employed by any
carrier) and there is a greater than zero chance there may be errors
herein. I believe everything to be correct, but use the information at
your own risk. This FAQ comes not from any carrier, so it is unofficial,
but apparently has useful information some carrier's apologists are
upset about being made public.
===========

= Customers may be better off buying a phone from Costco or a major
Department store chain, who will stand behind the phone for defects that
their carrier won't (or claim they can't cause cellular manufacturer
won't reimburse them). If price is ones only consideration Amazon.com
and other web vendors may have extra rebates that will reduce the price
to below what SprintPCS charges.

= Customers CAN and DO get out of contracts if their service has
deteriorated where they live or work to make it unusable. Send certified
letter to company HQ, with copy to your State's Attorney General. A
phone must be "fit for purpose".

= Customers at end of contract can negotiate on their contract and get a
better plan than they may have realized. Carriers have unpublished deals.
"We can't do that", may not be true, ask for a supervisor. Ask also
about credits. You may be able to get a $50 or $100 credit on your
account as their "thank you" for renewing, in addition to any
improvement in your Plan.

= There are ways of downloading Ring tones, without having to buy short
lived ones from your carrier.

= When porting a number, it's supposed to take 3 1/2 hours. Don't accept
"It may take a week". ESCALATE, ESCALATE, ESCALATE, and keep calling
every 3 hours. The Director of Porting's number has been posted for some
carriers; use Google to look for corporate phone #'s at HQ.

= Customers can demand and receive compensation if their carrier has
screwed up their number porting; improperly disconnected their service,
or incorrectly filed a credit bureau complaint.

= If Customer Service refuses to help on a major issue, Executive
Services often is only too happy to help a customer. With a major
complaint, start at the top, not the bottom. Customers should not accept
long wait times when calling 800 numbers. I personally believe anything
above 5 minutes is unacceptable.

= Using web based email to contact a cellular carrier, typically gets a
response in 48 hours to call the 800 number. Many companies have now
outsourced this function to India, where the clerks have zero authority
to resolve problems. Seems like a waste of money to have this function
when it so typically provide no help.

= Buying phones off the web is a hassle with some carriers.
 Order fulfillment clerks may not know about this weeks "Free Car
Charger". Do all buying with a Credit Card, so you can ask the bank for
a "Chargeback" if you are improperly charged.

= If you are on an automatic payment plan, and Carrier is taking money
from your credit card improperly for wrong bills, it's trivial to call
your credit card company, and deny payment for all or part of a bill. If
the carrier overcharges you repeatedly, report your card lost, and get a
new card with a new number. My bank told me when I asked for a certain
vendor not to be able to charge my card, that they could easily do it,
they'd just "report my card lost", I said "my card is not lost", and
they answered "This is how we do it, its not dishonest, its just how our
system works".

= Many carriers' billing software have known issues.
  - If you move
  - If you change plans
  - Changing the date on a contract expiration

= Combined plan discounts (i.e. Southwest Bell landline and Cingular,
Sprint landline and Sprint PCS) may not be the bargain they seem.

= Company stores may not always give best service for problem phones,
  and carriers have secret lists of phones with issues that
   WILL BE REPLACED if one complains. Make sure you are dealing
   with a Company owned store.

= Extended warranties are usually a total rip-off, with the possible
exception if you have a $600 phone and tend to have problems.

= One is much better served to get cellular service through their
employer if possible. Monthly discounts. Discounts on new phone
purchases. Waiver of all activation fees.

= Carriers will give credits for dropped calls, but you have to ask
in some cases.

= Buying accessories from your Carrier is the MOST EXPENSIVE way to get
cases, car chargers, etc.  Places like Target or Wal-Mart have good
selections of cellular accessories, typically at half the price or
better. Sanyo for instance has a Sanyo/GE line of accessories at Target
that are litterly half the price (and less) of those available from
SprintPCS.