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Cellular Phone Forum / Manufacturers / Motorola / February 2004My experience with Sprint PCS service
I want to tell you about my awful experience with SPRINT & their PCS service. I went into the Costco store on Oahu back in November and purchased a Sprint PCS phone. At the time their sales staff at the store told me I had a 14 day money back guarantee, later I found out all their sales people at any Costco (mainland included) purports this as a sales point. Over the next couple days, I found their service to be far from up to par. I decided to cancel within that so called 14 day time frame. I called them up and they informed me I had to cancel at one of their stores. I went to their store 50 miles away only to find out I could cancel with an unknown phone number Sprint does their best to hide. A month later I received a bill from Sprint for 300 dollars. I called and their staff acted like they couldn't do anything about it. I later called back and told them about the 14 day deal and they said, alright you have to pay $100 for the activation fee and the first month (used the phone for 2 days by the way, not 30). The 14 day money back deal was in fact for the phone only. A phone the store would have returned no questions asked. Now it's February and i get another bill from Sprint for 15 dollars for a late fee. They said I paid the bill late. I tried explaining that during this time i was in discussion with their Sprint Staff over prorating this bill. Might I also add that everyone I've dealt with at Sprint via phone service acts inept and incompetent; it takes 10 phone calls to get a straight answer about anything. It's almost as if Sprints goal is hire these half apes so you go crazy wasting your time and you eventually give up. I hope Costco takes a look at this. I can't believe Costco would have anything to do with a 3rd rate company like Sprint. > I want to tell you about my awful experience with SPRINT & their PCS > service. I went into the Costco store on Oahu back in November and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > as a sales point. Over the next couple days, I found their service to > be far from up to par. SPCS is not a big player in HA. Surely you looked at the local maps before getting the coverage. As to the 14 day return, it does only apply to the cost of the phone. You would be responsible for the activation fee and the first month's charges. > I decided to cancel within that so called 14 > day time frame. I called them up and they informed me I had to cancel [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > dollars. I called and their staff acted like they couldn't do > anything about it. They were right. > I later called back and told them about the 14 day > deal and they said, alright you have to pay $100 for the activation [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > believe Costco would have anything to do with a 3rd rate company like > Sprint. Just what did SPCS do wrong? You agreed to the activation fee and the first month's billing when you bought the phone. I am not aware of any wireless provider who would prorate the first month's service fee. Bob > > I want to tell you about my awful experience with SPRINT & their PCS > > service. I went into the Costco store on Oahu back in November and [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > Bob What did Sprint Do Wrong.. You have to be joking right? Sprint first misrepresented what the terms were "verbally" to me, obviously not in writing. Not all of us have 4 hours to sit in Costco with our lawyers and read the points of a contract; we sometimes take what is said to us for granted. It doesn't make sense anyways, why would Sprint offer me 14 days to return this phone, Costco will return anything, no questions asked anyways. Why does Sprint use that as a selling point? Second they deliberately acted like they knew nothing about a 14 day money back guarantee. I had to explicitly tell their customer service staff, I WANT MY 14 DAY RETURN GUARANTEE. It was like talking to the borg and giving some special voice command. Even then as they showed they would only drop the bill down to 100 dollars, the rest was in the small print. Third, the customer service on the phone stated I had too visit one of their store locations to cancel the phone. In fact there is a phone number to do this. I had to not only go to the store, but later I had to call again to their customer service to cancel the phone because their store wouldn't do it, ahhh. I guess they don't care if they waste someone's day. Fourth, the company bills me with random jumbled charges. If you use their service for two days, it's billed like you used it for 30 days. If you try to contest how they're billing you, they just keep putting 15 dollar late fees on your bill. <snipped> > > Just what did SPCS do wrong? You agreed to the activation fee and the first > > month's billing when you bought the phone. I am not aware of any wireless [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > misrepresented what the terms were "verbally" to me, obviously not in > writing. Oh? You didn't buy your phone at SPCS. You bought it at Costco. Did you ever take the time to see what areas were covered by SPCS in HA, or check out their website to review what coverage was available, or go through the plans, and see what your responsibility would be? > Not all of us have 4 hours to sit in Costco with our lawyers > and read the points of a contract; we sometimes take what is said to > us for granted. It doesn't make sense anyways, why would Sprint offer > me 14 days to return this phone, Costco will return anything, no > questions asked anyways. Why does Sprint use that as a selling point? Every wireless provider offers a 14 day (or more) return policy. It's on the equipment. You still are responsible for the activation and first month's service fee. > Second they deliberately acted like they knew nothing about a 14 day > money back guarantee. I had to explicitly tell their customer service > staff, I WANT MY 14 DAY RETURN GUARANTEE. It was like talking to the > borg and giving some special voice command. Even then as they showed > they would only drop the bill down to 100 dollars, the rest was in the > small print. Who is they? The Costco employee? SPCS customer service? > Third, the customer service on the phone stated I had too visit one of > their store locations to cancel the phone. Who suggested that? Costco customer service? or SPCS? > In fact there is a phone > number to do this. I had to not only go to the store, but later I had > to call again to their customer service to cancel the phone because > their store wouldn't do it, ahhh. I guess they don't care if they > waste someone's day. I have no clue about this sequence of events and why someone from SPCS would tell you to go to the store. Again, if it was a Costco employee who told you to go to the store, then how can you blame SPCS? Even in the phone manual that comes with the phone, it tells you who to call about service, etc. > Fourth, the company bills me with random jumbled charges. If you use > their service for two days, it's billed like you used it for 30 days. > If you try to contest how they're billing you, they just keep putting > 15 dollar late fees on your bill. Yes, you are billed for the whole month's service. What's more, the fee is based on minutes and within a time frame. Not saying you did this, but it's more than possible for one to burn up a full month's worth of minutes within a couple of days, depending on the plan you went with. That's why a full month is charged. Bob > <snipped> > > > [quoted text clipped - 60 lines] > a couple of days, depending on the plan you went with. That's why a full > month is charged. Thats stupid. If he is disconnected within the first month, not only should the plan fee be prorated, but the minutes too. Simple billing system tasks Sounds like you guys are a bit behind in the good ole US of A In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Bob Smith <usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote: > Just what did SPCS do wrong? You agreed to the activation fee and the first > month's billing when you bought the phone. I am not aware of any wireless > provider who would prorate the first month's service fee. > > Bob Bob, this guy has posted this story here before. He is trolling as it is a repeat. In any event, he does not appear to be posting from Hawii ;)  SignatureThomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1 > In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Bob Smith <usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote: > > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > is a repeat. In any event, he does not appear to be posting from Hawii > ;) Absolutely correct Tom. Ole Mikey is in San Diego ... but he started this thread, mentioning he bought a SPCS phone at a Costco in Oahu ... :). Bob > > In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Bob Smith <usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Bob O boy you caught me I said I bought the phone on Oahu and tried returning it in San Diego! Once again I'm faced with a Sprint employee that doesn't use his head. Some folks have two places of residence. <snipped> > > Absolutely correct Tom. Ole Mikey is in San Diego ... but he started this > > thread, mentioning he bought a SPCS phone at a Costco in Oahu ... :). [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > employee that doesn't use his head. Some folks have two places of > residence. First off, I'm not a SPCS employee, and secondly, I don't give two hoots to your trolling problems here ... Bob Bob is not an employee. Sorry you got caught in a bad chain of events. I have learned some hard lessons over time as well. Movin' on......... ;-) To each their own, as each of us has their own requirements, coverage areas, equipment, etc. I like the service that SprintPCS provides and have had minor issues, but Sprint, over all, has been good to me so, I am sticking with them for a while more. Like anything else in life, your mileage may vary. :-) Scotty > > > In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Bob Smith <usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> > > wrote: [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > employee that doesn't use his head. Some folks have two places of > residence. > Just what did SPCS do wrong? You agreed to the activation fee and the first > month's billing when you bought the phone. I am not aware of any wireless > provider who would prorate the first month's service fee. Every single carrier in Australia does. Its the way any billing system should work > > Just what did SPCS do wrong? You agreed to the activation fee and the > first [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Every single carrier in Australia does. > Its the way any billing system should work Ahhh, but we aren't in Australia last time I looked at the map. To follow up this and your follow up post, as an example, if one buys a 500/mo. plan, used 100 minutes in two days, it could get more expensive to the customer, as that plan allows an average of 17 minutes of calls per day. If the plan is cancelled in 2 days, 34 minutes would be allowed and the 66 minutes in overage, would be billed at a much higher rate of $0.40 to $0.50 a minute. Bob To follow up > this and your follow up post, as an example, if one buys a 500/mo. plan, > used 100 minutes in two days, it could get more expensive to the customer, > as that plan allows an average of 17 minutes of calls per day. If the plan > is cancelled in 2 days, 34 minutes would be allowed and the 66 minutes in > overage, would be billed at a much higher rate of $0.40 to $0.50 a minute. If you follow that formula to the bitter end, the total charges could be a lot higher than the agreed upon plan of (say) $45 per month for 500 minutes. I hope there is a ceiling that tops out at the monthly rate, as long as the 500 minutes weren't exceeded. SignatureJohn Richards In alt.cellular.sprintpcs John Richards <supportdesk@netzero.net> wrote: > If you follow that formula to the bitter end, the total charges could be a lot > higher than the agreed upon plan of (say) $45 per month for 500 minutes. > I hope there is a ceiling that tops out at the monthly rate, as long as the > 500 minutes weren't exceeded. Eh? If you followed that formula to the very end, you would have used more than 500 minutes. That was the point of the post. A prorated bill is based off of a prorated plan (30 days). So, 6 days would equate to 100 minutes and if a user used 110 minutes, they would have 10 minutes of overage. - -- Thomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1 > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > 100 minutes and if a user used 110 minutes, they would have 10 minutes of > overage. Where do you get this "more than 500 minutes"? Quoting Bob Smith: > if one buys a 500/mo. plan, > used 100 minutes in two days, it could get more expensive to the customer, > as that plan allows an average of 17 minutes of calls per day. If the plan > is cancelled in 2 days, 34 minutes would be allowed and the 66 minutes in > overage, would be billed at a much higher rate of $0.40 to $0.50 a minute. Suppose he used all 500 minutes the first two days, then cancelled. Using Bob's formula, the customer would have 466 "overage" minutes, resulting in a charge of about $233. This makes no sense because it exceeds a normal whole month of charges ($45). Why should Sprint get more revenue for two days use as opposed to 30 days of use when the total air time is the same? Sprint's billing system shouldn't care if I use all of my 500 minutes the first few days or whether I dribble it out a little at a time (17 minutes per day). In alt.cellular.sprintpcs John Richards <supportdesk@netzero.net> wrote: > Where do you get this "more than 500 minutes"? > Quoting Bob Smith: [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Sprint's billing system shouldn't care if I use all of my 500 minutes the first > few days or whether I dribble it out a little at a time (17 minutes per day). That is not "Bob's" forumula ... that is simply how proration works, by definition. You might want to talk to Webster about that one. - -- Thomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1 > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > That is not "Bob's" forumula ... that is simply how proration works, by > definition. You might want to talk to Webster about that one. Maybe the folks at Webster will change it to "Bob's Formula," kinda like "Bernoulli's Equation." Pretty cool having something, that works, named after you! <g> Larry > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Larry Hey, I'll go for that ... :) Bob > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > 100 minutes and if a user used 110 minutes, they would have 10 minutes of > overage. That would explain why they do it different in Australia- too much math involved. errr i didnt realise you had to calculate to make a phone call...bloody hell... no wonder u yanks blabber on and on and on....and in the end you forget what you'r blabbering about..... cheers ;) > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA1 [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > That would explain why they do it different in Australia- too much math > involved. > To follow up > > this and your follow up post, as an example, if one buys a 500/mo. plan, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I hope there is a ceiling that tops out at the monthly rate, as long as the > 500 minutes weren't exceeded. John, there is no cap. If the user did burn their whole monthly bucket of minutes in that short of a time, they will have to pay. They should also get their brain examined for using so many minutes in such a short time and not agreeing to go with a higher minutes plan in the first place ... Bob > John, there is no cap. If the user did burn their whole monthly bucket of > minutes in that short of a time, they will have to pay. They should also get > their brain examined for using so many minutes in such a short time and not > agreeing to go with a higher minutes plan in the first place ... Your comment makes sense for a normal customer, but canceling after two days is not a normal customer. Maybe the guy knew he was going to cancel anyway so he figured he might as well use up his bucket. SignatureJohn Richards >I want to tell you about my awful experience with SPRINT & their PCS >service. I went into the Costco store on Oahu back in November and [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >believe Costco would have anything to do with a 3rd rate company like >Sprint. You know all those papers you sign when you signed up for service? Next time read the fine print before you sign them, and you won't have this problem. tbh if you live in USA might as well sue them, seems u can sue for anything over there, say it caused u undue stress n take a few days off work or drop the phone on ya head and cause a bump > >I want to tell you about my awful experience with SPRINT & their PCS > >service. I went into the Costco store on Oahu back in November and [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > Next time read the fine print before you sign them, and you won't have > this problem. > tbh if you live in USA might as well sue them, seems u can sue for anything > over there, say it caused u undue stress n take a few days off work or drop > the phone on ya head and cause a bump Why do non-americans always have something negative to say about america? Get over it, there is no utopia country, so why talk poorly about mine? In AMERICA we are just so accustomed to getting great service, with everything, it makes it that much worse when service is just okay or bad. If this were a number of other different service products (or through better companies) they would bend over backwards to help you out, refund you, etc. even if you did discontinue service. We are so accustomed to the free trial period being just was the words tell you, that when there are hidden charges it really is infuriating. Really what it comes down to is: IF SPCS had great service then they could truely offer a free trial and a great refund policy because nobody (or very few) would be dissatisfied and actually use it. But the fact remains that they SUCK, and therefore, have to have these hidden charges to make up for their losses on people who are initially dissatisfied, they most likely even make money (but not lifelong customers). Verizon has great cust service, they've bent over backwards for me, even crediting my accound Early Termination Fee when I canceled one of many lines while still in my contract, because they did not want to piss me off. Rather keep me happy with my 4 other lines and continue doing business than piss me off over nothing. Hope you found a phone company with better service (not just coverage, OVERALL service). lucaq ----------------------- >> tbh if you live in USA might as well sue them, seems u can sue for anything >> over there, say it caused u undue stress n take a few days off work or drop >> the phone on ya head and cause a bump >Why do non-americans always have something negative to say about america? Because most of us deserve it? Signature"Atheism is the world of reality, it is reason, it is freedom. Atheism is human concern, and intellectual honesty to a degree that the religious mind cannot begin to understand. And yet it is more than this. Atheism is not an old religion, it is not a new and coming religion, in fact it is not, and never has been, a religion at all. The definition of Atheism is magnificent in its simplicity: Atheism is merely the bed-rock of sanity in a world of madness." [Atheism: An Affirmative View, by Emmett F. Fields] (random sig, produced by SigChanger) rukbat at verizon dot net > Why do non-americans always have something negative to say about america? Because sometimes you act like w.nkers > Get over it, there is no utopia country, so why talk poorly about mine? Why not? > You know all those papers you sign when you signed up for service? > Next time read the fine print before you sign them, and you won't have > this problem. It is a common complaint that the free 14 day trial is hardly free. In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Robert M. <rmarkoff@msn.com> wrote: > It is a common complaint that the free 14 day trial is hardly free. Funny thing about that, I was told that the activation and first month would not be refunded if I cancelled. So I could have declined service if I so chose. Perhaps it isn't completely free, and I can see disagreeing with the use of the word free to describe it. However, if you're told up front what is going to happen, I don't see how you can complain if what you are told will happen, actually happens. SignatureJustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net PGP: C57E 8B25 F994 D6D0 5F6B B961 EA08 9410 E3AE 35ED In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Steven J Sobol <sjsobol@justthe.net> wrote: > Funny thing about that, I was told that the activation and first month > would not be refunded if I cancelled. So I could have declined service if [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > to happen, I don't see how you can complain if what you are told will happen, > actually happens. I have never heard the word "free" used to describe the first 14 days. I have heard "no obligation" and "refund" on the phone. - -- Thomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1 >I want to tell you about my awful experience with SPRINT & their PCS >service. I went into the Costco store on Oahu back in November and [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >believe Costco would have anything to do with a 3rd rate company like >Sprint. TROLL-O-METER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / / / / / / O Mike, The most amazing thing about Sprint is that they are still in business. Several years ago we purchased Sprint PCS service - 4 phones, for our entire family - Atlanta area. All phones were billed to the same number. After a couple of months, they cancelled my daughter's service. We went to the Sprint store - they said "oops the computer dropped her out" I say "That's okay, just reinstate it" They say "we can't, that plan is no longer available" We argue - eventually they solve that problem Then they say - She can't have the same phone number - it's locked out. She settles for a different number. My daughters are sharing 500 mnutes Daughter A uses 50 minutes Daughter B uses 320 minutes. We get a bill for 70 excess minutes of usage. We complain. Sprint is sorry, they are fixing it. 5 months later the bill has not been straightened out. My wife writes to the Chairman of the Board of Sprint. We get a response from some functionary which has both grammar and spelling errors. The letter accuses us of trying to cheat Sprint. If the Chairman of Sprint were to fly here, hand deliver four phones and offer us free worldwide service for ever, I'd have his escorted off my property. There are a lot of just plain arrogant companies out there. They don't seem to care about their customers. I put Sprint at the top of the list. Mac > I want to tell you about my awful experience with SPRINT & their PCS > service. I went into the Costco store on Oahu back in November and [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > believe Costco would have anything to do with a 3rd rate company like > Sprint. > Daughter A uses 50 minutes > Daughter B uses 320 minutes. > > We get a bill for 70 excess minutes of usage. > We complain. Sprint is sorry, they are fixing it. Thats the "whoops" charge. > Several years ago .... And that's the key phrase. You don't say how many years ago your experience was, but I would guess that it was at least one CEO and several major changes ago. Approximately two years ago, I had some trouble with my phone and with the store on the SprintPCS web site. After getting nowhere with customer service and tech support on either issue, I wrote the new CEO of SprintPCS and within two weeks got a very nice written reply followed up by a phone call from a very bright and helpful lady from Executive Services. They fixed my problems quickly and more than satisfied me. Since then, my calls to customer service and my use of their web site have been very positive. So, if you don't want the CEO to personally deliver you four phones and free worldwide service, send him to me. I'll gladly take 'em! Jeff |
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