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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Sprint PCS / November 2005America $5 option covers all phones?
I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on a F&F plan, correct? When I added it, the agent said it worked that way, in the store they said it was that way, but my billing is wrong month after month. If someone can give me the soothing high-five that it's really true... Thanks. ojo It is supposed to work that way. It took me about 4 months to get a bill that reflected exactly what I had ordered, though. But now, that is the way that it appears on my bill. $5 for all of the lines inclusive. If you just added it, and get a correct bill next month (or the month after), run, don't walk, but RUN to the nearest liquor store and buy a lottery ticket. It is your lucky day. So while yes it is true, there is a fairly good chance that you will have to call after the first few billing cycles and fight like an Irishman after 9 beers to get it reflected correctly. > It is supposed to work that way. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > But now, that is the way that it appears on my bill. $5 for all of the > lines inclusive. Yeah, it sounds like another genius at Sprint added the single-line version of the "America" option to a Multi-line plan. Thus, same price, but only the primary phone covered.  SignatureRØß O/Siris -+- A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice. +Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+ > It is supposed to work that way. > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > to call after the first few billing cycles and fight like an Irishman > after 9 beers to get it reflected correctly. LOL, I'll do exactly what you say! I'm on bill #3, so maybe the next one is the charm. I'll put my little LG325 to sleep on a bed of 4-leaf clovers tonight and a rabbit's foot on top of it while crossing my fingers and blowing incense around the room. We should have a contest as to how long you can keep Claire talking before she gives up or transfers to a rep. Thanks for the humor, and thanks also to O/Siris for the probable single vs. multi-line reason for this. ojo [...] >Thanks for the humor, and thanks also to O/Siris for the probable single >vs. multi-line reason for this. Now there's something you don't see every day...Rob and FWIW working together to help someone. Joe Huber huber.joseph@comcast.net > It is supposed to work that way. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > after), run, don't walk, but RUN to the nearest liquor store and buy a > lottery ticket. It is your lucky day. Man, you are such a pessimist. They have always billed it correctly for me, even when I added my third phone. Same goes for my Brother's account. Sounds to me like you feel the need to bash Sprint at every opportunity. Your privilege I guess. SignatureThomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1 >Man, you are such a pessimist. They have always billed it correctly for >me, even when I added my third phone. Same goes for my Brother's >account. Sounds to me like you feel the need to bash Sprint at every >opportunity. Your privilege I guess. That's the way it happened for me. What the f.ck do you want me to do? Lie and say "They got it right the first time!" Because they didn't get it right the first time. Apparently to you, reporting this fact is "pessimism". By your logic, your factual account of your positive experience makes you a "Pollyanna Optimist that kisses Sprint's hairy beanbag at every opportunity". I guess it is your "priviledge" to do that. >>Man, you are such a pessimist. They have always billed it correctly for >>me, even when I added my third phone. Same goes for my Brother's [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > I guess it is your "priviledge" to do that. Just for the record, my billing problems on the America option are not the only ones I have, and I appreciate that others have provided input on probable causes as well as what to say when I call C/S. When I call C/S on the phone, they mainly want to sell me some add-ons "free" for 30 days or so. I'd consider taking one if I could get just one correct bill to use as a baseline. I've had not one single correct bill since April when I went on F&FF with Vision. Previous to that I had 3 years of correct billing, mainly (I guess) because Radio Shack set up my single line and I changed nothing from then until April of this year. It has become a one big game with me each month, calling Sprint and stepping through each error in my bill: America billed times 2 (yes! $10), roaming, long distance while roaming, text messages billed though I have them included. When I finally get that one correct "baseline" to go by, I'll buy FWIW a nice bottle of tequila! I'm hoping that Bob and O/Siris will join in for some shots. If they prefer pot I'll try to get it. If you got a correct bill the first time, it's because your marble dropped into the correct slot on the roulette billing wheel. Don't spin that wheel ever again, and your bill will stay correct! ;-) I, for one, am not bashing Sprint. I have enjoyed their service(s) for years, starting with their Candice Bergen 10cents/minute long distance years ago, then Sprint Internet Passport, then their cellular. I do however realize that their customer service can slum with the best of them. It's best to be humorous about it. ojo > If you got a correct bill the first time, it's because your marble dropped > into the correct slot on the roulette billing wheel. Don't spin that > wheel ever again, and your bill will stay correct! ;-) > > I, for one, am not bashing Sprint. This is, unfortunately, far too common. I don't think it comes anywhere CLOSE to be being a lot compared to the entirety of the Sprint customer base. But it's still enough instances that something is very, very wrong with how Sprint carries out its self-proclaimed "one and done" call policy. SignatureRØß O/Siris -+- A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice. +Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+ It's hard to gauge the scope of a problem based on Usenet posts. How many people use Usenet now? Maybe .01% of Internet users (and that is generous). Usenet unfortunately is fast become a dinosaur to specialized message boards. Every single phone and service provider now has at least 5 Yahoo (or other) message bord dedicated exclusively to it. The couple of survey's I have seen have sprint come in with 40%+ unfavorable CSR expereinces. That is ALOT any way you look at it. Now, of course we can defray that criticism with "but the whole industry suffers from poor CSR perceptions" ... but really, is that any excuse? Craigslist gets ranked near number one, and they have to deal with tons of people for very litle money. Calling Sprint CS, and then calling Verizon CS is such a completely different experience, that they would be very hard to compare. Yes, I have had some clueless dolts on Verizon, but I have always had the problem solved in 2 or 3 calls. It takes less time to get someone who knows their a.s from their elbow. I finally got my last Sprint issue resolved after 16 (SIXTEEN) calls. And anecdotally, I am not anywhere NEAR alone in this. Like I said, most people simply do not use Usenet. You usually have 10 people who do 90% of the posting on any particular group, and they are usually devided into "pumpers" or "bashers". The Sprint network is great. The pricing is great, second to none.. The Phones are great, second to none. The people that you actually have to deal with are the worst of any company I have EVER had to deal with ... and this includes the DMV, which isn't even a company. Frankly, the first three are enough for me to have to deal with the last. But if other carriers drop their prices, get real data plans, and start showing better phones, then Sprint better come up with a viable Customer Service Solution. They better start getting everybody's bill correct the first time. And fast. The first three points are carrying them, but I think they could do much better. The share price has been unimpressive (to say the least) so far, and Sprint *should* be the market leader with their pricing, data, and phones. After taking 16 calls to SIGN UP FOR A NEW ACCOUNT .... I can see why the average consumer would simply dial the number of a competeing carrier. Verizon was happier than a pig in sh.t to get my business, on the FIRST call. > The Sprint network is great. The pricing is great, second to none.. > The Phones are great, second to none. The people that you actually [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > so far, and Sprint *should* be the market leader with their pricing, > data, and phones. I've pointed out before that I do NOT think Sprint's Customer Service structure is fine. And you make the same points that have been made by many a customer, and not just here. I've had customers tell me this to my face (in a manner of speaking, since I was a call center rep). That was going on 2 years ago. There seemed to be a small period of improvement, and now it seems to be sinking back, and then some. At its core, Sprint STILL doesn't understand what Customer Service really is. It measures it by the flow of dollars, or uptake of additional services. In short, by SALES measures. Not by the actual satisfaction of the customer. Not at the top levels, anyway. I've been to the corporate site many a time, and I've YET to see a company officer put in charge of customer service that is an actual expert in customer service. There are, I believe, three years left in the deal with IBM. IBM promised that, at the end of 5 years, Sprint would be the industry leader in Customer Service. I'd like to think all of this is simply a prelude by IBM to taking some kind of serious, attitude-adjusting initiative to fix the problem. I really would like to do that. But, so far, we can't even hear the right LANGUAGE from Sprint leadership on the issue. So how likely are they to buy into such an initiative even if it proves to be so? I refuse to give up, but I must admit that, Nextel merger or not, I see a fat lady warming up backstage. It's not too late to call her off. But I also don't see anyone at Sprint equipped to accomplish that. SignatureRØß O/Siris -+- A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice. +Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+ I don't know your exact position with Sprint, or how high up the food chain you go ... but is there any way you can tell them what you told us, and possibly make them understand it? Seriously, if you threw decent Customer Service into the equation of quality phones, superior pricing plans, and superior voice/data network that Sprint already has, you would have a no-brainer behemoth that would mroe than make in in volume the amount it would cost them to hire real customer service people. I don't like recommending Verizon to my companies when they charge $50 per-month-per PDA for data access. But if someone tries to call, and they get some Indian person they cannot understand, or they get some incompetent twit on the other line, it makes me look bad as much as it makes Sprint look bad. So too often I have to receommend the inferior, higher priced network, simply because the professionalsm my people expect is more likely to happen at that network. I have lined with every major carrier in the U.S., but I the phone I always carry is my Sprint phone. Best phone, best data throughput, best price. But that is because I figured out how to work around the company's glaring holes. I know to sit down with a 6 pack and two free hours before I dare venture to change anything on the plan. I know I will have to iron any change out for months afterward. And I make very little changes for this reason. But I cannot expect everyone else to do this. If someone, anyone, could convince Sprint corporate to put some people on the phones that understand the phones & plans, speak the language well, and genuinely care (or at least act like they do) - I think the reward would be FAR greater than the cost to implement such a solution. I hope it happens. I really do. > I don't know your exact position with Sprint, or how high up the food > chain you go ... but is there any way you can tell them what you told > us, and possibly make them understand it? No. He can't. He got laid off during a call center closure. He used to be a Vision tech support rep. > I don't like recommending Verizon to my companies when they charge $50 > per-month-per PDA for data access. But if someone tries to call, and > they get some Indian person they cannot understand, or they get some > incompetent twit on the other line, it makes me look bad as much as it > makes Sprint look bad. So recommend T-Mobile. T-Mobile seems to use only English-speaking CSRs and they're inexpensive. In fact, their voice plans are priced lower than Sprint's, although Sprint's data add-ons are cheaper. > If someone, anyone, could convince Sprint corporate to put some people > on the phones that understand the phones & plans, speak the language > well, and genuinely care (or at least act like they do) - I think the > reward would be FAR greater than the cost to implement such a solution. > > I hope it happens. I really do. Me too. I feel exactly the same: Sprint's network kicks a.s (yes, there are some places where it sucks, same's true for every carrier). Sprint's phone selection is great. I think Sprint and Cingular lead the US cellular industry in terms of offering innovative phones. Sprint's customer service is worse than horrible. I switched to T-Mo. You may occasionally experience long hold times, but when you get online with a rep, they are *awesome.* I used to consider Verizon's CS the best in the business. They're still good, but T-Mo is better. SignatureSteve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 > So recommend T-Mobile. T-Mobile seems to use only English-speaking CSRs and > they're inexpensive. In fact, their voice plans are priced lower than > Sprint's, although Sprint's data add-ons are cheaper. Both of my two kids have T-Mobile, and I know it works well for them. However, I wouldn't make a blanket statement with regard to voice plan prices, when you factor in that Sprint has retention plans while T-Mobile (apparently) doesn't. For example, T-Mobile wants $39.99 for 600 anytime (with unlimited n/w) minutes, while for the same price I get 750 from Sprint, with unlimited n/w starting at 8pm. SignatureJohn Richards >> So recommend T-Mobile. T-Mobile seems to use only English-speaking >> CSRs and they're inexpensive. In fact, their voice plans are priced [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > However, I wouldn't make a blanket statement with regard to voice plan > prices, when you factor in that Sprint has retention plans How can you factor in retention plans and get any kind of an apples-to-apples comparison? Leave them out. They're offered to people who beg for them, the offer is made at the whim of the company rep, and they're not advertised. When I lived in Cleveland, I had a few buddies who sold cars for a living who gave me much better deals than they'd give other customers. Should I use *my* purchase prices when price-shopping cars in that area? Of course not. Same thing with retention. It's an unfair comparison unless you stick to advertised plans. SignatureSteve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 >>> So recommend T-Mobile. T-Mobile seems to use only English-speaking >>> CSRs and they're inexpensive. In fact, their voice plans are priced [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > beg for them, the offer is made at the whim of the company rep, and they're > not advertised. I don't care that most customers are not eligible for retention plans. For me, the deciding factor is *my* bottom line. Retention plans are a reality for knowledgeable Sprint customers, and my retention plan is one of the few things that is keeping me from switching to T-Mobile. SignatureJohn Richards >> How can you factor in retention plans and get any kind of an >> apples-to-apples comparison? Leave them out. They're offered to people [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I don't care that most customers are not eligible for retention plans. > For me, the deciding factor is *my* bottom line. But for most other people, especially everyone not already using Sprint, retention plans are irrelevant. SignatureSteve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 >>The first three points are carrying them, but I think they could do >>much better. The share price has been unimpressive (to say the least) [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > was going on 2 years ago. There seemed to be a small period of > improvement, and now it seems to be sinking back, and then some. This exactly mirrors my customer service with Sprint. I only carried a Sprint phone for a year, but my wife carried a Sprint phone for about four. CS sucked, then they got much better, then they tanked again. > There are, I believe, three years left in the deal with IBM. IBM > promised that, at the end of 5 years, Sprint would be the industry > leader in Customer Service. I'd like to think all of this is simply a > prelude by IBM to taking some kind of serious, attitude-adjusting > initiative to fix the problem. I'd hope that Sprint kicks IBM to the curb at the end of the contract, or (if possible) even before that. SignatureSteve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 > > There are, I believe, three years left in the deal with IBM. IBM > > promised that, at the end of 5 years, Sprint would be the industry [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I'd hope that Sprint kicks IBM to the curb at the end of the contract, or > (if possible) even before that. Wouldn't they first have to recognize that something is wrong? So far as I can tell, they don't. SignatureRØß O/Siris -+- A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue, but moderation in principle is always a vice. +Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+ > Wouldn't they first have to recognize that something is wrong? > > So far as I can tell, they don't. Oh, well, not my problem. SignatureSteve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Company website: http://JustThe.net/ Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/ E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307 >I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on a > F&F plan, correct? When I added it, the agent said it worked that way, in [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Thanks. > ojo It is $5 for the account. All you need to do is to call SPCS, tell them you are getting charged on a per phone basis, and have them check the coding on your account. Bob >>I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on a >> F&F plan, correct? When I added it, the agent said it worked that way, [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Bob I called in about this and everything went extremely well. The agent credited me for all the overcharges and said she fixed the coding on the America option. That's all that was done. NOW, another problem. I look at my bill today, and my advantage agreement has been reset to 2 years from the date of that call to c/s! It only happened to that one phone that had the roaming billing problems. The other 2 phones on my F&FF plan stayed the same. Any idea what happened? I didn't make any plan changes...just had them tweak the add-ons. What should I say when I call in about this? Thanks, ojo >Any idea what happened? Yes. Many times when you speak to a rep, about ANYTHING, they re-age your contract. You can call and ask them how they are doing and they will re-age your contract. It's a scam, but it works as most people don't notice that their contracts have been re-aged. >What should I say when I call in about this? Call and say that you never agreed to the re-aging. If you cancel at the end of the original period, they cannot hit you with an ETF fee unless they have something recorded or in writing to the effect that you agreed to the terms. I know many people that this has happened to. I think they do it by default. Everyone handles it differently. Some people threaten to cancel right away, because they argue that Sprint has invalidated the original contract by re-aging it. Some people just yell and scream. Some threaten to sue. >From what I have heard, they will usually *TELL* you that they have un-aged the contract. But they haven't. You will play this game for the rest of your original contract. Dealing with it now may be fruitless. Just file your complain, note the time, date, and who you talked to, and keep it someplace safe. Make sure you know the contract length that you agreed to. THAT is when your contract ends ... unless it can be proven otherwise, On that date, call to renegotiate your deal. If they say "You have X number of months left, tell them to submit the proof, and you will call them back in that number of months once proof is submitted". Again, from what I heard, they usually don't do this, the "take your word for it", and renegotiate your contract from that point. They know they have no proof, but you sure as heck can't blame them for trying. The whole point of capitalism is the act of trying to capitalize on people. If they can get away with it in just 10% of the cases, it is worth it. >>>I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on a >>> F&F plan, correct? When I added it, the agent said it worked that way, [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > Thanks, > ojo Call them back and tell them what happened, from the original problem, what was done, and what you've noticed right now. Tell the rep that it was not your intention to extend the AA by two years, by correcting the incorrect coding placed on your account in the first place. Ask the rep to take a look at the other two phones and their expiration dates and ask that the phone that was affected be changed back to the same AA expiration date as your other phones. Bob >>>>I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on >>>>a [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > Bob Thank you Bob. It took 2 calls today, but the second time I think I got somewhere. I always appreciate the pointers I get here. The first lady barely looked at the account, and barely listened to me before she launched into "you changed from a non-roaming plan to a roaming plan and that line got a new agreement." She wouldn't listen at all even though her logic made no sense on my 3-phone F&FF with America add-on. After interrupting her with "please stop" two times, she dropped off the line and my screensaver was back. Sheesh. I called right back and got a guy who said the date reset was a system error, my account would be notated and fixed, and he gave me his ID# as confirmation. On FWIW's suggestion I'm filing away notes on everything. I long since told SPCS not to call me for the satisfaction survey later on. They wait like 3 weeks, then ask how my experience was on such-and-such a date. When I ask them to specify which of the multitude of calls I made to c/s that day would they like me to rate, and they cannot tell me, I then refuse to play anymore. Thanks everybody. If this gets even more weird, I'll grab a beer and cry on my keyboard. ojo > If this gets even more weird, I'll grab a beer and cry on my keyboard. Save yourself some time, go out and buy a spare keyboard today, and go ahead and put that beer in your fridge to get it ready. It'll get more weird. I'm pretty sure the contract is still re-aged, but on the bright side, it doesn't mean much. The only proof they have is the original contract you agreed to either by phone or in person. And that's all they can (legally) enforce. They pulled the "you have a year left" at the end of my 2-year once, and needless to say, it was quickly unaged when I told them to cancel me and to let me know as soon as they got a court date to get a judgement for the ETF .. and that any "credit report" crap would be considered extortion and would be dealt with as such by my attorney. Then again, I wasn't bluffing. It would have gone down that way. So your mileage may vary. Oh, and about those "surveys". I have heard of people getting their contracts re-aged by participating in those. At one point ANY contact you had with anyone remotely related to Sprint caused your contract to be re-aged. That may have changed, but I avoid talking to the folks unless it is just downright unavoidable. The phone monke's are trained to screw you as much as possible. They are the pawns that Corporate will disavow all knowledge of (when you sign your contract, Sprint actually nullfies anything the phone monkey's told you because they are aware that they lie). Glorified telemarketers. What can you do? Such is the state of business in the USA. > I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on a > F&F plan, correct? When I added it, the agent said it worked that way, in > the store they said it was that way, but my billing is wrong month after > month. It works for all three phones on my account with a single $5 charge. SignatureThomas T. Veldhouse Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1 |
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