Let me clarify "customer service." The person(s)on the other end of the phone was completely on my side each time i called. From the very first month of service i had issues connecting my hotspot w/4G... I was TOLD BEFORE I bought the overdrive pro hotspot that my area was in the 4g coverage zone. Every Monday for 4 months i was calling their tech support because for some reason (unknown to me at the time) I would lose internet connectivity every Monday. No one took the time to figure out why.
They sent me a new hotspot TWICE...same issue on the two new devices. NO ONE could provide support beyond what their scripts would allow. The reps told me that they knew what the issue was bu they were not allowed to provide the answer for me because 4G didn't belong to them. 4G was actually leased TO Sprint by Clear. Every 7 days Clear would reset their 4G system and the IP lease would not renew on my hotspot. But they weren't allowed to tell me that.
So it's not the representative on the other end of the phone to whom I'm referring when I say "poor customer service." I'm referring to the Sprint Organization's attitude to "SERVICING" their customers. Pappa Sprint (the decision makers at the top) obviously cares little about providing service beyond the rep on the phone. My "attitude" did become very "assertive" as my frustrations grew from week to week. Yours would too!. When I discovered the real issue behind my dropped coverage I also discovered that I was NOT in a 4 G coverage zone, but just on the outskirts. One rep said that the device should have never been sold to me in the first place. When all of this came to light BEFORE THE PRICE INCREASE I requested that my service on the hotspot be cancelled without penalty. Again, the rep was very nice and professional, but what I was told next sent me through the roof!
I was told that they would cancel service to the device without having to pay the penalty for early disconnection, ONLY IF I renewed my cell phone contract for another two years. I refused to do so and demanded that they let me out of my contract to the hotspot with no penalty because
a. for four months of service, my time was spent on the phone with their tech support dept and
b. i was sold a device that wouldn't work in my area after being told that it would, and
c. if i kept the device, the issue would continue.
So it made no sense to keep the service to avoid paying an early disconnect penalty and the "customer service" thing to do would be to let me out of my contract since the issues we were up against were on their side of the fence.
They refused. I had them escalate the calls (there were many) and i finally had to threaten them with a lawsuit. I could afford to pay the disconnect fee, but at this point the issue wasn't the contract fee. It had gone far beyond that for me. I was a loyal customer who was never late with my payments. I maintained my cool during those 4 months of dropped coverage so the right thing for them to do would be to let me out of my contract on the device. I was till using my EVO and had no intention of cancelling that contract. On two occasions when I asked to speak to a supervisor and was transferred to one, the supervisors hung up on me because they said they were well aware of why I was calling and there was nothing they could do for me and right before they hung up on me, they said, "STOP CALLING US!"
If that wasn;t bad enough, they sent another bomb my way...... Although I was paying for UNLIMITED DATA USAGE, they don't make it obvious to us that their 4G network is unlimited but their 3G network is NOT UNLIMITED. So every time the 4G network dropped the system would automatically roll over to the 3G network by default. Suddenly my bill shot up to over $1,000 one month, then $2700 the next because I was still disputing the contract terms and hadn't paid for one month of service yet. I was charged 5 cents per megabyte after I had gone beyond 5 gigs. I was told that I used 60 gigs of data for one month. I asked for their proof and they couldn't provide it. I know for a fact that I don't watch that much porn so there's no way I used that many gigs!!!!
I won that argument and they credited the entire amount and I wasn't obligated to pay the bill. Once I knew that the credit dropped off of my bill, I gave up the fight, laid down my sword and requested to end my contract and I would pay the fee. I have more important things to worry about than $200. They agreed and they even agreed to waive the early termination fee if I kept the phone number active that was assigned to the hotspot and my monthly fee for having that number would only be $23. Sounds good. Do it. I'm Done.
A few days later my other cell phone service (EVO) wasn't working and neither was the other number. When i called to inquire I was told that I owe $3400. I had t go through the same song and dance and shine my ass to get them to waive that which they did and they restored my service. The entire time I was on this last call with them getting this taken care of to my satisfaction I was standing inside my local AT&T store purchasing the iPhone. Everyone inside the store was basically applauding me and was hanging on to my every word with Sprint. All the while shaking their heads in disbelief. To this day I haven't been able to sign into my aaccount on Sprint's website. My final bill (received last week) says I owe $3400 but there's no itemization so that I can verify.
SO... do you still think it was my "attitude" that brought all this upon me? I'm sure that it didn't help matters much but it sure as heck wasn't the CAUSE of it. The reps were all very nice and I told them so. I also told them that if they ever needed a job to call me (my job title for my company happens to be "Employment Manager") because they were working for a company whose definition in "customer service" means "WHEN A PEASANT CALLS INTO YOUR QUE, BE NICE TO THEM OVER THE PHONE. IF THEY''RE UPSET, GIVE THEM A DISCOUNT OR A FEW FREE MINUTES AND IF THEY BECOME MORE UPSET, GIVE THEM ONE FREE MONTH OF SERVICE."
To me, a seasoned professional in the customer service arena, their level of customer service is insulting and only a smoke screen to hide "THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN."
Edit: EVO ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sprint SUX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hate my iPhone!!
I Miss my EVO... BUT I have figured out a way to use my EVO as long as it's connected to WiFi. So it's no longer just an expensive and amazing camera, but i can continue to use my fave apps, text msg and I can also use it as a phone from time to time. I haven't figured out yet, why that's so random but I WILL!! if anyone else knows.... please share.
I've also found another use for my iPhone besides just using it as a phone. It automatically serves as a hotspot for my iPad (1st generation). My iPad goes with me everywhere now, and I use it for websurfung, mail (personal and business), etc.
All things are possible through....... Technology. (i'm going to hell for sure!) LOL
(Mod note: Please refrain from posting back to back messages. Use the modify or edit function. Thanks.)
