Me: I'd like to sign up for service but I don't want a 2-year contract. I already have a phone.
Customer Service: We can't do that. We can only give you a 2-year contract.
Me: Really? Aren't 2-year contracts just a condition of getting a large discount on a new phone? I already have a phone.
Customer Service: Ok. I can give you a month-to-month plan but it'll cost $10 extra each month.
Me: Ok. Can I just pay the regular price but only for one year instead of two?
Customer Service: We don't have any 1-year plans.
Me: So my only options are 2-years or a higher priced month-to-month?
Customer Service: Well. Since you already have a phone, if you go to a Sprint store, the representatives there can give you more options.
Me: More options?
Customer Service: Yes, they can offer you a 1-year plan.
Me: So, a Sprint franchise can offer me a 1-year Sprint calling plan. But I can't buy a 1-year Sprint calling plan directly from Sprint?
Customer Service: Um. Yes.

I’ve been on three separate phone calls to Sprint this morning and have been transferred four times while trying to give Sprint my money—with zero success. But let me start at the beginning.

Back in February, I received an email from Sprint asking if I would like to participate in the Sprint Ambassador Program. The deal was that they would send me a phone (a Samsung A920) and free service for 6 months with unlimited calling and access to their Power Vision network (television, streaming video, internet, etc.). No strings attached. Really.

I signed up, the phone arrived, it worked great, no bills. Let me just say, I would probably never write about Sprint or cell phone service if it weren’t for this marketing plan. One of the goals of this is obviously to generate some buzz and get free advertising and in that respect it seems to be working. I’ve got to hand it to them. It’s a pretty smart way to advertise cheaply (the phone and service cost them almost nothing) and there really were no strings attached. It probably took someone with a lot of guts to pitch this program to Sprint management. I know they’ve got motives but the way everything was handled definitely generated some good will.

For the past 6 months, calling service has been excellent in my area. And the Samsung A920 is a sweet little phone. Before this I was using a basic Nokia—this thing is a big step up from that. Thank you, Sprint.

Anyway, my service ended today so I thought I’d call up Sprint to continue service under my own account so I can keep using the Samsung. Here’s where the trouble began: customer service is mediocre to bad. Unfortunately, it’s probably typical for the industry. Compounding the problem is that not one of the seven people I spoke to while trying to setup new service had ever heard of the Sprint Ambassador Program. Allowing for that, I was patient as I had to explain: I already had a phone with Sprint service, it wasn’t my account, I want to setup a new account under my own name using my existing phone.

It took three calls before I could get to someone who would actually look at the account the phone was under. They asked me to verify the name on the account but since the account wasn’t under my name I didn’t know it. I suggested it might be “Sprint.” Indeed, the account was under “Sprint Ambassador.” I don’t know what difference any of that made since all I wanted to do was setup a new account with my existing phone, but I played along. If I wanted the cheese I’d have to go through their maze to get it.

Turns out there were instructions attached to the account that the rep read out loud to both of us (excruciatingly slowly). The instructions said to setup a new account if the customer wanted to continue service. After that, I was transferred for the last time to the Account Activation department.

Customer Service: So, you'd like to renew your account? Me: No, I'd like to setup a new account. Customer Service: Do you have an existing account? Me: I have service but not under my own account. Customer Service: So you want a new account? Me: Yes. Customer Service: Do you know what phone you'd like to buy? Me: I have a phone. Customer Service: Oh! What's the number? I gave her the number. Customer Service: Ok, and your name is Ambassador? I was tempted to let her call me Ambassador. But I don't think that would have passed a credit check. Me: No. My name is John. I want to give you my money for a new plan under my own new account. Customer Service: Ok, you'll have to setup a new account. We'll have to do a credit check. Me: That sounds like a great idea. But first...

Situation update: I went to a Sprint store today and there were about 15 potential customers waiting for service and two reps working. Faced with the prospect of a 40 minute wait, I left, defeated. Then I called up Sprint again just to get it over with and when they entered my SSN into their system they got someone else’s name. Fuck me! Procedure? Go to a Sprint store with two forms of ID to prove I am really me. It looks like either someone entered the wrong SSN into Sprint’s system or somebody with bad credit used my SSN to get cell phone service. I just ordered a credit report.

Comments

1. Hemlock on 2006-10-03 12:19:55 wrote: You would think that they would try to make this easier on you… you know, cuz you’re trying to give them money and all. I had similarly bad service from my current provider a couple years ago, but the plan is seriously cheap, so I have yet to change providers…

2. knwd on 2006-10-03 12:52:34 wrote: A week before we moved to our new house, I called our local phone company to arrange for service to be switched over from our old house to the new one. I got the standard, “We have appointments available between 8-11am, 11am-2pm, or 2pm-5pm. Someone must be home to meet the service representatives.” Now, both my husband and I work standard 8am-6pm type jobs, so I’m generally irritated by the assumption that someone should be at home every day. And on top of that, it’s a NEW house– I didn’t actually LIVE there yet. My definition of customer service just does not include, “Ask customers to use a precious vacation day to go hang out in an empty house with no phone and no electricity.” Luckily, however, my job was just 2 miles away from the new house, so I figured maybe I could meet them there over my lunch hour… “Could we go with the 11am - 2pm time slot? I am LITERALLY 5 minutes away, so if you can have your service guys call me when they are on their way, I will be at the house to meet them.” “Sorry, but we can’t do that– Most of our agents don’t have phones.” “You’re the PHONE company. (SILENCE) You don’t see just a little bit of irony in that?”

3. siobhan on 2006-10-03 13:37:39 wrote: Cell service is like petrol prices, no one understands how they come to be. I am lucky, my husband deals with all of that. Although, if he didn’t there’s no way in hell I’d have a cell phone. I just don’t need that noise just so he can call me up and ask where their car keys are, ya know?

4. Employed by the man on 2006-10-03 22:21:21 wrote: Sorry I laughed out loud when I read this posting, as I work for sprint, and I know what you are going through. First a couple things. This ambassador program is new to me, but sounded like a good plan. Second thing. The store can not offer you any better deals than customer service can. Infact as with any provider there is a department, whos main purpose is to save customers, they can get you a better plan. Might be hard since right now you have no service contract. What you want to do is get transfered to this department. Lets face the facts, the people on the first line of defense for this company, well, its a high turn over job. Unfortunatly no one calls customer care to tell these people they are doing a good job, 80% of the calls are bill question related, and I would say a vast majority of them are not friendly calls. Which in turn gets fresh faces. You see what I’m getting at here. Try to get past the first line of defense, get to the folks who don’t handle the billing questions. Second thing. Contracts. Every provider has them, and every provider will keep them. Partially its there for the discount on the phone, but its also there to keep the revenue flowing, and to keep the subscribers and hopefully add more. Its really hard for someone with five lines of service who got them sporadically throughout the years to ever cancel their service. Everyones contracts are ending at different times, and if you pull the primary number on the account its another nightmare thats not worth going into. Its a clever way to assure that no matter how much the customers hate you, they really have to hate you to leave. If you are doing just a single line and dont plan on adding other lines or anything like that, I would recommend just signing the contract. You got a 300 dollar phone for free, six months of service for free, which I’m guessing was at least 50 bucks a month worth of service. That alone covers your disconnection fee and than some. With a two year agreement you get the best plan possible, and if on the off chance you decide to leave with in the two years, you turn around and sell your 920 on ebay/craigslist for a good portion of your disconnection fee. In all honesty, if I was just a normal everyday consumer I would hands down pick Sprint. Awesome plans (best in the buisness as of currently), pretty sweet phones, one of the best networks in the USA, and free roaming with all the plans. As with any large company there are definitly negative aspects, don’t get me wrong, and there are negative points.. Just keep some of this in mind, and when talking to customer care… be nice. As I said before they spend most of their time getting yelled at, a little kindness goes a long way. If you need any advice feel free to email me.

5. Dave Newton on 2006-10-04 10:00:46 wrote: That’s funny. I’ve been trying for a year to get out of my contract with Sprint. I took a job in a new city, and it turns out that while I am at work (on a military base), I get no reception. I set my phone to roam and my calls get disconnected. Will Sprint let me out of my contract? No, not without paying $300 to cancel. They admit it is because the phone I have needs a firmware update bacause it is “old” (funny, I got it two years ago). But wait - the local office doesn’t have the update. What they CAN do is give me a new phone if I extend my contract for two years. Never again. Read my lips, Sprint: n e v e r a g a i n. Contract ends, you get the boot.

6. Talkingplant on 2006-10-04 17:35:31 wrote: Don’t get Sprint. They are HORRIBLE! Really. My buddy had $250 worth of unitemized charges suddenly appear on his bill. He called and asked what they were and they told him they didn’t know. He told them if they would send an itemized list of what the calls were he’d be happy to pay for those he made (he knew he hadn’t made $250 worth of calls). They wouldn’t send it. They just kept running him around in circles for months. He eventually gave up and just paid the whole thing incuding a hefty reconnect charge since they had cut off his service. You probably won’t take my word for it, but I bet you’ll agree with me in the end.

7. lookatmewhenimtalkingtoyou on 2006-10-05 13:01:42 wrote: I am keen on good customer service and am usually willing to pay for it. I have never heard of anyone who has had a good experience dealing with Sprint customer service. I have been with a different cellular company since the mid-90’s each time they change names, I start to worry that service will go down. It hasn’t. I lost my most recent RAZR on a road trip. oops. I called up customer service. I said I didn’t have the phone insurance and needed to get a new phone… “what are my options?” The customer service person came back with this… “how about this? I’ll cancel your contract so you can go into the store and buy the phone cheaper. This means you’ll have a new 2-year contract, but that’s only a little longer than it would have been if I hadn’t cancelled it.” I had a situation where I even managed to get this company to refund me money on my last 10 months of cell phone bills because I didn’t realize my corporate discount hadn’t been applied when I joined my current employer. Just a couple of examples of GOOD customer service. When things go south, the last thing you want to do is sit on the phone trying to explain to someone that your name isn’t Ambassador. ;-) Talkingplant is a perfect example of why I’ve avoided recommending Sprint to friends.

8. Glenndavid on 2006-10-08 12:17:40 wrote: looks liek you haven’t been to belgium, where in the store you can options you can’t find on the internet, where you can sign up for plans that don’t even exist, where everybody can start their own virtual operator! i believe it’s good to stick witch the big boys… Greets Glenndavid

9. MonthToMonth on 2006-10-09 11:20:14 wrote: As a point of interest, some cell providers in the US will give you a month-to-month plan with no contract. I’ve got one from Unicel, a division/subsidiary/whatever of Rural Cellular Corporation (serving the northeastern US). It’s a nationwide plan with a bunch of anytime/anywhere minutes, early nights & weekends, even 2MB of GPRS/EDGE data included for free each month for web/email (standard on their plans). I did have to purchase my phone outright, which was just fine by me. The monthly charge is competitive with contract-based plans with similar features, under $50/mo before fees. I didn’t consider Sprint because they have no presence in my area. I looked for a long time to find a useful non-contract plan because that’s most important to me. YMMV.

10. Hez1010 on 2006-10-10 06:19:02 wrote: First, this was an absolutely hilarious post. Sounds like you are stuck with Sprint so the posts about not getting Sprint are right out. MonthToMonth has touched on an interesting subject though. To keep your phone, my advice is to call Sprint and let them know that you need to have your phone unlocked so that you can use it while you travel internationally. Once your 1-year or 2-year service is up, you can then take your phone to any m2m mobile service provider and have them install their sim card and viola! No more hassles. You have the phone you want and no strings attached to a certain service. It is all about being smarter than the phone companies. Of course, you can also find ways to unlock your phone on-line, but I am not advising that route because crack in any form is bad. ;) !Buena suerte!

11. MonthToMonth on 2006-10-10 11:47:08 wrote: Just as a note, my provider’s phones are unlocked right from the get go, though they don’t advertise this nearly enough. I’ve plugged friends’ SIM cards into my phone and they work just fine. I’d never heard of the travel excuse to get a company to willingly unlock your phone–that’s novel. Phone locking is another practice I abhor. It’s used to protect the contract-based business model, to which I don’t subscribe.

12. april on 2006-10-11 19:19:25 wrote: Just wanted to know if you had an update on your credit report. I hope you are OK!!! crosses fingers PS - Doesn’t matter which company you have… there are some that love and some that hate. I have Cingular and love it…

13. anca on 2006-10-14 23:23:46 wrote: Maybe this got the attention it deserved… If not, you should print out this post and mail it to Sprint’s Customer Service and VP of Marketing. Then point out that your site gets millions of hits every day from Flickr users staring at our navels… I’m sure you’ll have your contract, your way, in days… :) Good luck.

14. Elinesca on 2006-10-28 01:44:12 wrote: Oofs - DO NOT SIGN UP!!!!! Is this not giving you enough warning? It’s great that you got the phone for free for a while, now thank your luck and GET OUT OF THERE!!!!! Sprint is a national disaster. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been on the phone with company, trying to sort problems on THEIR end. Getting what you need from Sprint is a full time job. On top of it, they get hostile with you really fast. If you can’t use the phone without a sprint plan, well… toss it. It is not worth the pain. Like the customer rep above said - they are willfully trapping people into plans you cannot cancel. DONT DO IT!

15. Elinesca on 2006-10-28 01:45:22 wrote: I forgot: I DID eventually get out of my plan, and I went STRAIGHT to T-mobile. I have never had such good service in my life. You will love it.

16. flourescent brown on 2006-12-21 11:15:38 wrote: SPRINT!!!! Screwed up on billing, waiting on credits resulting in a double bill that should have had $265 in credits. Same as “talkingplant” - 2 phones for 2 months racked up $850 + disconnect fees. 1 phone was broken, so was not used, but miraculously had $400 in charges. Wrote tons of letters, made tons of phone calls - was told would be reversed - thought was taken care of - noticed the charge on my credit report 3 years later when financing a car. they ended up “settling” for a lesser amount - got out of the issue for $480 NEVER AGAIN!!!

17. darkvibe on 2007-01-03 14:49:10 wrote: First of all, lemme tell you that i haven’t seen a “help center” or a “call center” or a “customer service” that could help you right away. With my local ISP, after the first 1 week of service, everything went dead. the Internet and phone service (catv). i had to call 3 times to get the people there to even understand that my newly installed service isn’t working. At one time, the guy at the other end was laughing so hard when he answered that i felt like laughing, except from the fact that i could not upload some important files for the company i work. i think that a phrase from a site run by a buddy of yours (or so i think:)) sums it up: “We are not satisfied, until you are not satisfied”