After eight years, I think I am qualified to make this observation:
SPRINT PCS SUCKS!!
Why do I feel this way, you ask? Well, if you have Sprint as your wireless phone service provider, no further explanation should be necessary. You already know what an unreasonable, over-hyped, miserable excuse for a “service” company Sprint truly is.
The short version is that Sprint’s customer service (an oxymoron if ever there was one) sucks- and that statement doesn’t begin to do justice to the disinterested, offhanded, inconsiderate, dismissive manner in which I and my family have been treated. If you are fortunate enough to be using another provider, but yet silly enough to be considering switching to Sprint, let me, by way of my own experience, clue you in as to what you might expect once they have your name on the dotted line:
My family has, on three separate occasions, been due a $150 rebate for purchasing a new phone (we have three lines). Yet we have NEVER seen a dime, and whenever we are able to get a Sprint customer (dis)service rep on the phone, we are told that we will have to fax all of the rebate documentation YET AGAIN, because they show no record of ever having received ANYTHING from us. Apparently, any required paperwork received from customers goes directly into the company shredder.
Part of the condition for sending us a rebate is that Sprint will automatically extend your contract for two years. This has happened on each of our lines. So, if Sprint has automatically extended the contract, it would stand to reason that they have received the documentation required by the terms of the rebate agreement, no?? Apparently, they can have their cake and eat it too.
Sprint has automatically extended the contracts on all three of our lines, but they have refused to send us the rebates we are due. When Susan spoke with a Sprint customer (dis)service representative, she told them, “You can’t have it both ways. You either have to provide us the rebate or rescind the contract extension. You cannot hold us to this contract when you have not held up your end of the bargain.” The (dis)service rep’s response? “Yes, I can, and I will.” Now THAT’S some customer service, eh??
We have been lied to, promised results that were not delivered, and now we are being held to a contract that Sprint themselves feels no need to abide by themselves. We want to get away from Sprint in the worst way, but all three of our lines have seen their contracts automatically extended by Sprint through 12.25.06. I haven’t begun to investigate how much it will cost to break our contracts, but we may just bite the bullet. (PS- if anyone has any suggestions on how we can go about breaking a contract without getting hosed, I’m willing to listen.)
Eric’s phone just flat-out doesn’t work, and yet the local Sprint store has refused to do anything to rectify the problem. Trust me, a teenager without a functional cell phone is not a happy camper. Eric spent 40 minutes at the Sprint store Monday, and Susan spent 72 minutes holding on the Sprint customer (dis)service line, waiting to talk to someone- ANYONE- regarding Eric’s non-functional phone. When last I heard, I think Sprint has finally agreed to replace his phone. Now I’m going to have to ensure that they do not extend his contract two years for the privilege of having a working cell phone.
Go ahead and try to get a (dis)service rep on the phone once you’ve signed a contract…I dare you. Sprint is very good at wooing potential customers with promises of excellent service, cool phones, affordable plans, and great rates. What they actually deliver once your stuck with them for two years is piss-poor serive, phones that don’t always work, plans that you are locked into even if a more affordable plan comes along (Just try switching plans. If you’re not watching, Sprint will automatically extend your contract for the privilege of switching plans.), and rates not altogether different from any other provider.
Yes, I am angry. I am angry that I have been a Sprint PCS customer for eight years. I am angry that I have been subjected to lies, dishonest business practices, and piss-poor customer (dis)service. I am angry that we are due $450 in rebates, which Sprint refuses to pay us- even though they are more than willing to automatically extend our contracts for two years for the privilege of being eligible for a rebate we have never received (and likely never will).
All of this makes me want to throttle the dickweed in the black trenchcoat who keeps repeating the “fair and flexible” mantra. Once you have signed a contract, Sprint is neither “fair” nor “flexible”. Frankly, my sense is that this is a class-action suit looking for a place to happen. Even so, all I want is to get away from Sprint without having to pay any more money. I don’t know how I’m going to accomplish that, but there has got to be a way.
If you are considering switching to Sprint, please accept some advice: DON’T DO IT!!!. It may look like a hell of a deal at the point of sale, but trust me on this one, you WILL live to regret it.
You can’t say that you weren’t warned….
Send a letter of complaint to the vice president of Sprint, and cc: the Public Utilities Commission. (Cellphone companies fall under their aegis.) You'll get your rebates, *OR* you'll get out of your contract without having to pay the godsrotted "early cancellation" fee.
I echo the above.
I refused to stay with Sprint after they demanded i pay $300 for a pair of new phones that would have been free if I were a new customer -- I was told to wait 3 months for the rebates. I was set up with Cingular the next day, and only had to do a one year contract (I wnet though these folks -- www.letstalk.com). I won't go back to Sprint -- especially since they are now merging with Nextel, and I had a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG drawn out battle with them some years back.