What is Digg?182 Comments
- SeaweedWater, on 05/20/2008, -3/+50Didnt they gouge the customers when they were making money as well?
- sandiegodude, on 05/20/2008, -3/+42I've been a Sprint customer for 3 years now. My PERSONAL experience with them has always been great, great customer service, good features, good coverage where I live/work/play. Don't know what Bohica is talking about with 1 year lifespan on phones, I've got a flip phone which still works fine which was my first phone (I since added a different phone and now just keep my old flippy for backup)
To each their own I guess.
One thing this article doesn't point out though... Was the "Sprint Salesman" mentioned in the article an actual Sprint employee or an "authorized dealer?" I've seen plenty of shady salesmen in my life, and cell phone salesmen are, at least in my eyes, a step down from used car salesmen. - drgreenberg, on 05/20/2008, -2/+28Like Sprint or hate them, the actual article is just a rant from an ignorant customer over common telecom practices.
- ticktock4, on 05/20/2008, -0/+22I'm in the same boat. 3 years now with Sprint. No complaints. I think I've lost maybe 5 calls in 3 years, never had any problems with the phones or customer service.
- chkdg8, on 05/20/2008, -2/+19Their stock is self explanatory: http://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/overview.asp?s ...
- stevensj2, on 05/20/2008, -2/+18Sprint is the only company whose customer service has hung up on me, blindly transfered me to someone else without telling me or the person I was transfered to, and tried to sell me something else while I was complaining about my phone. No joke, I was interrupted mid-sentence with "Do you have a computer nearby?...Does it have internet?...We are offering a one time entry fee..." And when I made it clear I was not interrested, and would like to get back to the issue I called about, I was continuously told about their internet.
I spent over 5+ hours with them simply trying to activate the phone. After going to a local Sprint store, the rep noticed they had been typing in all kinds of access numbers, and even added an entirely new phone on my activation. Long story short, numbers had to be changed, phones I didn't even have deactivated, and it was nothing short of the biggest mess I have ever experienced.
Occasionally when I get my bill, I get billed twice for the same thing, and have to call to get the second charges removed.
The crap they do is absolutely absurd, and I would never recommend them to anyone. The only reason I am staying with them until my contract is up is because I am not handing them additional fees and giving them more money than my plan states. It is a hassle to have to call and correct them so often, but it is an inconvenience I will accept knowing that they are not receiving more money because of it. - phydeaux70, on 05/20/2008, -3/+17So....perhaps it would be wise to do some comparison shopping when getting a T1 in your place of business????
- BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/20/2008, -6/+19Me and my wife had NEXTEL phones, and they sucked. The contracts were for two years, but their crappy phones would only last one year. Then you couldn't get a new phone without "upgrading" and signing a new contract. When Sprint took over they got even worse. We were glad to pay $400 in early termination fees just to get the hell away from them.
- inactive, on 05/20/2008, -7/+20Too expensive. $300 for a cell phone not even considering the substantial payments made to AT&T for their services.
- KWhat, on 05/20/2008, -4/+16I ended up leaving sprint and paying the $200 termination fee because each month they would charge me over $250 one nickel or dime at a time. I kind of hope they go out of business.
- ampledismantle, on 05/20/2008, -0/+9I've had service with a couple of the major carriers and gouging, raping, and pillaging are commonplace. Everyone I know who has service with any provider has nightmares and horror stories. It's very unlikely that Sprint is THAT much worse than all the rest (as my experience had been otherwise), but needless to say... I have yet to see one cell phone company worth defending.
- XeriousTrubble, on 05/20/2008, -5/+14nothing positive about sprint? heard of SERO? www.sprint.com/SERO - adam.smith@sprint.com. $30/m for 500anytime, almost unlimited everything else. dugg this down because ALL telcoms do this, not just SPRINT.
- FredFredrickson, on 05/20/2008, -2/+11A shame? That's probably the single most annoying thing ever invented. There's a reason why nobody else has this feature - it's because we're all tired of hearing you douchebags' calls.
- ePuck, on 05/20/2008, -3/+12Sprint does suck though. No matter what the article or comments say.
- kcflyer, on 05/20/2008, -2/+10This is a complete load of crap. This is a regulated service based on published tariffs. The complainer signed a contract without doing any research, and now two years later wants his money back? One of the commenters on the gigaom.com site took the time to look the tariff up, and found that the claims of the salesman lying were probably unfounded, too.
Why blame Sprint for your own laziness and lack of research? And shame on gigaom for just regurgitating the ranting of an idiot without doing any research into the issue. This is what keeps bloggers from being considered serious journalists. - GIMAD2008, on 05/20/2008, -6/+14I like to use an electric company analogy. When I pay my electric bill I don’t have to worry about it as I am paying the current rate, and so is every customer that uses the same electric company. We don’t discover down the road that we are paying more per kilowatt than our neighbors. What the problem is they (SPRINT) has gotten away with it for so long that it has become standard operating procedure to stick it the customer and leave it up the to the customer to catch them. Perhaps there needs to be even further regulation of the industry to ensure that gouging doesn’t happen.
The reason why the electric company (local cable, local phone companies, etc.) doesn't charge one customer and another customer something different is because all the customers are local (regional, etc.) and can talk to each other and compare notes if you will. Dedicated access companies such as Sprint has customers that are spread out and I am guessing that Sprint is taking advantage of the fact that these customers aren’t close enough to discuss services, therefore their is less scrutiny of it’s pricing.
Due diligence shouldn’t fall on the customer, but on the company itself. - ryannerd, on 05/20/2008, -3/+9They need to have Murphy Brown doing their PR again or they are doomed.
- Andrwmorph, on 05/20/2008, -0/+6Well I guess we know where all the AOL customer service reps work now.
- funkyloki, on 05/20/2008, -1/+7Not every cell phone salesman is that low. I owned a store for a time. We were what you refer to as Authorized Dealer. And my bread and butter was in customer service. It never benefited me in the long run to lie or cheat a customer. Return customers were our business. We ALWAYS went over every detail of the contract, we never pushed someone into more expensive plans or equipment, and we gave lifetime warranties on our accessories. And there are a lot of independent dealers like me out there. Unfortunately, there is too much competition and all advertising is geared towards the big box and corporate entities, and IMO, that is where most of the problems lie. Maybe we were the anomaly, because I will tell you from experience, that a lot of new customers came to us because of how they were treated at the corporate store, be it AT&T, Sprint, TMobile or Verizon. And a lot of them stayed with us because of how we treated them. Just saying, not everyone lives down to the stereotype.
- Professr, on 05/20/2008, -2/+8I tried to cancel my Sprint account in February, and they kept charging me. They lied about actually cancelling it. It took two more tries and until May to finally get the account closed and the charges removed. I will never use Sprint again, or AT&T either (poor service, technical issues, and HIGH prices).
- Cyclone83, on 05/20/2008, -0/+6Umm, so don't go over your plan limits...? You think you'd be able to figure that out. Buried.
- mustafya, on 05/20/2008, -0/+6This article is specifically talking about the special access (circuit) side of Sprint's business. I work in telecom cost management which means I deal with these sorts of issues on a daily basis. Let me tell you something Sprint has absolutely NOTHING on ATT as far as horrible billing practices on the special access side.
- paidhima, on 05/20/2008, -0/+6I am frequently confused by a lot of the arguments people make against one or another carrier. Sprint comments particularly make me scratch my head, as I know their policies and procedures (I worked for Sprint for a bit over three years). I see the same complaints, over and over and over. I think they need to be addressed, though I doubt it will do any good. And before someone yells "shill!" let me state that I believe some complaints are completely justified. Sprint has dropped the ball on numerous occasions, and sometimes I am shocked at the stupidity in their policies. Anyway, moving on (possible wall of text incoming):
1. Sprint forced me to change my plan and/or sign a new contract, and all I wanted was a new phone - To get this right out of the way, yes, if you expect to get a phone for a discount you are going to be signing a contract. If you want the full discount plus any supplemental (mail-in rebates, in-store discounts etc) you will have to sign a 2-year contract. Yes, you may need to change your voice plan if it costs less than $35/month without taxes, fees or add-ons. It's clearly stated. Yes, you may have to sign a new contract if you buy a phone and request certain services. For example, if you have an old 2G phone, buy a 3G phone (even at full price) and want to activate data service, you will have to renew your contract. Additionally, if you have an old plan that included data with voice and you get a 3G phone, you may need to alter the plan. This is your choice. Some of the requirements are a bit dumb, but you can't blame Sprint for not telling you - it's right there in the terms and conditions (as well as the small print on any advertising collateral). If a Sprint rep or authorized dealer dupes you or misinforms you, you have every right to get that issue rectified, even if it means contacting your state attorney general. This is not unique to Sprint.
2. I got a huge bill - At least 90% of the time that I saw these, the issue was either the customer or another person on the customer's account. Yes, I'm sure your 15 year-old daughter was telling you the truth that she didn't sign up for $200/month worth of short-code jokes of the day and horoscope texts or download fifty ringers. *****. Additionally, if you contract for 300 text messages, 300 minutes and no data, but use 700 minutes, 1000 text messages and check sports scores online twice a day, you're going to have a big bill. You know what your limits were. Now, some complaints are, as always, legitimate. Roaming charges still seem to occur at times. This can be fixed.
3. They kept turning off my phone because I went over my minutes - No. They turned off your phone because you went over your spending limit. It doesn't matter when it occurs, or when your bill is due. It's simple: if your total account charges are equal to or greater than your spending limit, your phone turns off. Period.
4. I never got my bill - I still don't know exactly where this comes from. It could be due, in part, to how you print your address on your Sprint bill. If the post office doesn't see an exact match, they may reject it. I would frequently see account notes stating that bills had been returned by the post office, and a bill hold was placed because of it. If there is no bill hold, but you're not getting your bills, it's possible that the postman is placing your bill incorrectly. Check on the exact spelling of your name and how it's printed on the bill. Make sure your suite or apartment number is listed correctly. Other than that, I really don't know. I saw a lot of "not getting my bill" complaints. A few of them were nonsense; they were getting their bill but lying. Others were either postal errors or Sprint errors.
5. Sprint customer service sucks! - Unfortunately, that's true these days. For a while, Sprint customer care was really looking up. Sprint had taken a real interest in improving the care you get over the phone, and it was showing. The Nextel merger kind of destroyed that. Things changed and employees became disillusioned with constant changes to policies, pay and compensation plans. Unhappiness, together with horrible quota policies (ever get offered additional services or lines when you called to complain? they were *required* to ask) and a badly-conceived system merge did a lot of that work. And believe me, it's no better for employees. I haven't worked for Sprint in over six months, but it was terrible. Getting things done was a nightmare. I sincerely hope that changes, because their customer care was totally going the right way for quite a while. Also, I've had great luck using the online chat service. I had to activate an upgraded phone and was able to do so in less than five minutes with a rep online.
6. I'm leaving for Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile because Sprint won't - Good luck, good bye and see you when you cycle back around to Sprint. This is an outstanding example of grass-is-greener syndrome. You are not going to get better service in the long run. They are all the same. Everyone says, "I left Sprint for xxx and now I'm happy!" For every one of you, there is someone that says the exact same name, just swap the company names. In any given day I would see people come in that had previous Sprint accounts and wanted to port a number from xxx carrier. Somewhere in the range of half the time, the number they were porting was one they had on their account before. They would usually open with "I should never have left Sprint for xxx." This, of course, happens the other way just as often. As I said: they're all the same, and nothing changes. They'll give you that free phone now, but guess what? You're signing a contract, just as you would have with Sprint. And when you want a new one? They'll make you sign another. It's the way it is.
So, after all that, what's the final advice? Read your bill, voice your concerns, be polite and courteous (even if the rep you're talking to isn't, don't sink to that individual's level), be firm, know your rights and don't take anything on faith. And remember one last thing: Sprint doesn't owe you squat. You're not giving them money out of the goodness of your heart. You give them money; they provide you service. Not only that, but they don't even promise you uninterrupted service; read your contract. There is no service level agreement with a cell company. If you have a real, justifiable complaint, then all power to you. Get it done (and don't forget your state attorney general's office, it's a great resource). - inactive, on 05/20/2008, -1/+6i used to work at sprint and i prayed everyday for us to be bought out by another company like google or vonage... Customer service is crappy even to its own employees for our phones and even trying to get a person in sales to not hang up on me trying to get a customer their stylus replacement. Not to mention their system is a piece of ***** with horrible programming and about a million different tools that could easily be combined into one program. And the fact that dealing with dolts who in the first place shouldnt have a phone/data card or let alone operate one because they are too stupid to read a manual or think their phone should be able to order pizza if u are 20000 leagues under the sea really made me stop caring really quickly. Which is sad because the CDMA EVDO network totally kicks AT&T and T-Mobile's EDGE network in the nuts.
Training was awful too we got no hands on test calls and were thrown out in the wild blue with barely any hands on after nothing but lectures and power point slides.
Oh and not to mention the damn monitors looking down on you and judging your calls and if you screw up just one thing their or if your opinion on whats wrong technically turns out to not be what really is happening even though you have no way of really knowing since the phone isnt in your hand completely fails your call is retarded as well. Its a really ***** up company to even work for.
When a company treats their own employees like dirt and employees treat other employees who are trying to do a good job like dirt it makes us the good ones really not care anymore and customer service over all sucks.
IMO if you want a good network like spirnt but better service go to Verizon. They use the same CDMA EVDO network.
I think Wimax is gonna be in trouble if sprint cant get their ***** together. - JerryAscione, on 05/20/2008, -19/+24I used to have Sprint, I threw that phone out the window on the highway. iPhone = happiness.
- o0adam0o, on 05/20/2008, -1/+6Sprint has been good to me...altho now their "unlimited data" has a 5gb cap. However i have a SERO plan which means i pay $35 a month hehe
- houndeyex, on 05/20/2008, -3/+8$300 is the iPhone's subsidized price.
- CodeCobalt, on 05/20/2008, -1/+6if you don't like it get your head out of your ass and cancel your contract. Its VERY easy to do with sprint, as they do change their charges fairly often. Once they make a change to your contract you can get out of it no questions asked. I ALMOST cancelled my sprint plan because my razr finally broke, and I wanted the mogul.
they changed one of the fees by 2 freaking cents. I called, asked for retentions, explained how the increase in the charge caused me financial hardship and I could no longer afford the service. I now receive a $5 credit per month, all because they wanted to charge me 2 extra cents a month.
So call up Sprint, be friendly, and you'll get what you want. If you call up being an ass you deserve a hard time and you'll get one. - pinchduck, on 05/20/2008, -2/+7???? Why would the company do anything to limit their profits? Caveat Emptor, dude. In all purchases, for all goods and services. The company owes you nothing but what you contract for, they are not your mommy. The state of telecoms in the U.S. seriously sucks right now, and I'm trying to figure out how to carry a smartphone but not get locked into a 2 year contract. I don't feel that it is the crappy phone companies role to find the best phone/plan for me, it is up to me. Yeah, I will bitch to the various state/federal/ngo organizations if I feel I am getting illegally charged, but the due dilligence is up to me to figure out how to avoid crappy companies in the first place.
- BufordT, on 05/20/2008, -3/+8How is a major Telco like Sprint gouging customers news?
- dha07030, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4These are the people I deal with all day.
- aelias, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4I've been a customer 10 years. They double billed me once. I made one phone call and it was fixed instantly. I never drop calls. Meh.
- roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4If it's what they advertise, it's what they should be providing. The law is pretty ***** clear about that.
- mxmj, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4Get a better plan with more minutes and unlimited texting.
Problem Solved. - OwdenBowden, on 05/20/2008, -1/+5I was a Nextel subscriber for a long time. Liked the 2way walkie and the service was good (especially if you went out of the country). Then the worst merger on the planet happened (Sprint/Nextel) and I could not get any phone calls (everything went directly to voice mail; I could text message anyone in the Nextel network but not any other network - and forget picture messaging. I always got my bill 3 - 7 days after it was due - until I called and complained for the hundredth time and then I got it a day before it was due. And all in all I got sick of paying a large amount of money for a walking answering machine. seriously - Spirnt has been screwing their customers for a very long time. Now they can screw the Nextel customers as well. The company doesn't care about SERVICE - let alone customer service and if we are lucky they will tank and Verizon will eat them up (Only problem is that now Verizon is not investing in their infrastructure so their network is tanking a bit since they have the influx of new subscribers). Only time will tell
- DarkPrincess74, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4There doesn't need to be more regulation of prices just more regulation of unfair practices. I'd say locking someone into a contract for years is unfair and directly effects prices. If people can't change the company that they use very often then the market forces are dampened. Lower prices will come from having more companies competing for the same customers. Instead of allowing mergers of phone companies government should prevent it because mergers rarely ever seem to truely benefit the customers unless of course the customers are on the board. I have a feeling at some point other companies will spring up and provide cell service that offers more options, fewer restrictions.
- kingmanic, on 05/20/2008, -5/+9As P.T. barnum once said, 'There's a Sucker Born Every Minute'
- mrgreen4242, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4I have had the exact opposite experience. Sprint CS has been great ATT's was AWFUL, horrible, terrible, etc etc.
- brufleth, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3I've had Sprint for about eight years now. I haven't had a single hickup in my service in those eight years. They have never over billed me, they offer competitive plans every time my contract is up, and they offered nationwide calling back before that was common place.
In short, I've been nothing but satisfied with them. If I had one gripe it would be that they don't offer nicer phones WITHOUT a camera. That's a hardware manufacturer issue though. - BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3The phones that died on me any my wife were Nextel i830s. I used to call them CSI phones because they had product placement deals on the show. They were pulled off the market about a year or so because of their poor performance.
http://www.mobiledia.com/phones/motorola/i830.html - minorthreat, on 05/20/2008, -2/+5I could be wrong here, but when you buy internet access, you never truly get the advertised speed. However, if you are paying fo over 2,000 a month of a dedicated t-3 line, I believe your entitled to the full 3Mbps bandwidth. I don't believe he is doing the right thing by suing, he should have brought this to their attention earlier.
- mrgreen4242, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Here's something positive about Sprint: They have good CS, from my personal experience. Never had a problem with them, and it's been 22 months now. They have a truly idiotic data plan/MMS messaging rate system, but their CS reps are helpful and polite.
I'll renew my contract with them if I can get a good deal on data/text/MMS service, and that will be the first time I've ever stayed with a cell carrier past the initial contract (had Nextel, ATT, Tmobile, and now Sprint). - inactive, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3So let me get this straight, you sign up for 2 T1 lines and you pay 2,000 a month, for years before questioning it? What a fool, of course, you would be a fool to signup with sprint for T1 services anyways. You can get a T1 for about 300 to 400 a month
- CodeCobalt, on 05/20/2008, -4/+7Why is everyone so against sprint anyways? I swear if half the people would educate themselves they wouldn't have a problem with it at all. Yea customer service can be outsourced, which is annoying but everyone is doing it nowadays. Good news is, if you have a major problem, or just want an american to assist you, they will gladly transfer you back over to the states. Or better yet just ask for retentions everytime you call and you are garunteed an American on the line. They have a very large coverage area, the fastest and most available wireless internet available. their phone choice is lacking, but theres some good ones up there. I personally have the cheapest plan out of anyone I know, and no dropped calls.
- orientis, on 05/20/2008, -4/+7Don't you guys have a telecommunications ombudsman or something?
- Cyclone83, on 05/20/2008, -1/+4Dugg for SERO. I laugh when I see companies offer unlimited plans for $99/month
- cowsgonemadd3, on 05/20/2008, -1/+4For goodness sake read the fine print BEFORE using otherwise dont cry when you get the bill....
If you keep running over then upgrade the plan...A lot of plans now offer unlimited talk and text for 99.99 a month so thats a whole lot cheaper than 500 a month....What on earth could he be talking about for that long anyways? - mcquitty, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Damn, you don't know much.
Let me see...
Phone companies have different plans for different customers.
Think electric rates are the same? Some industries work at night for the cheaper electricity. In Texas, you can shop around for better rates from the numerous electric companies.
Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile all have different rate plans for different types of customers. Business customer, bigger discount.
Airlines. I could be in coach paying $1,500 for my ticket to Hawaii while the person next to me paid $300.
Prices are different all over the place. You may not see it, but it still happens. - mrgreen4242, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Actually almost all of my Sprint CS reps have been native English speaking. My best guesses are Texas area and Canadians depending on the time of day I call.
- Yez70, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3An ombudsman program would be a good idea, but we 'supposedly' have competition in the market, which means you're money should do the talking. The only problem with that is the '2 year contracts' that you usually have to sign mean you have to pay a $200 fine in order to get new service. All our major carriers also lock their phones or use differing technologies so once you choose a cell carrier you're stuck with them for a few years...
The 2 year contracts usually include a locked phone for free or under $100. Buying an unlocked phone in the US is not an easy task and it's usually fairly expensive ($200-$500). They are impossible to find offline and usually mean ordering from Europe online. You also get no price break when you choose a phone company without a contract.
I'm not sure you can get unlocked phone for Sprint though, as they are not GSM compatible. -
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