Wednesday, May 07, 2008

It's Just a Good Thing That I Didn't Have PMS

I finally ordered a new cell phone. My current phone is an older model and I think I’ve had it for about three years or so. I had $150 in credit to use for an upgrade and I decided it was time to update. I browsed the Sprint web site and picked my phone. I had the Sprint rep on the phone explaining how the pricing works.

Me- "So, I have $150 in credit. Do I take that off the final price?"
Sprint guy- "Yes."
Me- "So, if the phone says the final price is $99, I don’t have to pay anything?"
Sprint guy- "That’s right."
Me- "But what about activation?"
Sprint guy- "We can get that taken off for you."

I then tell him which phone I want and he explains that is a Nextel phone. If you have Sprint, you must have a Sprint phone. I then tell him the other phone that I was considering, a Palm Centro, and he proceeds with the order. By this time Claire and Katie are fighting and the baby was awakened from her nap and screaming. We have moved into pure chaos and the poor Sprint guy is stuck with me on the phone.

Me- "Well, if you ever were thinking of having kids then this should knock that notion right out of your head."
Sprint guy- "I have an 8 year old nephew and he took care of that a LONG time ago. He tears up everything in the house just because he can. Best birth-control ever."

Fifty minutes into the call he announces that the order is in and we are finally done. I called my sister a little later to tell her which phone I got since she uses the same service and was eligible for the upgrade credit. She decided to get the same phone for herself and a new one for her son at the same time.

Lynne calls Sprint and is told that she can not get the Centro for free and that she must have been given incorrect information. Lynne calls me to convey the message that I had better check to make sure that it’s not going on my bill. I do not know this immediately because my phone no longer works. I tried to call out and got the message that “my account can not be validated at this time.” It then automatically calls Sprint.

Me- "My phone isn’t working. I sure hope you feel like chatting because you’re the only person I can call."
Sprint woman, not amused- "Did you power off your phone and take your battery out?"
Me- "No. I think the problem is that I ordered a new phone and it will arrive activated. I think this one was turned off because of that. But it shouldn’t have been because the new one won’t arrive for 3-5 days."
Sprint woman- "You need to power off your phone and take the battery out. Then restart it and it should work."
Me- "Well, I don’t think that’s the problem but I’ll try it."

I do what she said ,turn the phone back on and realize that it was a great way to me off the phone. My phone will still only call Sprint. I call back and get a new woman that actually believes my story and gets it reactivated so I will leave them alone. I am finally able to retrieve my voicemail. First message is from Lynne recounting her Sprint troubles. I am back on the phone with Sprint.

Me- “ I just ordered a new phone and was told that it was covered by my upgrade credit. My sister tried to order that same phone and was told that she couldn’t get it free.”
New Sprint guy, looks up account- “No, you are getting the Centro for no charge, except taxes. Free activation and free shipping."
Me- "So, my sister CAN get the same deal?"
New Sprint guy- "Yes, she was given incorrect information."

Lynne and I then get on the phone together to order her phone. We get a new Sprint woman on the phone. We explain the situation and what we want to do.

New Sprint woman- "That must have been a special promotion that just ended. That phone will cost you $100."
We go through the whole things and she pulls up my account and sees notes from the last guy. He put in detailed notes saying that I was not being charged and that I was assured that my sister could get the same deal. New Sprint woman reads these aloud and says that she can't figure it out. She then announces that the next page on her screen says that I will have a $150 charge on next month's bill, for my 'free' phone. We then ask for a supervisor.
Supervisor with an attitude- "That phone will cost you $150. You must have MISUNDERSTOOD. "
Me- "I have a graduate degree. I did not MISUNDERSTAND. Read the notes on my account."
Supervisor- "Those notes could be interpreted many different ways. All I can do is cancel your order."
Me- "No. I'm not canceling and I'm not paying $150 when I was told it was free. I will be calling Executive Customer Service on Monday morning."
Sprint woman- "Thank you for choosing Sprint. You have a nice day."

Then my head almost explodes.

Monday morning arrived and I called the top secret (well, not really secret, they just don''t tell you about it) number and my problem was fixed in minutes. My sister called and got the phones that she wanted ordered. The guy even shipped her order overnight at no charge. Mine just arrived and I can't wait to play with it.

Dave is a little disappointed that I will have a new phone. He loves to make fun of my old one because he thinks it's HUGE.

Here are some of his past comments:
Dave- "Everybody get back. We’ve got to make room. Lisa’s getting out her cell phone."
"Is it rotary dial?"
"Didn’t that thing come with a bag?"

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I feel you completely. Verizon has done the same thing to me. It's always back and forth and back and then to someone who doesn't want to do their job and around again.

Congrats for not taking their BS and getting a Palm! I've been eyeing one of those for a while. :)

J. said...

I'm going to have to deal with the cell situation soon myself, our phones are getting SERIOUSLY outdated. I've been putting it off though, because I'm afraid of dealing with "customer service"!

Anonymous said...

That happens to me every time I deal with someone on the phone.

When are companies going to learn that customer service means doing a service *for* a customer???