On, January 15 I requested that my services be discontinued with AT&T and moved to Alltel wireless. I requested that following phone numbers be ported from AT&T to Alltel wireless 806-XXX-XXXX and 806-XXX-XXXX. Since the beginning I have been plagued by problems with the transfer to Alltel. I do not blame Alltel Wireless for the multitude of problems that I have experienced, but rather the indirect dealer Wireless4U, Inc. I found many of the business practices implored by Wireless4U, Inc. To be deceptive and unprofessional. Further, Wireless4U, Inc's employees lack the general training and product knowledge to effectively represent Alltel Wireless. I have found the customer service that I have received from Wireless4U, Inc to be reprehensible and I would strongly caution Alltel Wireless against allowing this company to further act as an indirect agent on Alltel Wireless's behalf. Below I have outlined a brief timeline and my experience in dealing with Wireless4U.
1. Entered Wireless4U, Inc. Mall kiosk and requested two new lines of services. Upon being approved, I was granted two lines of service and I requested that my services be discontinued from AT&T and that that following phone numbers be ported from AT&T to Alltel wireless 806-XXX-XXXX and 806-XXX-XXXX. Being in the market for a smart phone the agent offered me a New HTC PPC6800 for $249.99 and a Kyocera Strobe K612B for free. I accepted the offer extended from the agent Michael and contracts were signed.
2. Upon arriving at home I noticed that the Kyocera Strobe worked perfectly, however, the HTC PPC6800 did not work. I received a recorded message when placing a call stating that the phone was not registered on the network. I called Alltel customer service and found that the phone was not properly programmed and customer service stepped me through this process.
3. I had noticed that my call volume was much lower that usual after the switch to Alltel, but I gave Alltel that benefit of the doubt and thought it might be due to porting the numbers from AT&T. However, on January 19 my dog was injured and was sent to the vet for surgery. I anxiously awaited a call from the vet, however the call never came. I called the vet and they stated that they had been trying to reach me and the call would ring and go to my voicemail. I checked my HTC PPC6800 hundred that I had in my hand all-day and noticed that I had 6 voicemails, but no numbers in my call history. This continued the entire day.
4. On the evening of January 19 I started looking through my materials that came with my HTC PPC6800 and I observed that the pouch was missing and that there was an out of state phone number written on the inside flap of the box. I was suspect that I had been duped into buying a used phone. The performance issues of the HTC PPC6800 and the Kyocera strobe escalated to the point that my wife and I could sit across the room from each other and take turns placing calls to each other and neither one of us would receive the call.
5. On January 21 I took the phones back to Wireless4U, Inc's kiosk and explained the problems that I had been experiencing. I worked with Anna who was not knowledgeable with either phone and could not assist me without calling customer service. Customer service instructed her change some programming on the Kyocera Strobe, which she completed. However, she was not able to offer any assistance on the HTC PPC6800. When I questioned Anna as to whether or not the HTC was new or used, she stated that it was used. I explained that I was told that the phone was new and that I wanted the new phone that I paid for. She contacted her manager Nathan and he stated that he would only be willing to exchange the HTC for another used HTC. I told him that I wanted a new phone, but the only phone that he would offer me as new replacement was a Blackberry Pearl 8130, which I had no choice but to accept. After I had spent over an hour and a half at the kiosk the agent programmed the Blackberry Pearl and I went on my way.
6. After I got back to work that afternoon I noticed that I did not have any options to surf the web or to add an email account. Further the reception I received on the Pearl was horrible. I contacted customer service and they stated that the Blackberry had not been added to my account and that the host routing had not been setup on the phone. Customer service stepped me through this procedure and the phone worked perfectly from that point forward with occasional reception issues.
7. Nonetheless from the point that Wireless4U, Inc performed additional programming on my wife's Kyocera Strobe she was no longer able to receive calls or send text messages. The Strobe would ring and then go to voicemail, without calls showing up in the call history. I took the phones back to Michael at the Wireless4U kiosk and requested his assistance in fixing the phone. He stated that he preformed additional programming and that if the problem persisted the phone could be swapped out.
8. The situation with the Kyocera Strobe did not improve and I took the phone back to the Wireless4U kiosk on January 24, and requested that the phone be switched for another phone. I decide that I would pay for an additional smart phone, as I new I was not having as many issues with my Blackberry Pearl. I spoke with Tone and he contacted Nathan who approved the swap out. I was told that they were out of smart phones but they would have more on January 25. I was told that I could purchase an HTC Touch for $275, and I accepted.
9. I called the Wireless4U kiosk by phone on January 25 and asked if the HTC touch came, and Michael said yes and I asked him to hold it back for me. I arrived at 5:00 to switch out the phones and I was told that the price had increased and that I would be charged $399 for the phone. I promptly replied that I would invoke my customer satisfaction guarantee and go to the corporate store where I could get better pricing. I spoke with Nathan on the phone and after a heated exchange with him telling me that this was nothing but a service issue and that he was tired of dealing with me. I told him that was fine just give me a refund and I would go to the corporate store. At that point he reluctantly gave me the phone for a total price of $325 to which I accepted. My wife's number was put on the Blackberry Pearl and My number was placed on the HTC Touch. After we got home, the browser and other applications did not show up on my wife's phone, to which I knew the phone was not setup correctly by Tone.
10. At this point I had enough dealing with Wireless4U, I went to the kiosk on the morning of January 26 and requested a full refund under the total customer satisfaction clause in my contract. I spoke to Anna about this who immediately called Nathan. Nathan refused to give me a cash refund on 1/26 and requested that I leave the phones and meet him on Monday to discuss the issue. I explained to him that I wanted a refund, so that I could go to the corporate store. He said he would give me a partial refund on Monday. I stated that I wanted a full refund, to which he responded I am tired of fu*in with you just leave your sh*t and we can talk about it on Monday. I stated that I would exchange the equipment for a refund and that I would not leave the equipment without a refund. He then stated that he this was business and the he was God and that he did not have to give me a partial refund or full refund and that he would call and have my services terminated. I asked him what he expected me to do to which he replied, I don't give a sh*t what you do go to Sprint or somewhere else, because Alltel is done with you. I told him that if he would not give me a full refund that I did not have a choice but to keep my service. I then disconnected the call and left the kiosk.
11. Since my wife's phone was not working I went to the corporate store and was assisted by Justice, who noticed that the Blackberry codes were not associated with my wife's number and he added these items and the phone worked perfectly. On my way home from the corporate store I received a call from Justice stating that he notice that he noticed some unusual things about my account. With out my knowledge, Wireless4U had set me and my wife up on two separate plans and we were not sharing minutes. I told him that I was not aware of this and asked that he please fix it for me.
12. At approximately 5:15 on January 26, I attempted to place a call and I got a recording stating that my phone was not registered on the network. I attempted to place a call on my wife's phone and received the same message. I called customer service and after being disconnected three times, I was told that my numbers had been ported. I then called the Wireless4U kiosk and after they looked into the matter they stated that the numbers had been ported and they stated that I had to go see the regional manager Michael at the corporate store to get it fixed. This didn't seem right to me so I contacted customer service again. Customer service stated that the agent called in and had my services disconnected. The agent code was that of Wireless4U. The stated that I would have to call retention to get this resolved. I attempted to contact Nathan from Wireless4U through Tone at the store, and he stated that Nathan did not have time to deal with me until Monday. At this point, I am going to contact retention and I am looking at filing fraud charges against Wireless4U since they used my SSN to act on my behalf without my consent. I plan to escalate this to the highest authority possible with Alltel.
I have filed forgery/fraud charges against Wireless4U, Inc. The case number is 08-XXXX. Further, I will be meeting with my attorney in an effort to bring a civil suit against Wireless4U. I would love to discuss this further with an Alltel executive.
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