I have been a customer with Working Assets Long Distance (www.workingassets.com) for approximately 12 years and have been happy with them up until I signed with its Wireless division on 02/22/04. I received my Nokia cell phone at a monthly price higher than most other companies charge for the same "free" minutes. This is fine with me because I believe in what Working Assets stands for and would gladly pay a little more to support their causes. However, when my phone service started to have problems AFTER the 30-day trial period, I called the company's customer service line (800-808-6398) to report the problem (04/26/04).
My problem is that the phone roams about 75% of the time no matter where I am - indoors or out, in my home area or not - regardless of the time of day. I will not use the phone when it's in roaming mode. I spoke with a representative who was helpful enough by trying to reprogram the phone's MSID and MDN number. Neither helped and so she put in a trouble report. The company called me back a couple of days later to inform me that I'd made a couple of calls that weren't charged roaming rates and so they figured the problem was solved.
I called again on 04/30/04 and spoke to another representative, letting him know that the problem still continued, that I was able to use my phone much less and that, further, when I ended a call the phone would immediately go to analog roaming and then digital roaming and remain there for hours. He opened another "trouble ticket" but no one called back to follow up on it.
I called again on 05/12/04 and spoke to yet another representative, informing her that the problem still continued, seemed to be getting worse, and that no one had contacted me to follow up on my last call. I reiterated the oddity of the phone switching to roaming mode EVERY TIME I ended a call, but she didn't seem to think there was a problem with the phone and declined my offer to send it in. I again let her know that the time spent in roaming mode was about 75%, that basically the phone was useless. She opened another "trouble ticket" for the network to see if there was a problem on that end. Again, no one contacted me.
I called yet again on 05/17/04 and spoke to a fourth customer service representative and offered to fax the notes I'd been keeping on the phone's activity. (I keep meticulous notes!) She accepted my fax on 05/18/04, which could only serve to reinforce my claims of severe roaming problems. Again, no one contacted me.
Well, I guess I've finally had it up to my limit with this phone. I really am willing to work with them to have the problem solved somehow. I'm willing to send the phone back to them so they can check it out (they never offered that option and didn't agree to it when I asked).
This past weekend (Memorial Day) was too much for me. On Friday (05/29/04) at 11:00 AM my phone was already in roaming mode when I checked it (at home) and continued through 7:55 PM. That's NINE hours. Straight. I made a call afterward that lasted about a half-hour at which point the phone went immediately to roaming and stayed there for THIRTY SIX hours.
In other words, it roamed from 8:32 PM on 05/29 all the way through 05/30 to finally return to regular service at 8:02 AM on 05/31. I called my voicemail right away and ended the call at 8:06 AM - again, the phone switched to roaming where it remained, thankfully, for only a brief TWO hours (10:06 AM). At 10:25 AM I tried to call my voicemail again because I had another message waiting, but lost the signal before it could connect and the phone went roaming at 10:26 AM where it stayed until 4:50 PM (almost SEVEN hours).
Later that night, I made a call that ended at 10:22 PM and the phone switched to roaming at 10:23 PM (surprise, surprise) where it stayed until sometime in the middle of the night.
As you can imagine, I'm pretty frustrated at this point and called the customer service on 06/01/04 at 6:31 PM. This time, I had the misfortune to speak to a supervisor named "Pavneet" whose only ability seemed to be parroting the phrase, "it's our policy..." The upshot of that fruitless conversation was
1) that I should have returned the phone in the 30-day trial period (which I couldn't because the problem didn't start until approximately 04/15/04);
2) that since I was using the phone (albeit only once a day if I'm lucky) there was no problem with the phone;
3) and that modern technology can't be controlled and they can't guarantee that I'll have a signal. (Now mind you, when I initially called to sign up for the service they told me that they had service here... And why it would suddenly become a problem is beyond me - especially since I don't live in the deep dark recesses of a mountain range or anything.)
No one I know has ever had a problem like this, and I live with someone who has cellular service through Sprint and she doesn't have a problem. I let Pavneet know this and that I could not pay for a service I wasn't getting.
I think my request is reasonable: I want them to fix the phone, give me a new one, correct the problem if it's at their end, or terminate the contract. She informed me that none of these options was viable and that, in essence, I had to continue to pay for phone service I wasn't getting. If I terminate the contract I would have to pay $150 early-termination fee. I told her THAT was definitely not an option and the only other one I could think of was for them to refund my monthly service charge until they could resolve the problem. She wouldn't do that either, so I asked for the name and number of someone who was able to handle my problem. She refused to give me any further information, stating that she was the only person who could do this - that there were no other supervisors, no one she reported to, no problem-solving or special-issue department that I could be forwarded to. Then she hung up on me.
I called back shortly afterwards in an attempt to get someone else to help me and was told that there were several supervisors and one would call me back as soon as possible. No one called.
As I said before, I have enjoyed being a Working Assets customer for 12 years, with a flawless payment record, but this experience and especially this woman Pavneet have put such a sour taste in my mouth that
1) I will never use Working Assets Wireless again;
2) I may not use their regular long distance service again;
3) I am opening my big mouth to let everyone know of my experience (which I do when the experience is good, as well);
4) I feel I have been forced to discontinue the use of my phone and refuse to make further payments on it or pay an early termination fee.
I have an excellent credit record and this blight will not affect me. I regret that they have put me in the position, but what else can I do? Any suggestions?
0 comments