Sprint PCS
Garbled clarity, mangled billing, bad coverage, lack of Customer Service

Let me start by saying I had high hopes for SprintPCS. I was excited by the prospect of being able to call anywhere from anywhere. I was enticed by the big rebates and good phones.

If I only had known then what I know now...

Over the last year, and through the entire duration of my contractually-binding relationship with Sprint PCS, it has been one headache after another. Almost immediately, I noticed a poor quality of coverage, clarity, and most of all, customer service.

I believe that the foundation of any company is their Customer Service team. The customer should be able to reach Customer Service with relative ease, and in turn, the Customer Service team should act with courtesy and professionalism to ensure
that the customer's needs are met, questions are answered, and that a mutually satisfactory outcome is achieved when possible.

My first encounter with SprintPCS Customer Service left me pulling clumps of hair from my head. First, it took me hours to get through to someone other than "Claire, [my] Virtual Customer Service Representative". During this time, not only did my
call to Customer Service drop at LEAST a dozen times, but the cell phone BATTERY DIED from waiting so long.

I called back on my land line and waited another 2 hours and 37 minutes. OK, in case you missed that: 2 hours, 27 minutes.inexcusable. I talked to the Customer Service Representative (the one with an actual pulse) to report my difficulties with dropped calls, unclear calls, poor coverage areas, and more. The CSR then insisted that the problem was my phone and that I should have it tested. [I did. It wasn't the phone.]

I also explained to her that I had some questions about my bill.instead of listening to my actual questions, she tried upselling me to a higher plan. I didn't bite. I refused to pay more than $50/month total for a mobile phone.

Regardless, when the call ended, I was comfortable thinking that the billing issue had been straightened out. Of course, I was wrong.

On my next bill, I found that not only had the billing situation NOT been corrected, but I was assessed a fee for contacting Customer Service from a phone other than my Sprint PCS phone. I HAD NO CHOICE!!! I even explained that to the CSR when I called.
Also, my plan had been miraculously and mysteriously raised.

Over the ensuing months, one billing mistake after another appeared on my bill. Calls to places I'd never heard of and people who don't even speak ENGLISH were being billed to my phone. Learning my lesson not to *call* Customer Service, I sent
an e-mail from the sluggish Sprint PCS website, only to never hear back.

I've tried eliminating unused services from my bill, but the responses I did receive told me that Sprint PCS is "unable to process your request as your service has been disconnected". Of *course* it's disconnected. I'm not going to pay for billing
mistakes your company has made. I was witholding complete payment until billing issues are resolved. It's not as if I didn't pay at all, either.

I have many, MANY questions about my bills from Sprint PCS. If the mystery charges are legitimate, there should be someplace on the website IN PLAIN ENGLISH that would explain where these charges originated. A block of minutes in the middle of the
month that are not "included" when I haven't gone over my allotted minutes is not something I wish to pay for without explanation.

During the time I've spent as a Sprint PCS customer, I have experienced so many dropped calls that I've just given up reporting them because it takes so much more time and further interrupts a call that was already interrupted. I live in Boston.
It's not unreasonable to expect that your company would have decent service in such a large metropolitan area and its surrounding areas.

All in all, I'm exasperated and angry that I've been treated with such blatant disregard. My $34.99/month plan ended up costing me on average over $80/month - even without going over my minutes.

The garbled clarity, the poor Customer Service, the mangled billing, the lack of coverage and the overall bad treatment I received made me a very vocal customer. I'll definitely tell other people about my negative experience so they can avoid it
in the future. Being new to Boston when I first got this so-called "service" was unfortunate because I didn't know enough people to ask about Sprint PCS. I know LOTS of people now, though.

Here's what I'd like to see happen: I would like Sprint PCS to make many changes to the way they handle their customers. First, customers should be able to access Customer Service much more easily than is currently possible. This includes the website. For each call billed to his or her account, the customer should be able to click on the minutes used and receive an explanation of the type of billing used for those minutes (i.E.included minutes, roaming, wireless web, call waiting, etc). Yes, I realize there's a "rate type" column, but in my year with Sprint PCS, only ONCE have I ever seen it used, and that was for call waiting. Also, an ongoing history of calls should be available online at any time to see which calls have been made thus far during the billing period. Just knowing how many minutes have been used is insufficient. Would anyone be happy with online banking that just showed your balance and not where the money has gone? Of course not. Finally, I would like to see Sprint PCS offer more options to their customers. Perhaps online, one can
register a dispute over billing discrepancies. Maybe an la carte packaging system would also be beneficial.

As for my personal experience, ideally I'd appreciate at least a partial refund. Thanks to the fee for breaking contract, I've been 'wed' to Sprint PCS for a year now, and frankly, I want an annullment. My contract is up and I'll be seeking service elsewhere. I feel I grossly overpaid and that I was neglected and abused as a customer.

Company: Sprint PCS
Country: USA
State: Kentucky
City: London
Address: P.O. Box 8077

  <     >