Hello, let me first say this is bittersweet that I've found this site - only to read what Sprint is doing to other people as well. Here's my situation and I would appreciate any legitimate suggestions on what I can do to get some resolution.
In September my wife and I started a new two-year,
2000 minute "anytime" style contract at a Sprint PCS store in Columbus, Ohio for $89.99 per month. Obviously, this plan came with 2 phones and two 614 area code numbers respectively. Except for the fact that we never received the promised rebates (and yes, we sent them in within the window period and included all receipts), reception and everything was fine and dandy. That is, until this past February when we moved to Foster City, California for work reasons. This is when things went south.
Because we still have older family members without cell phones or good long distance plans in Columbus AND we had resumes printed with our 614 numbers during our transition to a new city and state, we decided we needed to retain both of those 614 numbers for a while at least until we became settled. Then we would change our numbers to local 650 area code numbers once settled in. We figured this wouldn't be a problem because of the cell phone portability initiatives.
So after we were settled in California and informed our friends, family and business contacts that we would soon be switching numbers, we called Sprint, explained our situation to quite a few CSR's on a few different occasions (including an in-person visit to a clueless CSR at a Sprint PCS store in San Mateo), we were finally told that we would have to add a third phone to our plan in order to get a 650 area code phone number! Of course my answer was "But I only need two phones... To that, the final CSR said that once the third phone was added I could just simply "drop" one of the original 614 phones off my plan - which I come to find out later is definitely NOT the case, that I was misinformed by the CSR and to top it off they had no record that I had called. So my third phone just magically appeared on my door step? Subsequent calls about this issue to CS resulted in frustration. Now, I know rebuttals here generally concentrate on the fact that the consumer simply failed to read his or her contract, but since this transaction took place over the phone without getting an opportunity to read a contract AND I was basically mislead, this was red flag number one. It gets worse for me...
Fine. I still needed to have some local numbers and approx 3 weeks after receiving the unnecessary "3rd" phone for my local usage, the backlight on it failed so I called up CS again and told them the issue. They tried to sell me a 4th phone stating that I shouldn't be so rough on my phones, that I must have caused the problem and therefore would not be eligible for a replacement - all site unseen! Again, keep in mind this Nokia POS phone was for home use only and spent most of it's time in a kitchen drawer, unlike my workhorse Sanyo SCP-4700's which have been dropped and banged around for almost two years at that point! I was furious.
But after speaking with a "supervisor", the best solution they could come up with is that since I don't need the 614 number anyway but was contractually locked into keeping it because it was my "primary account phone" (insult to injury), I could simply move over that Ohio number to the non-functional phone swap the 650 area code number to my Sanyo. OK, it gets worse...
A few weeks after that, my wife dropped her Sanyo and killed it. That was our fault without a doubt. Unfortunately, she was expecting calls regarding job offers, so we needed a new phone quickly. So we went to a local Radio Shack Sprint reseller, bought a $300 Samsung phone (with a $280 rebate that we never saw back either), moved her number over and she was rolling again. A short time after, she decided to switch her 614 to a 650 number for local purposes. HOWEVER - now our bill was $150 (instead of the $89 it was originally) and we're still paying for one phone we don't need!!!
That brings us to now. A few months ago, we moved again but to Redwood City just a few miles south of Foster City and I decided to set aside a day out of my very busy schedule to concentrate on this growing concern. So I called CS and said "Look, I have 3 phones and 3 numbers. I only need two. Can you help me simplify my setup and lower my bill?" Sounds simple enough right? I mean my cable company, gas and electric companies are more than willing to help me out like that.instead, the CSR informed me the following:
1.) For some reason unbeknownst to me, I'm on a 2500 minute per month plan even though my wife and I have never made such a decision and my total monthly bill is now $150 as a result.
2.) Because we decided to move out of Ohio and because my primary account phone number is still a 614 number, it cannot be changed or dropped without incurring a $150 termination fee. Cell number portability obviously does not count in this case.
3.) When my wife had to replace her broken phone at Radio Shack back in June, it automatically signed her up for a new 2-year contract even though we specifically stated that we just needed a replacement phone! We even kept the old number! I've scoured my Radio Shack paperwork and see no mention of replacement phones needed a brand new contract. As well, the CSR at Radio Shack told us that this would not change or add to existing contract. I can not change or drop that service until June without incurring a term fee as well!
To top it all off, our phones get absolutely NO reception in our new apartment or at work (also in RWC) and it turns out we are in a "dead spot" near Silicon Valley which heavily effects Sprint PCS's signal. All of my coworkers with Verizon, AT&T, Cingular and TMobile have absolutely beautiful signals in this area, but other Sprint users are complaining about reception issues.
Basically, I'm stuck with a service I can't use, drop, modify or enjoy for two more years?!?!? There has to be another way! Thanks for listening and please help if you can!
Steve
Redwood City, California
U.S.A.
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