Do not ever use Sprint! An epic tale of poor customer service.

[dank69]

What the fuck? What happened?

Oh boy, kinda long story, I'll try to make it brief. I'm sure if I had the energy I could turn this into a truely epic tale ala Nuclear Ned, but even just thinking about it pisses me off so I'm going to just rush it.

This was the first cellphone I ever owned. My wife got the thing for me specifically because Sprint was the only company at the time that offered phones without locking you into a 1 or 2 year contract. I don't even remember how long I had the phone but at some point I lost it. I wasn't even really using it much so I called them, told them I lost it and told them to cancel my service.

Next month I get a new bill. I called them up, successfully navigated their automated phone system to get a person, and had to fight for like a half an hour to get them to waive the bill. Next month, I get another bill. Repeat at least 3-4 times. The problem was, somewhere between the time when I first got the phone and when I lost it, Sprint stopped offering the no contract plan. I was grandfathered in, or at least I assume I was because I never signed a contract saying otherwise. Of course nobody working in customer service even knew that such a plan ever existed in the first place, because, you know, the average customer service rep is a fucking retard. So every month they would cancel the charges but not cancel the service even though they told me they would just to get me off the phone.

Sprint also happened to be in the process of engineering their automated phone system to be as anti-customer as possible. Every month when I called, the system options became more and more convoluted, requiring more and more choices before you could get a live operator. 0 no longer worked, more layers, etc. etc. The 5th or 6th month of this I get the following message everytime I am about to get a live person: "Sprint now charges $3 to talk to a live CS rep, do you agree to the charges?" NO! Fuck no! Back into the auto loop. The only way to get a live person without agreeing to a fee now was the option to sign up for new service. So I try that and the person I get says he can't help with my problem and transfers me back into the loop.

Now I have a bill that I won't pay and no way to get a live person to dispute it. After going through a few government agencies starting with BB they direct me to some agency that I would have never guessed could help. I don't even remember what agency it was, but I got a lady on the phone and after I explained the situation, she said she would take care of it. A few months later I got a written apology from Sprint and everything was removed from my credit history. Probably just coincidence, but I heard Sprint no longer charged people to speak to live operators soon after that.

TLDR:
Sprint CS sucks
No longer legal to charge for customer service. You are all welcome.

 

[ZaneNBK]

I wanted to try out a new phone on Sprint (the Evo 4G) and I hadn't been a customer of theirs for years (5+). I took around 45 minutes for them to re-activate my account because even though I was there in the store with a photo ID they still wanted to know my phone number from five years ago and the password I had set up. Finally after spending a long time in the store with the sales rep on the phone with CS they told me what my old password was and let me activate.

Ended up being pointless as the Evo 4G was a POS at launch so I returned it and switched back to AT&T. The phone was slow/laggy and the hardware was actually falling apart. The screen was coming unglued on one side and was coming off. It also didn't help that Sprint didn't even have 4G in our area (and still doesn't even though Verizon and AT&T do).

 

[HumblePie]

Been with Sprint since 1997 and will dump them soon. Their lack of 4G LTE in one of the original LTE rollout cities, mine, has been fairly upset. Compared to the fact I got my GF going on Straight Talk with no contract, a Galaxy Note, $45 a month, unlimited everything (I know there is a supposed throttle at 2GB per month), and 4g LTE service EVERYWHERE has me a bit jaded. I have Sero-P, and I get almost no 4g lte service and pay $50 + more fees than her.

The only things I would have over her for a plan would be technically no throttle (yah right) and unlimited tethering with Sprint's blessing (of which that blessing has come and gone over the years).

 

[nageov3t]

I was with Sprint for years... never really had any customer service problems, but their 4G coverage was terrible.

no 4G coverage in Manhattan is a little inexcusable.

switched to Verizon about a year and a half ago (when my company took over my cellphone and my choices were Verizon or AT&T) and get 4G pretty much everywhere in north jersey/NYC now.

 

[etrigan420]

We're with Sprint because even though they suck, they suck a little *less* than Verizon and AT&T do (in my experience), and TMobile has craptastic coverage in my area.

What's a balla' to do?

 

[Anonemous]

Oh good - I'll get to experience what decent speeds are like for a short time before going back to my shit speeds here.

Yea MI sure doesn't have much 4G coverage at all for AT&T/Sprint, only Verizon has some coverage. So might as well pay $$$ for it or wait for further LTE rollouts.

Verizon LTE

 

[Oakenfold]

So, you are saying that Sprint is not an Oakenfold approved trader.

Hey Doug.

Hey Mike! Lol, their heat feedback would be the following:
Sprint gets an A+ for packaging and shipment but their product, communication and customer service/follow-through need significant improvement. Overall negative rating. Definitely NOT an Oakenfold approved trader


@dank69 that's pretty crazy!

 

[Svnla]

I have been with Sprint for the last 4 plus years because of SERO. So far, so good. I guess because I still have the original phone and original plan ($30 plus tax/fee) and no CSR contact <crossing fingers>.

 

[Ichinisan]

Seriously, though. Anand himself gushed about the engineering excellence that allowed nearly every significant spectrum and wireless tech world-wide to be supported between only two iPhone 5 models. The original post is misguided due to (admitted) lack of research.

 

[AkumaX]

LA has both LTE (downtown and some parts) and Wimax from Sprint. Their 3G was ok (1Mbps) at least it was better than SD (.3-.5Mbps).
LTE in Los Angeles

WIMAX in Los Angeles

I had WiMAX in those areas, and hardly got it indoors. When I got it outdoors, it was while driving, and the switching/handoff between WiMAX and CDMA was terrible. That's the only good thing about the switch to LTE, because 1900MHz is easier to penetrate awe buildings than 2500MHz WiMAX.

Don't forget, Sprint's LTE 1900MHz (Band 25, if anyone cares) will just be obsolete by the time they deploy their new LTE, 800MHz (Band 26), supposedly next year in 2014. They're dumping all their iDEN contracts for this. And nope, no current Sprint phone will support the new band. New phones for everyone (again!)