My disappointing call to Sprint.... RESOLVED :)

[ZiggSVO]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Glad its working out for ya bud

 

[gitit20]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Well as many of the regulars around here know I have been without a fully functional Epic 4g now for about a week.

Started off first with my original Epic of about 9-10 months old going in for unresponsive screen. They replaced it with an unclaimed refurb that turned out to have a non functioning WIFI and somehow my SD CARD also becomes unresponsive. I return the next day and they order another refurb #2, that is picked up on Friday evening shortly before closing. They activate it and I walk out the door. Shortly afterwards it starts boot looping and doing random shutdowns etc... Basically a useless phone because you didn't know what it was going to do, example my wife called it rang once then powered down with a full battery sitting on the charger... Nice right?

I return to Sprint on Saturday and they look at it, hear my story and immediately order #3. So here I am Monday afternoon with still a non working phone and I just called Sprint to see what they say about everything.

I tell the rep in retentions or whatever department I was transferred to that I'm not putting blame on my local store this is out of their control. I am however very unhappy with the quality of refurbs being sent to me and in the long run having to pay for services over the last week that have been greatly interrupted in the beginning to now unuseable over the weekend due to the refurbs I was given and how does Sprint intend on reimbursing me at least for the last week of service that isn't of my fault and also my out of pocket expense of an new sdcard. Before anyone starts I'm fully aware of the terms of TEP coverages... But at the same time you were without quality service and a working device you would be very unhappy too...

I was told after not getting anywhere with the original rep and we got into a bit of an argument after he began to think my claims were something to laugh at... I even told him I can't believe he thinks this is funny... So he sends me to the boss. This lady turns out not to be any better. She was very rude, she listened to my story for about 2 minutes describing everything and then would not shut up for one second to get another word in. She said the following...

1. Best thing they can offer is my account and services lost will be considered for review.

2. I have to wait on refurb #3 and see the outcome of that device. I did finally get a word in and ask if #3 is also a failure what would happen then? She basically summed it up with wait for #4.

3. I told her that the quality of refurbs aren't very impressive to me, she this is isolated but also at the same time odds of two in a row being messed up after she goes through the whole speech of how they are rigorously tested to meet or exceed Sprints standards..

Edit: Let me add I commented that the refurb #2 that was provided was a piece of garbage out of the box. She found that very offensive and I told her great, I find this whole situation offensive and she was not happy I called Sprint's refurb #2 a piece of garbage... I responded by saying I'm telling you my thoughts, box was opened by rep, activated and 5 minutes later it started to freak out so what else am I supposed to call it?

4. She said there is nothing they can do about the sdcard which failed in their refurb device, not mine... I told her okay so I'm supposed to spend $20-$40 for a quality replacement sd card for my device once I get a working model and she responded by saying I can by one off Ebay or other places for as little as $6... I freaked.. I told her would you depend on that $6 card in your device? No comment...

5. I commented on this is the service I receive after 6-8 yrs of Sprint service and best I'm offered is a possible consideration of reviewing my lost of service from THEIR product but in the end I better make sure my bill is paid on time or I will be canceled. Also said that I'm very displeased with the quality of Sprint service overall their call quality and signal quality has become a big topic of discussion on my forums and sites around the internet for months and doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Bottom line I was joked around, rudely spoken to even by a superior of the division and not given any real answers.. She made comment of me using my other Epic 4g on my account which is my wife's device and she's a home health nurse that has over 20 patients that depend on her at a drop of a phone call night and day... I told her that is uncalled for and won't happen. I said I'm calling from my home phone and my Epic 4g is vibrating as we speak on the counter doing a reboot on it own.

What can I say.... At this point I'm very displeased with Sprint and unsure of how much longer I will be apart of the Sprint community.

What is your thoughts? Suggestions? I'm I being stupid asking for some sort of break on services paid for that I can't use? Is this stupid complaining about 2 broken refurbs in a row? What about being told to hit Ebay for a $6 sd card and that I'm told I shouldn't be spending $20-$40 for a quality sd card replacement... I would love to hear your thoughts..

Sorry you had such a prob I just got through calling sprint 4 days ago because of probs with my epic and service its really bad here not sure why they say weather related but we have had no bad weather... anyways they gave me an entire month of service free of charge I am on my 3rd epic as of now kept having radio probs with them. So far the 3rd refurb is fine but after 3 devices you can get a new one or even a different model all together I would call back and ask for a super see what they can do let them know you have been miss treated and they should help out...

 

[oregonbruin]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

I know this won't make you feel any better but I have gone through similar issues when dealing with what has been an unbelievable amount of problems with several Epic phones. Currently, I am on my 6th Epic 4G all due to defects that are in no way my fault, and defects aside, I love this phone.. I will not go into too many details here as it will sound mostly redundant. Make no mistake, I have had my share of being treated like garbage, called names, reps making promises that were in fact not possible according to their supervisors, called a liar, and hung up on, etc.

I have had a few issues in the past with other phones, but never treated this poorly and have actually enjoyed my time with Sprint. I am not someone who complains a lot so for some reason, I actually was feeling guilty, as if I was the problem. One of the reasons I think I have had some issues is I do not live near a repair center anymore. I have been threatened several times that regardless of why the handsets have been defective, that if I don't go in to a service center, I will NOT be getting a replacement device. I moved at one point during this contract period which puts me nearly 300 miles away from Portland, the closest location. I made it clear I cannot drive up there every time my phone is defective. Luckily, a replacement was ultimately made every time but it was never easy. I am hoping my current phone makes it to the end of my contract period. It, too, has issues that have been well documented throughout these forums but mostly has been the best one I've owned.

I have tried sending Sprint letters, emails, phone calls and have gotten nowhere. I do not want to be stuck with large fees for jumping ship so I am going to ride it out. I know that may make me sound like an idiot, The ironic thing is, I initially had an EVO, and traded it in during the first week as I really missed the keyboard from my Moment and was lured by the amoled screen. Maybe I should have kept the EVO but I never thought these problems were ahead after many years of great service. I wish the Premier program had not changed because now I will be with the Epic a lot longer.

Thanks for listening, I just wanted to let you know there are similar stories out there.

Michael

 

[werkx]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

@Paul627g, so glad to read things are better after the second phone call. i've been with sprint a long time and have not had "terrible" experiences with CS like you did the first time around. although, i've had numerous occasions to call back due to things not done as promised or otherwise. i've never raised my voice or rude to the CS, but have expressed frustration (more than once). all instances the CS or next level were courteous and tried to help.

hence, i was surprised of how you were treated in the first phone call. but, then again, i'm not totally surprised as these are human answering phones, and some of these human may be untrained or inexperience. sometime i can sense that within the first few minutes so i adjust my conversation accordingly, knowing that i will most likely have to call back again. it sucks, but that's life dealing with CS.

here's to hoping things turn out well now that you've got a professional from sprint to work with.

 

[Thadrow]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Weird.

I had a 9 month old epic which started malfunctioning. So I called, got a refurb which was horrible. Wouldn't rotate the screen when I turned it, would reboot on its own, force close all the time. After 2 days and a factoy reset later that fixed nothing, I called TEP tech support. Not sprint. I told them what was wrong and what i did to fix it in a factory reset. She waspolite and said that what she was going to tellme todo that and apologized for the bad phone and shell send one over at no extra charge. 2days later I received a brand new epic. Yes, brand new. Charger, memory card, phone in sprint plastic, headset everything. New phone works just like a new phone

I thouht after the first refurb phone they send you a new one. I lucked out I guess. But from my experience is refurb phones are horrible. And I hope you get the issue solved.

 

[garapueto]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

What a story/thread!

I had a friend with a very similar situation to Paul's. His wife's phone basically died, but because they bought it from Best Buy, Sprint wouldn't help them out at all. I'm do not recall all the details, but it basically ended with a "So after 11 years of being your customer, this is how your going to let this end up?" Sprint said yes in a nutshell and so onto Verizon he went, happier and speedier to boot. I'm personally in the "Never again, Verizon" camp as that company has tried to screw me over so many times before so to here this gets me nervous. I've only had the good with Sprint so far and hopefully this will continue as I really do not see much of a choice out there...

 

[Paul627g]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Well I hate to inform everyone but I received refurb #3 this afternoon and I thought it was good until my wife called and she couldn't hear me! Yes that's correct I have a refurb with a broken mic... I've factory reset, tried everything its broke!

 

[werkx]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Well I hate to inform everyone but I received refurb #3 this afternoon and I thought it was good until my wife called and she couldn't hear me! Yes that's correct I have a refurb with a broken mic... I've factory reset, tried everything its broke!

that sux. well, maybe now they'll consider a new one for you.

 

[Paul627g]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

I have an email link directly to the rep I dealt with last night and I'm about to respond to him as he requested when I got my #3 refurb. I think this rep is going to be surprised to hear #3 is bad too. Can't wait to see where this goes....

Stay tuned

Paul627g, member, android user, adviser and story teller/entertainer

 

[ragnarokx]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Paul627g, member, android user, adviser and story teller/entertainer

And comic lol.

 

[Paul627g]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

I guess I have to attempt to find some humor somewhere in all this... Sprint sure does...

 

[btc0526]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Honestly, sprint customer service is garbage. I bought two epics and then about 2 months after the service went downhill. Every call i made was a waste of time, being transferred to another idiot who told me to do a factory reset and update the PRL's. Finally i called a corporate office and raised havok and they payed the ETF's and i switched carriers. Couldnt be happier

 

[btc0526]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

I must admit that i miss the awesome SAMOLED screen. Stuck with a crappy SLCD on the Sensation :/

 

[Since9600]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

I am most shocked and appalled. I didn't always have the best experiences with Sprint but my problems were always solved in a satisfactory matter. For someone to be that rude is inexcusable... period.

 

[ejohnnyk]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

First, I must live near the best Sprint stores on Earth!

When I've had a handset hit the fritz through no fault of my own, and it's within the first year, I've ALWAYS received a brand new replacement. I don't go through insurance. I walk into the store and dump my nonfunctional phone and receive a new one IN A BOX. I believe all of Sprint's phones are covered by a one year warranty.

If you drop the phone or the screen is cracked or you send it through the washing machine, that's what insurance is for. But if the phone is doing crazy things, WiFi doesn't work, SD card isn't mounting and it's not a well-documented software issue, then the phone is a dud and should be replaced by a new phone under the warranty. End of story.

 

[Paul627g]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

First, I must live near the best Sprint stores on Earth!

When I've had a handset hit the fritz through no fault of my own, and it's within the first year, I've ALWAYS received a brand new replacement. I don't go through insurance. I walk into the store and dump my nonfunctional phone and receive a new one IN A BOX. I believe all of Sprint's phones are covered by a one year warranty.

If you drop the phone or the screen is cracked or you send it through the washing machine, that's what insurance is for. But if the phone is doing crazy things, WiFi doesn't work, SD card isn't mounting and it's not a well-documented software issue, then the phone is a dud and should be replaced by a new phone under the warranty. End of story.

You must because technically under the stock warranty Sprint only has to replace your device with a new device within the first 30 day window of you purchasing the device. From there on out its at the discretion of the store, repair tech and TEP insurance which does state refurbs... So this is the battle I'm up against...

 

[Xebec01]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Paul,

Here's something that I saw on another website that may assist you:

"Sprint has an executive office that can do anything they want to do. Anytime I have a problem that the normal CS can't fix, I call them and BAM it's done!"

The number posted is (866) 727-0665. It says to ask for "executive customer service."

If you mention that you're a moderator on AC and that you're blogging about this experience, I expect them to sent you 4 new epics, one for every POS refurb they gave you. =)

Anyway, I thought it might be worth a shot. Good luck!

-X

 

[Paul627g]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Paul,

Here's something that I saw on another website that may assist you:

"Sprint has an executive office that can do anything they want to do. Anytime I have a problem that the normal CS can't fix, I call them and BAM it's done!"

The number posted is (866) 727-0665. It says to ask for "executive customer service."

If you mention that you're a moderator on AC and that you're blogging about this experience, I expect them to sent you 4 new epics, one for every POS refurb they gave you. =)

Anyway, I thought it might be worth a shot. Good luck!

-X

Thank you I may just try that number. However I don't think I would bring Android Central into the conversation because this is my problem and not AC's but it would be interesting to see how they react to having this entire horrible experience blogged/posted about on a major forum.

 

[Stearmandriver]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Yeah man, maybe subtly include a link to this thread in the next email you send your CS rep. ;-)

 

[Robbie Doo]

Re: My disappointing call to Sprint....

Thank you I may just try that number. However I don't think I would bring Android Central into the conversation because this is my problem and not AC's but it would be interesting to see how they react to having this entire horrible experience blogged/posted about on a major forum.

I can't wait to see what the outcome would be on this one
Good luck!