Broke my phone yesterday, set a tackle box down on it by accident and the screen stopped working (LG Rumor)





No problem I thought, I'll just run down to the Sprint store and see if they can fix it or upgrade. After all, I've been a Sprint customer since there WERE cell phones.





Well, according to the nose picker in the store, they cannot. They can only sell me a new contract.   I must take it to a service center.





Okay, I drive 40 miles one way to a service center and and am almost knocked off my feet by the smell of vomit.  Not a lingering odor mind you, but a level only found in a gas station bathroom after midnight on New Years Eve.





i wait for about 10 minutes.  There are 9 employees and one other customer besides myself.  I finally trap one into a corner, only to be told I need to sign in first.





Okay, so that is done and a somewhat pleasant but brain-dead lady with an impressive piercing count takes my phone to the "Service Tech"  (Some guy sitting behind a glass window eating a burger)





I'm told to return in three hours.   So I go eat and wander around Academy for a while before returning.





Phone is not ready yet. ANOTHER 40 minutes. I amuse myself by trying to find the pool of vomit.  I'm starting to revise my additional estimate, there seems to be a trace of backed-up toilet in there too.  Don't these idiots know how to open a  window? It's  75 outside and about 90 in the store.  I suppose the high temp is required for the vomit marinade to cure properly.





Different guy calls me back (burger remains are still on the counter.)  Phone is not repairable.  Fine I say, I'll take a new one. Can't, I have to sign in again. (Rinse, repeat) This guy has a large wet spot on his crotch. Back to the end of the line.





Sorry,, they no longer sell the LG Rumor, they''ll have to order one.  Minimum 8 days.   Further, my old contract is within a month of expiration so a new one is required. This will include a $39 a  month increase. I can upgrade, but that will require ANOTHER increase. There are no incentives or promotions I qualify for.





I have reached the end of my rope at this point. Cancel my account. Download my phone list first.





Sorry, they cannot do either.  I have to call customer service on one of their store phones. (the ones attached with a length of steel cable to a spring-loaded reel that could pull  a ship) Thank God i get a very nice lady (obviously a contract employee since she can speak properly;  I asked for her supervisor's email so I can send her a glowing thank you)





Finally done, I'm thinking Molotov cocktail at this point, but that does not get me a phone. I drive across the street to the  Verizon store.





it's like waking up in Heaven.  The store is clean.  Not a hint of of vomit. The customer's pants are not falling down and the staff is dressed in a shirt and tie, obviously having taken a bath today.  





I'm met AT the door by a salesman, despite the fact the store is very busy.  He actually puts a plan together that saves me $5 a month over the old Sprint plan and directs me to a new version of the Rumor.





$19 bucks for the phone, cheaper plan, No need to sign in, out the door in under 30 minutes. Kept the same phone #.  He even downloaded my phone list from the  Sprint phone.   Score a big one for Verizon.  



Edited...VA-gunnut
Never did find the pool of vomit.






 

Did you know you can port your old number from Sprint to your Verizon phone?

Life is a lot easier when people read the stuff they sign.

You seem irrational.

There is a bad Verizon store where I live and a good Verizon store where I live.

Service varies.
Speed

I have to disagree with you there. Sounds like he did read the "stuff" and still received piss (literally) poor service and now is happy with another provider. I went to the AT&T service center a few months ago and was treated quite fairly, so sounds like he got much less than industry standard service.

Just buy an off contract phone from Newegg, Tiger, Amazon, etc, etc.  Or buy a used one off ebay, just make sure to either buy it from a reputable person or have them send you the ESN to check.  4 of of my last 6 phones, including the Droid 2 I use now, were bought off contract.

I am sure that one is landline, one is wireless.  Which is which?

It's well know that Sprint customer service is awful.  A quick read of any of the forums on the net will tell you that.  It's one of the things you accept when you want the lowest prices.

 

If we're talking Verizon Wireless, I've run into incompetent employees and very competent employees.  But I've never ran into a rude VZW employee or a store that looked or smelled like an outhouse.  

 

In regard to phone repair and replacement under warranty, Sprint is VERY clear that the phone needs to be brought to a service center and evaluated for repair. They are also clear that the phone may be replaced with a similar model if the current model is unavailable.

As far as the CEO being responsible for piss-poor store management, that would be the store managers and supervisors fault, and in the case of any complaints being common to the store, that would be failure of regional management.

A "shoot on sight" policy for Sprint employees? Seems like the OP is of less than sound mind.

ETA: I have also been using Sprint since cell phones were available, and they treat me like gold. Maybe its because i am patient.

Cool story, bro. I've had much better experiences with sprint than att or verizon.

vzw nickels and dimes you to death...but the service is better than anywhere else.



Just don't get me into trying to reach their customer service. They're helpful.........eventually. Reaching them is an absolutely absurd dialing dance of being forwarded from dept to dept.



 

I'm sorry, I meant there is a good verizon wireless store and a bad verizon wireless store.


There are also lots of "authorized" independents that are nice, but don't have the service dept of a full VZW store.





The bad one has rude employees, long waits, and is inside a mall.


The good one is supremely helpful, fully staffed, and in a strip mall next to a mall.





I have never had an issue at the good store.

ETA: I should say that Verizon Wireless is one of the easiest companies to get what you want from It may take a little bit of calling the proper channels, but I've received several free phones and WAYYY too early upgrades from VZW over the years. If it weren't for their ability to keep me happy, I doubt I'd keep shelling out the $100/month. I just wish Comcast was like that
Speed





 

Now put that in a letter and send it to the CEO of Sprint.

The thing is, they aren't the lowest prices. In fact, they are the HIGHEST prices at the moment. AT&T, Verizon both beat them on plans for basic phones.  (no internet)

My quoted process for the same plan were as follows.  

Verizon. $54
AT&T $62
Sprint.  $99.

(AT&T on the other hand seems to make up the price differences on the phone sale itself,  $300 bucks for a phone? )

Did.  (Well, email)

So, Sprint employee?

This is the reason I'm going to a pre paid throw burner phone when my Sprint contract is up. I'm sick of all the contract bullshit and shitty service from all of the big phone companies I've dealt with. I've had ATT and now Sprint and I won't be dealing with either one again if I can avoid it.

So the store tried to sell you an unlimited plan and you assume it's sprint's cheapest plan? Their lowest plan is $29.99 a month for 200 minutes. The $99.99 plan in unlimited everything. It is obviously your choice to be upset with your local experience, but it's just that, local.

If you google any of the major cell companies you will find horror stories, in fact there is an infamous one of Verizon not knowing the difference between $0.02 and .02 cents.

Your problem isn't with Sprint.  It's with the way all of the cellphone companies treat existing customers.  They'll give new customers great deals that they will not give to existing customers.

Also, good luck getting your phone number moved.  I work with at least three guys that switched to Verizon after Verizon got the iPhone that were not able to get Verizon to switch their number from AT&T.  Again, customers get treated like crap.  Verizon knew they signed the contract already so they wouldn't do anything for them.  When I switched from Sprint to AT&T, Sprint wouldn't release the phone number, but that was a few years ago.z

So, Sprint employee?  You didn't read the post did you?

Sprint is A LOT cheaper than Verizon.  My wife and I recently switched from Tmobile to Sprint.  We went to the Verizon store and they no longer offer unlimited data for new customers.  With data add ons the price was ridiculous.  We got the unlimited data family share plan from Sprint for much cheaper.

Moved over just fine.  Didn't take a minute.

Funny thing, the constant 2-3 telemarketing calls a day seem to have stopped. Verizon must have better  filtering.

This.  

My contract is typically for 24 months, but my phones usually last ~18 months before they break.  I usually buy a beater from ebay for $50 or so, use it for a few months, then wait and get a deal and renew at 24 months.  

Contracts are for suckers.  Virgin Mobile prepaid Android FTW!

Tell him to get out of the BS commercials and get to work if he wants to keep his job.  I once got rejected when trying to get two phones from Sprint, in spite of an 800+ credit score.  It's as if this joker makes a commercial promising the world, and then goes back to his desk to jerk off.

I live in KC where Sprint is based and the cell service sucked here so bad, I walked away.
That was 8 years ago,  but it was still one of the better decisions I've made.  Verizon has been flawless.

Fuck Sprint.

what was the plan Sprint offered vs what you got with Verizon?



 

In the future - try reading your contract BEFORE you sign it.



Smells?  Hamburger bits?  Piercings?





Do you always walk around seething.... looking for every little thing to get worked up over?

you are in rare company then

vomit marinade!

I am not a Sprint employee, nor have I ever been, and I did read your posts. I also understand, having been in customer service for several years, that the customer frequently overreacts and freaks out based on a flawed understanding of how a business or their services work. You walked into what was probably a very poorly run contract service center for Sprint and now apparently everyone who does not pile on to your anti-sprint bandwagon is a sprint employee shilling on arfcom.

I went to a sprint service center because my phone broke (backlight stopped working) which was a contract/ franchise business and they took a look at it, determined it couldn't be repaired and gave me a new phone with my data moved over all in under an hour.

As I said, every phone company is going to have extremely satisfied customers, and some really pissed off ones (like you).

then i must be in that rare company too.  i've been with them since 2000 and have had zero issues that entire time.  the times i've had phones crap out on me (even outside of the warranty period) they've replaced it with a new/refurb within an hour.  i always get the insurance so maybe thats why.  i also have only ever gone to the company stores.  having lived in Houston and NYC during that time, it was always very easy to find one...



 

I didn't ask for a damn thing outside the contract.  Repair the phone at my expense or let me buy a new one and continue my existing plan.

It took them HOURS to tell me they could not do either. Heck, they could not even TRANSFER THE PHONE LIST FROM A PHONE THEY SOLD ME.  

Is that too complex a concept for you?

Plus, Sprint's plans have unlimited data, neither att nor verizon sell new plans with unlimited data. That can turn into HUGE extra charges with the other carriers.

 

I've been with Verizon for a couple of years now. The service has always been pretty good in the stores around here.

I have a free Sprint/ Nextel phone and have had it for almost 10 years as it is my work phone.  I agree and hope the Sprint CEO rots in hell. Emailing Sprint as the Op did will get a reply from someone who care less than the clerk at Burger King.   I was once told by a Sprint employee that the wind blowing and birds flying by the tower will cause dropped calls . I asked if he was serious and he said yes. I knew then that the Sprint technology of wireless was different than other companies it was pure bullshit.

Only, if the body of the CEO of ATT is used to test the efficacy of said machine just before the terrible accident you describe.

I used to have Sprint...have Verizon.

I went over minutes once with a large additional charge.     I called customer service and explained the issue (dropped calls...and I could point out to them where I called the same number 3 or 4 times within a few minutes...and the number was my Wife's cell phone...so we were getting hit with double the minutes).   The guy was actually fairly helpful.   Gave me a credit for the last 2 months of problems....

The credit doesn't show up on the next bill.

I call...'no record of your call or a credit being authorized'.

I'm pissed.

I get on the Sprint website, find the names of the CEO, CFO, Board Members, etc...

Send them all a nice e-mail using simple words and explaining why Sprint PCS is a bunch of incompetent mental defectives and I will not be using their service any longer.    I address their e-mails [email protected], etc...

I turn my Phone off to go into surgery.

An hour later, I have a voice mail from the Secretary of the CEO saying that a credit would be issued to the account by the end of the day.

I still dropped Sprint because of the crappy reception.

AFARR

By the time I come out, I had a voice mail from the

IBTL

I switched from Sprint to Verizon last week. Sprint is a clusterfuck. I moved from a phone at sprint to a smartphone with Verizon plus second line for wife and I'm out 30 bucks extra. Plus I have a signal . Sprint will be broke and out of business in under five years to the benefit of their customers