13 Rants this month

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1. sprint is suppost to change there txt plans on july 30th to 5$for 300 and 8 $for 1000 and unlimted txt for 15 $ might help some of you. they wont change the txt plan for you. eather call or you can do it on sprint.com and if any one is still trying to do pam with bt (blue tooth)dont its not supported thats why the devices come with a usb cable! and the batery on the device usaly only las about 20 minutes if your lucky using bt/pam and to get out of a contract do a little work use http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/CoverageInfo.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1441559&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_SCID=ECOMM&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_PCode=None&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_cartState=group&bmUID=1152135180322&coverageFocus=true to find an address not in coverage and say your moving there just copy and past in address bar and the pam call should of came to ats (advance technical support) thats the department that does pam pda’s and aircards

   Comment by aaron — July 5, 2006 @ 11:42 am

2. I just moved to a new city and brought my trusty sprint phone with me, having had 2 years of loyal service and no problems, I got no reception at my new residence. I went to the sprint store, they got “updates” on my phone, checked it to make sure it was in good working condition and instructed me to call customer service if I was still having problems.

   Customer Service…what a nightmare. I have logged 4.5 hours with them in the past couple of days. One mananger told me they were sending someone to my residence…didn’t happen. One manager told me I couldn’t possibly be having reception problems if I was calling them…I calmly explained that I had to drive over a mile from my house just to make the call. Then after 5 transfers in one phone call I was supposed to have a manager call me within a half an hour. 2.5 hours later, you guessed it, no phone call. I called back, spoke with smarty pants Samuel who suggested that I wait out the 21 months remaining on my contract. WHAT? I wanted a supervisor so than I found Scott, the Manager of Business Account Rentention out of Florida…what a genious Scott is. He didn’t really want to listen to how I had patiently followed all of Sprints instructions, was patient with them and time and time again, they didn’t follow through on their end. He had a solution to my problem, I was so relieved, couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say. His actual solution to my problem to sell my phone and plan to a friend or family member…I lost my temper at that point and demanded his supervisor. He said he wasn’t there, the boss didn’t deal with problems like mine, that he would “escalate” the problem and I might hear back from them. I said I would be calling back if I didn’t.

   Called back later, spoke to Mary who was very helpful but would have to transfer me to cancellations, I begged not to be transfered to Florida and the incompetent Scott. Turns out I got Antoinette, and you guessed it, she works in Florida and her boss is Scott. So she heard me tell her how idiotic her boss was, how his boss should be fired for hiring such a horse’s ass to run a customer service department and that I hopes she passes all of that on to her bosses and asks them to call me back. Haven’t heard from them yet, but I know I have to call again and cancel the plan even if I costs me $200, it will save in the long run and I won’t ever have to talk to those assholes again. Good Luck if you plan on trying to get anywhere, of the 23 people I have spoken to, 18 told me I could cancel with no fee and 5 told me I had to pay anywhere from $100 to $300.

   Comment by Anonymous — July 11, 2006 @ 6:50 am

3. The reason being.. I agree. Sprint does suck. I despite their policy. Unfortunately, it’s the only job I can find right now, working in a call centre. I do what I can to solve stuff for customers, but it isn’t easy having to abide by sprint policy. Sometimes I get people calling in screaming about billing issues, when often enough, their bill is correct they just can’t read it right. Other times, I can’t understand myself what my damn system is telling me, so I just start giving out credits when the numbers don’t add up. I hate the idea of customers having to sign a new contract for a plan change. It’s the dumbest idea since bagged milk. I suppose prank calls always amuse me.. it’s a small victory. I agree, I also find Customer service there terrible. Sometimes when I am trying to figure out what the hell is going on with a customers account, and I am transfering myself around to different departments, they hang up on me and place me on hold. Several times I have requested supervisors, and I’m not even a Sprint Customer… But I digress.. Seek better service, I highly doubt I’ll be there much longer.

   Comment by Anonymous — July 14, 2006 @ 9:16 pm

4. I started my Sprint account in 1998 with a 2 year contract. Every 18 months or so since then my calls start to drop, cut in & out, and my phone will try to Roam, all without me every going out of my local calling range. I dial the infamous *2 and they tell me I need to do a PRL Update to update the software for my phone. I do and that works for a couple of weeks before the trouble starts again. I get Sprint back on the phone to ask what the problem is NOW and they tell me it’s got to be a problem with my phone. So, they basically begin to tell me I have to buy another $200.00 to $400.00 phone but they can give me a discount which will also start another 2 year contract. This has literally happened about every year & a half! I’ve had 5 phones since 1998! This time, it is happening to my wife’s phone too and her phone takes NO abuse and can’t possibly have any problems!
   This is a SCAM pure & simple! Sprint is too affraid to let my contract run out and to let me have time to ponder going to the competition. I bet if we could get ahold of an ex-executive, they would tell us that this is a common practice premeditated by Sprint. But, just like everything else, not enough people stand up in the right places and shout, “STOP THIEF !”

   Comment by Chris — July 20, 2006 @ 4:21 am

5. Yeah, I know I spoke badly of Sprint in a previous post, but the deserve it, and more…

   I *really need* a Sprint phone for the EVDO and 1XRTT data coverage in a couple of areas which aren’t served by any other carriers.

   I have a Verizon cellular phone for highspeed data, which works fine in areas that Verizon supports, but absolutely need a data connection in the areas they don’t cover.

   A got another A920, then a third, but the exact same problem continues to occur. Any time I connect via. USB or Bluetooth phone-as-modem, I can’t reconnect awhile latter (rejected user/pass), and all web based functions on the handset fail with an HTTP 403 or 1012 error.

   I bypass the ignorant Technical Support department (Funny name, no tech support there…) and call Vision Technical Support directly at 866-818-1944, DAILY.

   Evidently Sprint has tried everything to fix the problem, and has given up. I’ve since been abandoned, and they are still blaming the phone and telling me to have it tested and/or swapped at a Sprint company store - Forgetting that I am on my THIRD Samsung A920.

   The system works, because I can do a hard reset (##768#) on the phone, reprogram, update the Vision profile and I’m back online…

   The problems aren’t tied to a particular access mode, they occur via. Bluetooth or USB, and it doesn’t matter if I connect to the phone from Window, Mac OS X, or Linux. The phone acts as a serial modem via. a virtual COM port over USB or Bluetooth, and the host is merely talking to what it sees as being no different than an old USR, Hayes, or whater dialup modem.

   Also, I’ve tried connecting with Sprint’s feeble connection manager, and as a native Windows device, only to find the problem seems to happen quicker with Sprint’s software installed and used under Windows XP and 2000.

   This isn’t exactly rocket science with respect to connecting to the modem, the magic happens in the phone’s interaction with the switch connecting one or more cell sites… (Which isn’t at all dependant on the host connecting to the modem)

   A Samsung engineer has told me to have Sprint remove my ESN from their system for at least 24 hours, which I have suggested maybe a dozen times, only to be ignored by Sprint. The engineer suggested that I have Sprint swap my ESN to a nonexistant device, wait a day or so, then add my phone to a new account. For some reason Sprint won’t even make an attempt using this method, even though everything else they have tried has failed.

   This is obviously tied to my unique Sprint customer account somehow, because everyone pleads ignorance with respect to this issue. Were this not the case, their support lines would be full and they would assign someone (or an entire department) to solve the problem.

   In calling Vision T/S every day, sometimes more than twice a day, I’ve run across some real assholes at Sprint. One thing I’ve noticed is that anyone who sounds black (no I’m not being racist) wants to fight, and won’t listen to a word I have to say.

   I’ve been told twice that it’s ILLEGAL for me to reset and reprogram MY phone.

   One woman was giving me a bad service code to enter (I know all the access/service sequences by heart now, as you can imagine), I said no, told her the correct one. She bitched me out, telling me that if I wanted help, to enter EXACTLY what she told me to enter.

   So I entered it, and told her the phone said it was the wrong code - at which point she hung up on me.

   In the 50 days since I re-established service with Sprint, I’ve called almost that many times. I still have a phone that is unusable, unless I want to continuously go through the reset/re-program/update profile cycle. I can’t store contacts, bookmarks, anything in the phone itself since it’s wiped out when I do the hard reset.

   I’m returning to the Sprint company store, risking mistreatment by minimum wage morons as was the case during my last visit, to swap the phone. Then as soon as it fails, which I know it will, I can tell the tech support morons that yes, I swapped the damn phone, it’s on you now, make it work.

   10 more days, then 2 months will have elapsed, and I’m giving up. In the mean time I’ll be making a point of calling Vision Tech Support at least 2-3 times a day - if only to waste their time and effort.

   God, Sprint does really, really suck.

   Out of all the calls to tech support, only two trouble tickets have been opened. Both of the tickets were closed when a moron called, following up on a ticket on which there had been no action. Both callers claimed to be from Vision Advanced Technical Support, and both knew nothing more than to tell me to remove the battery for 2 mins. Each closed the ticket without the problem being resolved.

   There can’t possibly be a wireless carrier, anywhere in the world, that sucks more than Sprint does.

   Comment by mustBme — July 21, 2006 @ 6:05 am

6. for the a920 im not shure if you have tried using the usb cable when you get the 1012 is the a920 connected or disconnected from the computer ##rtn is not a hard reset only pda’s have a hard reset when you connect your a920 up for pam it changes the nai in slot one to username@pam.sprintpcs.com when you disssconect it it changes back to username@sprintpcs.com sound like its not changing back the rtn will clear the corrupt slot but does loose the data on device try to use the usb cable next time and connect and dissconect using the safely disconnect hard ware in system tray might fix the problem hart to say with out doing it and no matter how many times you call sprint doesnot support pam/bt that is there rules thats why it has the usb cable. give me some fed back on if your getting 1012 when connected to pc or not connected about how many times can you use the pam before it messes up

   Comment by aaron — July 25, 2006 @ 5:49 pm

7. Sprint finally admitted, after 2 months of blaming me and/or the phone, Windows, etc., that the problem lies in their system, not the phones with which I have connected or anything else on my end.

   Last week we tried three A920’s, using a utility I obtained from Samsung to change the ESN’s to match the device registered to my account, and they all exhibited exactly the same problem after connecting phone as modem.

   One phone was my original A920, another a new A920 obtained from a reseller, new in box, and the third A920 arrived with software from a Samsung engineer.

   (Samsung, by the way, was a big help, as they wanted to eliminate the phone’s hardware and firmware as the source of the connection problems. Since it’s not the phone, they are no longer involved, and put the problem back in Sprint’s lap.)

   Sprint also tried expiring my ESN, removing it from my account, adding an ESN to a bogus device, and finally adding my ESN back a day latter. Even after this effort, the same problems remained.

   Two days ago I duplicated the connect/disconnect issue with a A920 demo phone in a Radio Shack store that has been up and running on their account for at least 2-3 weeks.

   Because of the limited population density in New England, one Sprint switch covers most of the area, and I have not yet ventured beyond this area. Sprint (earlier) claimed that I shouldn’t have the problem elsewhere - which may or may not be the case. Since the switches all run the same operating software, I suspect that this is BS unless there are very different switch software configurations or vendors.

   Sprint claims that using their devices in a phone as modem configuration isn’t all that common yet, that most people are scared off by the $40 a month charge for unlimited, and not many others are making use of the service because of Sprint’s very limited EVDO build-out to date.

   It doesn’t matter if I connect phone as modem via. Bluetooth, USB, or with Windows, OSX, Linux, with or without Sprint’s connection manager, or how I terminate the connection.

   Once connected, I cannot reconnect phone as modem after apx. 1 hour. Once connected and disconnected, I cannot connect via. the handset to anything Vision related (Browsers, On Demand, Update Vision Profile) immediately after phone as modem.

   During phone as modem sessions, if I/it disconnects and reconnects for whatever reason(s), it will immediately reconnect, for up to apx. 1/2 to 1 hour between disconnecting and reconnecting. At the point that it will no longer connect, the only want to reconnect is to RTN the phone, reprogram, and grab the Vision profile - and the cycle begins anew.

   Yes, the user name changes, and it is correctly reset in the device upon disconnect.

   Comment by mustBme — July 27, 2006 @ 6:59 am

8. hey good job on putting in the times im thinking all devices might do this if connected for long period of time its probly never been tested over ten or twenty minutes i will grab a couple differnt models and try to keep them connected for a while not shure but could be why thanks

   Comment by aaron — July 27, 2006 @ 4:06 pm

9. For two months Sprint has been blaming me, my phone, and my efforts to obtain technical support for my A920’s failures. I’ve been lied to, mistreated, and totally disrespected during many of my daily calls to Sprint and both times when I visited a Sprint company store in Nashua, NH.

   For two months, Sprint has told me that I was the only person experiencing problems with connecting phone as modem with the A920, through a total of three phones, help from Samsung to eliminate the phones as being the issue, and DAYS on the phone with Sprint’s Vision Advanced Technical Support.

   It wasn’t until yesterday, when I pointed Sprint to another customer, 1200 miles away, having identical issues with an A920, that they finally admitted that there is in fact a problem with the A920 on their network. They also admitted that there aren’t many people using Sprint phones as a modem on their EVDO network - mostly because of the $40 a month cost for unlimited.

   I’ve demanded another phone or a data card for the last month. I was told that there were “too many adjustments” on my account to receive a replacement or a loaner device while Sprint resolves their network issues.

   I’m finally getting a replacment phone, at the cost of having spent days on the phone with Sprint, resetting and reprogramming my phone every time I go online, and not being able to keep contacts, headset profiles, call logs, or anything else in the phone over this time period.

   It’s just in the nick to time too… Since yesterday’s troubleshooting efforts by Sprint, I can’t use the phone as a modem at all, nor can I connect to Vision services or the web from the handset. Sprint sucks…

   It didn’t matter to Sprint that ALL of the adjustments were due to errors in Sprint’s part, plan changes and adjustments Sprint made (sometimes daily) while troubleshooting, or Sprint refusing to cancel a MapQuest subscription on a phone (smashed while trying to deal with Sprint a year ago) on a ‘vacation plan’.

   Dealing with Sprint’s technical support means starting from zero with each and every plea for assistance, since there is no way to contact individual support members who are already famililar with an issue. About half of the technical support members I’ve talked to want to argue or fight on the phone, and there is no way to lodge a complaint against bad Sprint employees.

   Follow ups to each trouble ticket I’ve been able to get generated results in a call from some moron who is lost once removing the battery from the phone doesn’t cure an issue. Of course, each closes the ticket, blaming the customer or phone, instead of taking that chance that it is passed up the chain to someone who is even minimally competent.

   One callback I received, which I wish I had recorded, met with an idiot on the other end who said I had a data card, not a phone, and wanted me in front of my computer to troubleshoot it. I told her it was a Samsung A920 phone, not a Novatel A920 datacard, but she just wanted to fight. I finally gave up and hung up. When I called Vision ATS, they told me the ticket had been closed, saying that the phone was at fault.

   Never, ever, have I had a worse experience with any company, anywhere. It is beyond me how Sprint stays in business - treating customers like shit.

   As noted on my MySpace.com profile,the person I’d most like to meet is Gary D. Forsee, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sprint/Nextel, so I could shove this crippled, non-fuctional A920 in his ass.

   Comment by mustBme — July 29, 2006 @ 5:53 am

10. Reupped existing contract with newly purchased Samsung A920 on 06/02, nothing but problems since day one, daily calls to Vision Advanced Technical Support that yielded nothing. Enough credits along the way so no bills for the last 2 months.

    Tonight when Sprint called, I mentioned that Sprint should be talking to my attorney instead of me. I was offered $50 more than the phone cost, plus I keep the junk phone, if they can just cancel my contract and I go away…

    Sprint’s not wanting to fix issues with their network (at least in the New England area).

    Nothing but lies from Sprint for 2 months, last one - they promised me a replacement ‘expedited’ Fusic overnight for a week, but it didn’t ship until a week latter (ground). Still haven’t seen it, after experience with Sprint, I don’t actually want it.

    I’ve been told twice that not many customers are signing up for data plans, so they aren’t ready to fix problems in their system.

    Comment by mustBme — August 3, 2006 @ 4:09 pm

11. Glad to be rid of Sprint. Their $10 add-a-phone cost me $20 a month. I called thinking it was a mistake, they charged $10 for the number being added, and $10 for the number that this number was being added TO!

    When I called and explained it cost $20 for their $10 service, the lady started to say “Yes, this does sound a little confusing but…” & I said “No this sounds a little illegal if not unethical”. Hung up, cancelled the day the contract was up…

    Comment by Former Customer — August 4, 2006 @ 6:14 am

12. I have hated this company since way back in the day. even before cell phones. Back when the 10 cents a min on long distance calls competition was on between phone companies. Well Sprint at the time had their new 5 cents a min promotion, and i bought right in because I was 18 at the time. well the 5 cents a min was really 12 cents a minute, plus tons of extra hidden charges, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fuck you sprint! to say the least, i have been anti sprint since 1996.

    Comment by Anonymous — August 4, 2006 @ 6:49 am

13. A serious problem exists within Sprint’s network, which renders their Samsung A920 useless with respect to internet access, but every victim who calls Sprint is told that they are the only user experiencing problems.

    Having posted my Sprint horror story on a number of sites, I’ve received many, many emails from other victims to whom Sprint is handing the same line of shit when they call.

    Everyone’s stuck with a Sprint A920 that they can’t use, Sprint tells each that they are the only one with an issue, and Sprint isn’t wanting to exchange the phone for another model known to work on their network.

    Personally, I’ve duplicated the issue on a handfull of A920’s and one A900, all of which were either on my account, on another users account, or in one case, on a Sprint company store’s account.

    Over a two month period, I called Sprint Vision Advanced Technical Support department at least daily, sometimes more than once or twice in the same day. With one exception, I was told by Sprint that they had never heard of the A920 problems, even if I was talking to a tech that I had spoken to a few days earlier.

    This is not an issue that is going to just “go away” if Sprint ignores it, and Sprint doesn’t appear to be going to address it in the near future.

    There is obviously a cover-up going on at Sprint with respect to Sprint’s network issues centering on their Samsung A920, and Sprint is not wanting to exchange the phones, except for another A920.

    It took me TWO MONTHS of calling, emailing, and faxing before Sprint offered a replacement, and another couple of days to Sprint to agree to something besides another A920. Even then, the phone they were supposed to ship overnight never shipped, I had to call, fax and email for a week before it shipped.

    In terms of time, I’ve easily spent 3-4 days dealing with Sprint over the 2 month period. Sprint, obviously, doesn’t care about customers, doesn’t care about time Sprint causes customers to waste, and will tell a customer any lie they come up with just to get them off the phone. They’ve lost sight of who is paying their bills, their customers.

    If you have an A920, good luck, but I can offer a few pointers.

    Deal only with Sprint Vision Advanced Technical Support, at 866-818-1944.

    Be loud, vocal, cuss, mention contacting a attorney, and let them know that you are not about to lay down for them and allow Sprint to walk all over you.

    Demand a replacement phone of equal or greater value, like the Fusic. Do not accept another A920 under any circumstances.

    Don’t bother with the “contact us” email form available after you log into your Sprint account, nobody reads these any more than to decide upon which canned email to reply with that only directs you to call a toll-free number.

    Don’t bother faxing Sprint’s Corporate office, they ignore everything they receive.

    Again, be loud, demand service, demand a replacement, demand credits, demand free extras, and demand everything immediately.

    Sprint Sucks!

    Comment by mustBme — August 6, 2006 @ 4:44 am

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