Curse you, Sprint PCS! Curse you, Verizon!

The BBQ Pit
#1

All we want is our phone number back. Really, it’s not that difficult.

First we had Sprint, and we were happy with Sprint. We had good reception almost everywhere and they even let us choose our own numbers, a while back. But then my husband got in a car crash that broke his phone, and eventually we decided that since Verizon has a very good reputation, and they had a good deal going on with his employer, we’d get new Verizon phones and switch.

The switch went seamlessly. Problem was, we can’t get reception in our cul-de-sac. It’s great on the freeway, but sucks inside most buildings. Um. This is not what we signed up for. And I need my cell phone in the house. It has all my phone numbers saved in it.

I need my phone especially when I leave for Virginia in a couple of weeks, and the 2-week return period was coming to a rapid end. So my husband went to the Sprint store and bought two more phones, Sprint phones this time, and tried to get the numbers ported back over.

Since that day, a week ago, we have had no cell phones at all. Not only that, but the fellow at Verizon who “helped” him cancel our Verizon service in time to not pay the $175 each contract cancellation fee, accidentally shut off (my husband’s) number and THEN realised we’d wanted it ported. Oh, duh, he said, he’d fix it. He told my husband it was fixed before they got off the phone.

As of today, when I was on the phone with Verizon, Sprint and Verizon AND Sprint simultaneously, I was treated to “support” from someone whose English was so bad I understood maybe every 3rd word, “support” from someone at Sprint who told me they couldn’t help me because Verizon told them the number didn’t exist, someone at Verizon who told me the number did exist, and a phone message saying it would be a week until the number is implemented.

Finally I got a Jeff on the phone at Verizon. I explained that I am VERY FRUSTRATED and I want HELP. He tried. He finally did a conference call with a Tim at Sprint, trying to get this fixed. And the best answer we could get is, “It’s in the queue, they should look at it in a week or so, and maybe eventually you’ll get your phone number back.” Jeff said “The problem is because you ported over, and trying to port back to the original service.” I don’t understand why this is a problem. I really don’t. What do they care what service we’re porting from? Sprint worked for us, Verizon didn’t. Why should this cause a software problem?

Meanwhile, damn. I still don’t have a phone.

#2

Verizon is the fucking Devil. I had AT&T wireless for about 5 years and I just switched to Sprint, because I didn’t get reception anywhere. Everyone was raving about Verizon, but I wouldnt give those bastards my business if the deal was $2 a month for unlimited everything and a free handjob.

I’ve been thrilled with Sprint, and from what I’ve heard as long as I don’t deal with customer service, I’ll be alright.

#3

Como? Maybe you’re just having a bad experience. Myself and about 5 of my closest friends are all using Verizon, and we’ve never had any sort of reception problems. As a matter of fact, we get reception where people with Sprint and T-Mobile don’t. While they do try to see if they can catch people slipping on the bill and overcharge them some, if you call them on it they’ll almost invariably remove it.

Can’t walk down that road with you, Chotii and World Eater.

#4

I’m sorry, was that supposed to be an endorsement in favour of Verizon. “Get good reception, but they’ll try to fuck you on the bill”?! You wouldn’t consider that “a bad experience”?

My year contract with T-Mobile is almost up. I’m happy with everything about them except the reception in my actual house. I know it’s them, because prior to them, I had SprintPCS and had excellent reception. I went to T-Mobile, and stayed with them after the trial period, because they offered me the most for my money. (And because the two people I talk to most have the same plan so it doesn’t cost me any minutes for the majority of my air time). I was able to drop my land line as a result and save more money.

Because of the reception deal, I have been tempted to switch next month, but Sprint doesn’t offer anything close enough for the same money, and I’ve been cautious of worse service (be it reception or otherwise) from Verizon, Qwest or AT&T. And I’m moving in a few months. I’ve dealt with this far and I’ve figured out where I can place the phone in my apartment so I can keep a connection.

#5

My dad said the same thing - he’s never had anything but stellar experience with Verizon. Mom however said “Except in the house, I’m always having calls dropped in the house.” So I know it’s not just me.

I’m not frustrated with them for not having 100% coverage everywhere, though it’s pretty irritating to look at the little lines for ‘cell reception’ go from zero or one in our house/driveway/cul-de-sac… to two as we drive a bit away, to four as we hit the main arterial. It’s just a fluke of the location of the house. T-Mobile, I hear, is worse than that. But it IS frustrating to try to switch back to Sprint and get the runaround, and 3 different answers, etc.

#6

We had Verizon before it was Verizon, back when it was still Bell Atlantic, in the DC area. Great service, great reception (including in our house), no problems at all.

Then we moved to Louisiana. Six months, no problem, then all of a sudden every time we leave the local area we get charged roaming. Every month calling them to get umpteen calls taken off our bill for our (allegedly) nationwide plan.

The second our contract was up, we switched to T-Mobile. Best plan for our needs; not the best coverage in rural areas, but fine in the house or anywhere in the local area. Great customer service, however.

I think it really depends on where you’re located, although so far T-Mobile hasn’t outsourced their customer service offshore. (Knock wood.)

There IS no good solution to cell phone crap. Except that the more they claim they can do, the worse it gets.

#7

Let me clarify. I’ve heard fantastic things about Verizon service plan and receptionwise, yet due to a previous grudge I have against them, they will never get another penny from me while I draw breath. I knew Sprint was the way to go simply because my girlfriend has it, and everywhere we went she would have a signal. I also did some research into which phones get the best reception and bought my handset accordingly.

All I know is don’t bother getting AT&T GSM, a can with a string is more effective.

#8

I’m very sorry you’re going through this Chotii. From what you have described, ported, canceled, ported(port failed because of the cancel), re-instated, ported again, it sounds like this account and number are well outside the normal process. Since the whole number porting thing is new only certain parts of it have been fully automated. Exception cases are still being worked manually. Your situation would have caused a collision between your old account data and your new account data and the automated software would have stopped at that point and thrown a red flag for a manual port. Plus there would be the records of the failed port which failed because the account was marked as canceled on the Verizon side which would have to be analyzed and dealt with. Sprint has ~250 people who do manual ports if I remember correctly and the account has to be re-created very carefully to avoid billing errors and service errors. I’ve worked some on the software used for porting numbers(I work for Sprint) and I can tell you that there are not point-and-click processes at the moment. We’re working on it, and it is getting better, but it still takes a week to ten days last I checked. I know a couple of the people who work those queues and you are in good, if slightly overworked, hands.

Sorry you’re going through this, and here’s hoping they get it straightened out soon. If you still have issues in a few days drop me a line, my email is in the profile, and I’ll see if there is anything I can do.

Enjoy,
Steven

#9

Sorry to follow up on myself, but I talked to the neighbors across the cul-de-sac today and they also have Verizon phones, and say they get no reception at home, nor in this entire housing development. Just a fluke of local topography. But they keep theirs because they get coverage when they make roadtrips to CA; Sprint didn’t do it for them.

Update: still no phone for me. They said 24-48 hours yesterday. I guess we’re shooting for 48 now.

#10

You mean you’re shooting for 48 weeks.