Re: They made the rules.... in http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19615162 en Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:38:57 EDT Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:38:57 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19646241 Heat305 : ETF UPDATE

»ETF Update]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19646241 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:29:21 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19639035 moonpuppy :
said by tc1uscg See Profile :

They already handle the warranty issues. I've had a problem with a 2 month old Razar.. no insurance so the only thing my provider did was give me the phone number to call moto. 3 times to moto and they finally fixed it. Isolated case. Don't think so. I know of some Sprint people who have had to deal with this too. They use to handle in-warranty problems in house but realized they could make more money by "charging" you for that process. Phone more then 30 days old, you can't cancel so the user is responsible for sending it in if you don't have the insurance. The least they could do is take the customers phone and ship/track it for them but what do you expect for a free phone and a 30.00 plan? And yes.. I know that one platform isn't compatible with another platform. That's my point. People keep bitching about Sprint and it's fee's so they are FREE to go to someone else, buy another phone and shut up. Everyone charges fees, cable, wireline phone service and I just read where even VoIP users will be paying a 9-1-1 fee soon. There are much dynamics involved with wireless service. Roaming agreements, data access, text messages, SMS text messages, portals, total service at 360degrees anywhere on earth. Paying 30 cents more a month isn't worth getting ones panties in a bunch. :huh:
They handle warranties but only if they made a mistake. You drop it, your fault and you pay unless you paid for insurance. The first razrs were bad and moto took a bath on them. Right now, the cell phone companies act as a go between to keep the subscriber.

That phone is not free. You pay for it with your monthly plan. Text messages cost the carriers next to nothing yet they charge 10 to 15 cents each. Minutes between their own subscribers are next to nothing but they get charged the same amount. You pay for that phone after 2 years of high access prices.

The cell phone companies know full well they can't people to pay for the expensive phones so they give them away and make it back when they sell the service. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19639035 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:35:39 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19638986 tc1uscg : They already handle the warranty issues. I've had a problem with a 2 month old Razar.. no insurance so the only thing my provider did was give me the phone number to call moto. 3 times to moto and they finally fixed it. Isolated case. Don't think so. I know of some Sprint people who have had to deal with this too. They use to handle in-warranty problems in house but realized they could make more money by "charging" you for that process. Phone more then 30 days old, you can't cancel so the user is responsible for sending it in if you don't have the insurance. The least they could do is take the customers phone and ship/track it for them but what do you expect for a free phone and a 30.00 plan? And yes.. I know that one platform isn't compatible with another platform. That's my point. People keep bitching about Sprint and it's fee's so they are FREE to go to someone else, buy another phone and shut up. Everyone charges fees, cable, wireline phone service and I just read where even VoIP users will be paying a 9-1-1 fee soon. There are much dynamics involved with wireless service. Roaming agreements, data access, text messages, SMS text messages, portals, total service at 360degrees anywhere on earth. Paying 30 cents more a month isn't worth getting ones panties in a bunch. :huh:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19638986 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:27:41 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19633934 moonpuppy :
said by tc1uscg See Profile :

That's why the likes of Sprint, VZW and ATTM should STOP selling phones and let the manufactures sell the phones. They could "sell" the phones for them but at a price FIXED by the manufacture and stop subsidizing. Look at game systems. The PS3, 360 and Wii are pretty much the same price no matter where you go but you can get them from anyone who has shelf space. Sprint can sell you a Centro for whatever Palm says, you just pay Sprint for use of it's network. That way people like you and I don't have to worry about waiting for our 2 years to end before we can get an update. If having the latest and greatest is THAT important, we can shell out bucks and buy what we want, when we want. IF we don't like our provider, we can go somewhere else. Problem for us, the majority of us don't want to do go down that path. We can still buy insurance in case we loose our phone or break it outside the 1 year warranty but people seem to think cell companies should service the phones, and should kiss our ass everytime we walk in with a problem with the phone. ;)
Fine, let the manufacturers sell you the phones. Motorola, Nokia, Qualcomm, and the rest of them can sell you either a CDMA or GSM phone depending on who you want service with. Let them even handle the warranty.

BUT, since the cell phone companies no longer subsidize the phone purchase with the monthly plans, where is the discount? Since a 2 year contract gives you a $300 discount on the phone, I want a $12.50/month savings on each plan I have.

Phones don't make the cell phone companies money. They break even just to get you to sign up for those 2 years.

You also forgot that each phone that works on each service needs programming and software to work. T-Mobile Sidekicks require connection to Danger to make the email and web browser work. Blackberries need special connections too.

You do realize also that GSM phones will not work on a CDMA system and the converse is also true.

It's amazing how cell phone companies treat people who have a contract and how they turn real nice right before it ends. ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19633934 Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:35:39 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19633543 tc1uscg : That's why the likes of Sprint, VZW and ATTM should STOP selling phones and let the manufactures sell the phones. They could "sell" the phones for them but at a price FIXED by the manufacture and stop subsidizing. Look at game systems. The PS3, 360 and Wii are pretty much the same price no matter where you go but you can get them from anyone who has shelf space. Sprint can sell you a Centro for whatever Palm says, you just pay Sprint for use of it's network. That way people like you and I don't have to worry about waiting for our 2 years to end before we can get an update. If having the latest and greatest is THAT important, we can shell out bucks and buy what we want, when we want. IF we don't like our provider, we can go somewhere else. Problem for us, the majority of us don't want to do go down that path. We can still buy insurance in case we loose our phone or break it outside the 1 year warranty but people seem to think cell companies should service the phones, and should kiss our ass everytime we walk in with a problem with the phone. ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19633543 Sun, 16 Dec 2007 14:23:27 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621853 moonpuppy :
said by huntml See Profile :

No disagreement here. Those of us with Sprint service have been scratching our heads at the company's inability to execute in this area for years.
It all becomes a question of how much companies want to spend and what they think they will save if they don't spend.

And it's funny to hear the cable techs complain about the CSRs putting "single outlet install" on the ticket and they get to the location and the customer wants a DVR, 2 boxes and HSI. You would think a company that sells communications to practice it a bit themselves. :uhh:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621853 Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:24:04 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621416 huntml :
said by moonpuppy See Profile :

As I said earlier, if other companies can do it, so can Sprint. Telcos and cable companies do discount bundles all day long. Even the cell phone companies can keep track of your contract and when to charge you an ETF. If they can do that, then different plans and bundles shouldn't be an issue at all.
You'd think so, wouldn't you?

quote:
If your company has systemic problems with billing, then you need to rectify those issues. How much extra money is it costing your company to hire extra CS agents to fix those same billing issues? Did Sprint really save any money by getting rid of all those who called in with billing issues?


No disagreement here. Those of us with Sprint service have been scratching our heads at the company's inability to execute in this area for years.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621416 Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:59:09 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621229 moonpuppy :
said by tc1uscg See Profile :

I disagree. Are you saying that you would not have a cell phone if you had to pay 200 bucks for one? You wouldn't be under a contract. You could go to anyone else you wanted at any time but you would have to buy a new phone. See, I think thats the problem. People like you think the phones should be free, the service should be dirt cheap or free and you should still have 110% customer service. We made the industry the way it is, not the companies. We drove them to this "500 dollar phone for 100 bucks, if you sign a 2 year stay with us contract".. People are so caught up in this FREE/Get all I can get for nothing mindset. No, we made the bed. We allowed it and now people are fed up, cell phone providers are killing themselves trying to fix it and people still bitch. I'll be looking for your treo on ebay... :uhh:
So many assumptions. :uhh:

I remember the days of the mobile phone with operators. Those phones weren't cheap and neither was the service.

Next came the cellular system. My first phone was a car model with a massive battery pack to make it portable. I paid $14.99/month to Bell Atlantic Mobile for 200 off-peak minutes. Peak minutes were $0.65/min.

Then Sprint Spectrum came in and made another network and everyone followed suit. Phones were still around $100-$200. Plans were getting cheaper and more people signed up.

Now, we have free phones and plans that have better pricing than some home phone plans.

Have you priced a phone without a contract? It is anywhere from $300 to $350 more. Do you seriously think the cell phone culture would be where it is right now had it not been for these discounted phones? Do you really think the cell phone companies make money off of the phones? Service is where the money is and that's where the cell phone companies focus their energy.

I have 2 T-Mobile Sidekicks. If I had to pay $600 for the phones, I would not be subscribing to the unlimited email, text messaging and a big bucket of minutes. Sure, I have a 1 year contract but I intend to keep the phone for that long.

Had the cell phone company not done the deals for handsets to get people signed up, we wouldn't be talking about this now. They wanted the customers, now they have to deal with it. Customer service is part of that equation. Don't sell something you have no intention of providing. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621229 Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:06:04 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621154 moonpuppy :
said by huntml See Profile :

Secondly, as you say, they could have prevented this ETF loophole from opening by grandfathering in the fee structure change, the sort of thing people in other similar industries seem to be able to do.

But I would hazard at a guess that at least 50% of all customer service traffic for all wireless carriers is related to billing errors; they just seem as an industry to be bad at it.

And based on my reading of various carrier forums at places like HowardForums, it seems pretty clear that Sprint is by far the worst of a bad lot in this regard.

So again, I suspect that they did this thing in a blanket way rather, than grandfathering it, because there was recognition at some level that if they tried to do it in the way you suggest, they'd f*** it up, and have a big pile of complaints and billing screwups piled on top of the huge pile they already have to deal with every month.

I don't know. Recognizing that you are incompetent at something you should be able to do as a key part of running your business, and making a decision to not try to do something relating to that area that, if you could do it, would have a net positive effect on your business, but, since you suck, you'd probably screw up, making things even worse: is this a smart thing for management of a company to do or not? I'm not sure....
As I said earlier, if other companies can do it, so can Sprint. Telcos and cable companies do discount bundles all day long. Even the cell phone companies can keep track of your contract and when to charge you an ETF. If they can do that, then different plans and bundles shouldn't be an issue at all.

If your company has systemic problems with billing, then you need to rectify those issues. How much extra money is it costing your company to hire extra CS agents to fix those same billing issues? Did Sprint really save any money by getting rid of all those who called in with billing issues? ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19621154 Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:32:41 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19620580 tc1uscg :
said by moonpuppy See ProfileWithout the discounted phones, most people would not sign up for the service which is where the cell phone companies make their money. Turn off the phone subsidy and watch people not buy all those cool Treos, Blackberrys or any other cell phone. All the cool ringtones and games will be sitting on the virtual shelf because people need to pay off the expensive phones they bought. [/BQUOTE :

I disagree. Are you saying that you would not have a cell phone if you had to pay 200 bucks for one? You wouldn't be under a contract. You could go to anyone else you wanted at any time but you would have to buy a new phone. See, I think thats the problem. People like you think the phones should be free, the service should be dirt cheap or free and you should still have 110% customer service. We made the industry the way it is, not the companies. We drove them to this "500 dollar phone for 100 bucks, if you sign a 2 year stay with us contract".. People are so caught up in this FREE/Get all I can get for nothing mindset. No, we made the bed. We allowed it and now people are fed up, cell phone providers are killing themselves trying to fix it and people still bitch. I'll be looking for your treo on ebay... :uhh:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19620580 Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:52:51 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19617921 huntml :
said by moonpuppy See Profile :

As for the ETF's, again, the cell phone companies made their beds, now let them lie in it. I'll state my point again. If they didn't want to deal with this, they should have frozen rates for those who were still under contract and only raised them who were not under contract. Take some of that profit and invest it in a better billing system. If the cable companies and telcos (who provide video services) can set people into promotional deals for a couple of years and keep them straight (for the most part), then why can;t the cell phone companies do the same thing? :uhh:
I agree totally: they *do* deserve to get punished for this.

In the first place, the entire practice of levying these 'unfees' is intentionally deceptive at best and maybe even fraudulent at worst, and to the guy who brought up the fact that people are talking about an ETF out but no one is discussing the fact that CUSTOMERS SHOULD BE REFUNDED THESE UNFEES BECAUSE THEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN LEVIED IN THE FIRST PLACE, I agree with you too. Let's see if there's a class action coming out of this, I'd certainly be a party to such given a choice.

Secondly, as you say, they could have prevented this ETF loophole from opening by grandfathering in the fee structure change, the sort of thing people in other similar industries seem to be able to do.

But I would hazard at a guess that at least 50% of all customer service traffic for all wireless carriers is related to billing errors; they just seem as an industry to be bad at it.

And based on my reading of various carrier forums at places like HowardForums, it seems pretty clear that Sprint is by far the worst of a bad lot in this regard.

So again, I suspect that they did this thing in a blanket way rather, than grandfathering it, because there was recognition at some level that if they tried to do it in the way you suggest, they'd f*** it up, and have a big pile of complaints and billing screwups piled on top of the huge pile they already have to deal with every month.

I don't know. Recognizing that you are incompetent at something you should be able to do as a key part of running your business, and making a decision to not try to do something relating to that area that, if you could do it, would have a net positive effect on your business, but, since you suck, you'd probably screw up, making things even worse: is this a smart thing for management of a company to do or not? I'm not sure....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19617921 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:45:07 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19617879 Hambone : Now if we can just get Mayor Viva La Raza to rebate the city of Los Angele's' illegally collected phone tax!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19617879 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:37:56 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615360 moonpuppy :
said by tc1uscg See Profile :

I don't consider it a bomb shell. Heck, I've gotten 2 notices from credit card companies about how my card rate is being changed/compounded to cost me more if I carry over a balance. I've gotten a cable provider notice that my bill is going up 4 bucks and the gas prices keep going up and down then up more then down. It's a given. Why people are making such a big deal out of what Sprint is doing just proves people just want to complain about anything. My last AT&T L/L bill showed one fee went down but another is going up, killing any savings I would have noticed. I like to think of it as Sprint doing the right thing. As for the ETF's? I think we are seeing a new mindset in the wireless industry. IMO, all the wireless providers should do away with ETF's and just charge full price for the phone and let it go. Then we all can bitch about how costly our phones are and blame Sanyo, Samsung, Moto, LG and Apple for the problem. Then Sprint and others can just point at the manufactures and say, "hey, we are just resellers, it's not our fault". :uhh:
Without the discounted phones, most people would not sign up for the service which is where the cell phone companies make their money. Turn off the phone subsidy and watch people not buy all those cool Treos, Blackberrys or any other cell phone. All the cool ringtones and games will be sitting on the virtual shelf because people need to pay off the expensive phones they bought.

As for the ETF's, again, the cell phone companies made their beds, now let them lie in it. I'll state my point again. If they didn't want to deal with this, they should have frozen rates for those who were still under contract and only raised them who were not under contract. Take some of that profit and invest it in a better billing system. If the cable companies and telcos (who provide video services) can set people into promotional deals for a couple of years and keep them straight (for the most part), then why can;t the cell phone companies do the same thing? :uhh:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615360 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:27:58 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615162 ptrowski : This is a great Feat of Strength for the customer!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19615162 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:43:12 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19614432 tc1uscg :
said by esc0 :

tc1uscg,

Another bomb shell they dropped on us. Oh well counting the months til end of contract.
I don't consider it a bomb shell. Heck, I've gotten 2 notices from credit card companies about how my card rate is being changed/compounded to cost me more if I carry over a balance. I've gotten a cable provider notice that my bill is going up 4 bucks and the gas prices keep going up and down then up more then down. It's a given. Why people are making such a big deal out of what Sprint is doing just proves people just want to complain about anything. My last AT&T L/L bill showed one fee went down but another is going up, killing any savings I would have noticed. I like to think of it as Sprint doing the right thing. As for the ETF's? I think we are seeing a new mindset in the wireless industry. IMO, all the wireless providers should do away with ETF's and just charge full price for the phone and let it go. Then we all can bitch about how costly our phones are and blame Sanyo, Samsung, Moto, LG and Apple for the problem. Then Sprint and others can just point at the manufactures and say, "hey, we are just resellers, it's not our fault". :uhh:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19614432 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:24:32 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19614401 tc1uscg :
said by PolarBear See Profile :

Ever called T-mobile? That is by far my definition of what telephone customer service should be.
Nope.. but my shift partner worked for T-Mobile long enough to be a pretty good gauge on what to expect in the surrounding markets and when dealing with customer service. Less then rosy picture he painted to say the least. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19614401 Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:15:42 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613261 anon : tc1uscg,

Another bomb shell they dropped on us. Oh well counting the months til end of contract.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613261 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:36:19 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613759 NwkEWR :
said by PolarBear See Profile :

Ever called T-mobile? That is by far my definition of what telephone customer service should be.
I could not disagree more with your statement, my experiences with T-Mobile's CC were so rotten that as soon as my 2 year contract ended in 2005, I immediately closed my account. I have been with VZW since June of 2005 when I consolidated my Sprint and Nextel accounts, I've only had to contact VZW's customer service 3 times in the more than 2 years that I've been with them and have received competent, professional and prompt service every time. I could get a free T-Mo Blackberry Curve via Amazon, NO THANKS, I can wait till RIM releases the curve on VZW's network either in Q1 or Q2 of 2008. T-Mo can suck my d* and so can AT&T Wireless which I dumped in 1999. My 2¢
--
BEWARE: "We can't expect the American people to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." - Nikita Khrushchev -]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613759 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:46:40 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613555 PolarBear : Ever called T-mobile? That is by far my definition of what telephone customer service should be.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613555 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:12:07 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613276 anon : Qumahlin,

I still can't believe how the government allowed them to charge us all this time. Why don't they make Sprint pay us back for what they shouldn't have been doing in the first place?

It is amazing how when it's their time to pay back or just the thought of paying back they hesitate or turn the eye. But if we don't pay a bill they threaten you. It is sick and hope no one else signs up with them.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613276 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:25:04 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613253 anon : huntml,

Thanks for the response and info. I do hope Sprint gets their act together for the ones that will remain with them. Even if this l00p hole doesn't help me get out of paying my ETF, I will still leave once my contract is up. I have been looking into this operator called Cricket, the only thing I wish they would add is nation wide calling area like other carriers do. Your restricted to just your city or another neighboring one closest to yours.

I have been considering going with a GSM carrier. I am also tired of calling in to have a phone activated as in the case with CDMA technology. I definitely don't want AT&T, and I have heard things about Tmobile as well. But hey, I did give Sprint close to 7 years of loyalty.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613253 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:21:41 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613009 huntml : If true, that kida sucks. But it's a start.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19613009 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:41:12 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612926 huntml :
said by Qumahlin See Profile :

Can I really get happier over the fact that a company was caught deliberately misleading customers and now they are removing fees they technically shouldn't have been charging in the first place?

I guess I should be happier that they are no longer lying and making the fees out to be something required by the government...
To be fair to Sprint, they are by no means the only company that does this. It is an endemic practice in the wireless and wireline telephony businesses -- lots of carriers do it.

Which is not to excuse Sprint. They were doing something bogus, got called on it and got slapped down. I'm glad.

I'm glad, too, that they are now going to be giving people their MSL (lock codes) once they come out of contract (so the phone can be ported to another carrier), also due to losing a lawsuit.

I'm glad, too, that they are phasing in prorated ETFs, though they weren't the first and are probably only doing it because other carriers have already started, same thing with changing their contract extension policy so that you will no longer be extended whenever you change your plan.

All these things are good for the customer, and Sprint probably would be doing none of them if they hadn't either been forced to do so by the courts, or if they didn't feel compelled to do something in an effort to improve their reputation for dismal customer service and abusive customer policies, in order to turn around their fortunes.

Now, if only they could actually turn things around a bit and begin having some success, maybe they could put some pressure on the other carriers where they've been leaders -- value and technology. Wouldn't it be great for VZW subs if VZW felt it necessary to get its rates a bit more in line with Sprint's? Wouldn't it be great for T-mo subs if T-mo felt they *had* to actually, finally roll out 3g in order to stay competitive?

It would be a great benefit for all wireless subs were Sprint to begin to turn things around. Really, everyone should be rooting for Sprint at this point, regardless of who his/her carrier is, out of self-interest.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612926 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:23:53 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612873 huntml : You may be right, and I think a couple other carriers (including VZW, I think) actually have already announced prorated ETFs prior to Sprint. My point wasn't that Sprint was a leader in this area -- clearly, if there is something Sprint could be called a leader in, customer services isn't it -- but that they *are* doing some things to improve in that arena. A lot of times companies need competition to force them to do things they really *should* be doing, and this is one of them. (I think the entire 2-yr deal with ETFs model used by most American carriers is abusive of the customer and should be done away with.)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612873 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:11:44 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612775 tc1uscg :
said by huntml See Profile :

said by esc0 :

CSR sux & dropped calls have been increasing. Not to mention they want to renew contracts for every simple thing you want changed.
Alas, no announcement of plans to improve their CC organizaiton, but Sprint has dropped renewals due to plan changes, and announced plans to begin prorating ETFs next year.

Press release here: »forums.wirelessadvisor.com/centr···act.html
prorating only applies to NEW plans. Not old. :o]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612775 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:57:13 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612760 tc1uscg :
said by PolarBear See Profile :

Ever had to call customer service? How was that?
Almost the same as dealing with AT&T, Wideopenwest, my car dealership and more recently, customer service at Checkpoint dealing with the latest crapware Zonealarm and Vista. From what I gather, it's also on par with dealing with Verizon W or T-Moble and/or Comcast. So, wanna compare notes? :p]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612760 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:54:21 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612135 anon : huntml,

Isn't Alltel the first operator to offer this to their customers?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19612135 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:57:13 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19611823 Qumahlin : Can I really get happier over the fact that a company was caught deliberately misleading customers and now they are removing fees they technically shouldn't have been charging in the first place?

I guess I should be happier that they are no longer lying and making the fees out to be something required by the government...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19611823 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:59:55 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610909 huntml :
said by esc0 :

CSR sux & dropped calls have been increasing. Not to mention they want to renew contracts for every simple thing you want changed.
Alas, no announcement of plans to improve their CC organizaiton, but Sprint has dropped renewals due to plan changes, and announced plans to begin prorating ETFs next year.

Press release here: »forums.wirelessadvisor.com/centr···act.html]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610909 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:20:25 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610292 huntml : People on paper bills are supposed to be getting an insert; paperless people are supposed to be getting a postcard.

In any event,

www.sprint.com/taxesandfees

explains what will be changing, and what won't.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610292 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:47:13 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610212 huntml :
said by PolarBear See Profile :

Ever had to call customer service? How was that?
I have had a legacy plan since 98 or so and just got a SERO 500 plan ($30 with unlimited text and data, and a Centro for $100) for the wife in Nov.

In all that time, I have had to contact CC a handful of times, and the phone CC reps aren't great, I'll concede. But I figured out a long time ago to do everything non-immediate via eCare (web), and that works fine.

So for billing, plan change issues, etc., I just do everything by e-mail and I've never had problems. I've even gotten credits a couple times when I wrote in to just inquire about something.

For tech service issues, like reprovisioning data services, etc., I just call *2, say 'technical support,' and Claire switches me over. Unlike the general CC, Sprint's technical support people are generally pretty good, and the queues are generally not bad either. I've never had a technical issue that wasn't addressed within less than 20 minutes of wait time or so, even on holidays (I once got a new phone on Xmas day, and got it activated and the Vision (data) working within 1/2 hour of opening the box).

Oh, and unlike some carriers, Sprint's technical support is 24/7, which isn't true of all of the US carriers. I don't know if VZW has 24/7 tech support or not, I'm pretty sure the nationwide GSMs do not.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610212 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:35:12 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610166 anon : talz13,

I just looked at my December bill and how they break down these charges. I have two of the three charges you mentioned. Do I still qualify to get my ETF waived? Will I receive anything in the mail from them informing me off these changes? I have ebill sent to my email every month.

CSR sux & dropped calls have been increasing. Not to mention they want to renew contracts for every simple thing you want changed.

Below are the charges on my bill for two lines I have with Sprint.

Taxes, Surcharges & Fees
========================


Government Taxes & Fees
========================

El Paso City District Tax $0.51
El Paso City Sales Tax - Services & Usage 1.07
El Paso County Sales Tax - Services & Usage 0.51
Texas State Sales Tax - Services & Usage 6.76
Texas State Wireless 911 1.00
Texas State 911 0.19

Surcharges & Fees
=================

Texas State Universal Service Fund 3.21
Federal Usf Non-ld Surcharge 1.34
Texas Margin Fee Reimbursement 1.00
Texas State Tif Reimbursement 1.23
Federal Wireless Number Pooling And Portability 0.30
Federal E911 0.80
Total $17.92]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610166 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:29:03 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610154 TMMerlin : That's cheating ..! And I would not abuse myself that way either !!

I guess I am luky the "CS God has blessed me" so I don't have to call Sprint ..
--
Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy but they become legend.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19610154 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:27:54 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609879 PolarBear : Ever had to call customer service? How was that?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609879 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:40:05 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609659 huntml :
quote:
....now they have to live by them.


Absolutely. I am so glad that one of the companies charging these fraudulent/misleading 'unfees' got called on it. It's only a matter of time before this spreads across the wireless and wireline industries (many if not most companies in telephony employing similar tactics) and this practice is done away with. Good news for the consumer, for once.

quote:
The SMART thing to do was to not raise any fees until people either re-signed OR they were on month to month.


Maybe. But (1) one thing one cannot accuse Sprint's management of since the Nextel debacle is being smart; (2) maybe they were afraid that if they tried make this change on a customer-by-customer basis, the complexity would add to their problems with their already ongoing billing system integration/change, which is already a disaster, by many accounts.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609659 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:04:23 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609547 n2jtx :
said by SkellBasher See Profile :

it's a Festivus miracle.
I am all for the airing of grievances!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609547 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:43:56 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609120 TMMerlin : Wouldn't yah know it ..just when " I love to hate" Sprint so much they open this loop hole. Almost 5 years ago I started out with NexTel and they slipped profusely into NexHell ..then I squeezed out of that by doing a quit/sign-up on Sprint only. Signals were marginal to good at my home and general coverage was great. But I was still aggravated at dropped calls from time to time. Not a bad service but no cigar in my book.

Then, over the last six months my signal strength got significantly better and I probably have not had a dropped call from home in months.

I have never had a billing error and now my coverage is great. So all the reasons I have had to "hate Sprint" are gone and I sit here as a happy camper smoking my cigar.

And you say..they will reduce my monthly costs by a few pennies, too.

Oh well ...I believe in Sprint and I am sure they will give me a great reason in the not to distant future to "hate them again"..

Regards
--
Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy but they become legend.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609120 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:26:18 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609085 SkellBasher : It may in fact be cheaper, however for the people that are unhappy with Sprint in general, but didn't want to pay the ETF, it's a Festivus miracle.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609085 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:19:27 EDT Re: They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609033 talz13 : I thought it was a fee lowering?

quote:
those fees [being removed] are the Federal Programs Cost Recovery (FPCR) fee of $1.55, the Federal E911 surchage of $0.40 and a Wireless Local Number Portability (WLNP) fee of $0.15.


These removed fees total $2.10.

quote:
Unfortunately, Sprint will be replacing those three defunct fees with two new ones; an Administrative Charge of $0.75, and a Regulatory Charge of $0.20.


These new fees total $0.95. That's a savings of $1.15 per month.

If you wanted to cancel your contract anyway, it's a nice loophole to get out without an ETF, but if you're happy now, you should be more happy that you're being charged less in fees.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19609033 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:06:55 EDT They made the rules.... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19608970 moonpuppy : ....now they have to live by them.

The SMART thing to do was to not raise any fees until people either re-signed OR they were on month to month. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,19608970 Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:50:01 EDT