Complaint Rating:

At the end of Sept or beginning of Oct 2006, I found my service had been restricted - I wasn't able to make outgoing calls nor was I able to check my voice mail. Due to financial difficulties, I was not able to pay my bill (~$276) when I intended to. When I was able to pay my bill, I contacted "customer service" (CS) to find an authorized payment center. Believe it or not, THEY DID NOT KNOW! They suggested I go to WalMart and get a money gram (at a cost, of course). So, upon arriving at WalMart, I shut my phone off as suggested in order to get service restored. When service was restored, I checked my voice mail. Lo and behold, there was a message from Sprint/Nextel letting me know they would offer assistance in getting my service restored anywhere from $300 to 15% off my bill. I called the number they gave me (866-766-5035) along with a reference number. So I called and was on hold for 10 minutes. A message came on saying I could call a different number (866-954-7644) at a later time. I called the 2nd number about an hour later and was put on hold for 40 minutes (thankfully I was reading a book and had my headset). My call went back into queue 4 times. I finally hung up and called the 1st number back. After being on hold for another 10 minutes, a message came on and told me, 'due to technical difficulties, please try your call another time'. They never took my call because I had already paid my bill. I called the 1st number Thurs, Oct 5 and was told since I had already paid my bill, there was nothing they could do for me. After bitching, the guy said he could give me a 5% credit (a whopping $13!).

So, my service had been restricted and I can't check my voice mails. Sprint/Nextel thought it would be cute to leave me an unobtainable message knowing full well I wouldn't be able to take advantage of their 'sympathetic' offer. Why didn't they make this offer when I had spoken to CS the first time (about an hour before I paid my bill)?

So I sent a complaint on Thurs Oct 5 via their online website. I received an email (julziexo@yahoo) saying they would make every effort to address my complaint in 24-48 hours. If I didn't hear back from them within 48 hours, I was to reply to the email and they would let me know the status. The following Wed Oct 11 (6 days later), I replied to the email (along with the tracking number - NT20061005_0000003838). Today is Mon Oct 16. Do you think I have been contacted by Sprint/Nextel in any way? They definately should change their motto (their current motto is, "Where customers come first"). What a scam.

Also, when I signed the contract, I purchased an additional phone and service for my 14 year old daughter. Our numbers differ by 1 number, with mine sequentially coming first with my number being the 'admin'. Somehow, someway, my daughters number was changed to the 'admin'. Upon contacting Sprint/Nextel to change this, they said they have NO way of doing this. Huh?

Had I known Nextel would merge with Sprint, I would have NEVER signed the contract. Isn't that called 'bait and switch'? My service has been extremely shitty since the merge including dropped calls (which I didn't have with Nextel) and delayed voice mails (up to 4 hours).

I'm not looking for a 'free ride'; I realize it is my responsibility to pay my bills. Being a single parent, financial difficulties do arise and the only contact with my daughter is via phone. I figured it would cost just as much to have a land line as cell phones so I cancelled our land line. I can't wait for my contract to expire!

Oh, I just want to say I don't blame the employees who work as customer service reps, I blame the higher ups for the crappy policies they put in place and the standards set for jacking customers around. I'm sure the President and other bigshots are living a life of luxury and really don't care how their pockets get lined. I feel sorry for the employees who feel they have no choice but to work for such a shitty company.

Julie

Grand Blanc MI