Can you help me make Dan Hesse's life hell?
November 17, 2010 5:24 PM Subscribe
Help me wage war against my cellular provider.
I have two Samsung Moment phones from Sprint. They're terrible. I've had to replace them once already for technical problems, and the same technical problems are resurfacing again.
Even more terrible than the Samsung Moments, however, is my experience with Sprint itself. I've been given the run around on who is to fix the issue, how to get it fixed, the tech store tells me to call the phone number, the phone number tells me to go to the tech store. Meanwhile, I'm paying for a hefty cellular bill for phones that work MAYBE 50% of the time.
So, while I realize the problems are not uncommon because cellular providers are allowed to be last remaining legal mafias, I want to get back at Sprint. I want to make them feel the same frustration that I've felt in the past 6 months dealing with this issue. I know that's a tall order, but I want to do something.
Off-limits would be anything that could get me into civil or criminal trouble. And I'd prefer not to take out my frustration on any one particular Sprint employee.
Sandwich board outside a Sprint store proclaiming the suckiness of Sprint? Programming inappropriate things into the phones in a Sprint store? Give me your ideas.
(Best way to get back at Sprint: tell me how I can walk away from my contract without paying an early termination fee)
I have two Samsung Moment phones from Sprint. They're terrible. I've had to replace them once already for technical problems, and the same technical problems are resurfacing again.
Even more terrible than the Samsung Moments, however, is my experience with Sprint itself. I've been given the run around on who is to fix the issue, how to get it fixed, the tech store tells me to call the phone number, the phone number tells me to go to the tech store. Meanwhile, I'm paying for a hefty cellular bill for phones that work MAYBE 50% of the time.
So, while I realize the problems are not uncommon because cellular providers are allowed to be last remaining legal mafias, I want to get back at Sprint. I want to make them feel the same frustration that I've felt in the past 6 months dealing with this issue. I know that's a tall order, but I want to do something.
Off-limits would be anything that could get me into civil or criminal trouble. And I'd prefer not to take out my frustration on any one particular Sprint employee.
Sandwich board outside a Sprint store proclaiming the suckiness of Sprint? Programming inappropriate things into the phones in a Sprint store? Give me your ideas.
(Best way to get back at Sprint: tell me how I can walk away from my contract without paying an early termination fee)
I went to war with T-Mobile a few years ago. What worked for me was tracking down the email address for the VP of Customer Service, and sending a clearly worded email message explaining exactly what happened and why I was upset. In your case, this appears to be Jerry Adriano, who can be reached at jerry.adriano@sprint.com or 913-762-8080.
posted by Etaoin Shrdlu at 5:44 PM on November 17, 2010
posted by Etaoin Shrdlu at 5:44 PM on November 17, 2010
In general, the mods frown on "revenge" questions. I do feel your frustration, though. Sprint says they prorate the early termination fee, but if you've only had your phone for 6 months on a two-year contract, you still owe $180 out of the $200.
You could start a blog detailing your experiences, tweeting about them and just generally causing problems for Sprint through negative feedback.
posted by misha at 5:45 PM on November 17, 2010
You could start a blog detailing your experiences, tweeting about them and just generally causing problems for Sprint through negative feedback.
posted by misha at 5:45 PM on November 17, 2010
You want Executive Customer Service. Consumerist has details here.
Be aware that the phone number has a tendency to change. Be friendly to these people. They have the power to help you to work through anything, but if you are rude they have the power to squash your hopes you getting out of the contract.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 5:47 PM on November 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Be aware that the phone number has a tendency to change. Be friendly to these people. They have the power to help you to work through anything, but if you are rude they have the power to squash your hopes you getting out of the contract.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 5:47 PM on November 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've had great success with simply trolling company web sites in search of every email I can find and simply making email complaints. Well worded, detailed, not offensive complaints. I'll take 'em to the woodshed, but I won't use profanity or threats or anything.
For example, a company like Sprint issues press releases nearly every day. Each of these press releases includes a person's name and email address. Like this one.
Now, on this example press release, neither of these people can help you directly. But they likely know, internally, someone that can. People like this commonly forward emails to others.
But the press release tells you something else. It tells you how this company constructs its email addresses. In this case, it's "Firstname.Lastname@sprint.com."
Now that you know that ... you start emailing people on this list.
Now, these people certainly won't answer your email. But they have assistants that read emails. And those assistants will, like the PR specialists, forward emails that come into their Inbox. And emails that come from the CEO's team of assistants get dealt with quickly.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:47 PM on November 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
For example, a company like Sprint issues press releases nearly every day. Each of these press releases includes a person's name and email address. Like this one.
Now, on this example press release, neither of these people can help you directly. But they likely know, internally, someone that can. People like this commonly forward emails to others.
But the press release tells you something else. It tells you how this company constructs its email addresses. In this case, it's "Firstname.Lastname@sprint.com."
Now that you know that ... you start emailing people on this list.
Now, these people certainly won't answer your email. But they have assistants that read emails. And those assistants will, like the PR specialists, forward emails that come into their Inbox. And emails that come from the CEO's team of assistants get dealt with quickly.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:47 PM on November 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I had a similar problem with a Samsung phone except my provider was Verizon. I complained to several different people at several different stores but they all insisted up and down that there was really nothing they could do and that phone issues (like recalls) were in Samsung's hands.
I was about as peeved at Verizon as you are at Sprint. What I ended up doing was walking in with a flyer for AT&T, threatening to switch, and getting a discount on a new phone. Since I'm pretty lazy and didn't really want to go through the hassle of switching so I went with it.
But your experience suggests to me that maybe you would be better served pursuing Samsung instead of Sprint.
For the record, if you still want to switch with no cost, I looked on AskMe when I was peeved and there were several old threads that go into it. I'm too lazy to look them up, but one involved fine print on a contract and the other involved websites that let you swap/sell contracts.
posted by unannihilated at 5:50 PM on November 17, 2010
I was about as peeved at Verizon as you are at Sprint. What I ended up doing was walking in with a flyer for AT&T, threatening to switch, and getting a discount on a new phone. Since I'm pretty lazy and didn't really want to go through the hassle of switching so I went with it.
But your experience suggests to me that maybe you would be better served pursuing Samsung instead of Sprint.
For the record, if you still want to switch with no cost, I looked on AskMe when I was peeved and there were several old threads that go into it. I'm too lazy to look them up, but one involved fine print on a contract and the other involved websites that let you swap/sell contracts.
posted by unannihilated at 5:50 PM on November 17, 2010
I know you don't want to pay Sprint to terminate your contract, but if you join Credo they will buy-out your phone contract and Credo is just plain awesome. I've had them for 7 years because of their great customer service. They always tell you something straight, they are easy to get a hold of, and they are always pleasant. They take no for an answer. I've not had a contract for over a year. They called once to let me know I wasn't under a contract, they gave me a couple offers, conceded that the offers available for me really weren't all that great, told me to have a nice day, and haven't called back since. For a year.
No, I don't work for them or anything. Just very satisfied cell phone user, unlike just about everyone else I meet.
Honestly, I thinking taking away your business and explaining why is ultimately going to be the only think that Sprint cares about.
posted by aetg at 5:51 PM on November 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
No, I don't work for them or anything. Just very satisfied cell phone user, unlike just about everyone else I meet.
Honestly, I thinking taking away your business and explaining why is ultimately going to be the only think that Sprint cares about.
posted by aetg at 5:51 PM on November 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
Your issue seems to be with your phone.
Call Samsung - They're the ones that made the phone.
As far as the Store -> Tech support -> Store loop: The phone agent enters notes for what the store person should be doing. If the store person tells you to call, have THEM call instead. They don't know what to do to fix the issue because a) shitty phone you bought, b) You probably are accepting the runaround instead of pressing to actually get your stuff fixed.
Don't raise a stink passive-aggressively. Instead, just be proactive in getting your issue resolved.
posted by Rendus at 7:36 PM on November 17, 2010
Call Samsung - They're the ones that made the phone.
As far as the Store -> Tech support -> Store loop: The phone agent enters notes for what the store person should be doing. If the store person tells you to call, have THEM call instead. They don't know what to do to fix the issue because a) shitty phone you bought, b) You probably are accepting the runaround instead of pressing to actually get your stuff fixed.
Don't raise a stink passive-aggressively. Instead, just be proactive in getting your issue resolved.
posted by Rendus at 7:36 PM on November 17, 2010
Consumerist.com is just what you're looking for. Carriers tie you to particular phones. The phone manufacturer doesn't answer to you, they answer to the carrier. Mobile phone practice in the US is awful. Getting better, but at a glacial rate. The more customers who resist the awfulness, the better. Good luck.
posted by theora55 at 8:10 PM on November 17, 2010
posted by theora55 at 8:10 PM on November 17, 2010
I've had fantastic customer service from Sprint, really above and beyond kind of stuff so I am seconding that your problem is with Samsung and the phone. Have you just called Sprint and insisted on a new phone? They did that for me when I got a phone from them that simply would not work on my local network. They didn't even question me, the new phone was on my doorstep the next morning along with a box to return the original one.
posted by fshgrl at 9:54 PM on November 17, 2010
posted by fshgrl at 9:54 PM on November 17, 2010
I had pretty good luck with T-Mobile once by sending a snailmail letter to the CEO. My issue was also with awful Samsung phones that the carrier finally refused to replace. I bought an unlocked phone off eBay, then wrote my letter to the CEO explaining what had happened, why I was upset, and what it would take to make me happy (i.e. keep me as a customer). About two weeks later I got a call from executive customer service and the guy who called me arranged to send me a new, non-Samsung, phone as I had asked. It was a little bit of a rigamarole, but I was ultimately satisfied. It did make me want to track down all the low-level customer service drones I'd talked to who told me that no one at T-Mobile had the authority to do what I wanted and say "Ha!"
posted by Shohn at 5:41 AM on November 18, 2010
posted by Shohn at 5:41 AM on November 18, 2010
These days I hear if you tweet something, you get insta-results...
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:45 PM on November 18, 2010
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:45 PM on November 18, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by arimathea at 5:40 PM on November 17, 2010