My Problem with Nextel

Ok, so this post is to not only vent, but to document the insanity I have dealt with in dealing with Sprint/Nextel. I have a feeling this needs good documentation, as it will probably be going to the Better Business Bureau... yeah, that's how mad I am. Ok, I have spent (since last friday, September 28) roughly 5 hours on the phone with various people from Sprint/Nextel (SN). I've talked to retention agents, their supervisors, activation agents, account agents, technical support agents, and just about everyone in between. The only person who isn't answering the phone is the CEO, who is probably out filling out applications at WalMart, because in all reality, the popular opinion is that SN will no longer exist, very soon. I've had Nextel service just about since the "direct connect" inception. This was around the time that hard wired "car phones" were cool, and that the latest handheld models were roughly the size of a brick, with a foot long antenna... yeah, it's been a while. Well, ever since this time, the service (read: bars) has been shoddy, at best. Downtown Valpo, not a small town, has numerous areas where you go from full bars to none, it the blink of an eye. Go into a building, and forget it. Dropped calls, missed calls, no calls at all, these things are daily issues.

Everyone I used to direct connect with (with the exception of one lonely holdout) has cancelled Nextel and moved on to a service that's at least partially reliable, within reason. Yeah, in the outback of Australia, I don't expect to be able to dial my mom to see what's for dinner. But in downtown Valpo, I do. And I can, with my work-provided Verizon phone, consistently.

So I cancelled my Nextel about 2 years ago, after they came out to my home and did all kinds of diagnostics, held antennas up in the air, and a host of other things. Brian kept his because he still used it for work, when he had a signal. At that time I was assured that SN was putting up new towers every day, and it should only be a matter of a few short months that I'd have the best coverage of any cellular provider. That was 2 years ago, and my service continues to be marginal, at best.

So I tried to call Brian Friday. He was between Crown Point and Valpo, a very busy, metropolitan area. No signal. I got the tell tale, all to familiar message in the friendly female voice "please hold while the Nextel subscriber youre trying to contact is located..." then... voice mail. That was it. This is 2007 people. iPhones, smart phones, phones that clean your house for you and take care of your kids... and I can't even place a damn phone call.

I called SN. They said they regretted that they were losing me as a customer (yeah, probably because I'm only 1 of 30 left) and that they'd cancel my account. I should see a $200 cancellation fee on my next bill. Pardon me. I am paying $60 a month for a phone that dosen't work. When I signed a contract, Nextel agreed to provide me with service.. I was in the "covered area" afterall! Nextel is not providing me with service (that I'm paying for) and now wants to charge me to go away? I don't think so. For those of you who know me... that just WAS NOT going to happen over my dead body. It's a matter of principle. So after fighting with SN reps for the next 2 hours, I got one sympathetic to my cause. He said he'd waive the $200 fee if I agreed to try SN's new soulution to the problem, the "hybrid" phone for 30 days. If that's going to get me out of the contract, bring it on. I can live with anything for 30 days. So they sent me my brand spankin' new ic503 hybrid. It arrived (a day late) and I attempted to activate it as per my rep Winston's instruction. After talking to a clearly asian female for one hour, she assured me that my new super phone would be up and working in 1-4 hours. The message "in progress" read on the screen. This was at 4pm Tuesday, October 2. It is now Wednesday, October 3 at 5:26pm, and it is still "in progress." I have been attempting to contact Winston all day, as he told me that in the future, I would only have to deal with him.

No reply. So, I called technical support. I was told the system was "backlogged" to the tune of 80,000 customers, and it should be up in no time. Uh, I don't think so.

So I call again, fight with 2 or 3 more customer service reps who claim they can't do anything. They say, cancel the account, the $200 fee will be applied, then you can dispute it. Now, I wasn't born yesterday, which is something SN seems not to understand. Do they think that I believe for one minute that they will have any sympathy for a now non-customer? From a business holding on to every last penny they can keep before going under? Give me a break. Yeah, I'll sacrifice my great credit so SN can cash in on me a little more....

So amazingly, again another 2 hours later, I finally get through to Winston's office! The new retention guy I'm talking to knows Winston... and transfers me to his desk!! Winston sounds glad to hear from me. I explain the problem (again) and he confirms with technical support that there is a "backlog" whatever the hell that means.

My $200 is credited back to my account now closed account (or so they say), and now I sit on hold waiting for someone to tell me where I need to send my high speed ic502 and how to do it. Yeah, in the time I've been on hold, I've drafted this post. Impressive, isn't it? I'll let you know how it all pans out...