After a few more ridiculous emails and receiving no credit for the phone I returned, I decided I would give them one complete billing cycle to prove themselves. (I don't know why they would.) Sure enough they started calling me about my past due bill, $200+ of which shouldn't have even been listed. Brilliant.
I wrote the following email after I noticed I could not call out or send texts from my phone, knowing Sprint was punishing me for non-payment. Notice the canned responses they ALWAYS send back. All my emails from them contain the same cut-and-paste apologies. How are sterile sets of "empathetic" auto-text supposed to make me feel like anyone is really listening or understanding my issue?
Anyway, here is the conclusion:
Customer Name: Brett Merritt
Sprint PCS Phone Number: ----------
Account Number: ------
Form: Ask A Question-Manage
Topic: Payment
==============================
Question: I made a payment of $140 which is the approx monthly amount
for my bill. The balance on my account of $230 is there because of a
return that has not processed on your end. I am not going to pay on my
account again until the credit for my return is processed. If you have
any commitment to your loyal (7+ years) customers, you will reactivate
my account and allow me to go on using the service I have consistently
paid for. Thanks.
Brett
On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 12:51 AM, Sprint Customer Solutions - eCare3 <
ecare3@cc.sprintpcs.com> wrote:
Dear Brett,
Thank you for contacting Sprint. I will be happy to assist you.
I understand your concern regarding the credit for the returned
handset.
Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience you have experienced. Under no circumstances do we allow or endorse such behavior. It is certainly not appropriate on any level.
I have applied a temporary credit for 15 days on the account in order to restore the services. Your services will be restored within next 4 hours.
Further, I checked that the phone have not yet been received at the warehouse. I request you to provide me the tracking number so that I can track the phone and apply the necessary adjustment on the account.
Eagerly waiting for your email message.
Sincerely,
Parry A.
Sprint
---
Original Message Follows:
------------------------
Sprint,
Thanks for the restored service and temp credit.
I used the UPS website to obtain the tracking information that shows Sprint signed for the returned phone more than a month and a half ago on 3/4/08.
Here is that info:
1Z E92 W92 37 1452 097 3
Type: Package
Status: *Delivered *
Delivered On: 03/04/2008 8:30 A.M.
Delivered To: LOUISVILLE, KY, US
Signed By: SPRINT
Service: 2ND DAY AIR
As the error and phone misplacement appears to be on your end, please permanently refund my account and resolve this for me as soon as possible.
Thank you.
Brett
Sprint PCS Phone Number: 801-------
Account Number: --------
----
Dear Brett Merritt,
After reviewing the information you have provided, along with notes on the account, I have applied a permanent credit of $336.25 to the account for the returned phone as of today, April 23. With this credit applied, the account currently shows a credit balance of -$105.90 in your favor.
There are no further payments due at this time. Please be aware that your bill cycle ends on the 22nd of every month, therefore your April statement may still show a balance when you receive it.
If there is anything else I can assist you with, please reply to this email at your convenience, and I will be glad to address any questions you may have.
Thank you for contacting Sprint, and have a great day!
Sincerely,
Alicia G.
I-Care Escalations
Sprint
----
So there you have it.
For as long as I live, I will tell people to never ever use Sprint. It took the company 6 months to resolve a simple problem of a broken phone return and credit. They consistently dropped the ball on their end, kept shoddy records, belittled my wife, took too long to respond, never communicated internally and treated me like a liar first, an annoyance 2nd and a valued customer last.
Sprint is the worst company I have ever dealt with in my entire life. Don't ever use them. If you do, hope you never have a problem that needs any sort of attention.
Thanks, readers, for your support and interest in my painful saga. It's helped to hear your cries of angry support.
But, finally, this is ...
The End
?
