[TheWastedYears]

Some of you may remember my recent post about a network outtage, that for some reason only I was experiencing. Well, here's why:


So, I have a Blackberry w/ split billing. This means that the phone is on my personal account, billed to me. The data plan is on my corporate account, billed to my company. Ironically, none of the 15+ people I've talked to at Sprin-Tel had any idea what this is.

So one Friday, my internet connection dies (an IT guy who can't get his emails. not pretty.) So I call Sprin-Tel, and they tell me it's a network outtage w/ no estimated repair time.

Sunday, it's still not working so I call again. Network outtage. No estimated repair time.

Tuesday. Same thing.

Thursday. Same thing. So I request that they give me a Sprint Blackberry and move my accounts over. So the customer service rep wants to look at my accounts to see if they can move my phone over w/o having to buy a new one (nevermind that IDEN phones won't work on CDMA networks and just about everyone knows this.)

So she says "Sir, it appears your corporate account has been cancelled for non-payment."

WTF?

So here's the backlog to this story: My accounting dept sent Sprin-Tel a check for $64.xx for January's bill. Sprin-Tel cashed it for $564.xx. Needless to say, Accounting called the bank and did whatever they do to get the funds back.

Sprin-Tel never bothers to correct their billing error, so I'm getting invoices that say "Credit balance. Do not pay." Here it is June, and my invoice says I have a $300 credit.

Turns out, we actually owe $280. So after I explain to them how I spent the last week being told my service interruption was an outtage, we agree that some discount is in order. The agreed amount my company will pay is $129.xx"

I say "Great. Fax me a copy of the invoice, and I'll get you guys taken care of today." The guy says he's not the one who does the faxing, but we'll get a fax in a couple of hours.

Friday. Still no fax. So I call them again. The customer service rep says "I don't know why he told you 2 hrs. Faxes usually take 48 hrs." But he agrees to help me out and "push this one through" in 2 hrs, since I am trying to give them money and all.

4 hours later, I call again. This is the story I get: "We don't send out faxes. You have to wait until your next bill to pay."

Not once have I ever talked w/ someone at Sprin-Tel Customer Care who had a clue, but I've never had an experience quite this bad (except for when they put my roommate's account in my name for 6 consecutive months.)

[SWIZZ]

I believe a proper floggin is in order here.................

[mrogers]

Wow that's pretty bad. I had a similar experience with Cingular, with reps seeming to make stories up about billing and family plan phones with different area codes -- every single one had a different story. Like they were pulling these explanations right out of their butts. We spent months trying to get a consistent answer out of Cingular, I know how frustrating it is to deal with people who speak authoritatively but actually have no idea what the hell is going on.

[EricaJ1074]

I had to deal with this with T-Mobile starting in January. They kept claiming that they lost my payments. I couldn't make payments as I was in the hospital, then at home on bedrest, and my mom was helping me make my payments. The breaking point happened back in April. A 3K bill in texts alone that was not even supposed to be in my name. Faxed receipts to Customer Service and it took them a good month to finally acknowledge their screwup. Ended up only having to pay ~$375 after picking up the 7105t I now have and now my last few bills have been less than $100.

[zarza]

I have never ever had an issue like that on any carrier. I guess I am lucky.

My only thing even close was when I got phantom data roaming charges from Canada on my T-Mobile BlackBerry, even though I was nowhere near St. Catherine's, and was in the US.