PromoGuy dot Net: Reach out and smack someone

November 24, 2003

Reach out and smack someone

So, I am in the middle of getting a better phone for my other wireless plan.

Since today enables us to take our number to any cell carrier out there, I hoped carriers would be a little more willing to bend. Well, yes and no.

For example, with my "Current Carrier" (to remain nameless) I am off contract and on a month-to-month billing cycle. So, to get a better phone for free, I ask about my options. They tell me I can have an older Nokia 2260 for free but I have to pay a $15 upgrade fee (WHAT?) plus $9.99 for shipping. I mention the great deal I have at T-mobile on their basic plan and that I just might move over there. For $19.99, T-mobile gives me a free Nokia 3595 color/polyphonic phone, 500 weekend mins and 75 anytime mins (normally 60, but I have "loyalty minutes" woo-hoo) and no shipping, sooooo it sounds little bit better. Only downside is the $35 activation fee.

Then the Current Carrier rep does some digging and comes back with the new Nokia 3560 phone for $74.99 but offers me a $100 credit to cover the phone, the shipping and the upgrade fee. He also offers to double the minutes of the plan for a total of 120 per month. A 1-year renewal is required but hey, it sounds pretty good. Weekend minutes aren't a concern since that phone is hardly used other than during the week.

I tell the guy to notate it all in the account notes and I will call back once I am sure that's the way I want to go. He said he would, and that was that.

Wanna guess what happened when I called back? Yep, got a different person (as expected) but she can't give me the same deal. Apparently, not all that he offered me was mentioned in his notes. Thanks a lot, guy. In fact, most of what he offered me was totally not valid for my plan. Great. So they can't give it to me.

To be fair, the lady on my second call (happening now) is very polite and helpful, but we had to escalate the call to a "Resolution Specialist." So we will see where that goes.

Total call time at this point: 30:05

Still on hold.

Total call time at this point: 38:50

OK, so she came back and offered me the $100 rebate for the phone and extra charges, but can't offer the double minutes. So now I get to talk to the specialist myself. Oh joy.

Total call time at this point: 42:10

Around and around we go, but they remained firm - no way will they double the minutes like the other rep said. I am so mad that I didn't take the other offer! Dog gone it, I totally blew it. [beats head against wall]

How did it end? I didn't really want to pay $35 to activate with T-mobile. Yes, that one time fee would have given me 15 extra minutes a month, but I really don't have $35 to just toss in the wind.

I took the crappy second offer, like an angry child grumbling and pouting the whole way through. Was this whole exercise worth it? Probably not. My personal time spent on this call is probably worth more to me than $35. So, things were supposed to be easier huh? Not for me.

In the end, I have 30 days to cancel and go with someone else. Of course, the $100 credit goes away so then I am stuck with the $15 and $9.99 fees once I return the phone. Ugh. Is there an oven I can take a nap in? I've had it with this.

Well, maybe in a year I can get something better. I've had enough of this for now. Time for lunch.

Total call time: 61:00

file this under Mind
Posted by on November 24, 2003 @ November 24, 2003 01:23 PM
3 folks had something to say

Comments

Cell companies...you can't live with them and you can't chop them into little tiny peices and bury them all over the backyard.

I've been cell-free for about two years now and while the itch creeps up on me to rejoin the cell herd, I've refrained for reasons exactly like 61 minutes on hold and each person saying something different.

Posted by: ::m:: at November 24, 2003 2:17 PM

Oh wow, I used to work for your wireless company. I was a Resolutions Specialist. I'll tell you the truth: we hated care reps like the first one you got. Hated hated hated. All we ever wanted from the reps was that they properly notated the damned accounts with what they offered. (I'd make a comment here about which center you got the first time, and the second time for that matter, but that would be rude.)

Posted by: Anna at November 25, 2003 10:25 PM

I feel your pain! It's the pits dealing with wireless companies. My hubby called our provider to ask about getting a new phone to replace my Atlantic-Ocean-soaked Nokia, and they told him they charge $79 for my phone (the Nokia 3390) IF we get a 2-year service plan. If we don't want a contract, they want $129!

I really hate how wireless companies have people by the short hairs when it comes to the hardware. Why can't I find a good deal on a non-branded phone (without a Verizon, Sprint, or other wireless company's logo painted on it, I mean) and just have my carrier activate it as one of theirs? Surely they can do this!

I'm going to blog about this. Maybe someone will have suggestions. Can you tell your experience has me mulling over this all over again? ;)

Posted by: gw at November 25, 2003 10:26 PM

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November 24, 2003

Reach out and smack someone