The life of a Consumerist editor can be a roller coaster ride of emotion. One minute you’re laughing at Delta airlines uglyass new planes, the next you’re reading a letter from a minister who says Sprint made his wife cry.

Jackson writes us not knowing what to do. He ordered two new phones from Sprint but can’t get all of them activated. He says he’s clocked 11 hours and 15 min on the phone with ” 30 (Thirty) customer service reps of various departments.” At the 9 1/2 hour mark, he found his wife crying on the phone with a Sprint CSR. Jackson writes:

After I heard her crying I went over to a Sprint store and as I walked in the guy said,”How can I help you?”

To which I replied,” I’m here to kick some ass!!!!!”

He got snotty too, and told me I was at the wrong type of Sprint store for my account type. I apologized. I’ve been an ordained minister and I’m still very active in church activities.

I can just see the headline, “Minister kicks some ass”.

Or, “Minister gets his ass kicked”. The kid in the store was about 30 years younger than me.

Our advice to Jackson inside.

First, here’s Jackson’s email:

My wife and I have just spent 11 hours and 15 min on the phone with Sprint customer support, since April 13. We have, as of last night talked to 30 (Thirty) customer service reps of various departments.

I woke up one morning to hear my wife crying on the phone with a rep. That was the 9 1/2 hour point. I took over at that point. I didn’t last as long as she did.

We had a 2 phone, Family Plan. My wife added 2 more phones to the plan making us a 4 phone, Family Plan.

They disconnected one of the original phones and can’t get it going again.

It took 2 for sure, maybe 3 calls to get the 2 new phones shipped. I need to check with my wife.

They finally sent the 2 ordered phones for the 2 new lines, but I haven’t opened them cause I was worried about the whole Sprint thing by now.

This note doesn’t come near conveying the raging fury, I have kept to myself, regarding this matter. 2 of the lines, mine and one of the ordered phones, are business lines. Mine dead, hers not activated because I’m so worried about the whole Sprint thing and the 2 year contract we may have just renewed. We had just expired.

All the reps have been nice.

Sprint, itself is broken.

Out of five Reps who said they would call back, only one did.

I have only lost my temper once .

After I heard her crying I went over to a Sprint store and as I walked in the guy said,”How can
I help you?”

To which I replied,” I’m here to kick some ass!!!!!”

He got snotty too, and told me I was at the wrong type of Sprint store for my account type.
I apologized. I’ve been an ordained minister and I’m still very active in church activities.

I can just see the headline, “Minister kicks some ass”.

Or, “Minister gets his ass kicked”. The kid in the store was about 30 years younger than me.

And so on……..

Thanks for your time.

I’m thinking about youtube.com. I produce a program of our church on 2 local tv stations.

What would you do if you were us?

Ok,.Jackson. Here’s what we would do. According to this press release from Sprint, you have a 30 day guarantee. The press release says,

“We’re now giving you 30 days to try Sprint risk free whether you are activating Sprint PCS or Nextel services. If you are not completely satisfied with Sprint, your service, phone or network, simply return your phone, and deactivate service within the 30 days. We’ll return your activation fee and waive your early termination fee, and you will only be responsible for charges based on your actual usage.”

Call Sprint. Tell them you are taking advantage of the 30 day guarantee because you are not happy with your “service, phone and network.” You will need to return the new phones to Sprint.

Upon invoking the name of a 30-day guarantee, you will most likely be directed to some sort of retention specialist. This person will try to fix your problem. Feel free to simply insist that your entire account be canceled.

Tell the Sprint CSR that you would like to port your number to another carrier. This should prevent them from releasing the number into their number pool. For more information about porting a number, click here.

At this point you should be free to move your account to another provider. In the course of escalating your issue, we have some phone numbers you might want to try. Oh, and here’s a guy who seems important.
CEO, Gary Forsee: Gary.D.Forsee@mail.sprint.com
703-433-4040 Direct
703-433-4352 Fax

Good luck! —MEGHANN MARCO

(Photo: Sam Wilkinson)

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