While most of the country wasn’t directly affected by Verizon’s purchase of Alltel, a handful of both companies’ former customers have now ended up — through no choice of their own — as AT&T subscribers. Many of these people are peeved about being stuck with a company they never signed up with. They also want to know if AT&T’s pending purchase of T-Mobile means in terms of their already slim pickings. [More]
sprint
E-mail To Sprint CEO Gets $400 Rebate Check Re-Issued
By 5.5.11
Sprint owed Sean and his wife $400 in rebates for their shiny new LG Optimus phones. They tried to be patient, but a few months passed and the rebates were clearly overdue or missing. A few days ago, Sean finally sat down and sent this brief but effective email to CEO Dan Hesse. [More]
Verizon To Warn iPhone Buyers: We're Watching You!
By 5.2.11
After consumer uproar over the fact that Apple’s iPhones can record and store users’ locations, Verizon Wireless says it’s going to warn potential customers of such acts, via a handy little sticker. Neat. [More]
Sprint Does Everything Possible To Drive Longtime Customer Away
By 4.21.11
G. has been a longtime loyal Sprint wireless customer. Thirteen years, to be exact. She recently signed a new contract, and then a series of things happened in quick succession that make having service with Sprint darn near unacceptable. There’s a broken phone, service that doesn’t work in the house after a move, promised 4G service that hasn’t showed up yet, and a promised rebate that never materialized. [More]
AT&T CEO: "I Don't See Why" T-Mobile Customers' Rates Will Go Up After Sale
By 4.4.11
Among the big concerns surrounding the pending sale of T-Mobile USA to AT&T are the potential for rate increases for current T-Mobile customers and the near-duopoly that would exist in the aftermath of the sale. In a new interview with USA Today, the Death Star’s CEO attempted to assuage worries on both fronts. [More]
Sprint: AT&T/T-Mobile Deal Will Harm Consumers & Competition
By 3.28.11
Last week, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse voiced concern about the pending sale of T-Mobile to AT&T for $39 billion. Today, the company issued its official statement on the matter, saying it’s not just concerned about its own bottom line, but about you, the consumer. [More]
Sprint CEO "Concerned" By AT&T/T-Mobile Deal
By 3.22.11
After learning that his company could potentially go from a distant third place to a very distant last place overnight by the pending sale of T-Mobile to AT&T, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse is letting the world knows he isn’t exactly thrilled. [More]
Sprint & T-Mobile Trying To Decide If They Should Go Steady
By 3.9.11
As AT&T and Verizon Wireless duke it out, their weaker rivals, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA, are reportedly flirting with the idea of combining businesses in an effort to compete better. [More]
HTC: Phone Repair By Sprint Store Voided Warranty
By 2.18.11
If Sprint is the exclusive seller of the HTC Evo, and Sprint stores will also repair your Evo when you have a problem with it, isn’t it logical that having Sprint repair your smartphone won’t void the warranty? Not so fast, smart guy or gal! Rodney writes that he and his wife actually left Sprint because a local Sprint store charged for a repair that actually voided the warranty. That repair? The phone’s 4th in seven months. Update, 2/23/11: HTC is issuing Rodney a refund. [More]
Sprint Also Making Upgrade Program Suck More
By 2.2.11
Not wanting to be left out of the party, Sprint became the latest carrier to announce it’s going to make it more expensive for customers to upgrade. [More]
AT&T To Change Text Message Packages And Chuck Some Upgrade Discounts
By 1.20.11
Is it cellphone plan adverse tweak season? Now AT&T is changing up its text message plans and doubling the per message rate for going over them, and getting rid of some upgrade discounts, reports Engadget, going off a leaked internal document. [More]
Sprint Raising Data Rates By $10 Per Month For New Activations
By 1.18.11
Starting January 30, Sprint is raising data rates by $10 a month for new phone activations. The rate increase will not apply to existing customer unless they upgrade or activate another smartphone. [More]
Cellphone Stops Bullet, Saves Man's Life
By 1.10.11
A valet in Atlanta was leaving the club he works at when he got caught in a crossfire between two armed patrons. A stray bullet went through his jacket and would have seriously injured or killed him, had he not happened to have his HTC Droid Incredible Evo 4G in his breast pocket. The phone’s battery stopped the bullet, saving his life. The only questions is whether Asurion covers “hail of hot lead” damage. [More]
How Many Non-Working Smartphones Before You Just Give Up?
By 1.6.11
How many defective smartphones does it take in order for a customer to surrender in frustration and just pay an early termination fee? Craig is on his fourth HTC Evo from Sprint since mid-December. He would like a working phone. Sprint, it seems, would like him to go away. [More]
Consumer Reports Says AT&T Is "Worst-Rated"
By 12.6.10
It won’t come as a surprise to its users who have had to deal with dropped calls and poor customer service, but AT&T ranked dead last in a new Consumer Reports survey of wireless carriers. [More]
VIDEO: Sprint Store Laptop Filters Out Anti-Sprint Consumerist Content
By 9.27.10
Consumerist reader Brian got bored while he was waiting for his friend to finish up a transaction at their local Sprint store. So he decided to kill time by trying out the in-store public laptop. That’s when he discovered something of interest. [More]
Got Until 9/27 To Cancel Sprint Without Fee
By 9.23.10
You have until September 27th to cancel your Sprint contract without early termination fee. Sprint recently made it so employer discounts don’t apply beyond the first two lines on the account. Because this is a material change in the service contract, you can cancel the contract without penalty. [More]
