America $5 option covers all phones?

I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on a
F&F plan, correct? When I added it, the agent said it worked that way, in
the store they said it was that way, but my billing is wrong month after
month.

If someone can give me the soothing high-five that it's really true...

Thanks.
ojo

---

› See More: America $5 option covers all phones?

It is supposed to work that way.

It took me about 4 months to get a bill that reflected exactly what I
had ordered, though.

But now, that is the way that it appears on my bill. $5 for all of the
lines inclusive.

If you just added it, and get a correct bill next month (or the month
after), run, don't walk, but RUN to the nearest liquor store and buy a
lottery ticket. It is your lucky day.

So while yes it is true, there is a fairly good chance that you will
have to call after the first few billing cycles and fight like an
Irishman after 9 beers to get it reflected correctly.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> It is supposed to work that way.
>
> It took me about 4 months to get a bill that reflected exactly what I
> had ordered, though.
>
> But now, that is the way that it appears on my bill. $5 for all of the
> lines inclusive.
>

Yeah, it sounds like another genius at Sprint added the single-line
version of the "America" option to a Multi-line plan. Thus, same price,
but only the primary phone covered.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

On Sat, 05 Nov 2005 17:04:07 -0800, FWIW wrote:

> It is supposed to work that way.
>
> It took me about 4 months to get a bill that reflected exactly what I had
> ordered, though.
>
> But now, that is the way that it appears on my bill. $5 for all of the
> lines inclusive.
>
> If you just added it, and get a correct bill next month (or the month
> after), run, don't walk, but RUN to the nearest liquor store and buy a
> lottery ticket. It is your lucky day.
>
> So while yes it is true, there is a fairly good chance that you will have
> to call after the first few billing cycles and fight like an Irishman
> after 9 beers to get it reflected correctly.


LOL, I'll do exactly what you say! I'm on bill #3, so maybe the next one
is the charm. I'll put my little LG325 to sleep on a bed of 4-leaf
clovers tonight and a rabbit's foot on top of it while crossing my fingers
and blowing incense around the room.

We should have a contest as to how long you can keep Claire talking before
she gives up or transfers to a rep.

Thanks for the humor, and thanks also to O/Siris for the probable single
vs. multi-line reason for this.

ojo

On Sun, 06 Nov 2005 06:38:28 GMT, ojo-malformed wrote:
>On Sat, 05 Nov 2005 17:04:07 -0800, FWIW wrote:
[...]
>Thanks for the humor, and thanks also to O/Siris for the probable single
>vs. multi-line reason for this.

Now there's something you don't see every day...Rob and FWIW working
together to help someone.

Joe Huber
[email protected]

"ojo-malformed" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
>I just want to confirm that one $5 America charge covers all phones on a
> F&F plan, correct? When I added it, the agent said it worked that way, in
> the store they said it was that way, but my billing is wrong month after
> month.
>
> If someone can give me the soothing high-five that it's really true...
>
> Thanks.
> ojo

It is $5 for the account. All you need to do is to call SPCS, tell them you
are getting charged on a per phone basis, and have them check the coding on
your account.

Bob

>Man, you are such a pessimist. They have always billed it correctly for
>me, even when I added my third phone. Same goes for my Brother's
>account. Sounds to me like you feel the need to bash Sprint at every
>opportunity. Your privilege I guess.


That's the way it happened for me. What the **** do you want me to do?
Lie and say "They got it right the first time!"

Because they didn't get it right the first time.

Apparently to you, reporting this fact is "pessimism".

By your logic, your factual account of your positive experience makes
you a "Pollyanna Optimist that kisses Sprint's hairy beanbag at every
opportunity".

I guess it is your "priviledge" to do that.

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:10:14 -0800, FWIW wrote:

>>Man, you are such a pessimist. They have always billed it correctly for
>>me, even when I added my third phone. Same goes for my Brother's
>>account. Sounds to me like you feel the need to bash Sprint at every
>>opportunity. Your privilege I guess.
>
>
> That's the way it happened for me. What the **** do you want me to do?
> Lie and say "They got it right the first time!"
>
> Because they didn't get it right the first time.
>
> Apparently to you, reporting this fact is "pessimism".
>
> By your logic, your factual account of your positive experience makes you
> a "Pollyanna Optimist that kisses Sprint's hairy beanbag at every
> opportunity".
>
> I guess it is your "priviledge" to do that.


Just for the record, my billing problems on the America option are not the
only ones I have, and I appreciate that others have provided input on
probable causes as well as what to say when I call C/S. When I call C/S
on the phone, they mainly want to sell me some add-ons "free" for 30 days
or so. I'd consider taking one if I could get just one correct bill to use
as a baseline. I've had not one single correct bill since April when I
went on F&FF with Vision. Previous to that I had 3 years of correct
billing, mainly (I guess) because Radio Shack set up my single line and I
changed nothing from then until April of this year.

It has become a one big game with me each month, calling Sprint and
stepping through each error in my bill: America billed times 2 (yes!
$10), roaming, long distance while roaming, text messages billed though I
have them included. When I finally get that one correct "baseline" to go
by, I'll buy FWIW a nice bottle of tequila! I'm hoping that Bob and
O/Siris will join in for some shots. If they prefer pot I'll try to get
it.

If you got a correct bill the first time, it's because your marble dropped
into the correct slot on the roulette billing wheel. Don't spin that
wheel ever again, and your bill will stay correct! ;-)

I, for one, am not bashing Sprint. I have enjoyed their service(s) for
years, starting with their Candice Bergen 10cents/minute long distance
years ago, then Sprint Internet Passport, then their cellular. I do
however realize that their customer service can slum with the best of
them. It's best to be humorous about it.

ojo

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> If you got a correct bill the first time, it's because your marble dropped
> into the correct slot on the roulette billing wheel. Don't spin that
> wheel ever again, and your bill will stay correct! ;-)
>
> I, for one, am not bashing Sprint.
>

This is, unfortunately, far too common. I don't think it comes anywhere
CLOSE to be being a lot compared to the entirety of the Sprint customer
base. But it's still enough instances that something is very, very
wrong with how Sprint carries out its self-proclaimed "one and done"
call policy.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

It's hard to gauge the scope of a problem based on Usenet posts.

How many people use Usenet now? Maybe .01% of Internet users (and that
is generous).

Usenet unfortunately is fast become a dinosaur to specialized message
boards. Every single phone and service provider now has at least 5
Yahoo (or other) message bord dedicated exclusively to it.

The couple of survey's I have seen have sprint come in with 40%+
unfavorable CSR expereinces. That is ALOT any way you look at it.

Now, of course we can defray that criticism with "but the whole
industry suffers from poor CSR perceptions" ... but really, is that any
excuse?

Craigslist gets ranked near number one, and they have to deal with tons
of people for very litle money.

Calling Sprint CS, and then calling Verizon CS is such a completely
different experience, that they would be very hard to compare.

Yes, I have had some clueless dolts on Verizon, but I have always had
the problem solved in 2 or 3 calls. It takes less time to get someone
who knows their ass from their elbow. I finally got my last Sprint
issue resolved after 16 (SIXTEEN) calls.

And anecdotally, I am not anywhere NEAR alone in this. Like I said,
most people simply do not use Usenet. You usually have 10 people who
do 90% of the posting on any particular group, and they are usually
devided into "pumpers" or "bashers".

The Sprint network is great. The pricing is great, second to none..
The Phones are great, second to none. The people that you actually
have to deal with are the worst of any company I have EVER had to deal
with ... and this includes the DMV, which isn't even a company.

Frankly, the first three are enough for me to have to deal with the
last.

But if other carriers drop their prices, get real data plans, and start
showing better phones, then Sprint better come up with a viable
Customer Service Solution. They better start getting everybody's bill
correct the first time. And fast.

The first three points are carrying them, but I think they could do
much better. The share price has been unimpressive (to say the least)
so far, and Sprint *should* be the market leader with their pricing,
data, and phones.

After taking 16 calls to SIGN UP FOR A NEW ACCOUNT .... I can see why
the average consumer would simply dial the number of a competeing
carrier.

Verizon was happier than a pig in **** to get my business, on the FIRST
call.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> The Sprint network is great. The pricing is great, second to none..
> The Phones are great, second to none. The people that you actually
> have to deal with are the worst of any company I have EVER had to deal
> with ... and this includes the DMV, which isn't even a company.
>
> Frankly, the first three are enough for me to have to deal with the
> last.
>
> But if other carriers drop their prices, get real data plans, and start
> showing better phones, then Sprint better come up with a viable
> Customer Service Solution. They better start getting everybody's bill
> correct the first time. And fast.
>
> The first three points are carrying them, but I think they could do
> much better. The share price has been unimpressive (to say the least)
> so far, and Sprint *should* be the market leader with their pricing,
> data, and phones.
>

I've pointed out before that I do NOT think Sprint's Customer Service
structure is fine. And you make the same points that have been made by
many a customer, and not just here. I've had customers tell me this to
my face (in a manner of speaking, since I was a call center rep). That
was going on 2 years ago. There seemed to be a small period of
improvement, and now it seems to be sinking back, and then some.

At its core, Sprint STILL doesn't understand what Customer Service
really is. It measures it by the flow of dollars, or uptake of
additional services. In short, by SALES measures. Not by the actual
satisfaction of the customer. Not at the top levels, anyway. I've been
to the corporate site many a time, and I've YET to see a company officer
put in charge of customer service that is an actual expert in customer
service.

There are, I believe, three years left in the deal with IBM. IBM
promised that, at the end of 5 years, Sprint would be the industry
leader in Customer Service. I'd like to think all of this is simply a
prelude by IBM to taking some kind of serious, attitude-adjusting
initiative to fix the problem.

I really would like to do that.

But, so far, we can't even hear the right LANGUAGE from Sprint
leadership on the issue. So how likely are they to buy into such an
initiative even if it proves to be so?

I refuse to give up, but I must admit that, Nextel merger or not, I see
a fat lady warming up backstage. It's not too late to call her off.
But I also don't see anyone at Sprint equipped to accomplish that.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

I don't know your exact position with Sprint, or how high up the food
chain you go ... but is there any way you can tell them what you told
us, and possibly make them understand it?

Seriously, if you threw decent Customer Service into the equation of
quality phones, superior pricing plans, and superior voice/data network
that Sprint already has, you would have a no-brainer behemoth that
would mroe than make in in volume the amount it would cost them to hire
real customer service people.

I don't like recommending Verizon to my companies when they charge $50
per-month-per PDA for data access. But if someone tries to call, and
they get some Indian person they cannot understand, or they get some
incompetent twit on the other line, it makes me look bad as much as it
makes Sprint look bad. So too often I have to receommend the inferior,
higher priced network, simply because the professionalsm my people
expect is more likely to happen at that network.

I have lined with every major carrier in the U.S., but I the phone I
always carry is my Sprint phone. Best phone, best data throughput,
best price.

But that is because I figured out how to work around the company's
glaring holes. I know to sit down with a 6 pack and two free hours
before I dare venture to change anything on the plan. I know I will
have to iron any change out for months afterward. And I make very
little changes for this reason.

But I cannot expect everyone else to do this.

If someone, anyone, could convince Sprint corporate to put some people
on the phones that understand the phones & plans, speak the language
well, and genuinely care (or at least act like they do) - I think the
reward would be FAR greater than the cost to implement such a solution.

I hope it happens. I really do.

O/Siris wrote:

>>The first three points are carrying them, but I think they could do
>>much better. The share price has been unimpressive (to say the least)
>>so far, and Sprint *should* be the market leader with their pricing,
>>data, and phones.
>
> I've pointed out before that I do NOT think Sprint's Customer Service
> structure is fine. And you make the same points that have been made by
> many a customer, and not just here. I've had customers tell me this to
> my face (in a manner of speaking, since I was a call center rep). That
> was going on 2 years ago. There seemed to be a small period of
> improvement, and now it seems to be sinking back, and then some.

This exactly mirrors my customer service with Sprint. I only carried a
Sprint phone for a year, but my wife carried a Sprint phone for about four.
CS sucked, then they got much better, then they tanked again.

> There are, I believe, three years left in the deal with IBM. IBM
> promised that, at the end of 5 years, Sprint would be the industry
> leader in Customer Service. I'd like to think all of this is simply a
> prelude by IBM to taking some kind of serious, attitude-adjusting
> initiative to fix the problem.

I'd hope that Sprint kicks IBM to the curb at the end of the contract, or
(if possible) even before that.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: [email protected] Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

FWIW wrote:
> I don't know your exact position with Sprint, or how high up the food
> chain you go ... but is there any way you can tell them what you told
> us, and possibly make them understand it?

No. He can't. He got laid off during a call center closure.

He used to be a Vision tech support rep.

> I don't like recommending Verizon to my companies when they charge $50
> per-month-per PDA for data access. But if someone tries to call, and
> they get some Indian person they cannot understand, or they get some
> incompetent twit on the other line, it makes me look bad as much as it
> makes Sprint look bad.

So recommend T-Mobile. T-Mobile seems to use only English-speaking CSRs and
they're inexpensive. In fact, their voice plans are priced lower than
Sprint's, although Sprint's data add-ons are cheaper.

> If someone, anyone, could convince Sprint corporate to put some people
> on the phones that understand the phones & plans, speak the language
> well, and genuinely care (or at least act like they do) - I think the
> reward would be FAR greater than the cost to implement such a solution.
>
> I hope it happens. I really do.

Me too. I feel exactly the same: Sprint's network kicks ass (yes, there are
some places where it sucks, same's true for every carrier). Sprint's phone
selection is great. I think Sprint and Cingular lead the US cellular
industry in terms of offering innovative phones. Sprint's customer service
is worse than horrible.

I switched to T-Mo. You may occasionally experience long hold times, but
when you get online with a rep, they are *awesome.*

I used to consider Verizon's CS the best in the business. They're still
good, but T-Mo is better.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: [email protected] Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> So recommend T-Mobile. T-Mobile seems to use only English-speaking CSRs and
> they're inexpensive. In fact, their voice plans are priced lower than
> Sprint's, although Sprint's data add-ons are cheaper.

Both of my two kids have T-Mobile, and I know it works well for them.
However, I wouldn't make a blanket statement with regard to voice plan
prices, when you factor in that Sprint has retention plans while T-Mobile
(apparently) doesn't. For example, T-Mobile wants $39.99 for 600 anytime
(with unlimited n/w) minutes, while for the same price I get 750 from Sprint,
with unlimited n/w starting at 8pm.

--
John Richards