February 7, 2012

Sprint: The Screw-You Now Network

A couple months ago I was having trouble with my phone...actually I had been having issues with the possessed piece of crap pretty much since the moment I bought it. You may remember me venting about it but if not, basically, I was eligible for an upgrade but then Sprint changed their policies and took the upgrade away and between Joshua and I we had nothing but TERRIBLE customer service.


The ONLY reason I stayed with Sprint was because our plan just worked so great for us and really switching companies and dealing with new phone numbers and early cancellation fees for three different lines (two phones and an internet card) that all had different contract time lines seemed like an even bigger (and very expensive) pain in the butt.


And then today...while taking a nap I got a text from Sprint directing me to their website because there was an announced coverage change. I ignored it and went back to sleep because what company lowers their coverage area? That's not what they do...they expand their networks. Right? Wrong.


Sprint, I have since learned, has sold many of their towers in Oklahoma and some in Kansas to Verizon. The map is unbelievable and if you live in Oklahoma or Kansas and have Sprint, you need to be aware of the new coverage maps that will take effect March 1st. As a result we LIVE in what is about to be a roaming area. This is a problem for a couple of reasons.


A-we get our internet from Sprint and the roaming data usage max is dramatically less than 3G usage
B-we already spend WAY too much money every month with Sprint and so any overage charges would honestly be insulting
C-READ THE FINE PRINT...under the terms and conditions with Sprint, although you may think, as I mistakenly did that you aren't charged for roaming, you are...well, you are if you reach your max...meaning there's a limited amount of roaming minutes and a limited amount of roaming data allowed per phone line-obviously living in a roaming area with a deployed husband, reaching that max is going to happen all. the. time so just dropping the internet card is not an option


So in the last hour and a half I've gone from napping to contacting Sprint to cancel all three of the lines on our contract. All were canceled without an early termination fee...you bet I talked my way up the ladder to get out of that because at this stage in each of the contracts (mine was JUST renewed!) it would have cost us $790! We still have service (month-to-month I guess is what it would be called) on all three lines until we find a new provider and can "port" our phone numbers over.


Now the big question is who do we sign up with? Verizon since they're taking over the towers? T-mobile-we've had a ton of friends recommend them but what's their coverage like? And how do I sign us up?-I'm a stay at home mom...meaning no income to my name. I do have a power of attorney for my husband but I would SO much rather wait for him to come home and deal with it. Of course we're going to have to buy new phones and otterboxes. There's going to be activation fees and blah blah blah. Yeah. I'm over it. So wish I was still napping.


PS>Joshua doesn't know any of it yet! Deployment makes life so weird.



1 comments:

Jennifer said...

If Verizon has taken over the towers, I'd be inclined to go with Verizon. We have AT&T and I understand T-Mobile is being taken over by one of the big three companies at some point. I thought it was AT&T but now I'm not positive.

I know you can set up cell phone service in person at a store or online via the company's website. As a new customer you should be eligible for new phones, so you may want to go in person to make sure everything is handled properly. Make sure to get the military discount going.

Good luck!!! What a mess to deal with!