Last week I checked my Sprint Bill online and was SHOCKED to see that I owed them $180. What the hell?! So I called them and that bitch on the other line told me that it was my fault. What happened was that I had service restored in the middle of December ($140 dolllars, btw) and so they only gave me half of my minutes for the rest of that month. I made a bunch of calls at night that month under the assumption that I had 1000 night and weekend minutes, when in effect I only had about 300. So when the "customer service" representative told me that this wouldn't have happened if I had paid my bill, and that those were valid charges, I told her that this was bullshit, and we argued on the phone for about half an hour. She kept repeating that I should have paid my bill on time and that those were valid charges. I insisted that the charges were unfair because they didn't notify me that I had reduced minutes for that month. It just went round and round. As the conversation went on I realized that my face was red, veins were bulging out of my neck, and I was shouting into the phone. After she realized that I was not going to hang up, she told me that all they could do was give me a $50 dollar discount. I took the discount, hung up, and then called again to talk to someone else. The next representative said she would have a supervisor take a look at it.
I called today to inquire about the supervisor's decision , and once again they told me that $50 was all they could offer. So I told them that I wanted to cancel. After a pause, they transferred me over to someone else to cancel service. This person told me that she could only help me out if I didn't cancel. They offered another $50 dollar credit, and 50% off my bill. In return, I signed up for a discounted phone plan for $40 where I would get 1000 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekends starting at 8:00 p.m (They sell this plan on their website for $50). The only reason I did it was because this new plan didn't require any commitment so I can cancel on their ass after February. So, instead of owing Sprint $180 of bullshit charges at the end of January, I got it down to $40, which is what is about what it should have been in the first place but only after A LOT of bitching.
I've put this experience on my blog just to let y'all know -- Don't let corporations scam you with their dirty rules. I have heard the thunder, and I have had my blood sucked dry by those dirty leaches. Here are some tips that I've learned from experience.
1. Understand the person on the other line. The person on the phone, this so-called customer service representative, are encouraged to resolve issues on their own, but they have the least amount of authority. Corporate preference is to have someone being paid $10 bucks an hour repeat rules to your face over and over again until you give up. Dont' give up. And don't believe their stupid lies. I was told twice by Sprint that $50 was all they could take off my bill.
2. Talk to someone else. Their number one lie is that they can take this small amount off your bill, and that's all the company can do. Ask to speak to their supervisor.
3. Threaten to drop them for a competitor. Yea baby. That's the last thing they want, to have their greedy mouths yanked away from the gravy nipple.
