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I finally got my new phone, the Audiovox PPC 6600 from Sprint, and I love it. It's exactly what I'd hoped it'd be, works great. Love the display, love the fact that I have a stereo headset with it, that I finally have an earbud that works, etc.
The only dark cloud to this was, quite honestly, Sprint, whose corporate policies and damned near outright incompetence with regard to inventory tracking had the on the razor's edge of losing my business. I'm not really sure I can ever recommend them in a professional capacity until they fix some of their quirks.
But I should say something right now. If there is any one thing that kept me with Sprint for another two years at least, it's the staff of the Sprint Store in the Zona Rosa shopping plaza in Kansas City MO., just off of Barry Road and I-29. They bent over backwards to help me out, pulled strings, did what it took to get me that phone in the way I wanted. They absolutely and totally rule, and if you live in KC, and want to check out Sprint, go there, even if you live near another store.
Yeah, they're that good.
Now, I'm not an easy person to please when it comes to electronics. I'm fussy, and don't like being handled. I can tell when I'm being handled. I also really, really dislike it when eight or so years of being a loyal customer gets me treated worse than a new customer.
Which brings me to the rebates. Sprint has a neat program, wherein you can upgrade your phone every 18 months and get $150 off the phone. However, this is a mail in rebate. But, if you're a new customer, you get that rebate instantly. Same amount, but a better delivery mechanism. I really detest that. At the very least, since it's the same amount of money, I should be able to get the same delivery. At least split it. Let me get $100 instantly, and $50 via rebate. But don't treat me like I'm a chump for not leaving every time my contract's up. I don't want to lose my number. It's the only cell number I've ever had. I'm attached to it.
(Yes, I know about portability, that comes into play a little later.)
However, I found out, back in oh october, that I qualified for a plan where I could get a phone with the $150.00 rebate instantly. Joy! However, at the time, they had no phones I wanted. Despair! Then the LG PM-325 came out. Joy! When I finally saw one, it sucked. Despair!
So I don't get that phone. This is December of 2004. The offer I'm on expires in March of 2005. Round and round, until finally, I get a chance to play with the PPC-6600. It rocked. I wanted it. They didn't have one. Furthermore, my offer had expired. However, the stores have some flexibility here, so they're going to honor it. Joy! Come back Tuesday, we'll have some
. Joy!
Tuesday comes, and I find out they don't have one. Even worse, they don't know when they'll get one in. But it gets better. It seems that Sprint has a fascinating method for their stores being able to tell when a phone is going to be in - house:
- UPS delivers stuff
- Is the phone a customer wants in the UPS delivery?
- If so, great! If not, well, maybe tomorrow.
Well, that sounds like they don't know at all, you're right. So I ask them if they can special order it, I'll pay for that.
Nope.
Is there any way they can check for when they'll get one?
Nope.
So the next day I call Sprint customer service on their corporate line. I find out that the store was right, it's company policy to leave them completely in the dark about availability, it's how their system is set up. I ask: What, your inventory management uses pneumatic tubes and telegrams? This is a well solved problem via remote access to databases and preset query capability
. Their answer was essentially, That's how everyone does it
. My response: You run your business off of erroneous lemming behavioral theory?
So the next day, I check in with Sprint. No dice. There's a Cingular store. They have the same phone, only with Wi-Fi too. (This isn't THAT important to me, but cool enough, albeit a drain on batteries.) Their plans are similar in features and price, and almost everyone I know uses Cingular. Even better, the store manager says I know I can find you one, I'll call you tomorrow
.
Wow...doesn't know who I am, I hadn't identified myself in any way other than wanting that phone. Now THIS is service. Screw you Sprint.
The next day, I get the call. I rush down there after work. I had plastic in hand, ready to buy when they tell me, Oh, we can't move your number because it's out of state, you have to go on the web for that
.
Huh? That makes no sense either. I get a variant of Sprint's answer. What the hell, it's the same system! Why aren't the stores allowed to do this when they have the people right there. This is as stupid as Gateway's “You can't buy a computer in the store, you can only order them here” idiocy. Oh well, buh-bye. At that point, why bother.
Two days later, I get the call from the Sprint store. They'll have them today. They pulled all kinds of strings to get them. When I got there, it was already set up to be activated.
So I'm still a Sprint customer, and the Zona Rosa guys are the reason.
But if Cingular had not had one part of its act all messed up, I'd be a Cingular customer now. It also made me really leary of ever recommending Sprint as a professional carrier. If they can't get little things right, what chance is there that they can get the big things right?
You shouldn't be retaining customers in spite of your best efforts to drive them away, and only because your competition has just as many bizarre policies as you do.
Posted by John C. Welch at 16:58 | Permalink
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