10/08/2002 Archived Entry: "A positive Sprint experience?!"

Thanks to Paul, of Sprint PCS's business office, my faith in the fundamental goodness of humankind has been restored.

Here's the skinny, summarized:

I cancelled my Sprint phone on 2.Aug.2002 and was given a final balance. I was told that I would receive a bill for the final amount and that I didn't have to pay until I received the bill (I like paper bills). Then, on 30.Aug.2002, Sprint's collections department called me and told me that I had to pay over the phone, with a credit card, RIGHT NOW, or they would begin to injure my credit rating. They said I had an outstanding balance which was about $17 less than the balance I'd been previously told. The collections lady assured me that she had the proper balance, not the cancellation guy, and that I wouldn't hear anything else from Sprint ever ever again if I paid her RIGHT NOW, so I dug out a credit card and gave her what she wanted.

Today, I receive a paper bill from Sprint, thanking me for my payment, but reminding me that I still owe $23, plus a phone payment processing charge of $5 incurred on 30.Aug.2002 for an over-the-phone credit card payment, for a total of $28.

ARGH! HULK SMASH!

I call Sprint, and I get "Renetta" on the phone. She pulls up my account and I explain my position to her, which is that I'd be happy to pay the original amount I was told to pay, but I do not feel that I should have to pay the $5 processing fee, and I do not feel that I should have to pay any additional money beyond the original fee. At least, that's what I tried to do, but she kept interrupting me and telling me that I'm wrong. She also told me, several times, that the cancellation department has no authority to tell me anything about money, everything I told her was suspect, and that she "seriously doubted" that the collections department ever called me in the first place. After about minutes, I asked her for her name and extension, then hung up and called back.

Let me digress a moment here and tell you about hanging up and calling back. If you feel you haven't gotten anywhere with a customer service rep with a nationwide company, always do this. Your original complaint can't be made any worse by talking to a different rep, and you might just get someone more willing to treat you like a human being.

So, upon calling back and cursing at Claire, the Sprint Virtual Assistant Whose Microchips I Wish To Destroy, I was eventually connected with Paul. Paul, thank God, was an actual person instead of a mindless Anger Droid. Paul pulled up my account and, in stark contrast to Renetta, was able to verify my story. "Yep," he would say, "I see where the cancellation agent wrote that amount in the notes." "Yep," he would say, "I see where collections called you and told you to pay a totally different amount." "Yep," he would say, "It sounds like you got screwed here."

He apologized. The man actually APOLOGIZED to me, instead of treating me like a criminal, and then he CREDITED MY OUTSTANDING BALANCE BACK TO ME AND ZEROED OUT THE ACCOUNT.

I almost wet my pants with shock.

He said that he was very sorry about the rudeness of the previous rep, as well as the inconsistency of the billing, and that he wanted to make sure I came away happy. I babbled incoherent praise at him for several seconds, saying things like "I would buy you beer if I could" and "You kick incredible amounts of ass." Then, I asked Paul to get his supervisor on the phone and said things to the supervisor like, "Paul is the god of customer service. I want to have his baby," and "No finer a human being has ever walked the face of the earth." I also made sure that Renetta was soundly denounced and stepped upon.

So, I feel pretty damn good right now. I had a $28 debt completely forgiven, and I get to introduce a friend to Neon Genesis Evangelion tonight.

Sometimes, things just work out.

[Previous entry: "ISS"] [Return to archive...] [Next entry: "Cryptic notes"]