In response to how I got out of a two year contract in 1 year.

Mrs. Bong and I moved to our southern Iowa town and needed cell phones (our old jobs gave us cell phones to use). We compared prices with all the major carriers. The local Nextel distributor had a flyer offering an 18% discount if you worked in education. As Mrs. Bong and I both work in education, this worked great and the discount made Nextel cheaper than everyone else. We were assured that we would get coverage where we worked and a ton of minutes with the plan.

Naturally, as I moved further south from the major highway, I received no signal for my phone. At 4 schools I had no cell phone coverage at all. I made my first call to Nextel to voice my concern. I was told by their customer service rep (CSR) that lots of schools are “made of tin and stuff” and that disrupts the signal. I asked for the supervisor. The supe apologizes after checking her Nextel map and agreeing that those towns likely will not get a signal. They agreed to credit us $20.

After the first month, we get our bill, and find that we were not getting our %18 discount. We call the CSR. We were told they were sorry, and this would be fixed next month. We were asked to pay the bill as it was sent to us, and we would get a credit on our next bill. We did so.

Another month goes by; the bill comes with no discount. We call the CSR, they apologize and agree that they will have it fixed by the following month.

About a week later, we get a text message from Nextel, some crap promotion.

Next bill, no discount. I call in, they claim they will fix it again. At this point I start to document all conversations and ask for email confirmations. I also mention that I have a random charge for 5cents. They say it is for receiving a text message. I mention that the only text message I have ever received is from them. The agree to take the fee off my bill. Consider this, if they send out a mass text message and bill their own customers, that is a lot of coin they just cheated their customers out of. How many people missed that nickel on their bill. I am now sure that Sadam Hussien is the CEO.

Another month goes by, no discount. We call again. This time a very rude CSR tells us that they can’t give us the discount. Ask for the supervisor. She is less rude, calculates what we have overpaid and tells us to send in the payment for a much lower amount.

Next month, we get a bill stating we did not pay enough the last time. Call CSR who is very rude. Ask for supervisor, denied. Ask for another dept, we were told that they (a cell phone company) do not have phone numbers for other departments. I ask for a name, and they deny it, saying that company policy says they cannot give out names. I hang up, call back, and ask the new CSR the same question. She tells me that they can give out names. She says they will look into our bill and call us back.

2 weeks go by and no call, so we call Nextel back. They tell me that they do not offer an 18% discount. I offer to fax the Nextel flyer I have stating that there is such a discount. They tell us we do qualify for a 10% discount for working in education. I explain that this is not good enough. They tell me that they will submit my complaint to the “Strategic Department” for review.

1 week later I call Nextel. The very rude CSR gets a quick request from me for the supervisor. I give a lengthy description of my complaint. They agree to fix my bill again.

Next bill comes, we get a 10% discount. I call back. CSR tells me I should be appreciative for the discount I got. I ask for the supervisor. Supervisor tells me that they don’t offer the discount I said I think I should be receiving. She tells me to go back to the guy I bought the phone from. I go to his shop, only to find he has left to go to New Orleans. The new guys mention that they found the old flyers for the 18% discount and threw them away b/c there was no such thing. I swear and kick Mike Sherman in the knee.

I call Nextel and complain again. Again, a very rude CSR. She tells me if I work in education I should be able to pay for the bill. She mentions that my call log to Nextel is one of the largest ones she has ever seen. She agrees to send another message to “Strategic Department.”

Strategic Department call me, says they cannot give me the 18% discount. They do say they can give me a lower rate with a 10% discount. This I find funny because it is substantially lower that what the original contract would have been with the 18% discount. I feel as though we have closure now, in fact, I am feeling pretty cool because I have even lowered my bill more than I originally planned. They also agree to credit us for past bills. They send us confirmation via email. They also agree that this will be written on our Nextel call log in case we have any problems.

Next month, we get our bill, with the lower rate, and the 10% discount. On top of that is a major fee for switching plans as well as a note we are restarting our contract and are now re-committed for another 2 years. I call the CSR and told that it is standard procedure for switching plans. CSR is very rude, so I give up quickly. I call back. Next CSR is also very rude, says that we owe them and should pay our bills and not complain so much. Email the Strategic Dept. back. Mention that I find it odd that Nextel is billing me for there own error. Demand that my contract be scaled back to only one year starting from the date of purchase.

Strategic Dept calls back. Apologizes again and give us a $30 credit. Also takes the fee for switching plans off and agree to reduce contract to 1 year.

After one year passes (to the date) I call to cancel. I am told that there will be a major fee for breaking the contract and leaving early. I explain my situation. The CSR is polite and comments on how long my Nextel service log is. He mentions that he is impressed. He also mentions that he can’t fix it. I ask for the supervisor. She is very rude, tells me that I am breaking my contract by leaving early. I email the Strategic Dept.

The person I was communicating with at the strategic dept no longer works there (must have had a crisis of conscience). I call CSR and ask for them to send another message to the Strategic Dept.

I get a call from the Strategic Dept. They agree to allow us to leave them. They ask us to send our phones back to them for $50. We do so.

Next month we get a bill from Nextel. All it says is “Credit, $50.” We call in, mention that we left Nextel and the credit does not do us any good anymore. CSR tells us that if we ever come back that we can use the credit towards our first bill or new phones.

We email Nextel that we would just like our credit back. They agree to send us a check.

That is how I got out of a cell phone contract. I think the best thing for us was we documented who we talked to, what they said, when we called, etc. Getting them to verify stuff via email helped also. I also think that they expect that people will just fold. Persistence was on my side.

Nextel sucks.

I've never owned a cell phone, or considered buying one even for a second. That's how I got out of it.

(short)

Good info....glad you got out of it. Just think of all the time of your life you will never get back dealing with those morans.

My Nextel story is basically we got started with them at my work. I got a free bee to carry around. Life was good. After I changed jobs I of course lost the phone and we wanted the nationwide long distance......and annoying to some walkie talkie thing etc.

Got a shared time plan Christmas time two years ago.

We live only 8 miles from I-80 and less than 2 miles from Highway 61 two major roads in our area. Very often I would have no friggen service at our house. And when I did it would drop calls like Ben Steele catches a football.

I had to travel more for work and the nextel became not much more than a paperweight in the sticks of Iowa.....And good luck getting any service while out on the boat in the Mississippi.

At one point several months ago they sent me a letter something to the effect they were AUTOMATICALLY extending my contract and if I did not reply they would deem all was cool and just extend it. Good thing I didn't throw that piece of what I would have usually thought was junk mail away.

I cannot wait until January 6 screw Nextel and their crappy customer "service"

Gives you alot of confidence in a company when one of the first things they ask you for when you call in about something is a call back number in case the call gets dropped. If it wasn't so sad it would be hilarious.

I spent four dropped calls and about 20 minutes dealing with the wonderful "customer service" the other day. I have my cancellation notice from them in an email. (*&^ Nextel

Just on these two stories, I'll never patronize this outfit. Haven't they been sponsors of the college championship bowl game?

T-Mobile.
Pretty much the same story, except they made me pay the cancellation fee.
Super rude service department, considering they couldn't provide service in the area they promised and made me pay to leave them...and I live in Chicago.
T-mobile blows.

US Cingular-I haven't had a problem and have been with them for three years. I went over minutes one time and called, asked for them to drop the charges, and they did.

quote:

Originally posted by G:
Super rude service department,
[...]
...and I live in Chicago.

That might explain why they were rude.

quote:

Originally posted by Fedya:

quote:

Originally posted by G:
Super rude service department,
[...]
...and I live in Chicago.

That might explain why they were rude.

Midwest folks don't act like your corner of the USA.

I switched to US Cellular. Have not had a problem with them and I get much better coverage.

nextel sucks....I can't let it go

me either, we should meat

quote:

Originally posted by CitizenDan:
I've never owned a cell phone, or considered buying one even for a second. That's how I got out of it.

(short)

Smart man. My problem? My wife views cell phones as more important than bread and water so she has one for herself and also for the kids. BAH!

I have one for work, otherwise I would go cell free unless someone is willing to buy me the iphone.

quote:

Originally posted by El-Ka-Bong:
I switched to US Cellular. Have not had a problem with them and I get much better coverage.

Ditto on US Cellular. Great coverage and zero dropped calls.

My company provides us with Nextel phones. They suck. But thats what they give us.

I use Verizon - no problems. I use the free long distance weekend plan to call Wisconsin.

Only question I have is, what was Mike Sherman doing there?

quote:

me either, we should meat

EKB,

Are you sure you're in education?

Sprint is obviously related to Nextel so I'm not surprised.

Those idots allowed someone to access my account info not once but twice to mess with my credit. That was 5 years ago. Thankfully I got everything cleaned up and I haven't had any issues since, but they used to be able to let someone sign up for phone service without even asking for a photo ID.

When we moved back to WI I upgraded my wife's phone but what I didn't know is that they tacked on the 2yr agreement thing to her new phone when I cancelled my phone (I got a phone through work) even though she was midway through her existing 2 year agreement. I remember specifically the sales rep telling me not to worry about anything because "2 years is 2 years" and that meant to be I was simply living out the life of her original 2 year agreement because she was an existing customer.

Well, recently we decided we were going to switch to a different carrier and I come to find out that I'd get hit with a $150 cancellation fee because we were only midway through her 2yr agreement. Needless to say I was pissed and I headed down to talk to someone in person because I was tired of getting "disconnected" by their "service reps" over the phone.

I get to the local office and I immediately ask for a manager. For once I actually got a guy that seemed interested in what I had to say. Even better is that they had all of my information on their database including all of my problems and issues and poor service I had received. So I tell the guy that I have no long term intention of staying with Sprint but I said at this point in time they really owe me a favor for all the crap they've put me through over the last 7-8 years. I reference the fraud stuff, I reference the scam they pulled with the 2yr agreement thing, and then I simply say "you don't have to do anything for me, but I think waiving this $150 fee is the right thing to do."

After some deliberation the manager waived the fee, but again, that doesn't come close to all the hassle they put me through as a customer. I hope others have better luck.

quote:

Originally posted by C ME 2 P:

quote:

me either, we should meat

EKB,

Are you sure you're in education?

you didn't pay attention in class, did you?

So basically, they all suck.

I couldn't be happier with US Cellular

quote:

Originally posted by El-Ka-Bong:
I couldn't be happier with US Cellular

Yes, but they don't list service for the twin cities area on their site, which strikes me as completely bizarre. My mother has US Cellular and she is in Eastman a lot, so it works for her there just fine.

This is why I haven't gotten one before.