I'll make this as short as possible, without leaving out relevant information:
On Saturday August 18th I checked my cell phone voicemail (for the 3rd time that day) only to discover that there were over a dozen "new" messages. Some of these messages were as old as Wednesday the 15th.
This was not the first time that I have received certain voice mails that were somehow "delayed" while others had come through in a timely manner, but because of the unbelievable length of the delay for some of them; it became the straw that broke the camel's back for me. (Please don't assume at this point that I am inquiring as to whether I can sue my carrier for this as that is not the case.. bear with me for a little more background).
Quick note before I continue:
My cell phone is the ONLY link between me and my customers. I have a one man computer service company that does only on-site service. While two local phone books are my only advertising, business has been brisk since I started advertising a year ago, with over 200 happy customers to date.
On Monday August 20th I called the Sprint customer service department to inquire as to why I receive some voicemails virtually days after they are left, while others arrive in a "normal" time frame.
This conversation did not go "well". When the CSR finally (I say finally here because her ability to comprehend what I was saying was compromised by the fact that English was not her native language), understood the issue - she first suggested that perhaps the problem was with my phone (impossible), and subsequently that she had never heard of this sort of thing before (highly doubtful that my experience is one in a million). At no time during this lengthy conversation did I use threatening, intimidating, or vulgar language. I will confess to a short period when my voice was a few decibels higher than normal, and I did not attempt to hide my skepticism regarding the possibility that her answers were appropriate. Most especially aggravating to me was her comment that she had never heard of this type of problem. It was then that I told her that both my daughter (different number, different billing, different name) and one of my customers who subscribed to Sprint had ALL had similar experiences, and that I therefore found it very, very, very difficult to accept that she had NEVER heard of the problem before now. (I now know that these comments on my part would be the apparent motivation behind her intentional unauthorized request to Sprint to have my number changed).
After a lengthy hold time (more than 15mins as I recall) during the final part of our conversation, she informed me that she had "reported" the trouble and that I should wait 72hrs and call them back. Call THEM back. I asked for a case or ticket number of some kind and was told that there was none. Tired of being on hold and getting nowhere I reluctantly agreed to do so.
Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a nightmare that I am still living....
At around 3:10 PM that same afternoon, I attempted to place a local call to one of my customers. I could not. At first I got a message from Sprint regarding "roaming", which I thought very odd - since I was in an area that had been "local" to me ever since I switched to Sprint over a year ago. So I tried again. Same message. I then turned my phone off and back on and watched while it went through its normal "Searching for Sprint network" which it found immediately, all 5 bars worth. Once again I tried to make a local call, and once again I got the "roaming" message.
So I pressed *2 for customer service, which worked fine, and I was connected to a different CSR. I explained that I had contacted customer service about an hour earlier, regarding delayed voice mails, and that since then my phone seems to be in perpetual roam. After a few minutes of perusing my record, he asked me if I had requested a change of phone number. I almost freaked. Good God NO I told him, that number is my business number - I have 2 expensive yellow page ads with that number. I have over 200 customers that know that number. My business cards show that number. My web site has that number. CHANGING that number would be the LAST THING I WOULD WANT TO DO.
He then told me that - for him to do what he needed to do to fix the problem - I would need to wait for a couple of hours and call back on a different phone. This CSR seemed knowledgeable and had the additional reassuring quality of having English as his first language, so I agreed to wait and call back.
At around 6PM I drove to the Sprint store where I had originally purchased both my contract and phone. After explaining the situation to the associate, I waited while he contacted Sprint customer service on my behalf. At one point in his conversation with them, he looked up and asked me if I had requested a number change.
Now I was beginning to worry. I told him, as I had explained to the last CSR I had spoken to, that this was the LAST thing that I would want. It would be a business disaster for me. In the end he told me to wait about 6 hours and then call Customer Service to have them re-assign my number to my phone. By this time it was 7PM local time, so I simply waited till the next day for that call.
Oh yes, almost forgot. Shortly before I left the store, the associate there – who by now completely understood the event sequence and knew that I would absolutely NOT wish a number change – looked at me and said: "The only way that I can think that this could happen, is that she did it INTENTIONALLY." I told him that I agreed.
That was Monday August 20th. On Thursday August 30th – after contacting Sprint customer service virtually every day regarding this issue - and having each of them tell me to wait from various lengths of time that ranged from 1 hour to 72 hours while they "retrieved" my number for me - I managed to contact a CSR at the Sprint Corporate office. After informing me that she would NOT give me permission to record our conversation – a choice that WE are NOT given when THEY wish to record US – I explained once again and in detail what had taken place on and since August 20th. She seemed concerned and actually read all of whatever notes each of the CSR's had entered into my case.
I told her that what I needed to happen now was simply to get my number back. I told her that once that was done I would be back in contact with them regarding the fact that one of their employees had willfully and intentionally requested a change of number for me because she did not like being questioned about the accuracy of her responses regarding my seriously delayed voicemails.
This person at Sprint Corporate headquarters seemed to have the situation finally under control. She was able to determine that my number had been "ported" or "returned" to T-Mobile ( I took the T-Mobile number with me when I switched to Sprint over a year ago) and that she was "retrieving" it for me ( which I had been told by each CSR on several occasions over the past 10 days).
She said that I would be up and running in 2 hours. She also apologized and gave me credit for August's payment and a 15% discount for all future service. Mentally I was saying to myself "Big deal. By now my business and my professional reputation have been substantially damaged. This, my dear, is far from over."
On Friday August 31st, nothing had changed. My service was still out. I attempted to call Sprint Corporate headquarters again, but failed to get through to a CSR.
Today is Tuesday, September 4th and I am still without service. I have now been 15 days without the ability of my customers, both old and new, to reach me. When anyone calls my number it is as though I have gone out of business. Of course, once my service is restored, I will have the option to call all 200 of my customers (since I have NO way of knowing which of them have attempted to contact me) to let them know that I am still alive and in business. There will be, perhaps, 10 to 15% of them (those that had attempted to contact me) that will be relieved. Then there will be the other 85 to 90% of them (the ones that didn't attempt to call) that will be scratching their heads as they question my professional ability to run a business.
Or, I could not call any of them, and simply accept the loss and the loss of all referrals from the 10 to 15% that attempted to contact me and now quite naturally believe that I have gone out of business. Referrals which, I may add had been increasing on a daily basis from satisfied customers.
Here then is the bottom line: My small business has been substantially damaged by a single Sprint employee who thought that she would teach me a lesson for not unquestioningly accepting her responses to my questions.
I believe that Sprint should accept its responsibility in this matter and compensate me for my losses. A fair amount would be nothing more than a pittance from them, but it would help me considerably – mostly from knowing that justice had been done.
If you are reading this and you are an attorney, do you think that I have grounds for a lawsuit?
If you're not an attorney, thanks for hanging in there anyway – and of course I'll be happy to hear your comments….
On Saturday August 18th I checked my cell phone voicemail (for the 3rd time that day) only to discover that there were over a dozen "new" messages. Some of these messages were as old as Wednesday the 15th.
This was not the first time that I have received certain voice mails that were somehow "delayed" while others had come through in a timely manner, but because of the unbelievable length of the delay for some of them; it became the straw that broke the camel's back for me. (Please don't assume at this point that I am inquiring as to whether I can sue my carrier for this as that is not the case.. bear with me for a little more background).
Quick note before I continue:
My cell phone is the ONLY link between me and my customers. I have a one man computer service company that does only on-site service. While two local phone books are my only advertising, business has been brisk since I started advertising a year ago, with over 200 happy customers to date.
On Monday August 20th I called the Sprint customer service department to inquire as to why I receive some voicemails virtually days after they are left, while others arrive in a "normal" time frame.
This conversation did not go "well". When the CSR finally (I say finally here because her ability to comprehend what I was saying was compromised by the fact that English was not her native language), understood the issue - she first suggested that perhaps the problem was with my phone (impossible), and subsequently that she had never heard of this sort of thing before (highly doubtful that my experience is one in a million). At no time during this lengthy conversation did I use threatening, intimidating, or vulgar language. I will confess to a short period when my voice was a few decibels higher than normal, and I did not attempt to hide my skepticism regarding the possibility that her answers were appropriate. Most especially aggravating to me was her comment that she had never heard of this type of problem. It was then that I told her that both my daughter (different number, different billing, different name) and one of my customers who subscribed to Sprint had ALL had similar experiences, and that I therefore found it very, very, very difficult to accept that she had NEVER heard of the problem before now. (I now know that these comments on my part would be the apparent motivation behind her intentional unauthorized request to Sprint to have my number changed).
After a lengthy hold time (more than 15mins as I recall) during the final part of our conversation, she informed me that she had "reported" the trouble and that I should wait 72hrs and call them back. Call THEM back. I asked for a case or ticket number of some kind and was told that there was none. Tired of being on hold and getting nowhere I reluctantly agreed to do so.
Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a nightmare that I am still living....
At around 3:10 PM that same afternoon, I attempted to place a local call to one of my customers. I could not. At first I got a message from Sprint regarding "roaming", which I thought very odd - since I was in an area that had been "local" to me ever since I switched to Sprint over a year ago. So I tried again. Same message. I then turned my phone off and back on and watched while it went through its normal "Searching for Sprint network" which it found immediately, all 5 bars worth. Once again I tried to make a local call, and once again I got the "roaming" message.
So I pressed *2 for customer service, which worked fine, and I was connected to a different CSR. I explained that I had contacted customer service about an hour earlier, regarding delayed voice mails, and that since then my phone seems to be in perpetual roam. After a few minutes of perusing my record, he asked me if I had requested a change of phone number. I almost freaked. Good God NO I told him, that number is my business number - I have 2 expensive yellow page ads with that number. I have over 200 customers that know that number. My business cards show that number. My web site has that number. CHANGING that number would be the LAST THING I WOULD WANT TO DO.
He then told me that - for him to do what he needed to do to fix the problem - I would need to wait for a couple of hours and call back on a different phone. This CSR seemed knowledgeable and had the additional reassuring quality of having English as his first language, so I agreed to wait and call back.
At around 6PM I drove to the Sprint store where I had originally purchased both my contract and phone. After explaining the situation to the associate, I waited while he contacted Sprint customer service on my behalf. At one point in his conversation with them, he looked up and asked me if I had requested a number change.
Now I was beginning to worry. I told him, as I had explained to the last CSR I had spoken to, that this was the LAST thing that I would want. It would be a business disaster for me. In the end he told me to wait about 6 hours and then call Customer Service to have them re-assign my number to my phone. By this time it was 7PM local time, so I simply waited till the next day for that call.
Oh yes, almost forgot. Shortly before I left the store, the associate there – who by now completely understood the event sequence and knew that I would absolutely NOT wish a number change – looked at me and said: "The only way that I can think that this could happen, is that she did it INTENTIONALLY." I told him that I agreed.
That was Monday August 20th. On Thursday August 30th – after contacting Sprint customer service virtually every day regarding this issue - and having each of them tell me to wait from various lengths of time that ranged from 1 hour to 72 hours while they "retrieved" my number for me - I managed to contact a CSR at the Sprint Corporate office. After informing me that she would NOT give me permission to record our conversation – a choice that WE are NOT given when THEY wish to record US – I explained once again and in detail what had taken place on and since August 20th. She seemed concerned and actually read all of whatever notes each of the CSR's had entered into my case.
I told her that what I needed to happen now was simply to get my number back. I told her that once that was done I would be back in contact with them regarding the fact that one of their employees had willfully and intentionally requested a change of number for me because she did not like being questioned about the accuracy of her responses regarding my seriously delayed voicemails.
This person at Sprint Corporate headquarters seemed to have the situation finally under control. She was able to determine that my number had been "ported" or "returned" to T-Mobile ( I took the T-Mobile number with me when I switched to Sprint over a year ago) and that she was "retrieving" it for me ( which I had been told by each CSR on several occasions over the past 10 days).
She said that I would be up and running in 2 hours. She also apologized and gave me credit for August's payment and a 15% discount for all future service. Mentally I was saying to myself "Big deal. By now my business and my professional reputation have been substantially damaged. This, my dear, is far from over."
On Friday August 31st, nothing had changed. My service was still out. I attempted to call Sprint Corporate headquarters again, but failed to get through to a CSR.
Today is Tuesday, September 4th and I am still without service. I have now been 15 days without the ability of my customers, both old and new, to reach me. When anyone calls my number it is as though I have gone out of business. Of course, once my service is restored, I will have the option to call all 200 of my customers (since I have NO way of knowing which of them have attempted to contact me) to let them know that I am still alive and in business. There will be, perhaps, 10 to 15% of them (those that had attempted to contact me) that will be relieved. Then there will be the other 85 to 90% of them (the ones that didn't attempt to call) that will be scratching their heads as they question my professional ability to run a business.
Or, I could not call any of them, and simply accept the loss and the loss of all referrals from the 10 to 15% that attempted to contact me and now quite naturally believe that I have gone out of business. Referrals which, I may add had been increasing on a daily basis from satisfied customers.
Here then is the bottom line: My small business has been substantially damaged by a single Sprint employee who thought that she would teach me a lesson for not unquestioningly accepting her responses to my questions.
I believe that Sprint should accept its responsibility in this matter and compensate me for my losses. A fair amount would be nothing more than a pittance from them, but it would help me considerably – mostly from knowing that justice had been done.
If you are reading this and you are an attorney, do you think that I have grounds for a lawsuit?
If you're not an attorney, thanks for hanging in there anyway – and of course I'll be happy to hear your comments….
