More things I don't have time for...

Why is it that when you have a "day off," you spend it with timesuckers (like various customer service agents just to fix one simple issue_?

My initial issue: My Sprint Treo 700p wouldn't charge without hanging the phone upside down or suspending the cord at just the right angle (aka "jimmying it").

The solution: Call Sprint. Not only have I paid monthly for that Sprint phone insurance for the last 10 years... the phone is within warranty.

What I did: Instead of calling the insurance as usual, I used the Sprint Self-service ONLINE replacement form (advertised as "save time").

What happened: The Treo 700p was out of stock, so a Palm Centro arrived. With no battery or charger.

What I did: Called Sprint to ask them if this was some sort of sick joke (nicely, of course).

What happened: A nice, clueless representative had no idea that this self-service option existed, and didn't know who sent me the phone. So she couldn't get them to get me a battery. She went away for some time, did some research and promised that she'd call me back after she ordered my new battery. She never called.

What came in the mail: Not one, not two, but THREE Sprint boxes!



What was inside said boxes: Yes, more phones WITHOUT batteries!


To make a long story short... after 7 hours of one-on-one quality time with various Sprint representatives, being transferred to literally every department within Sprint, coupled with many expressions of "I'm not sure how this happened," or "I don't know how to get you a battery," "I still can't figure out who sent you all these phones," or, "Of course ma'am, please hold..." followed by a click, hold music, and a new, unsuspecting person... I found two helpful people. Just two. Out of at least 25 people. Seriously.

The first conferenced me with accessory sales to purchase the battery and charger and immediately credited my account for it. HOWEVER, the order that arrived included:

TWO chargers, and ZERO batteries!
(See earlier comment about sick joke)

In case I lost you, here's the tally at this point: Nine days later... FOUR replacement phones, TWO chargers, ONE cover to fit the extended battery... wait... what battery? That's right: STILL, no battery.

More hours of wasted time later, after being deliberately hung up on by a very friendly associate, after having my pleads for a supervisor repeatedly ignored because EVERY associate thinks she or he can handle this (for some reason) complicated situation.... again, I find someone who has a brain inside his skull and figures out a way to send me the product I ordered. Thanks M.J.!

So today, for the first time since the order was first placed on July 22nd, I have a functional cell phone.

(For brevity, I left out that M.J. sent the new order to the wrong address, but in his defense, he had UPS redirect it to the right one 5 minutes after I called him. It arrived on Monday. But, Sprint was upgrading their system all day Monday, so I had to wait until Tuesday to activate it).

I'm convinced it's me. It has to be. This is the story of my life.

I am a walking customer service nightmare.


Dr. Ty
From the GAL Blog
www.getalifecampaign.com