Customer Disservice

After railing against Consumerist recently, I almost felt like writing to them today. Best Buy ran an ad for a free Samsung Rant with Sprint, the phone I was considering anyway. I had held off on getting a new phone (my old contract expired Xmas Eve) because I was looking at prepaid and I didn't have the money to buy that phone up front yet. With the free Rant deal, I at least figured I'd go check it out in person and see how it felt. Before I did that, I called BB's customer line to ask if my company discount on service plans would be honored.

Shockingly, I spoke to an Indian guy to ask that very question. While he assured me he could go so far as 3-way calling with a Sprint rep to do that, he really wanted to make the sale. I told him I wanted to feel the phone in my hand and see if I liked it before buying, but that wasn't good enough. He tried to convince me that the free Rant deal was only good for my area for a limited time, possibly even hours. It was weird, because the ad ran in the newspaper and appears to be good for a week. While he kept trying to tell me I should just buy it and decide if I liked it once I received it, I just said nevermind and hung up.

I went to BB after all, and checked out not just the Rant, but its predecessor, the LG Rumor, as well as the Kyocera Wild Card prepaid. Turns out the Rant's buttons don't really work for my hands, and the Wild Card is just tiny. The Rumor was a pretty good fit, and it was also free with a new activation. I had been considering the prepaid just because after adding up my minutes used over the last 12 months, I don't come close to what I pay for, and I could conceivably save $10 a month over what I can get with Sprint. However, with the move...well, who knows how much I might use my phone? I still get a good discount with work and will still save money over what I was paying with AT&T. So I came home with a new black Rumor. It's nifty.

Note: One of the salesman, when asked, said the Rant/Rumor do not have backlist keypads. He is so wrong.

So after I came home, I called up AT&T to cancel my service. I was told by the automated voice I would get a rep in 9 minutes. I waited and put it on speakerphone. After Simpsons ended, I got another message saying I'd have to wait 8 minutes. I decided to end the call since it had been easily 15-20 minutes already. My phone told me the call had lasted over 38 minutes. THIRTY EIGHT!!! I'll try again tomorrow.