Not The Most Reliable Network

[Nashida]

Forgot about this gem, this happened back in March...

My cell phone service is "The Network", and I have a 2-Year To New plan. Long story short, after two years of service with my current plan I can get a new phone. My father works for <big electric company>, and he can get a discount throw the company that can either make the new phone free or heavily discounted ( a corporate discount?).

So in March my old phone would take 3 hours to charge but only stay charged for an hour before dying. I had a big anime convention coming up, and knew I needed a better way to stay in touch with my group instead of a dying phone. Lo and behold, I'm due for a new phone. I do a little research, and it turns out the new Juke is available, and under my father's discount I can get it for free. I print the page out and circle it for proof, and take it with me to the store.

First store I get to, the Juke is sold out. The guy there tells me the mall in the next town over has one of those carts, which is owned by the same guy I'm talking to now, and he's got a navy blue Juke there. I'd still be able to get it for free with the discount, I've got the store manager's word of honor.

But when we get there, it's a whole other story. We pick out the phone, and get a car charger for it as well ( and they guy's taking $10 a $30 charger) and we get set to check out. I'm thinking I'm only going to pay $20 (for the charger) and have a new phone for the con.

Grand total was $115. He added the full price of the phone ($80), the charger ($20) taxes and fees. My father and I were like . The guy owning the cart felt he didn't have to honor my father's discount, and was going to charge us the full price. We told him what the first guy told us, and since he works for him, he should honor it. Guy refuses again, but a quick call home verifies that we can get that Juke free. We tell the guy to cancel the whole thing, then leave.

We get home to try and check a third time. Guess what: Now it says I have that Juke (when I don't) and can't get another new phone until 2011. We call up the company, tell them what's going on, and the only way they can fix this is to cancel the whole account and start anew. This takes 2 hours; nothing much.

Now my account shows my old phone, and still says I can get that Juke. However, more browsing on the site shows I can get that phone, for free, with next day shipping through the site. I do just that, and I get it three days before the con.

Two weeks later my mom got the same phone, through the same plan, the exact same way.

But geez....all that fuss for a phone...

[Evil Queen]

So the problem isn't with the phone company, but the one douch waffle that wouldn't give you your free phone. (The thread title made me think otherwise)

What the heck was his problem??

[BlaqueKatt]

My father works for <big electric company>, and he can get a discount throw the company that can either make the new phone free or heavily discounted ( a corporate discount?).

unless the acct is in his name-no you can't it's called fraud.
it's the same as going into a store and getting the employee discount from your cousin.

I'd still be able to get it for free with the discount, I've got the store manager's word of honor.

a store manager will say anything to make a sale/commission-trust me they do it all the time, and customer service has to try to fix it. I had store managers tell people that a billing system programmed feature could be removed if they didn't want it anymore(system is programmed that if a certain phone is active x feature is automatically added by the programming of the billing system and cannot for any reason be removed)

The guy owning the cart felt he didn't have to honor my father's discount, and was going to charge us the full price. We told him what the first guy told us, and since he works for him, he should honor it. Guy refuses again, but a quick call home verifies that we can get that Juke free.

he didn't and online pricing is not the same as in store or even customer service-they cannot price match as usually online pricing is for brand new accounts only(with a new 2 year activation)

We call up the company, tell them what's going on, and the only way they can fix this is to cancel the whole account and start anew.

nope-this could have been fixed in under a minute-a supervisor could have changed the dates back(takes 2 seconds to change the dates, 30 seconds to place the order, under 15 seconds to verify the equipment was never activated/returned)-starting a new account gave the rep a commission-that is called commission fraud. And you will be charged activation fees-even if you were told you wouldn't.


I worked for them for over two years, as a call center supervisor. Fixing mistakes, hearing people scream at me because a store agent/store manager lied to them, been threatened with bodily harm, been threatened with lawsuits(usually because people didn't read their contracts), been called every name in the book. And if you were told to "go ahead and redownload all your previous ringtones/games that you had on the old phone for free-they lied.<---they do this a lot.

Soooo glad to be done with them-but I do feel bad for the customers-the main call center(that I lost my job to), has no idea what they are doing and has not been trained properly(we got 5 weeks of training-they got one)-but they're cheaper!!!


any questions-PM me-I can tell you what to ask for, and how to get it-I can also tell you how to tell them how to fix it.

[marasbaras]

Cell phones in the US ... hated dealing with that. Here in the Philippines (and I'm told in much of the world), you just buy a phone and buy a SIM card for your phone number. Simple, easy. No contracts required.

[Samaliel]

unless the acct is in his name-no you can't it's called fraud.
it's the same as going into a store and getting the employee discount from your cousin.

Around here, some companies have some extended corporate discounts. Extended as in extended to close family (generally, spouse and children). But I guess it's no standard practice.

[JustADude]

Cell phones in the US ... hated dealing with that. Here in the Philippines (and I'm told in much of the world), you just buy a phone and buy a SIM card for your phone number. Simple, easy. No contracts required.

Contracts aren't required here in the US, either. Most people just get them because they're too stingy (or just lean in the wallet) to shell out the $$$ for a phone up front.

[marasbaras]

Contracts aren't required here in the US, either. Most people just get them because they're too stingy (or just lean in the wallet) to shell out the $$$ for a phone up front.

Yes, but can you go down to the local Radio Shack and buy a new SIM card when you want a new phone number or want to switch networks?

I can do it here ... a mere P65 ($1.50).

[symposes]

I dont have all of the info, since this happened to my coworker. But the basic rundown is simple enough.

He has The reach out and touch someone network. His old phone dies, he goes in to get a new phone. He is told that his phone is sold old he qualifies for a new one. he goes to the ROATSNetwork store, and is told otherwise. They pretty much make him buy a prepaid phone and put his sim in it.
Well he has big hands, hates the phone. after 2 weeks of being unable to use it, he calls the company and they tell him he does infact qualify for a free phone, and to go back to the ROATSNetwork store, and get himself a new one.

He goes to Radioshack instead, and they say, we dont have the ability to honor that, but the Roatsnetwork store does. He goes to them, and they told him "We dont have free phones here."

After going back and fourth, he starts to flip out. Because he keeps hearing 2 different stories, one from RS and ROAT Customer service line, and a different one from ROAT store.

Well the manager at RS offers to try and make their system honor his free phone thing.
The manager of RS spends almost an hour on the phone with ROAT CS and manages to make it work, and gets my coworker his free phone.

Turns out, ROAT network store doesnt pay commission, so its employees dont give a crap and do as little as they can.

when he was telling me the story, he made the comparison to sam kinnison. "What do you mean you dont have phones here! AHHH!!!" hehehe

[JustADude]

Yes, but can you go down to the local Radio Shack and buy a new SIM card when you want a new phone number or want to switch networks?

I can do it here ... a mere P65 ($1.50).

Dunno, really, since nobody thinks to do it that way. I'd guess the SIM Card would be actually included in the ~$20 activation fee you pay when you start a new account (not a contract, but they need to know what to charge you each month ) for a monthly-rate network, or with the ~$20* phone on a prepaid network.


*Yes, the 'pay as you go' phones are as cheap as the activation fee on a regular account. They're called 'disposable' for a reason.

[Evil Queen]

Yes, but can you go down to the local Radio Shack and buy a new SIM card when you want a new phone number or want to switch networks?

I can do it here ... a mere P65 ($1.50).

Sprint uses SIM cards, along with AlTel (I dunno if AlTel is still in business though, haven't seen their commercials for a while). You can easily get new SIM cards from the phone company and not have to worry about Reactivation Fees on phones (BF's phone is like that. Mine isn't. )

Like the OP, I have Verizon. (BF has Sprint)

[Hawkguy]

I work for a major US carrier,

one that uses SIM Card technology. As far as I know, only T-Mobile and Cingular AT&T use sim cards.

[BlaqueKatt]

one that uses SIM Card technology. As far as I know, only T-Mobile and Cingular AT&T use sim cards.

some smaller more local providers(einstein pcs/Airadigm communications/metro PCS) also use sim cards-around here Einstein PCS offers no contract/no security deposit post pay phones with unlimited minutes for 34.99/month-unlmited text/mobile web is an extra $9.99-and roaming is $0.25 a min-not bad if you stay in the area.

[DesignFox]

What can be frustrating about cell phones is that agents don't have to honor the company pricing and often have their own set of rules regarding pricing.

I work for a "premier" store, so our prices generally match up with the company's, we have all the same phones and we usually honor the same promotions.

However, there are some occasions where the company offers promotions that would flat out make us lose money- we can't honor them. Of course, we will be upfront with customers about this when they ask about the promotion.

Also, most promotions advertised on TV etc. are ONLY for NEW customers. As an agent especially, we get paid more for new customers than for upgrades on existing customers...so oftentimes new customers can get a better price on equipment.

And if it's an online offer- basically expect that the store won't be able to price match it. Unless you have a very high rate plan (and if you are on a family plan you MUST be the MAIN number- not an add-a-line) 99.9% of the time we can't match the rock bottom, profit sucking price of the internet...stores have employees to pay.

Additionally, it surprises me that the manager would tell our OP that he could get the corporate discount on top of a promotional price. Usually, you get one or the other. Not both stacked together. (whether it's an upgrade or new activation- it is promotional pricing- those phones cost WAY MORE than what they are listed at)

I wouldn't mind if it were like the system in europe where phones are unlocked, you pay full price and pick and choose your network on a whim. Contracts confuse people, the pricing confuses people...but JustADude summed it up well when he said most people are too stingy to shell out for the phones.

[Pagan]

Absolutely and completely OT -

Nashida, about your avatar - what do you mean when Pluto "was" a planet? It still is....well, as far as most anyone who is going, went to, or worked for NMSU is concerned. Ran into Dr. Tombaugh many times when I was going to school there.