August 28, 2007

Sprint Sucks And Their New Website Is Stupid

Michael Arrington

105 comments »

Sprint has a new website up called My Cell Style that asks you a few questions and then tells you what kind of mobile phone personality you have. I took the quiz and answered the questions honestly.

What does your cell phone say about you? According to a new website launched this week, if you’re sporting a Moto Q, you may be, uh-oh!, a
“Technosexual.” But don’t come out of the gadget-geek closet just yet, maybe your phone is designed for a rugged and in-no-way-sexually-ambiguous “Trail Blazer.” Whichever way your cell phone swings, check out www.mycellstyle.com to test your phone’s personality (sponsored by Sprint).

I am not offended that Sprint says I am a Technosexual (just like the guy in the video above). No. But I AM offended that they say the perfect phones for me are the Treo 755p, the HTC Mogul and the…wait for it…Motorola Q, which is quite possibly the worst cell phone ever created. Sprint then tried to sell me one of those ghastly phones. I guess I should just be thankful I wasn’t deemed “Runway Ready.”

Sprint doesn’t sell the iPhone, of course, so they couldn’t be honest and recommend the perfect phone for me. And they also don’t sell the phone I’d be using if the iPhone didn’t exist, the Helio Ocean.

I’m not a fan of Sprint. They fire customers who complain too much. And they have the dubious distinction of supplying me with the only phone I have ever thrown out of a moving vehicle (in 1999) because of poor call quality. Even today, it is the only mobile operator which has no coverage at my house.

In the interest of full disclosure, I participate in the Sprint Ambassador program where they send me a new phone once or twice a year to test out. I’ve never written about those phones, though. My guess is they won’t be sending too many more.

Sphere It

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles, Web 2.0 News & Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Sprint Sucks And Their New Website Is Stupid »TechAddress

August 28th, 2007 at 5:30 pm

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August 28th, 2007 at 6:55 pm

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August 29th, 2007 at 8:21 am

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August 30th, 2007 at 5:28 am

ReCrunch

September 1st, 2007 at 2:30 pm

Epson Joins Sprint: They Suck And Their New Website Is Dumb

October 27th, 2007 at 12:07 am

Bummer - No More Free Phones From Sprint

January 16th, 2008 at 11:49 am

Comments

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Stan Oleynick

August 28th, 2007 at 3:39 pm

I wish iPhone was not restricted to ATT… it would make our lives so much, should I say freer.
Randy P

August 28th, 2007 at 3:47 pm

Actual Full Disclosure:

I am now running not one, but two huge banner ads for one of Sprints biggest rivals, AT&T (which also happens to provide exclusive service for the iPhone I just endorsed). kthxbye.
Michael Arrington

August 28th, 2007 at 3:52 pm

Randy - good catch I guess, although I hadn’t noticed the ads. And Sprint has bought a lot of ads on this site in the past, too. Let me also be clear that I think AT&T sucks, too, and I only tolerate them because for now I have no choice but to use them with my iPhone. I ditched them a year ago for poor customers service and went with Verizon. I switched back because I had to. But no matter how many ads AT&T buys here, I think they blow.
Pete

August 28th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

Doesn’t Helio run on Sprint’s network? And isn’t the Helio Ocean very similar to the HTC Mogul?

Instead of paying $100+ plus per month for the Att iphone (with unlimited night minutes and txt messages) I am happy with the Mogul at $30 per month with unlimited data + txt messages under the sprint sero program.

Every carrier has problems with coverage in different areas, there just isn’t a perfect carrier. I have been through att, cigngular, new att, verizon and sprint and for me sprint works the best.
Xena

August 28th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

In the end it is the service and the network, not the phones which tip the balance for me. Verizon has by far the most reach.
Johnny Clegg

August 28th, 2007 at 4:07 pm

Sprint sucks, AT&T sucks. Only Verizon is good.
Joe Philipson

August 28th, 2007 at 4:11 pm

Remember the movie Resident Evil? All the employees that were underground in the ‘Hive’. That’s what I think of when I think of Sprint.

I hate them… I HATE them… again, knowing the full meaning of the word, I really HATE SPRINT.

They sign people up over and over again with 2 year contracts without their permission. They’ve cursed at me and my family members. They are dishonest and are constantly charging things to peoples bills without permission. They do not honor warranty’s or insurance. They tell you ‘you agreed’ to things you never even heard of. Everyone I know I warn.

Once, I was treated so badly by customer service and by the Sprint store I told them I would print out flyers and stand outside their store warning people and handing out flyers. I stand in stores while waiting service talking to people contemplating which phone they’re going to purchase with their new plan. I’ve even told Sprint it’s in their best interest to let me go as a customer since I’ve turned numerous people away from them.

I have waged war with them. They are my number one most hated company. Just ask my friends if you don’t believe me
Dominic

August 28th, 2007 at 4:11 pm

For Business phones and service that doesn’t suck, us Nextel, unless of course you HAVE all the fluffy stuff.
JoeTech.com

August 28th, 2007 at 4:14 pm

I have hated Sprint for years. I had been a customer for several years until they lost my business after a horrid display of poor customer service and business ethic. They sent me a $900 phone bill, of which I agreed to about $450. They wouldn’t budge an inch on the $450 they had miscalculated. I made approximately 100 phone calls over the course of about 40 days, attempting each time to explain simple math to the customer service idiots who could barely speak proper English as it was. Having lost my grip on “the principal of the matter”, I finally gave in and paid, switching to Verizon (who has also been sliding downhill for a few years).
Ingrid R

August 28th, 2007 at 4:15 pm

No love lost over sprint huh
LaceFace

August 28th, 2007 at 4:15 pm

Regardless of who sucks, seeing this headline almost made me fall out of my chair laughing.
reyonthehill

August 28th, 2007 at 4:15 pm

I love Sprint, I’ve had them for six years now, never a coverage issue, except in tunnels (damn tunnels). But the iPhone would be nice.
David

August 28th, 2007 at 4:19 pm

After 10 years with Sprint I recently jumped as quickly as I could off of what has become an exceptionally poor company - bad service and horrible support = no customers!
Cooper Mor

August 28th, 2007 at 4:24 pm

They have a promotion site on Collegehumor kinda like this - http://www.collegehumor.com/backtoschoolandbroke
Erik

August 28th, 2007 at 4:27 pm

I live in S.F. and have tried Sprint, Cingular (when it was just Cingular) and Verizon. They are all atrocious - I can’t use them for business calls and I can’t stand talking to people when they’re on their mobiles, either. Sprint was actually the best, then Verizon, then Cingular. It is really impossible to make blanket statements, though, as each provider’s coverage varies dramatically by location, and in big cities often block by block. To me it’s crazy that after all these years mobile phones in the U.S. are not reliable enough for business applications, at least in my opinion. I actually believe the voice quality on every network is worse than it was 10 years ago because of all the traffic they try to squeeze on their networks with spotty coverage. I think they have just trained a lot of people to think it’s normal to only understand 80% of a conversation or have to say “what” every 30 seconds.
T-MobileSignal

August 28th, 2007 at 4:29 pm

In the end, T-Mobile will conquer all. They may not have 3G (yet) but they are best in customer service!

If you’re a T-Mobile customer that enjoys your service, check out T-MobileSignal.com - T-Mobile Cell Phone Forum
Boomer

August 28th, 2007 at 4:31 pm

That quiz makes OK Cupid look like the SAT.
John C

August 28th, 2007 at 4:32 pm

That’s because they’re based in Kansas City.

Kansas City’s rednecks, bible nuts, homosexuals, and Sprint. Just to name a few.
Mateo

August 28th, 2007 at 4:32 pm

What’s your problem with the Motorola Q? I use it and have had very few problems and am wondering why you dislike it so much. It is certainly better than any Windows Treo.
Chad

August 28th, 2007 at 4:34 pm

I have to agree. I have tried them all by now, and Sprint was the bottom of the barrel.
David Mackey

August 28th, 2007 at 4:38 pm

Mike - What’s up w/the TechCrunch forums? I can’t seem to access them, they are erroring out. Am I the only one w/this problem?
Geoffrey Arone

August 28th, 2007 at 4:41 pm

Sprint is the only company I will NEVER do business with again, even if they offered free iPhones and and monthly back rubs from Gisele.
Wadhah

August 28th, 2007 at 4:42 pm

Funny, I am apparently a Technosexual too, and I hate both the Q and the Treo line.
el T

August 28th, 2007 at 4:43 pm

Not news, but snarky! That’s good … now if you could combine more snark with actual tech news, you’d have the the formula down
Bluevoter

August 28th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

I try not to give my money to the Church of Scientology. So Sky Dayton’s Helio is not an alternative for me. (I haven’t gone to see John Travolta in Hairspray either….)

Mobile services are hopelessly primitive in the US, which is well on its way to falling behind developing countries in broadband, access to health care, and life expectancy. The gorgeous iPhone and the crappy AT&T mobile service: only in America. The UK iPhone later this year should be much better.
Abhishek

August 28th, 2007 at 4:48 pm

Mike,

Have you seen Sprint’s blog?

http://www.buzzaboutwireless.com/
Len

August 28th, 2007 at 4:50 pm

Mike,

Seriously did you honestly think their little quiz was open to models they don’t sell?

If you wanted to just bitch about Sprint, you could have done that without posting a quasi-review of their unclever, why do big companies and their overpaid agencies continue to come up with dumbass marketing - ploy.

Frankly I think this is more worthy of a negative post on someone’s marketing blog than on a techcrunch. Sprint’s shitty service aside, I can’t stand all of the old-school agencies trying to be all Web 2.0 when it’s obvious they still don’t get it and NEVER will.

Oooo, let’s get a web site up with interactive content to show we’re on the same level as our consumers….That’s sure to bring customers in by the boatloads…..What a bunch of stupid f’ers.

Ironic though that a communications company has no clue on how to actually communicate with their (potential) customers.
Don Park

August 28th, 2007 at 4:53 pm

Best. Techcrunch story title. Ever.
Ty Graham

August 28th, 2007 at 4:58 pm

Oh my god, best TC post ever. LOL.
Billy

August 28th, 2007 at 4:58 pm

Yeah, Sprint reception sucks - even in New York City. Dropped them a few years back and never looked back.
Oftech

August 28th, 2007 at 5:01 pm

Did the Verizon pr department start paying people to post they’re the best? They’re by far the worst, followed closely by Sprint. T-Mobile isn’t that bad, but they don’t have the domestic coverage AT&T has. AT&T works best in my areas, and everywhere I’ve traveled (both in the US and abroad).
Noah

August 28th, 2007 at 5:02 pm

Actually, all US telcos suck.
D

August 28th, 2007 at 5:10 pm

I’ve got to say that I’ve been with Sprint for about seven years, and although I agree that their phones suck and their customer service can be infuriating, I’ve had great coverage, and I’m pretty much in love with EVDO (except for their pricing and usage restrictions–Come on Sprint, I’d love to get rid of my DSL).

I’m also really looking forward to seeing what happens with their mobile WiMax (XOHM).

On a side note. I recently managed to get in on the Mint closed Beta and it is absolutely fantastic! It’s everything Quicken and Money should have been and more. Definitely a winner.
Eric

August 28th, 2007 at 5:11 pm

That quiz is a joke. It’s so half assed you can tell which phone each answer corresponds to. What a clueless and feeble attempt at being hip. That boardroom must be full of geriatric motherf*****s.
Demetrius Pinder

August 28th, 2007 at 5:11 pm

Ehh, they all suck in their own way.

Verizon just suck less than the rest.
bob cobb

August 28th, 2007 at 5:12 pm

Mogul with a Sero plan from sprint>iphone on att. I know the iphone interface is great, and the features are as well, but Id rather be able to get evdo and run any programs that are out there for WM.
Nelson

August 28th, 2007 at 5:14 pm

Certainly sprint is a pain in the ass, not only on coverage but also in charges. the Iphone is not that good niether, well it would be but without ATT
Chris

August 28th, 2007 at 5:16 pm

We just got a Mogul and I must say I think it’s a great little phone! It has wifi, QWERTY, decent camera with flash, and very important for us, it has a decent JVM in the Esmertec JVM Sprint bundles with the phone. So you have Windows Mobile 6 if you happen to like that and a very solid Midlet manager to go with it.
Alaska Miller

August 28th, 2007 at 5:22 pm

1. I use a Moto Q. It’s not the best phone, but with Sprint’s free after rebate offer and unlimited date usage, it is one that I have fallen in love with and coped with the shortcomings.

2. Sprint doesn’t just fire customers willy-nilly. They fire customers that are calling in too frequently to abuse their services. Notation: http://consumerist.com/consume.....277026.php

But I guess fact checking is too much.

3. I hate T-mobile because they don’t give me coverage at home. I hate AT&T because they don’t give me coverage at school. I hate Verizon because they don’t give me coverage at work. But hey, wait, AT&T was the one that’s helping the government WIRETAPPING ME WITHOUT A WARRANT.

4. The Cell Style website does look stupid, but hey, wait… MAYBE IT’S MEANT TO TARGET KIDS AND TEENS. Are you secretly really a 16 year old girl on MySpace? For reference here’s a similar website meant to sell insurance to teens: http://www.tonikhealth.com

That is all.
Ryan Spahn

August 28th, 2007 at 5:33 pm

Yes, but they are deploying WiMax nationwide and they don’t have EVDO restrictions like Verizon.

Cellphone service provider I think they suck, but mobile broadband provider they rock! Well we’ll see about how create WiMax is…hopefully it’s awesome!
Billy

August 28th, 2007 at 5:40 pm

Those Sprint customers they “fired” were trying to scam the company for free coverage from service credits. Great job, as usual, of doing your homework Arrington.
Jon A.

August 28th, 2007 at 5:42 pm

Sprint is a nightmare and I will never use their service again… ever.

Many years ago I had a problem with invalid calls on my phone and instead of handling my complaints as a customer service issue, my account was passed to a collection agency. When I called Sprint to find out what was going on, I was told that despite my proof that the billing statement had errors on it, there was absolutely nothing that anyone could do about it. Neither that person or anyone else I called would agree to escalate my call to a supervisor or manager. You could say, in short, that I really hate Sprint and try to steer everyone I know to another carrier.

Sprint’s decision to fire customers is completely in line with my experience and it’s no surprise. In Sprint’s eyes, being their customer is a privilege and you’re expected to be to accept whatever asinine policy the company decides to invoke against its customers at any given time.

I don’t know about other carriers, but in 4 plus years as a T-Mobile customer, I’ve never had the kinds of problems that I encountered with Sprint. In fact, the attitude of everyone I’ve had contact with at T-Mobile is entirely different- and for the better. I suspect that Sprint is simply much worse than everyone else.
J.P.

August 28th, 2007 at 5:43 pm

I love the picture! And the best is that You can Party Like A Rock Star!!!

WTF.
tommy

August 28th, 2007 at 5:46 pm

yeah, i have to agree with some of the posts here, whether or not this is accurate (and oh by the way, i fucking hate sprint too for too many reasons to list) or even fair, the post is hilarious. thanks for brightening up a day infested by lice-like potential investors…

are you the real, real FSJ?
Joe Mordetsky

August 28th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

Okay, so aside from the claim that sprint sucks. Can we all atleast agree that the website IS in fact stupid? I just went there, answer two questions and my stupidity alarm caused my brain to shut down. I woke up in Thailand and I was being sold into white slavery. Why Sprint?! Why?!
Deals and Coupons

August 28th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

I’ll stick with Verizon Wireless for now.
Boris Revsin

August 28th, 2007 at 5:55 pm

Are they serious with the “Technosexual” guy picture?
albert

August 28th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

At least the got the picture right. Funny bit ruined by the moronic linking to your own out of date notes blog. Billy and Alaska are correct - the complainers were scammers - correct the post.
MainStreetReporter

August 28th, 2007 at 5:57 pm

Agree with Noah (32), all U.S. telcos suck.

The foam-at-the-mouth hatred most of us have for the whole lot of them, with their 2 year prison sentences, LOUSY customer service (including the robot voiced maze of torture you must navigate when connecting to customer ’service’) … there’s no doubt in my mind that the company that offers the exact opposite of what’s offered now: month by month contract, great customer service, great coverage, and compatability with ANY PHONE you want to use (Gphone anyone) … that company will mint money.

This is the only industry I can think of that has found a way to make money and enrage customers at the same time. I’m convinced they laugh about it.
John R

August 28th, 2007 at 6:01 pm

You are quite the emotional type, huh?

Most people confuse “coverage” with “service.” If you think VZ loves you, I got a bridge to sell you. Let’s not get so emotional over such silly things. If you are happy with your service, great, but try to keep the hate down and the vitriolic rhetoric down…very distasteful.

Thanks
John Minnihan

August 28th, 2007 at 6:02 pm

Your reference to “…throwing a cell phone out a moving vehicle” reminded me of when I used to carry pagers (those funny little black boxes that beeped and made people curse).

I was on the way to lunch one day in 1993 when my main pager went off (I carried two pagers and a cell phone). No big deal, if it was an emergency, my Important Pager would beep. On the elevator ride down to the lobby (an escape to lunch) the main pager went off three times and the Important Pager went off twice - the second time as I exited the elevator and rounded the corner into the main lobby.

In one fluid motion, I pulled the Important Pager off my belt, spun around facing the back of the lobby & pitched - really pitched, like a freakin’ fastball - the Important Pager.

The Important Pager slammed into the back granite wall of the lobby and exploded into at least a hundred pieces. I said, to no one in particular, “Nothing is that important” and walked out the building to one of the best lunches I’d had in months.
Mitali

August 28th, 2007 at 6:06 pm

I find it hilarious that you are so upset over this dumb interactive marketing gimmick of a questionnaire What’s even more disturbing than this is their “traditional” marketing - the TV ad campaign about “remember when you were a kid, and dreamt of being an astronaut and going into space, or may be you dreamt about a magic screen that you could carry around in your pocket that would have your favorite music and all your photos…” LOL! I’d love to see all those little 9 yr olds dreaming of a screen with their favorite music and favorite photos, instead of space travel. Ridiculous. They should fire their marketing agency - thats all this comes down to.
Ian

August 28th, 2007 at 6:17 pm

I’m impressed! It’s good to hear someone from a top site post something with such a strong and unequivocal opinion! Especially when for all you know the iPhone 2.0 will be released on Sprint (admittedly an unlikely prospect but it is possible).

That said all the major carriers have their problems and it’s sort of a given to gripe about them.
ihero

August 28th, 2007 at 6:26 pm

The iHero’s brother works for Verizon — I don’t get any perks — but I feel obligated to support him.

So Verizon — Your the Best !!!

BTW — any good satellite phones out there ?? I need something for hunting.
All cell phones suck out in the woods of BFO — Bum F* Ohio.
Nickie

August 28th, 2007 at 6:37 pm

If you know which phone you want, and know how to look for features you want, then no, I don’t think that quiz is worth your time. But why would you expect it to be? I’m personally happy with my Motorola Q and Sprint service. It onlly sucks if it’s not the combo you want for location and lifestyle.
Michael Arrington

August 28th, 2007 at 6:39 pm

Nickie - burn it. burn it immediately.
ihero

August 28th, 2007 at 6:53 pm

Mike — it is amusing that the leader of “Tech” Crunch was labeled a “Tech” no sexual……:)
Richard Gosinya

August 28th, 2007 at 7:05 pm

They are just experimenting with viral marketing…they have others sites like http://waitless.org/

Don’t take site too seriously…sheesh
Michael Arrington

August 28th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

Hey Richard - good plug for the site. I thought for sure the baby would be getting dunked in the sink though.

My favorite is turbo parking. I’m going to try that per the instructions. I’m surprised that one got by the legal team.
Richard Gosinya

August 28th, 2007 at 7:23 pm

Oops..I guess Nick Hogan didn’t read fine print about turbo parking.
Coleman Foley

August 28th, 2007 at 7:26 pm

wow…sprints not THAT bad
Dave Barnes

August 28th, 2007 at 7:27 pm

I am so confused.
There are adverts on the TechCrunch website?
Evan Ingam

August 28th, 2007 at 7:31 pm

Oh yes, they are THAT bad! I second all of Mike’s comments. I know, because I worked at Sprint for 1 1/2 years as a consultant.

All mobile carriers are terrible. I myself have crossed out Sprint and Verizon.
Feech

August 28th, 2007 at 7:38 pm

Hmmm. Sprint recommending a phone that they sell on a website they created? Sorry for misleading you Capt. Obvious hero to the idiots. Settle down chief what did you expect?
Saïd Amin

August 28th, 2007 at 8:00 pm

Sprint is whack but hey, Verizon and At&T ain’t nothing to brag about either. I moved from the DC area to SoCal and my local Verizon store told me that they couldn’t change my coverage and other “stuff” b/c the Verizon Cali system is not fully connected to the Verizon Maryland system…huh, say whuuut? Verizon is Verizon no matter what state/store you go to, no? (rhetorical question) Hell, Bank of America also hit me with this sort of nonsense — too many freakin’ mergers!
Nelson

August 28th, 2007 at 8:05 pm

yeah Joe, my cell style site actually sucks, I went there by curiosity and started answering the first 2 questions, and then I thought, man this look like a dating site questionary. Really stupid.
john

August 28th, 2007 at 8:08 pm

Mike the bitch strikes again. So Sprint must have stopped paying your big ad money, eh Mikie?
Justin

August 28th, 2007 at 8:09 pm

Sprint mobile broadband is the only national high speed mobile data product that works as an alternative to satellite broadband. So they don’t suck that much. You can even play world of warcraft over it.

It is funny that where it comes to a real company that won’t ever (need to) pay for tickets to a techcrunch conference, the site has the balls to be critical. But where it comes to dozens of silly startups with no plan, no revenue and no hope, everything smells of roses.
Greg

August 28th, 2007 at 8:42 pm

Not saying that website doesn’t suck, because it completely does, but a) I like my Q, and b) The customers they “fired” were calling customer service 15 times a month and bitching until they got free service. Not only had they not paid a bill in years, but they’re the reason I had to wait on hold for an hour to activate my phone:

http://consumerist.com/consume.....277026.php

The site is stupid, ineffectual marketing schlock, but what’s so bad about the Q? The battery life is admittedly horrible, but did WinMo 5 kill your dog or something?
JenJo

August 28th, 2007 at 8:52 pm

Thank you Michael for saying so bluntly what I have been thinking for almost two years… sprint sucks! I would have ditched them right after post sign if i wasn’t too impatient to wait the 40 minutes to speak to a customer service manager. Blasted SPRINT!!!!! They have the worst customer service of the phone companies and their phones are crap and always behind in technology. I agree with many of the posters, I HATE SPRINT TOO and some ridiculous quiz would never tempt me into signing!
es

August 28th, 2007 at 8:57 pm

Hey Michael… your iPhone is a piece of shit. You know so but wont say so.

“Oh look at me and my iPhone, im so technically savvy. Im from San Fran. Ooooh. Let me hype certain services/products in hopes of getting it for freeeee. Watch me fumble with the touch screen keyboard. Let me show you how websites for the iPhone but is actually stupid since the browser is supposed to show websites in their normal form. Selling out is fun!”

Freaking lemming.
Paly

August 28th, 2007 at 9:02 pm

71 = typical hater
es

August 28th, 2007 at 9:14 pm

@Paly - of what? Hypocritical snobs with their noses in the air? Hater I is then.
Paly

August 28th, 2007 at 9:21 pm

@es
You just sound like a typical angry youth hater. Your words are your ammunition - go get em, tiger! Getting fired up and cussing on a blog reply form isn’t going to do much (other than make people like me chuckle)
And I think we can say, objectively, that the iPhone is not a piece of shit
Breck

August 28th, 2007 at 9:33 pm

Never used Sprint and never will, but I love them now that they’ve taught me me how to peel a hard boiled egg in 10 seconds. (http://waitless.org/)
Matt

August 28th, 2007 at 11:19 pm

No idea what this post is about. In fact, I refused to read it simply because it can’t live up to the best title ever.
Mo Kakwan

August 29th, 2007 at 12:15 am

I’ve had great service from Sprint. Never a problem with their customer service and great coverage.
Hornswaggled

August 29th, 2007 at 12:41 am

I also dispise Sprint but truth be told I currently have a 700wx and the Sero plan. Sprint is horrible and has by far the worst customer service department I have ever dealt with.

Quick snapshot of one instance ( I have had many). Went to store to buy phone, couldn’t switch new phone to plan, told to call customer care, called and they said go back to store and they can do it, went back to store and they again couldn’t do it (the guy was a huge jerk), got on the line at the store and they argued with each other for 30 minutes. Then they ordered me a phone (50 bucks more than in the store for some reason) and sent the wrong one and it didnt work. I returned the phone and ended up buying a Treo on Craigslist to use until the iPhone came out. I hate AT&T just as much and the monthly fees are double so I havent made the switch.

I wish Tmobile would get on board with a decent data plan, maybe their wifi@home will get me away from Sprint. Back in the day I had nothing but good experiences with them.

I feel like I continually get slapped in the face by Sprint and dread calling customer support for any reason. If you can stay away, though the Sero plan keeps me a slave to their crap for now.
Anne

August 29th, 2007 at 4:08 am

Michael, you rock
Andy

August 29th, 2007 at 4:18 am

Well, I thought it was quite accurate. I’m outside the US and I’ve got a Nokia E61 on 3, but I answered the questions as best as I could and it showed me a Treo and a couple of other, similar devices.
Cosmin Ghiu

August 29th, 2007 at 5:54 am

Michael:

Hilarious title and article! I’m a AT&T guy (used to be T-Mobile for their data plan).
Greg

August 29th, 2007 at 6:41 am

Yeah, the Q is weak. But if you seriously think it’s one of the worst phones ever, consider yourself lucky because you obviously haven’t suffered through the buckets-full of crap phones that make the Q look like an iPhone in comparison.
bubbatex

August 29th, 2007 at 8:19 am

wow - this thread proves one thing for sure - there’s a carrier and a cell phone for EVERYONE to hate!
greg

August 29th, 2007 at 9:11 am

i was hoping to hear why the q sucks, but have yet to. it works great for me and is much better than any treo and evdo is better than edge and sprints sero plans are great.
Jay Neely

August 29th, 2007 at 10:56 am

Mike, in terms of iPhone alternatives, the Helio Ocean in no way matches up to the Nokia E70. Read Maddox’s review: http://www.thebestpageintheuni.....i?u=iphone
till

August 29th, 2007 at 6:40 pm

Obviously, a lot of people seem to have beef with Sprint here, and I am curious how you “fire” customers. But hell, if someone calls and calls and calls and I get nothing in return, I’d void any contract I have with them as well.

On the phonestyle - I have no idea if I am really “tuned in” since I barely use my ipod, but anyway. I think they are heading in the right direction. They are trying to come up with an intuitive way to figure out what kind of phone you would want/like/need.

It may not work (yet), but I think they are doing better than the people at the local shop.
Mia

August 29th, 2007 at 6:52 pm

This is my favorite posting ever. Period.
Bob

August 29th, 2007 at 8:13 pm

I’m not a fan of Sprint either, especially since someone from Sprint.com tried to post an ‘F-Bomb’-laden comment on my blog. Click on my name — “Bob” — above to read the full post.
JBoy

August 31st, 2007 at 8:15 am

Sprint is one of the WORST companies I have ever done business with and this includes cell phones, long distance carriers, and business internet service providers. I will never willingly use a Sprint product again.

At every turn I was faced with incompetence and ignorance. More than 90 days to get T1 lines installed. 4 or 5 visits to “fix” local loop problems. Getting bounced between two service departments for hours because neither would claim the “service ticket” I had been given. I could go on for PAGES of recent complaints.

I am suire many of those poor NexTel customers will be bailing out of Sprint/NexTel at their earliest opportunity.
Ted

August 31st, 2007 at 8:48 am

Anyone who has to start any written piece with something “sucks” and something “is stupid” should go back to a writing class. Just because you can spell “blog” doesn’t mean you get to write like a fourth grader in the little boy’s room. Makes everything else you say seem trivial.

Next, get some evidence instead of just reporting what part of the elephant you can see. Sprint’s coverage is better in some places and Verizon’s in others. Where are you?

Next, the iPhone is mostly hype. It would have been a nice device if two things were true: 1) it cost what other phones cost - unsubsidized by the wireless carriers, phones - even Smartphones - usually cost around $200-$300. iPhone is not $600 special. And 2) iPhone needs to be on a decent data network to use what it’s offers. The “Edge” is too slow (check the statistics).
Ted

August 31st, 2007 at 9:02 am

Dumb. Uninformed. Narrow-minded. Lacking in credibility. Compromised integrity.

And, please, if you’re going to write to the masses, learn to write. An F paper even in fifth grade.

I see the Crunch part (dumb though it may be). Where is the tech part?
UGuessedIt

August 31st, 2007 at 9:47 am

Maybe Sprint’s approach to pain in the ass customers who try scamming and freeloading the system, started a new trend. Cut the bug ridden squishy fruit off the tree (spoiled customers anyway) and continue to use resources to grow the good fruit (these customers are the sweetest of the bunch).

See what I mean, Comcast if following thier lead (of course as far as this blogs concerned, it’s only because thier a cable company in VoIP cahoots with sprint).

Comcast Cuts Off Heavy Internet Users
Customers complain bandwidth limits are secret
http://consumeraffairs.com/new.....html?imw=Y
kultur

September 6th, 2007 at 8:19 am

I love Sprint but I hate their customer service. I’ve just gotten a great phone from them (HTC Mogul) without paying a dime and I’m happy with it. As long as I never have to call them…

My advice, go through all your cusotmer support questions with ecare and you’ll never have a single complaint. I only call to activate a new phone.

Peace and love, friends.

Louis
Adam Brown

September 7th, 2007 at 12:36 pm

I would be surprised if Sprint has a strong future due to some basic business practices of theirs. Like many of the other huge wireless corporations, Sprint insists on locking people into long contracts. If Sprint was confident in their offerings they wouldn’t try to lock people into staying with them.

My company is in Austin, TX and Sprint insisted that they have excellent coverage and could provide us the GPS tracking that we needed. We got over a dozen phones and two high-speed data cards. Since we started service, we have had terrible coverage, text messages take up to 12 hours to reach the recipients, and the high-speed data cards have never worked. The GPS tracking was a joke and NOT what they showed to us.

We have talked to the sales people, tech support, corporate, and have never gotten a response. Recently they have raised the text messaging rates even though we were under contract.

What is the purpose of a contract if the company can change the rates but won’t let the consumer out of the contract?

People are starting to wise up about Sprints deceptive practices and how cellphone contracts do not benefit the consumer, only the vendor. All they do is lock you into service that doesn’t work.

Adam Brown

Longhorn Services - longhorn-services.com
Matt Scherer

September 8th, 2007 at 7:13 am

Adam,

I feel your pain. It took me three to four hours of time to get a working phone, and then I got a new phone that wasn’t included on my plan. Imagine my surprise to see a $600 bill with $260 in surcharges. And, then when I called customer service, I got a Filipino customer service rep who spoke like she was from northern Michigan and couldn’t understand me.
James Case

September 11th, 2007 at 12:05 pm

I have worked at Sprint for over 5 years.

Sprint is only there for the shareholders, and they even do a crapy job with them. Sprint split in to two companies. Now Embarqe is about to sue Sprint. Sprint was the worst job I have ever held.

Sprint phones have trouble on the main campus of Sprint. Go figure..
hate sprint

September 17th, 2007 at 6:54 pm

Sprint truly sucks. I have been their customer for many years now and in the past year, their customer service has declined greatly. 2 of their reps hung up on me today when I asked for a supervisor. IF YOU HAVE SPRINT, MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR THE REPS ID NUMBER AND WHAT CITY THEY ARE IN. If you don’t, they will hang up on you when you ask for a supervisor. This has happened to me numerous times. THE ONLY TIME THEY TRANSFER YOU TO A SUPERVISOR IS WHEN YOU ASK FOR THEIR ID AND WHAT CALL CENTER THEY ARE FROM.

And have you noticed their dirty tactic to collect late fees? They go from your due date being the 21st, then to 19th then to 18th and before you know it, it’s on the 16th and when you come and pay your bill, you realize late fees apply because they have decided to keep changing your monthly bill cycle due date!

I called them today at 6 PM It’s 6:50 PM now and I’m still waiting on the phone and I had to call them 5 times.

STAY AWAY PEOPLE. SPRINT PCS IS A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. STAY AWAY IF YOU WANT TO AVOID HEADACHES AND GETTING HUNG UP ON. Sprint PCS has horrible customer service and they are getting worse every single year.
jessup

September 27th, 2007 at 8:56 am

it’s amazing how much money sprint will put into crap like this. Why don’t they put some money into improving their shit network and then maybe it wouldn’t suck so bad….nah it would still suck because of the incompetent fucks at the top running that organization.