[ardoreal]

I had a really good experience. Back in December I cancelled my service and went to another carrier (getting out of an etf is an expertise of mine), and I decided to come back for the Pre.

When I walked into the Sprint store they had Pre's in stock, and I told the lady I was a former customer. I ended up not filling out an iota of paperwork and got hooked up with a Pre fully activated in about 5 minutes.

I expected a mountain of bureacrocy and got a real nice buying experience.

[tomascco]

Had AT&T Cingular for four years. During that time I've been overbilled almost $400. Took this six months to finally correct it. Except they didn't. Quit AT&T, when to Sprint. AT&T told me I'd be sorry if I was concerned about customer service.

What a difference! Been on Sprint since '04 and they've been the best to answer questions, and just generally save me money. All customer support folks have been knowledgeable or have gotten me the answer quickly.

About that bill correction: after being away from AT&T for over a year I received a call from a collection agency saying if I don't pay my arrears from AT&T that they would ruin my credit. I told them it was settled and gave them the case number and all other information. Called back and said AT&T didn't resolve it and that I owe it. The agent told me that even if I were right I'd better pay because AT&T didn't care how long it took, they would either wreck my credit rating or get their money. I paid.

Ergo, my new Pre.

[zelet]

I have had nothing but great experiences with Sprint in the last 2 years. The last year specifically has been excellent. The reps have been quick to answer the phone and not rushed when you talk to them. They speak english! And the (self-caused) problems were fixed right away the first time.

When I was with AT&T it would take at least 3 calls and over an hour total on hold to get anything taken care of.

[wynand32]

Getting stuff for free doesn't equal good customer service.

I have no idea what you mean by this. Certainly, if the OP was given a free frozen chicken, then no, that wouldn't be good customer service. If the OP was given a free trained ferret, then that wouldn't be good customer service either. But, the OP was given a tool that should completely resolve the issues he's having, and at no charge. THAT is good customer service.

Incidentally, it's also good business sense. I'm sure that it's less expensive for Sprint to give out free Airaves to the isolated cases of bad coverage than it is to build out new towers in otherwise well-served areas.

[imjamieeeee]

i just got off the phone with sprint and it was amazing customer service. I told them that I was having terrible service in my house on the pre, but when i was on the iphone 3g it was perfect. He said since my family were "premiere customers" that he would send me the airave with free service tomorrow morning.

Im actually quite impressed with the way sprint handled everything

[realistdreamer]

I can't say Sprint is the best, but they have dramatically upped their game in terms of implementing best practices. Things like:

• Callbacks
• Surveys
• Performance comp based on surveys
• Actually trying to resolve the problem

Performance is still spotty and inconsistent but WAY better than before. AT&T acts like the monopolistic legacy company that they are.

[RobynG]

i just got off the phone with sprint and it was amazing customer service. I told them that I was having terrible service in my house on the pre, but when i was on the iphone 3g it was perfect. He said since my family were "premiere customers" that he would send me the airave with free service tomorrow morning.

Im actually quite impressed with the way sprint handled everything

My free Airave is arriving tomorrow with all monthly charges waived too. I've been a Sprint customer for 12 years and have seen consistent improvement with the customer service. However, I also remember hours of calls to them that ended in frustration.

[bclancy]

Getting stuff for free doesn't equal good customer service.

I think the point the OP was making was that Sprint had a real solution to a real problem, and addressed the issue quickly without an upsell. It's probably the cheapest solution for Sprint to implement too.

I have to say that my Pre buying experience was 100% positive. I went to a store on a whim (I was in my home state, but out of town). The store had everyone on board on launch day, with greeters who discreetly and competently triaged incoming customers and the sales rep at the counter knew exactly what I was there for and executed quickly and without any errors. I've had to deal with my fair share of non-native speakers in the past (some competent problem solvers and some not), but lately Sprint has been doing everything correctly and even anticipating my questions! Needless to say, I'm now a much happier camper these days.

[eddieras]

My free Airave is arriving tomorrow with all monthly charges waived too. I've been a Sprint customer for 12 years and have seen consistent improvement with the customer service. However, I also remember hours of calls to them that ended in frustration.

to clarify - what dept did you call and what did you tell them to get the Airave? I get barely one bar in my house and with the Pre it seems worse. I read on these boards that the Pre constantly looking for a signal really drains the battery - not to mention the heat. i called tech and he said he never heard that! he set me up to have the battery checked and suggested the Airave... but that was it.

[Mikest]

They really have improved. I remember a few years ago calling sprint customer support meant calling a 3rd world country where they didn't really speak english and tried to convince you their accent was Californian. Where I've been most impressed though is the reps in the store. I always prefer dealing face to face with a real person and my last three trips (over the last four years) to the corporate Sprint store have been home runs customer service wise.

[ipreedinmypants]

Sprint customer service is always great for me! I'm kind of biased though... i work for Sprint.

[1quick1]

I had Sprint for 7 years and for 3 of them I was a store manager at Radioshack selling Sprint phones. Without a doubt the worst customer service all the time. I went to Tmobile for 2 years and their customer service is awesome. I switched back to Sprint for this phone and when I called I distinctively remember thinking..oh God not this crap again...but then I was quickly greeted by a fellow English speaking brethren, who was extremely helpful.

Not sure if they are routing all the Pre calls to their best associates or not

[GMoney749]

I just came from the store near my house picking up a touchstone. It wasn't all that busy in there (they had a couple of Pres that were all spoken for) and I had three people running around helping me. I was asking if I could use any old micro USB cable and they said no, they were told it had to be the Palm version. And they were out of those. But then, while one gal is ringing me up at the register, one of the other folks searches the entire store for a cable and then just hands me the one he found in the back of the store, free of charge.

The gal at the register actually said, "Yeah, it used to be horrible, but we take great pride in our customer service now."

[GMoney749]

They really have improved. I remember a few years ago calling sprint customer support meant calling a 3rd world country where they didn't really speak english and tried to convince you their accent was Californian. Where I've been most impressed though is the reps in the store. I always prefer dealing face to face with a real person and my last three trips (over the last four years) to the corporate Sprint store have been home runs customer service wise.

My rep had a thick accent and was obviously not from around these parts, but unlike past experiences with foreign customer service, she was very helpful.

Not sure how it would have went if I had experienced an issue not on her script tho...

[beret9987]

Sprint Customer Service has been great to me so far. I complained about my activation fee, and they waived it along with giving me free 6PM N&Ws to boot. That and their techs were very helpful when I did an ESN swap with my Pre. I can't complain.

[Fyahstarter#WN]

I have been a 10 year customer between AT&T and Verizon. Before switching to Sprint, I was concerned about the customer service. We've all read about the horror stories last year (They ranked rock bottom in mid-08). I heard they recently implemented a new customer service turn around plan, but I wasn't really hoping for anything.

Today I had called them to complain about the reception I get at my house (Barely get 1 bar at times) and I thought about cancelling and returning the Pre. The customer service reps were very friendly and conversational with me (She wanted one, but Sprint won't allow reps to buy one until 6 months from now). She got me over to another department (probably retention) to talk about my service issues. The rep who I spoke to was also very friendly. And immediately after hearing my problems, gave me a free Airave with no monthly fees for 2 years!

I was absolutely shocked by the level of great customer service I received. I never received this kind of service with Verizon or AT&T (definately not AT&T).

Sprint customer service is the BEST.

Matter of fact...I had the same exact situation yesterday. Free Airwave w/ no monthly fee indefinitely as long as I turn back in the box. Got it taken care of in two phone calls...GO SPRINT!!!

[eddieras]

what department did you speak with for the free airwave??

[RobynG]

eddieras,

I originally called the main CS # to get a 15% credit reapplied to my bill that fell off when I changed plans. I asked why my Pre signal was nearly non-existent in my house when I was consistently able to use Treo, and mentioned that I heard Airave could be a solution. She read directly from her computer the criteria for free Airave: must be in qualifying geo area; have wireless cable/DSL; and be a high-value customer (she probably wasn't supposed to read this aloud).

She attempted to order Airave but could not from her computer and after a lengthy hold time, disconnect, another call, speaking to another rep and a supervisor, I was transferred to Account Services who arranged everything in under 5 minutes.

I also mentioned to the first rep that I was planning to cancel my landline because Treo signal was so strong (true) and now I couldn't do that, and that my iPhone friends got great service in my house too (true).

Airave is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Good luck on your attempt.

Robyn

[thedecline]

Wow, that is pretty impressive. Congrats . I have been a Sprint customer since 2000, and besides the incorrect bills at time haven't had any real problems with them. I also found that if you just kept asking to talk to superiors, you will eventually win.

Can Sprint reps really not buy a Pre for six months? Wow. The store I just ordered mine from yesterday (granted not a corporate store) had three reps with them when I was in the store.

To me it seems like kind of a bad idea to not let the people that are selling your product own the product to get some personal experience with it.

no sprint reps will be able to have them 6 weeks after the release date. i am actually a 3 party rep and i am still on a family plan with my family so i got one but a normal sprint dealer accounts will be opened up in a few weeks.

[fromtherockpile]

My Pre was supposed to be overnight'ed to the store so I could have it today. Apparently the computer defaults to 2 days shipping, and my Rep did not change it. SO, I must wait until tomorrow to get mine. Because of this, they are giving me a free car charger. Good enough for me.