[cfbauer]

Hey all,

About 18 hours ago now, right about when I first tried checking if WebOS 1.2 had dropped, all my service from Sprint stopped. "Searching..." perpetually appeared on the top left corner of my 2 week old Pre, and an X crossed out the empty service bars in the top right.

My girlfriend called my house phone (weird we still have one of those) a bit unnerved since her calls to me had gone straight to voicemail for a few hours. If anyone knows me they know that would never happen.

This afternoon, the phone was still "Searching..." I went on an experiment, and went to get my car's oil changed and see if I got service anywhere else. No dice.

Luckily the oil change place is right across from the Sprint store, so I went in to see what they could do. After looking through the phone for some sort of "wireless setting" and not seeing one, they asked where I bought the phone, I told them Radio Shack. They informed me the phones from Radio Shack were actually refurbished, which I'm not sure I believe, but according to the Sprint Store employees the RS phones suck and are also missing a way to check whatever they needed to check. They kind of poked fun at me for having the gall to save $100 by buying from Radio Shack (the horror!), and sent me there to get it fixed.

At Radio Shack, I was handed the store's phone and told to call Sprint Technical support. After about 10 minutes of technical support "looking into it", Fadona informed me that 3 phone towers in my area weren't working, which is why I wasn't getting service. This blows me away. She has no idea when they'll be back up and running either. I live about 4 miles from Downtown San Diego, and apparently everyone in my area has no Sprint Service. According to Fadona, at least.

She said she will credit my account for the amount of time my phone doesn't work. I asked if they will let me terminate my contract because of this. Seems fair to me, the contract states that I will pay my service fee every month, and in exchange they will provide cell phone service. If they do not provide cell phone service, they have not followed their end of the contract.

Apparently Fadona doesn't see it that way, and will not allow me out of my contract. I told her I was not satisfied, and to make a note of that in my record. She offered no other amends.

Anyway, I'm going to use this thread to share my story and keep track of everything. This isn't over.

-Chris

tl;dr: Sprint cut off my service for 18 hours now and hasn't done anything about it.

[JRH]

is the phone working now???...and if not, do you know anyone else with Sprint in the area you could call and see if their phone is working???....did anyone at RS have a Sprint phone that wasn't working??

[cfbauer]

is the phone working now???...and if not, do you know anyone else with Sprint in the area you could call and see if their phone is working???....did anyone at RS have a Sprint phone that wasn't working??

No, it's not working now. I should have checked with Radio Shack. I've gotten to know the sales guy, I'll call with my home phone and ask him if they have any Sprint phones working.

[mrloserpunk]

it sucks, but the contract does not state they will provide you with service everywhere and at anytime...It simply does not. I'm not trying to flame you here, but technical outtages occur. It's a fact of life. I'd be much more ****ed about the crappy store support....you pay sprint. They should have been able to tell you the towers are down, you shouldnt have to go to radioshack to find that out.

[cfbauer]

it sucks, but the contract does not state they will provide you with service everywhere and at anytime...It simply does not. I'm not trying to flame you here, but technical outtages occur. It's a fact of life. I'd be much more ****ed about the crappy store support....you pay sprint. They should have been able to tell you the towers are down, you shouldnt have to go to radioshack to find that out.

Yeah, I hear ya on all fronts. The Sprint store employees had this really obnoxious attitude about buying the phone from Radio Shack. It's like hey, how can you fault someone for buying the same phone for $100 less, rather than waiting around 8-10 weeks or however long it takes for the rebate.

Anyone else heard about Radio Shack selling refurbished phones?

In other news, I got off the phone with Radio Shack, none of their Sprint phones, or their pre-paid Virgin phones are working. Except their outage has only been a few hours, mine is around 18 hours and counting.

[shadavis08]

they will reinburse you thats for sure just call them when ur service comes back on and they will prorate ur bill although it sucks to not have service . i do understand, but after hurricane ivan i had no service for weeks and got a great reduction in my bill plus a discount for being in a hurricane disaster zone so they will work with you im sure .

[cfbauer]

they will reinburse you thats for sure just call them when ur service comes back on and they will prorate ur bill although it sucks to not have service . i do understand, but after hurricane ivan i had no service for weeks and got a great reduction in my bill plus a discount for being in a hurricane disaster zone so they will work with you im sure .

I think people out of service for a day and a half without warning deserve more than reimbursement for the prorated time. Losing phone service unannounced can be a big burden.

[mrloserpunk]

Yeah, I hear ya on all fronts. The Sprint store employees had this really obnoxious attitude about buying the phone from Radio Shack. It's like hey, how can you fault someone for buying the same phone for $100 less, rather than waiting around 8-10 weeks or however long it takes for the rebate.

Anyone else heard about Radio Shack selling refurbished phones?

In other news, I got off the phone with Radio Shack, none of their Sprint phones, or their pre-paid Virgin phones are working. Except their outage has only been a few hours, mine is around 18 hours and counting.

I have heard of some issues.... There was a few posts awhile back of people buying phones at radio shack brand new, and then found out that the pandora app already had a profile loaded. In fact one was able to contact the previous owner and confirmed he had returned a pre for being defective hours before the OP(not of this thread) purchased the same phone as Brand new from radio shack!

Could be where they are getting it from. But expect differances when buying from one company or another, exspecially if one is offering a "killer" deal....I bought some phones from wirefly 1 time. Spent 4 hours waiting on hold for customer care to exchange it for another device, only to be told their return period is only 14 days instead of the 30days carriers offer.......I got a great deal on that phone, just turned out not to be the phone or experiance I wanted...

Obviously your situation is differant. Sprint really dropped the ball, and you should let the District Manager know what happened, I had to pull that card when I was having issues getting a new pre because of dead pixels... I have no problem with resellers or 3rd parties, just know that they are selling the phone at better terms for a reason...not because they are just nicer of a company!

[cfbauer]

Interesting. I'll call Sprint again and tell them the whole story.

I also wonder about the mystery app that the Sprint Store employee was looking for but couldn't find on my RS Pre.

[JRH]

well if other Sprint phones in the area aren't working then I guess you just out of luck for now....IMO it's just the nature of the beast, sh!t happens and that's part of cell phone use....sometimes my U-Verse broadband goes out after a storm and after awhile it comes back on...another reason I still have a land line....I opted not to go with the Uverse VOIP and I'm glad I did.

[mrloserpunk]

Interesting. I'll call Sprint again and tell them the whole story.

I also wonder about the mystery app that the Sprint Store employee was looking for but couldn't find on my RS Pre.

It was the STOOPID APP. The one only those employees have. Seriously, there is only 1 pre in america right now. They wanted to go to the dialer and hit preferances to see if you were in a "sprint only" config is my bet. That would prevent you from roaming and getting signal off VRZ towers...open up the dialer, tap on upper left side, go to preferances and make sure it says automatic for the network voice settings...that will let the pre determine when to use a roaming tower or sprints based on signal strength. Set to sprint only, removes the option to roam.

[bluenote]

RS in my area was much nicer than sprint. Bought and exchanged with them--the phones were new.

[cfbauer]

well if other Sprint phones in the area aren't working then I guess you just out of luck for now....IMO it's just the nature of the beast, sh!t happens and that's part of cell phone use....sometimes my U-Verse broadband goes out after a storm and after awhile it comes back on...another reason I still have a land line....I opted not to go with the Uverse VOIP and I'm glad I did.

I understand that things happen. If my service goes out for two hours after a storm I get that.

I just realized I've been mis-calculating how long I've been without service. It's actually been about 30 hours now. And there hasn't been a storm. I don't see that as something that's just the nature of the beast.

It was the STOOPID APP. The one only those employees have. Seriously, there is only 1 pre in america right now. They wanted to go to the dialer and hit preferances to see if you were in a "sprint only" config is my bet. That would prevent you from roaming and getting signal off VRZ towers...open up the dialer, tap on upper left side, go to preferances and make sure it says automatic for the network voice settings...that will let the pre determine when to use a roaming tower or sprints based on signal strength. Set to sprint only, removes the option to roam.

Cool, thanks. I have the everything 450 plan, would enabling data roaming potentially cost extra per month?

[mrloserpunk]

I understand that things happen. If my service goes out for two hours after a storm I get that.

I just realized I've been mis-calculating how long I've been without service. It's actually been about 30 hours now. And there hasn't been a storm. I don't see that as something that's just the nature of the beast.


Cool, thanks. I have the everything 450 plan, would enabling data roaming potentially cost extra per month?

your golden. no roaming charges on that plan within the US. I am on the everything 1500 and I use the Roam only hack to give me service at my new place because for some reason the Pre does not pick up more than a bar of signal. My GF rant does ok there...I think the pre's radio needs some software work or something...ever notice it jumping between 5 bars EVDO and 1xx roaming without moving the phone? I do at my new house, and it KILLS the battery too boot! Almost time for an airrave because of it.........

[DittoBox]

Got mine at radioshack. ##786# shows that it's a new phone. Sprint store guys were havin' a laugh.

RS did manage to screw up the setup on the phone though, and it took 2.5 days before they finally did a hard reset and got it working.

[cfbauer]

Got mine at radioshack. ##786# shows that it's a new phone. Sprint store guys were havin' a laugh.

RS did manage to screw up the setup on the phone though, and it took 2.5 days before they finally did a hard reset and got it working.

Cool trick. Yeah, mine's definitely new.

[mrloserpunk]

what was your setting in phone preferances? just curious, but if sprints towers are down and there is no agreement with VRZ in your area you are up the brown river and your paddle just got eaten by an alligator...at least you can use it with wifi right?

[cfbauer]

It was indeed set to Sprint Only. I set it to automatic, but I'm still not getting service.

I can use WiFi to surf the Internet, but I'm not getting text messages, nor am I able to use the phone.

[mrloserpunk]

It was indeed set to Sprint Only. I set it to automatic, but I'm still not getting service.

I can use WiFi to surf the Internet, but I'm not getting text messages, nor am I able to use the phone.

yeah, those roaming agreements are nice, but in reality they wont let the other companies use all of their towers, otherwise there would be no competitive advantage. Sucks for sure!

[cfbauer]

yeah, those roaming agreements are nice, but in reality they wont let the other companies use all of their towers, otherwise there would be no competitive advantage. Sucks for sure!

I didn't get great Verizon service at my house anyway. Shouldn't I be able to make calls and receive texts over WiFi?