Sprint Phone NUMBER not Working

For several years, I was the "go to" guy for Cingular wireless number
portability problems and handled the majority of the worst porting
messes that Cingular had for the National WLNP support group centered
in Richardson, Texas.

This is probably resolved now, but in my experience, virtually every
time this happens, there has been some sort of attempt at porting the
number which changes the carrier ownership - or puts it into
limbo(between carries in an incomplete porting process). It could have
been ported by another carrier and is stuck in the process, or several
other reasons.

In any event, Sprint needs to be told to check the LSMS ownership of
the number. If LSMS(basically a wireless clearing house that
determines ownership) says that it it owned by another carrier, then
Sprint will need to cancel your number in their system - due to port
out - and port your numer back - NO CHARGE. If still Sprint owns the
number according to LSMS, then the offending carrier needs to be
contacted to cancel the port that was sent by them. Once that is done
Sprint will need to resend the activation to the switch again and the
phone should work fine.

I resolved hundreds of similar problems for Cingular customers that
had no service or mixed service due to a porting problem( yes, I know
you didn't port your number, but all it takes for a problem like this
is a customer rep. at another carrier fatfingering the phone number on
a port request). My service level agreement for porting problems was
basically 2 days.

Somebody at Sprint needs to get off of their backside and resolve
this. It is not a diffcult problem to fix.

I know exactly what you are going through. Sprint really doesn't care
and you are right the people don't even email you back. My phone
stopped working because when my husband got a new phone and they
activated it mine complete shut down. When I went back in the store
and they set it back correctly it totally wiped out the number and the
phone in their system showing that I have a new phone and they took my
refund. I hate Sprint.. You can possibly go to Verizon and try their
service until your phone is fixed. Hopefully by now it is fixed.

Pain and suffering and lost wages. Thanks for the laugh. Are you one
of those "special" real estate people who somehow poop millions of
dollars each time you go to the bathroom? And lost wages, wow....by
now I'm sure you'd have sold an entire towns worth of homes, unless of
course you're located on the East Coast where the market really
sucks!

I've never heard of the phone service not working and them not being
able to find your number in the data base. I'm positive there is way
more to this story that you chose to omit in order to have a better
letter. Why don't you try a do-over and put back in the stuff that
you omitted so it actually makes sense. That's called taking
responsibility and then asking for help. Pretty simple concept too.

Good luck!

I think you're blowing this WAY out of proportion! You had pain and
suffering?!!! You do have a point, but your letter is terrible. You
want a free phone, blue tooth, and one FREE year of Blackberry
service?! Are you nuts!!! That is just stupid to ask for all that free
stuff.

Well I hadn't been back out here since Sprint fixed my phone number
and gave me a one month credit for my "pain and suffering" :-) That
was about a week ago, and guess what? My phone number stopped working
again today 6/1/07 and it's the same issue as before. I want to allow
the experts to tell me what I should do now since I obviously have
ridiculous demands for what I think is fair compensation. I think we
can all agree that the first incident was probably a mistake, but
again in less than two weeks now that is just poor poor poor...

because their computer got a glitch ro whatever you want a new phone
of your choice, and a free year of service ? if I was sprint I would
give you this, on one condition. I get to choose where your old phone
goes. sideways....

I googled her name and location to see if I could find where her ads
had been run that she would be losing out on that kind of revenue.

Both websites that are linked to her:
http://www.completerealtyusa.com/
and
http://www.ldstevenson.com/
are not functional.

There is an interesting link at:
http://www.incredibleagents.com/real-estate-agents/TX/Houston/Complete
-Realty/Lakeiba-Stevenson/index.html

which could be an excellent marketing opportunity for her, but it
appears she has not completed a profile.

No wonder people are having a hard time reaching her!

I see no mention of any news articles or other electronic mediums
where she is mentioned, but that's not to say that she doesn't have
print or TV/radio spots going. But as a realtor today, that alone
would severely limit the kind of exposure she'd need.

HOWEVER, I would add that if the websites don't work, pinning lost
revenue solely on Sprint is kind of unfair. Right now it looks like
the only way anyone could reach you is by snail mail or to walk into
your office location!

As to your co-worker who responded "Has anyone ever just wanted to
vent?" That's fine and dandy, but a letter to a company about their
service is NOT the place to do it. You both as business professionals
should know better than to post a diatribe about another company like
this on a public forum and expect to be taken seriously.

As everyone else said, your complaint is valid and they should
absolutely take care of your service issues promptly, but you are in
no way entitled to the grand laundry list of comps you're demanding.

I for one am not a big Sprint fan. Their customer service is a joke
at best and I couldn't imagine trusing my business to them with their
track record. But again, to post a letter like this making all sorts
of demands and ranting about your "freaking" phone is about as
unprofessional as it gets.

Working in the cell industry, I can ASSUME, again ASSUME, what
happened here. She called Cingular and was mad. She told Cingular to
cancel her phone and Cingular did. She went to Sprint and activated
new service and wanted to port her number to Sprint. Now, once a
number is cancelled, it cannot be ported. Again, just an assupmtion.
The OP should call Cingular. They will tell her if her NUMBER was
ported out or cancelled. If cancelled, Cingular should be able to
reactivate it. And, if she is nice to the Cingular rep on the phone
they may not put a new contract when reactivated(which is standard in
the wireless industry). So in the end, IF the NUMBER was ported, she
can stay with Cingular if reactivated, or pay an ETF to port to
Sprint, Verizon, or whoever will give her a free FREAKING Treo, a free
FREAKING bluetooth, and free FREAKING blackberry service. Remember be
NICE to the call center reps, it goes a long way.

First I would like to point out that this letter WAS sent to Sprint,
unprofessionalism and all.

Second, LadyMac is a licensed attorney and a very close friend of
mine. You should take what she has said very seriously. She would
not comment if she didn't know what she was talking about.

Third, what you have asked for is up and beyond what you deserve. You
admitted this transpired while porting your number... who is to say
that Sprint is even to blame. Perhaps Cingular is the cause of the
problems?

Really, I don't blame you for being upset. Someone is certainly wrong
however do you expect to pay more than someone has put in if you make
a mistake at work? Your demands are unreasonable. You come off as
incompetent and someone who gets lost the first sign of trouble. Yes,
6 days is excessive but there is fault in your argument. Cell phones
are not 100% reliable. If I call a cell phone number and it does not
work, I would call the alternate number presented to me.

Good luck with your lawsuit... the next time you receive a rate
increase I hope you remember what frivolous lawsuits mean to a company
and cost the customers.

As many have said, you have a valid complaint about your phone number
not working. However, your demands are over the top it seems.

I'm curious to know what would happen if you had a major catastrophe
with another aspect of your business such as a computer crashing or
perhaps your primary mode of transportation breaking down? Has the
thought ever occurred that perhaps you should have a contingency
plan?

The other thought is....if you are a real estate broker, do you report
to some kind of home office?? Unless you are an independent Real
Estate Broker, I wuold think you wuold have at least one back-up phone
number people could use in the event your cell phone isn't working...

As the saying goes there is more than one way to skin a cat...at least
come up with a contingency plan...because I am sure if your computer
fried on you or you suddenly were without use of an automobile you
would not blame the computer maker or automaker of what happened.

And for the demands...see if they could work with you to give you a
reduction on your future bills. I agree Sprint could do better with
their Customer Service but if you learn to work with them you might be
better off in the long run.

I am struck by all of the negative perceptions of many of those that
have posted comments. Has anyone ever just wanted to vent? Lakeiba is
my business partner and has been for 5 years, temporary outages...no
letters, tons of dropped calls...no letters, receiving and being
billed for phones she hasn't ordered....no letters. I am a real
estate professional, I am in the business of selling myself. Five
years of advertising, radio, business cards, mail outs, pamphlets, the
list doesn't end, all just became negated when her phone number...not
phone, stopped working. When you call someone and get that ding dong
and lady on the voice mail telling you that the number isn't working,
your immediate inclination is that the person didn't pay their bill.
That looks terrible. She had just dropped a new newspaper ad within
days of this fiasco, her phone was ringing off the hook. While we both
agree that it will difficult to quantify the true impact this will
have to her business, the outcome could be devastating. I gets calls
every day from new clients, that got my number from old clients. And
yes, we do have our company name on signs, but oh ye' of limited
understanding, that is far beneath the scope of our business. We
don't just list properties, did it ever occur to you that buyers may
be calling as well, not driven to us by a particular home at all. She
has tried to resolve this issue through all of the proper channels to
no avail. Regardless of her use of improper legal jargon, the attorney
has already taken the case.

I'm calling this one. TROLLING!

No one is absolutely stupid enough to write a letter so poorly and
request such outlandish merchandise and service.

Is it me or does something not sit right in this letter? First the use
of caps only emphasises the worst points of the letter. The loss of
thousands in business. (I would venture it being more toward the
millions after 120 days, if this is true.)
Then the possible resolutions... free blackberry treo of her choice
plus free blackberry service for a year and the "Threat" of legal
action should this not come to fruition...

I certainly would hope any realtor would not use the word "Freaking".
I know if someone showed me a home and used that word to describe a
house (Follow me to the freaking dining room...notice the freaking
crown molding and parquet floor"...etc etc etc... that they would
generate thousands in sales over a three month period. I know it from
frustration and being upset, but it's just poor form.

"Otherwise I will take the appropriate action for the pain and
suffering and lost wages."
Take this part out, it really weakens your letter by being a hollow
threat with poorly chosen legal "buzz words".

I'm curious - - how long have you been a Sprint customer? Could this
be a situation that they recently ported your number from Cingular and
something went wrong?

Surely being a professional business person such as yourself you know
that demands such as yours won't get you very far.

To sum up everything everyone else has already said:

Valid complaint.

Insane demands.

You won't get a cent from them, let alone a free phone. You won't get
a cent from them if you sue.

Harsh, but true.

If you are such an important businessperson and a phone is vital to
your existence, why don't you have a back-up or a spare phone to use
in the meantime. It doesn't have to be a super phone just a basic one.

They aren't going to comp you for "damamges".. esp. not what you want.
appropriate action? what.. sue? They'll say you should have put
another number on the flyers. Cell phones aren't 100% reliable.

- Inflation of perceived damages caused due to lack of service.
- Over-the-top freebie grab.

If I wanted to look at any of the houses you had listed, I would call
the REALTY company that you work for if I was unable to reach you on
your cell phone number. A simple Google search showed several numbers
at which I could reach you, so your lost business claim just went down
the tubes.

In the days before LNP (local number portability) people switched cell
numbers all the time. If they wanted a better deal from another
carrier, they had to take a new number. If I had a cell number for
someone from a few years ago and was trying to reach them and got a
recording, I would assume they had a new cell number and track them
down another way.

I don't think you are giving people enough credit for actually having
a brain. If someone truly wants to find you, they can, especially
since you have a name that's not so common.

perfectly put, Harleycat! As a customer, I would figure they've
changed numbers and find them another way. It would not cost a
realtor my business, unless I couldn't locate another number for them.

There is a clause in there (and all other service providers) website
that they are not responsible for lost wages or business or your
customers.

You ruined a perfectly valid complaint with your over the top
demands.

First of all, demanding they fix it RIGHT NOW through a third party
website is not going to work. It's not going to get it fixed right
now because, chances are, this letter, once sent by PFB, will probably
go through many hands at Sprint before it finally gets to someone who
might help you.

Fixing the problem is a reasonable request, some sort of credit,
maybe, a free Treo, Blackberry service and Blue Tooth..NOT.

Pain and suffering? Have you been injured? Lost wages? Can you
provide proof that you lost sales because of this? I doubt it. Also,
I'm sure somewhere in the contract they have is a clause that they are
not responsible for any damages due to service outages.

All the real estate brokers that advertise around here list both a
cell phone and a landline phone. That's good business sense. Have
you tried accessing your messages via a landline? You can do this you
know. At the same time you can change your greeting and have it ask
the callers to ring another number. I do this all the time when our
salesmen leave and take their phones with them. I deac the phone,
transfer the number to another unit and change the greeting.

BTW..saying FREAKING in a business letter...priceless!

Lawyer hat going on:

"Otherwise I will take the appropriate action for the pain and
suffering and lost wages."

Strike one - Pain and suffering is a classification of damages that
can arise when there has been a physical injury. I see no physical
injury in this complaint, thus your demand for pain and suffering is,
at best, going to be ignore and, at worst, laughed at.

Strike two - Lost wages. You are going to have an exceptionally hard
time in a dead real estate market to prove conclusively that BUT FOR
Sprint's lack of service, your business was harmed. It's not going to
be enough to say you "might" have lost business - you need to
affirmatively prove it. That's a really tough one.

Lawyer hat going off.

Strike 3 - You want a brand new phone, blue tooth and free service for
365 days for them not providing you service for 5 days? I swear I can
hear the laughter from here.

You're out.

It's sad, I think you have a really decent complaint here. But I
think you need to rewrite it without the over-the-top demands and
without all the vitriol.

Good luck.