Angling for a Cellphone Upgrade

• Published in: The Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
• Main Author: Young, Shawn
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 10.11.2005
• Edition: Eastern edition
• Subjects: Cellular telephones; Customer services; Joint ventures; Prices; Service introduction; Technology
• ISSN: 0099-9660

The T-Mobile USA Inc. customer also had a bad experience in the store, where a representative simply printed up a list of phones that incorrectly said he wasn't entitled to "best upgrade pricing." He did better over the phone, where a customer-service representative saw that the computer system was misinterpreting his eligibility for an upgrade and called a supervisor to fix the problem. The trouble was that since he wasn't near the end of his contract, he appeared at first glance to be ineligible for a rebate. The price he was offered on the phone with a new two-year contract included a $50 rebate that he hadn't been offered at the store. Our Sprint Nextel Corp. tester did well online and at the store, where information was accurate and prompt. An emailed response to a question came within 12 hours instead of the 72 hours promised. The store was out of some models and hadn't yet gotten the latest phones, but the salesman said a shipment was due within days. On the phone, however, Sprint Nextel faltered. The first time our tester called, the representative couldn't get into his account for 10 minutes. The second call was transferred three times before it reached a salesperson who took about five minutes to understand our tester's request. By that time, she had him taking apart his current cellphone and reading numbers off the battery. A Sprint spokeswoman said customers "are always informed of their options for upgrading handsets."