Our Sprint Phone Adventure - Monday

Note: This Blog summarizes and documents a specific problem with our Sprint Phones. It is not meant to infer any unhappiness with Sprint other than with this specific issue. Indeed we have been a sprint customer for about 7 years and have been very happy. Sprint is aware of this blog and has been invited to post any response they wish.

It is Monday morning at appx. 10am and my trustworthy cell phone has stopped working! I get a message that says "your account cannot be verified". I dial *2 to get customer service and this is where the adventure of a lifetime begins!

The rep first tries to tell me I do not exist - after which I explain to her that I certainly can attest that I am alive and well and indeed DO exist. Once she realizes I am not some figment of her imagination, she then informs me that I was "nixed" by a person named J*** that very morning. Ah-ha, that name rings a bell - I had just bought a 3'rd phone and sprint aircard (boy does the air card work great!) from our local Sprint store from a person with that very name. Somehow that must be related.

After explaining the above to the phone rep, the response I get is that she certainly cannot take care of things like "dead accounts" so "please hold while I transfer you to someone who can take care of you" (Note to self: these people do not exist). After talking to two reps, I got passed to a third who was indignant, rude and downright mean - after taking all my personal information for a third time, he insisted on a PIN number (I have been a customer for appx. 7 years and never had a PIN number! - turns out the local store made one up for me when they added the Air card to my account). This rep basically hung up on me!

Time elapsed - 1 hour.

Now I am mad, cut off from the rest of humanity with a company that depends on these 3 cell phones that now do not work. Having sprint "Assassinate" you does not give you a warm fuzzy feeling (trust me). So now I decide I will have to drive 14 miles to the sprint store where I got the 3'rd phone and see this J*** who I am told is responsible for my problem (by the way - she is very sweet and took excellent care of me when I bought the 3'rd phone!). I get to the store at 1:40. There is a sign on the door saying "out to lunch, will be back at 1:45. That is in only 5 minutes and I am the only one there - if I wait I will be the first in line! Boy is that exciting - I now can vicariously bond with my 19 year old son who stood in line all night to buy an X-box last winter!

While I am waiting, I do what I always do, make phone calls - however the only number that works on my phone is *2 (customer service). So I try again. This time I ask the rep for a supervisor and state that I have a complaint about the 3 previous reps, especially the 3'rd one who was very rude. The new rep does everything but give me a supervisor - taking all my information for a 4'th time. Then he promises to give me to a supervisor who "can take care of all my problems" (where have I heard that before!), but I get transferred to a guy who, when I ask if he is a supervisor, replys with "huh" and doesn't seem to have a clue who I am or why I am here (I enjoy a brief flashback to Ross Perot's Running Mate's debate performance). As he starts asking for my information (a 5'th time now!!!), J*** arrives (now 1:50) and I follow her into the store and simply give her the phone and let her talk to the guy......

For the sake of space I will summarize the balance of the afternoon. J*** at the local Sprint Store spent the next 3+ hours 100% dedicated to trying to get our phones working. I came and went, ran errands, picked up my 4 and 5 year olds from school (Due to our Christmas rush, my Wife was drafted to help get our massive inrush of orders processed - she is so much better at office stuff than I that I gladly switch with her!), performed critical support services (ie. got J*** a Mocha Cappuccino at Moby's Coffee Shop www.mobyscoffee.com - Wonderful Coffee!). By 5pm J*** told me that she had been told every story in the book. The funniest was when they told her "we were a deadbeat customer and our account had been written off" - Being a smart girl, she asked how may late charges we had on our account, when told zero she got the Sprint rep to agree that that couldn't be so.

Just before 5pm she got my phone to work by reprogramming it, and we got one of the plant's phone's to work by reprogramming it over the phone (thanks Tracey!). However, no one could seem to get my Wife's phone to work and it was left that J*** would work on that first thing in the morning.

Count: We had talked to 34 separate Sprint reps, 24 miles of travel time, 6 hours of my time and 3.2 hours of the local rep's time. Two phone working, one still not working.

First Impressions

• "It's not what you say, but how you say it. "
• "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
• "Dress carefully, people will think you are what you advertise."

The classic Mom-ism's. Everyone's mother seemed to use the same phrases over and over. At 13 we were sure they were written in some outdated "Secret Mother's Handbook" and could not understand their logic. But as adults we begin to see the wisdom of Mom, both at home and in the business world.

In business, it is your storefront - complete with it's signage - that is often that "dressing" that gives people that all important first impression. For instance, your "OPEN" sign tells passers-by much more than the fact that you are "open". It can tell them........

• Your Clientele - the budget minded or exclusive.
• Your Store's Mood - Calm and Serine vs Exciting and New!
• Your Merchandise - Cheap Junk, or Quality Goods.
• Your Service Level - Super Fast Service, or Browse for Hours.

It is really quite amazing how one little word, presented in the right way can say all this and more about your business.

At Jantec Sign Group, we have made it our business to help you present that all important first impression! You will find "Marketing Tip" buttons throughout our web site ( www.jantecneon.com ) that will give you advice on how to select, or use our signs products. Or, better yet, call us today and ask for one of our Sign Consultants. They help dozens of businesses present their "first impression" every day and would be glad to help you with yours!

Quality Neon vs. Cheap Neon

Is it worth just $20 to buy the cheapest neon you can find on the web rather than pay a little more for a quality unit from a reputable UL listed sign manufacturer?

Our mission here at Jantec is to help Store and Brand owners improve their image (and bottom line) through the use of quality Neon Signs and other Sign Products.

As someone who is passionate about this, it frustrates me to see both small independent storefronts and large corporations go to a "internet" sign (I am defining that as a sign made by someone who has no idea how to make a quality sign, but can put up a flashy web site and price a cheaply made product lower, then disappear only to reappear with a different name later and do it again).

Why would a Salon spend $100,000 on their location, then refuse to spend what amounts to one dinner out for quality on the most visible part of their investment - their storefront.


Here is an example. This is a good Nail Salon, but it has a "Cheap Sign". Note the double image created by the glare on the backing (we take the time to paint the backs of our letters so this will not happen). The transformer is imported and is failing after only months - making the "A" in Spa very dim (it is much more noticeable in real life than in the photo).

They tried to promote their salon, but the result was to make themselves look bad (first impressions count for a lot!)

Money Saved - $40
Damage to their reputation and image - $$$ THOUSANDS $$$

What do you think? Let us know by writing us at blog@jantecneon.com

Coming Soon

Over the next few months, we will be adding posts with useful information concerning Neon Signs to this blog. We hope that the information will be useful as well as informative. If you have any suggestions for new topics, please contact us at blog@jantecneon.com and we will try to post relative information as soon as possible.