Goodbye, Sprint

After several months of frustration with Sprint Customer Service and spotty reception I decided to dump the phone, pay the early termination fee and switch to Verizon. Paying the ETF hurts but I just could not do business with Sprint any longer.

They deciding factor came down to performance issues, although the poor customer service alone could push people off this system. I was getting spotty, inconsistent signal strength. In contrast a different phone I have from Verizon works well with strong signal nearly everywhere I go. I was also concerned by the amount of rings a caller would have before my actual phone rang. This was no small number - we are talking seven rings or more sometimes. I tested it myself many times and was shocked. Add my own time to answer a call, 1, 2 maybe 3 rings and you have a customer on the phone (if they stay that long) for 10 rings or more. Unacceptable. If I lost two customers a month because of the poor phone performance the change is more than worth it.

I also decided to go with a PDA/Smartphone this time around. It helps to stay connected to email and I enjoy the convenience of the better browser to search for information on-the-go. After a lot of research I went with the BlackBerry 8830. I have two good friends who both have the phone and I trust their judgement significantly. Both gave glowing reviews. Add that to excellent feedback I saw at multiple sites and it seemed like the winner. I wanted to go with Verizon for the service & signal strengths and this phone seemed to fit my needs best.

I have always had an aversion to BlackBerry's, never believing they worked so well. Boy was I wrong. This is a fantastic phone. Voice quality is excellent, signal strength is strong and the data performance is zippy. email setup was a snap. I will write a more formal review over at the ACE Computer Services Blog in the future.

I was so giddy about the new phone the first night that I missed a critical step in setting up email/browser usage. I am sure it was in the manual but I completely skipped over that and started tapping away. After a while I decided to call customer service and see if my phone or plan was not setup properly. My call was handled fast, with courteous service by people who genuinely seemed to care. My problem was solved immediately and easily. The service rep even exchanged a couple emails with me via the phone to make sure it was working properly (even after the call ended). I was thanked for being a customer and kept on the line beyond the time my problem was solved - I said I could handle things after seeing the step I missed but the rep insisted on staying on the phone to make sure things worked completely.

I was in total shock. Never did I receive such treatment from Sprint. It was like going from the local motel to the Four Seasons. It is that fact that I have slept well on this decision since making the switch.

Thanks for reading!