Should you switch cell phone
 providers
sooner than later?
Why adventure riders think 'Sprint PCS sucks' as well as several
other carriers
'Sprint PCS Sucks' is a fairly common cry among their customers.
Especially those who ride motorcycles beyond the interstates and big
towns. If that's you perhaps you’re ready for some better cell phone
service?
Eight years ago I began riding motorcycles in Washington State
and began what soon would become a nightmare relationship with
Sprint PCS at the same time.
At first it was fine. I was aware my coverage would work up and
down I-5 and in major cities in the Northwest like Seattle and
Portland. I lived in metropolitan Seattle and kept close to the main
interstates. I had service when I needed it for the first year or
so.
After a while my motorcycle and I began to venture into places
like Vancouver Canada, the Cascades Highway and the San Juan
Islands. In those places there was no Sprint PCS coverage, but
sometimes I could choose the analog roaming option. I remember the
first and only time I did that. It was a six minute phone call to
Seattle from Winthrop in the Cascades. That call cost $14. Roaming
really wasn’t an option in terms of economics.
As the years went by I began to venture further and further into
nowhere land as far as my Sprint CS coverage went. I recall a night
just a year ago sitting above Summer Lake in Oregon. There we were
at 7,500 feet elevation in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t even
think of trying my cell phone. Then two others I was riding with
flipped open their phones, called the wives at home and bingo – the
calls connected. I tried my Sprint PCS phone – no go. After they
finished I had to ask – "What carrier are you using?" "Verizon" they
both responded. "I got tired of that Sprint PCS crap and switched a
few months ago" noted one.
I did the honorable thing and visited my Sprint PCS
representative. He offered a plan for unlimited roaming for an
additional five dollars a month. Sounded like a good thing and he
promised I’d get all the same access as Verizon customers had. Even
had the charts and graphs to prove it. Knowing they might ding me
for leaving the plan, I opted for the package and gave it a try.
There I was, touring through the northwest one afternoon in the
middle of scenic beauty with not much metropolis nearby. I needed to
make a call back home and pulled out the phone. Next thing I heard
was this – "You have reached the Cellular One network for which you
currently don’t have access to at this time – beep – beep - beep-
beep. Super, I’m paying five bucks more a month so I can hear
blocking messages like this.
Then there was the escapade of the numerous dropped calls during
the pre-routing for the Trollhaugen Dualsport last June. Less than a
mile from I-90 and just below Snoqualmie Pass I’d dial, get my party
and within a minute the call would drop. This made for lots of fun
trying to arrange for inner tubes to be delivered during a flat tire
episode. I finally asked Tom Samuelson who I was riding with if I
could make the call on his cell phone – a Verizon line of course.
After that I went to visit my local Sprint PCS representative and
asked him to check my account. How much would it cost to terminate
the plan and move to another carrier? "Nothing he responded." So I
ditched the plan and went over to the Verizon representative next
door and signed up.
Verizon’s tag line in the current round of advertising is
"There’s only one reason to use Verizon – It’s the network." Right.
At least for me and perhaps for you as well if you like to ride out
to the boonies with any frequency.
A few weeks later my final Sprint PCS bill arrived. I was charged
$300 for terminating the plan based on the fact we’d added an extra
line 18 months earlier. That’s not what the rep told me when I asked
so I called customer service. Several times the call was
mysteriously dropped, others times there were moments of perpetual
hold and finally after two days of trying to get some recourse I was
finally put on the line with a supervisor who would absolutely not
back up the information the Sprint PCS representative provided me
when I initially inquired about termination fees before my exodus.
So after eight years as a customer there I was with a $300 bill
which I believe the attorney general’s office will find amusing.
There are plenty of other nightmare stories about Sprint PCS
(troll the web and Google "Sprint PCS Nightmare") as well as
companies like T-Mobile, Cingular and Nextel. The message here is
two fold. If you’re riding a motorcycle extensively beyond the main
roads having good cell coverage is critical. But before you switch
carriers you’d do well to get it on paper that there are no
additional charges when your make the changeover.
See you in the boonies.
TM/Summer 06 |
