I don't be-lieve it!

Well, I did go to the Sprint store on Xmas eve to sign up for new cell phone service. I got there about 20 minutes before the mall was closing, quickly picked out some phones, told the guy what plans I wanted, filled out the paperwork, and handed it to him. He had a computer there, so I expected him to start typing and get everything activated quickly. Instead he picked up his cell and called the customer service... after 5 minutes of being on hold he got hold of a rep, and gave them my information. They refused the order saying that my home address was not in the 703 area code, it was in the 540 region (it's actually a split region, with both being used, although everyone I know has a 703 number). So they wouldn't let me transfer my existing 703 numbers from my current carrier. The salesman then tried giving the mall as my home address... again they declined, after he offered to give his home address as my address, and everyone else in the mall had closed, I told him to forget it, and I'd just go back after the holidays and sort it out.

10 minutes later I was in the car driving home when my cell rang, it was the salesman, customer service refused to cancel it because I wasn't present. So he gave me the phone number, I pulled over called in, and sat on hold for 10 minutes before getting hold of someone, who seemed perplexed by the situation until I explained it for the 3rd time, then told he me that it was cancelled.

This week I got a bill for $147.31 from Sprint... I called customer service, and after 5 minutes of waiting I explained the situation to the rep. She put me on hold, 15 minutes later another rep got on, he told me that it was my fault that I didn't call in and cancel it, despite me actually doing that. After I explained to him for the 3rd time that the phones had never been in my possession, nor did they have a signed contract with me (since the sales rep had handed all copies to me, and I destroyed them), he agreed to refund the bill. It really was like pulling teeth, this guy did not want to acknowledge that his company had made a mistake. The real fun thing is that he told me that with the way their system works, I'll get another bill next month for the pro-rated amount from the day I started the service to the day I cancelled it, and I'll have to jump through the hoops again then to get that wiped out. Suddenly I'm not too thrilled about the prospect of switching to Sprint...

So why the title? Well I'm starting to feel a bit Victor Meldrew-ish, although my wife has accused me of that for a long time ;)