The Cell Phone Game Pt. 1

Cell phone carriers are notoriously bad at customer service and they are always trying to raise your rates whenever they can. The only time this is an exception is when you have the power to leave without incurring an early termination fee (etf). There are really only two times that this occurs. The first is when your contract is up and the second is if they make any changes to your plan (this also includes if they change any fees on your bill). Many of you know that I worked in the wireless industry for five years so I know where the info is and I still have a bunch of friends that work in wireless. So how do you negotiate with the monster wireless companies? You go for the jugular.

The key to all of this is to get transfered to your companies retention department. These people are trained to give good customers what they want to keep them paying. Now I have had a Sprint phone since 2000 and I have four lines of service (this makes me valuable). So when Sprint recently changed my plan due to a change in their billing system I immediately went to retentions intent on getting my old plan back. There is no need to be nasty just express your frustration and ask for what you want. So what did I ask for on top of my old plan back? I got my 3rd and 4th lines changed from $10 per month to free. I got my text messaging upgraded to unlimited for free and I got a feature from Sprint called Pick 3 where I pick three numbers outside the Sprint network that I can make and receive calls from for free. So my plan ended up being:

4 phones
1500 Minutes
Free mobile to mobile
No Roaming
Overage minutes only 10 cents per minute
Free unlimited text
Free Pick 3
5% loyalty discount
Total before taxes $64

That is what can be accomplished by negotiating yourself into a new contract.  The best sources for information can be found by typing  "your cell phone companies name" followed by "users forum" into Blingo (or if you are a heathen Google).  Sprint has, by far, the best forum at SprintUsers.com.  That is probably because it has been around the longest (since before I was working there)  and sprint is lower on the customer service totem pole.

Tomorrow I am going to explain why the Pick 3 option is such a big deal.  You are not going to want to miss it.