Complaint Review: Nextel - Nationwide

I will try to keep this as professional as possible, but please excuse me if you see tha part (or most) of this is written out of my pure anguish towards this company.

My story starts about 4 months ago. I had a Motorola phone, serviced via Verizon. I was pleased with the company and their service. I was about to end the two year agreement with them, and although I was pleased with them, I started shopping the different cellular phone companies, trying to gather as much information as possible before making a decision. My fiancee and I finished our shopping with Nextel, and decided that they could be a suitable carrier of our phone service. We received two free phones, (the basic i530) with free activation. Due to our credit they did require a deposit, but I knew that most companies would from me. I signed the one year agreement, and the sales associate said that my new phones would be mailed by the middle of the following week. I was very excited because the one phone was for me, but the other was a first-time cell phone for my fiancee, part of her Christmas gift from me.

The next week came and I received the phones. Right away I had problems. One phone was ok, but the other was incorrectly mailed. I had to spend about an hour on the phone with their "help-line", which I must say was one of the worst experiences I have ever dealt. The first person I spoke to couldn't answer my question, transferred me, then that guy had to transfer me again, only I ended up back into his queue, so he AGAIN transferred me. Still no calls in or out from my phone at this time. Finally the lady I spoke with resolved my issue.

Later night I drove 45 minutes to my fiancees house to deliver her phone. Mine was ready for use, hers was still in the box. On the way into town my phone lost service. This was a surprise because the sales woman I dealt with assured me that I would have great service. I showed my fiancee and we decided to contact the "help-line", again. The man I spoke with said I could cancel my subscription but would have to speak with someone in retentions departemnt the next day. So I called back the next day and here is where my fun began.

I again had to go through three transfers just to get someone in retentions. When I did get someone I explained to her that I would be willing to keep one phone, but only for a discount rate. (This may seem too demanding, but after all, I was used by sales to get a sale, since even retentions confirmed that service was VERY limited where I asked, also this was the third call within 24 hours, and one phone had not even been opened yet) The lady indicated that there was nothing she could do, company policy restricted her from doing so,but she put in a ticket for me to be contacted by someone in their departemnt who could try to help, but I would have to wait 24 hours. I worked sales for 7 years and know that if you are going to lose a customer you should at least try to retain them. She didn;t even make any attempt, I had to actually ASK if there was anything she could do to keep face and keep my business. I told her that I could only be contacted between a certain time frame, and I needed to get this resolved as quickly as possible. She said that she could not tell them when to call, so I asked to speak to a manager. If you read other reports on this website for this company you will see that Nextel NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER lets you speak directly to a manager, they can only refer you to them, and they will call you back within 24 hours.

So here I am, 27 hours later. I just called, and they said that they were busy and my issues would be addressed as soon as possible. I told them just to cancel my service for both phones and I will overnight them back. The lady I spoke to said that I will have to wait until the 22nd for my credit to be issued on my credit card, and after the 22nd I will receive a "bill" that shows the credit for my deposit and any other fees. I am VERY fearful that they will pull something tricky and I will not get all my money back that I should, and I will have nothing to hold over them, because they have the phones.

If I at least used the phone, even once for thirty seconds, I would accept my loss. There "help-line" says that customers always come first, but I felt as if this was not the case. Of the 15 people I spoke with, I would say only 3 were actually willing to help, the rest tried to rush me away. I am thinking about contacting a lawyer now, so that in case my credit comes through incorrectly, short changed, or not at all, I will have the steps already in place.

On a more personal note, my fiancee and I were really excited about our new phones. I had to break the nes to her that all the time we spent shopping was basically wasted just because some sales-jerk lied to us. This broke my heart, because I saw her disappointment with the situation.

Finally, I will try to end this on a positive note. I contacted Verizon just now and they admitted that coverage for her area would be dificult to get. They also indicated that I qualified for one of their premium phones, would not have to pay any activation fees, and my service rate plan was far cheaper than that of Nextel. (With Nextel I would only get free 300 anytime minutes, with Verizon, I would get 500, for less. Nights and weekends included, blah blah blah, all that). If I only stuck with Verizon originally I would not have to deal with this hassle. If you are a lawyer, or know someone who could contact me about this my email address is

[email protected].

Concerned Sucker

Concerned Sucker

Albany, New York
U.S.A.

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