Cell phone companies

What is it with cell phone companies? Can they ever actually get an order correct? When I signed up with my current phone company, we'll call it A, I signed up for a plan where C. and I could share minutes on one bill. However, that particular fact seemed to escape the woman that I spent nearly an hour with on the phone, and she somehow got my phone and his phone setup on different accounts. I didn't figure that out, of course, until I got separate bills and noticed that the calls on C.'s were being charged at 45 cents a minute. So, I spent almost another hour on with different people trying to get that figured out.

Skip ahead now to me setting up new service and ordering a new phone. I called a new company, we'll call it B, and ordered a new phone (a really kick-ass phone I might add), a car charger, and the new service agreement. Apparently this company just switched to a new computer system, so I spent several minutes listening to, "sorry, but the system is being really slow right now" and so on. Finally, toward the end of the call, the system went down completely, so my information had to be taken manually and then he would input it into the system later in the day. The guy read stuff back to me correctly and I happily hung up, excited to receive my new cool phone in a few days. If only the story ended there...

Last night, I receive an order confirmation email and notice that my name is spelled incorrectly and that the address is off. So, I call B back and explain the situation. The gal who answers says, "I'm sorry, but the system is down again so I can't correct your information at this time. Please call back tomorrow morning to have it corrected. We open at 5:00 AM." Huh...ok.

I call back this morning about 10:00 AM (I was in la-la land at 5:00). I spend a 1/2 hour on the phone waiting for someone to answer, and memorizing the dumb Musak version of some song I can't figure out that they play over and over and over again. I then have to run for a meeting, so have to hang up. I then call back and wait for another 1/2 hour and finally get someone on the other line. This guy tells me that my phone and charger are in their truck on the way to UPS, so there is no tracking number yet and no way for them to call UPS yet to let them know the correct address. He tells me to call back later in the day when UPS gets the packages and then B will have to call UPS with the correct address.

So, I call tonight at 7:00 and explain the story again. The guy on the other line says, "Ok, just hold on one minute." He comes back a few minutes later and explains that his supervisor has told him that B can't do that - they have an agreement with UPS that they can't change the shipping address once UPS picks up the package. I politely ask to speak with the particular supervisor who has told him this, and I'm transferred. After he finishes his explanation, I explain that I've been proactive at calling back to have the information updated, and through no fault of my own 1) my information was incorrectly recorded and 2) the system was down, so I did not receive a confirmation in a timely manner to get it updated before the shipment went out to UPS. I ask if they can send me a new order of the phone and charger, and then they'll receive the other one back at some point when the people who receive it have no idea who I am and why they've received a package, so they'll send it back. He agrees. I then spend another 1/2 hour on the phone with the other nice guy who gets my information entered into the system correctly.

Considering that you have to select a particular department when you call these companies, and it's always something like, "to setup new cell phone service, press 1", you'd think the people on the other line would actually know how to set something up correctly. I mean, isn't that their job? I realize that mistakes happen, but I've talked to several people who have had similar experiences. Oh well. As long as I get my cool new phone, I'll be happy.