Sprint Customer Service

I recently got a new phone, the “Blade”, (Sprint’s Razr), and in the process of playing with it I was trying to find out how to set uploaded media as ringtones. I became pretty sure that I couldn’t, and so I wanted to see if Sprint would take requests to add good ones for download (the defaults are all pretty bad, and I’m not interested in any that they have right now). I contacted Customer Service, with what I thought was a very simple request. It follows:

Is there any way to request ringtones? None of the songs I'd like to have as ringtones are available. Also, is there any way to set songs that are in media as ringtones on the A-900? I've looked, and it doesn't seem to be possible, which is quite disappointing as there's not nearly enough memory for the phone to be a decent MP3 player, nullifying the point of being able to put songs on it at all. (Also, the A-900's main competitor, the Razr, is capable of doing this).

The response I got was:

Thank you for contacting Sprint together with Nextel. I will be happy to assist you regarding ringers.

There are two ways to download games, ringers, or screen savers to your PCS phone.

The first is through the Sprint website:

1. Log on to "http://www.sprint.com", select My PCS Wireless in the Manage accounts drop down.
2. Enter your PCS Phone Number and password and click 'Log in'
3. Click on the 'Content Catalog' hyperlink under the section 'Get Games, Ringers, Screen Savers and More ' to search for the game, ringer, or screen saver
4. Click on the desired feature and select the 'Buy it now' button
5. The item will be saved in your 'Content Manager' but not on your handset
6. Use your PCS Vision device to access the Web
7. Select 'My Content Manager' from the drop down menu on the Vision home page
8. Find the item that was purchased and scroll to the bottom and select 'Download'
9. The item will now be saved to your PCS Vision device in the Downloads' menu.

The second way is through the PCS Vision Phone:

1. Use your PCS Vision device to access the Web
2. Select the category of the item you wish to download and select 'Go'
3. Search for your item and select it
4. Select 'Buy' to purchase the item
5. Select 'Download'
6. The item will now be saved to your PCS Vision device in the Downloads' menu.

Thank you for contacting us, and we look forward to serving you.

Miller
E-Care
Sprint together with Nextel
"Where our customers come first!"

I thought, “Well, that’s fair. I suppose that most people who contact them don’t bother to search their site and FAQs for this stuff. I’ll just make my question absolutely clear. So I sent this reply:

I knew that. I was asking if I request downloads that aren't currently available in the catalog.

I got this the next day:

Thank you for replying back.

You can download any ringers which are available on the Sprint website or your content catalog.

Further, to set songs as ringtones, on your phone, please check the userguide of your phone.

Thank you for contacting us, and we look forward to serving you.

Miller
E-Care
Sprint together with Nextel
"Where our customers come first!"

At this point, I am rather frustrated. I could not think of any way to articulate my question any more clearly, and it was starting to seem that this person was either not reading my E-mails or simply an idiot. I responded, being as polite and clear as I could manage:

I know that. Is there a way to request new tones. As in, ones you don't currently offer. If you don't do that, it's fine, please just say so instead of telling me something I already know twice.

The next day I received:

Dear Stuart,

Thank you for replying back.

I have forwarded your valuable feedback to the appropriate department so that immediate necessary actions can be taken against it and better customer service could be provided to our customers.

Thank you for contacting us, and we look forward to serving you.

Miller
E-Care
Sprint together with Nextel
"Where our customers come first!"

It’s been a few weeks, and haven’t gotten any more replies.

I don’t think my question was that difficult; I don’t think it should have been hard to answer. But I find it very ironic that their footer says “Where our customers come first”, yet they can’t even be bothered to read, comprehend, and answer a simple question. I guess that’s just how cell phone companies operate.

Driving and Talking on a Cell Phone is Dangerous

Is diving while talking on a cell phone more dangerous than driving drunk? Anyone familiar with MythBusters will know that their tests said that it is (at least while driving at the legal limit). But in “typical MythBusters fashion” their sample was too small. What do real studies have to say about this?

The professional studies back it up too. A recent University of Toronto study found that drivers talking on cell phones are four to five times as likely to get into accidents, and that hands-free sets do little to decrease these odds. A study from Perth, Australia found the same increase in risk. Another study from the University of Utah also found that hands-free sets do little to offset the chances of an accident. These are just some of the many studies done that all come to the same conclusion, driving while talking is hazardous.

Continue reading...There is a clear danger from driving while talking on a cell phone, arguably as great as or greater than from driving drunk. What is being done about it? A handful of states have totally outlawed it: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Washington DC, as well as a few towns. A few more have partial bans, and as many as 2/3 have proposed legislation at some point.

What I want to know is where is the outrage? Driving with a cell phone is clearly dangerous, but nothing like the crackdown against drunk driving is happening. Why? My best guess is that not enough people have died yet, and cell phones aren’t as good of a scapegoat as alcohol. There are no groups like MADD spreading anti-cell phone propaganda, and not enough people are putting pressure on lawmakers.

There’s also no cultural stigma against it, evidenced by how many people do it. If you think about, the quintuple increase in chance of an accident combined with the number of people doing it means that you’re probably far more likely to be in a phone-related accident than an alcohol-related one. Why is no one outraged?

Driving while talking is dangerous, without a doubt. So do something about it, even if it means refusing to talk while you’re in a car. You might just save a life.