Just wrote one my longest emails ever. I found the email address of a local Sprint Rep. I’m have major troubles (as told in this email) getting DSL. Hopefully this guy can answer some questions.
To: james.harlow@mail.sprint.com
Hi,
I found your email address/phone number via this webpage:
http://luraypage.com/cgi-bin/bizdirectory/biz-directory.pl?category=telephone
I don’t know if you job covers helping customers who are having a hard time
with other parts of your company, but thought I run this by you and see if
you could help me.
I moved into a house off Broomley Rd. out on 250, about 2 miles (by road)
from the NorthRidge setup (unsure what the right word for that collection of
boxes, but it’s right across from Boar’s Head). Before I moved I called
trying to find out if I could get DSL. I was told that I could not as I was
too far out.
I had also found out my closest neighbors phone number (they are about 150
yards from my house) and checked to see if they could get DSL on the
FastConnect Website, and they could get DSL.
I was busy with moving in to our house and left this issue for later. One
morning we found our lines disconnected at our house, for which we called
for repair service. I happened to still be there when the repair man
arrived.
This gentleman’s name was Robert Ferrel, and I cannot say enough nice things
about him. He was knowledgeable and answered my every question. He told me
about how he had worked in my neighborhood for the last 30 years. I asked
him about getting DSL at my house and he said that he thought it was quite
possible. I told him about my past inquiry into the matter, and also
pointed out the pedestal that my house’s phone lines came out of. After
looking something up in his laptop, or making a call (cannot remember which)
he discovered that in the database entry about my phone line, they had put
the wrong pedestal number. He said that because of that mistake I was
probably being declined DSL service. I asked him a few more questions and
he showed me on his laptop how that my phone line was hooked into the rest
of the network. He said that my phone line was something like 15,000 feet
back to NorthRidge, where there was DSL switching equipment (AKA a DSLAM),
and that the limit for service was 18,000 feet.
He explained that two things had to happen on the local end for me to get
DSL:
1) the info about the pedestal number had to be changed in the database.
He did not say that this would be a problem to me specifically, but he made
several calls to various people about this matter while he was still at my
house.
2) At the pole nearest my house my line had to be moved from Line 4 to Line
3 which went straight back to NorthRidge.
After being on the phone for some minutes talking with other people at
Sprint, he said that I should wait two weeks for these changes to be made
and then put in an order for DSL,
Two weeks later (exact date I’m not sure) I tried to sign up on the
FastConnect DSL website and was told that I still could not get DSL. I
called the 800 number give on the website (1-866-706-4719) and spoke to a
representative, Ciji (id #SDN). I put in the order and was asked if my
neighbors were told they could get DSL. I told them yes. They said that
they would look into it and call me back by a certain date. The date came
and when and Ciji had not called. I called again and spoke to Liz (id #V23)
explained the situation and asked to speak to the rep. that was supposed to
call me back. They explain that it wasn’t possible for me to directly
transfer me nor could the inform the rep. to call me back. I requested for
her to look into the order and she said she would call me by Nov 20th.
On Dec 2 I called again and spoke to Tiffany (id #NJT). I told her about
the other two reps. and said that they had not called me back. She said
that my order was still declined. I then explained about Mr. Ferrel and what
he had said on the matter. At the time I didn’t have my notes about who the
line tech was and what the pedestals number was, but I told her I could get
the info to her. She gave me a date (Dec 13th) that she would call me back
by. She called on or before that date, and said that I had been declined
again, but would try again if I could give her the lineman’s name was and
the pedestal number. Not having the info with me that day I asked her to
call back the same time tomorrow. She returned my call and I gave her the
information. She gave me a date that she would get back to me.
I waited until 3 days after the date and called the 800 number again. I
spoke to Laman (id #88F) who looked up my account and said that I was still
declined. I asked why the past reps. had not called me back when they had
found that I had been declined. She did not directly answer this question.
She said that my order had been escalated three times, and that she could
not escalate it again. I asked her what happened when they escalated an
order. She explained that they sent someone out to my house to take a
reading about the strength of the line. I said that it was quite odd that
they had been there three times, and asked that wouldn’t have Mr. Ferrel
been the one to make that trip. She did not directly answer this question.
I asked about if the correct information about the pedestal had been taken
into account. She told me that she was having a hard time seeing her
screen, which seemed quite odd. She was quiet for a while, and said that
the first time the checked into it I was 30,000 feet out and with the
corrected information I was 26,000 feet out. I asked her why these numbers
where so diffrent than what I was told by Mr. Ferrel, to which she said that
he should not have told me I could get DSL. She said my only other option
was ISDN and that she could transfer me to them.
I looked into getting ISDN, but what I really want is DSL.
The only person I dealt with who gave off the sense of knowing what was
going on was Mr. Ferrel. Perhaps I see it this way because he was telling
me what I wanted to hear, but I can see no reason why he wouldn’t tell me
the truth. The DSL reps. did not return my calls and the last one I spoke
to seemed to be very evasive and did not want to talk to someone she could
not get a commissioned sale from.
===== My question to you ====
Who can I talk to about this? At the very least it would be nice if my
story was shared with the FastConnect DSL office about how their customer
reps should not deal with a customer.
Even better, I would like to get DSL.
Here are the important stuff broken out here for easy reference:
Home phone number that I wish to get DSL on:
REMOVED
Street address where this line goes to:
REMOVED
Contact number (the home phone I use for a modem line):
REMOVED
FastConnect DSL Representatives I talked to and dates I spoke to them.
Ciji (#SDH) Early Nov.
Liz (#V23) Late Nov.
Tiffany (#NJJ) Dec. 2
Laman (#88F) Late Dec.
Thanks you.
myers
Yes, I’m dumb for not explaing the full deal to the first rep I talked to.