the pain of porting (or, there and back again)

I made a mistake. Thankfully, I was able to correct it without causing too much damage. I recently tried changing cell phone providers. I ported our cell phone numbers from Verizon to Cingular. And then I ported them back. That’s the short story. Here’s the long version.

Back in April, I was contemplating switching from Verizon to another cell phone company. My 2-year contract had expired, and I was looking for a better deal. I logged onto Cingular’s website at work and there was a message on the screen stating something like “Welcome Company X employee” and all of the pricing was discounted because of who I work for. The savings was significant and my wife’s family is all on Cingular, so I thought, why not.

I ordered two Nokia phones (one for me and one for my wife). With the 2-year agreement, they were free. I even got a car power adapter for free. I didn’t even pay shipping. The phones shipped out and I received them three days later. In the packaging was a form letter explaining that the service could be cancelled without paying the activation fee within 3 days of ship date. Since I received them 3 days after ship date that was out the window, but since I was saving all kinds of money, who cared? I had 30 days to cancel and return the phones to not have to pay the outrageous cancellation fees.

The phones were pretty nice. They were camera flip phones. The camera wasn’t going to replace my Canon Digital Elph, but it was neat. I downloaded some Penn State wallpaper, loaded in all my phone numbers, and even found a new ring tone. Then Friday came and the shit hit the fan. I’d had the phones less than 2 weeks.

Riding the T home from work, I had almost zero coverage. Only at major stops could I even get a signal. My Verizon phone always drops out in two places, but this was horrible. I couldn’t get a hold of my wife and I was trying unsuccessfully to order a pizza to pick up on the way home from the park and ride lot. I was pissed.

I immediately called Verizon. I wanted them to let me back in. They obliged, but I had to sign up for a different plan. No problem. The new one is more, but I don’t have to worry about roaming anymore and we get more minutes each month. They even waived the activation fee since I’d been gone less than 30 days. I’m back and wish I had never left.

That’s when the real problems started. Since I ordered the Cingular phones on-line, I wasn’t sure how to return them. I called their 1-800 number and was told I could return them at any Cingular store. By the time I was able to get to a store, it had been about 35 days since I had first switched to Cingular. I had also received a $511.36 bill which included early termination fees.

I went to the one at South Hills Village mall on a Monday evening, and the store was surprisingly crowed for 7pm. I had come to the mall with my wife and the kids, but she said she’s do some shopping while I waited. I waited. And waited. As I waited, the two clerks had helped exactly 3 customers. Finally, an hour and a half later I got my turn. I explained that I was trying to return the phones and that they were bought on-line. She said they wouldn’t take them. I told her someone from their 1-800 number told me to bring them to a store. We argued. I got upset and made a scene about how I had waited patiently, FOERVER, for shitty customer service. I left and called the 1-800 umber as soon as I got home.

I got the runaround. The first person told me I needed to talk to This department. This department told me I needed to That department. That department sent me back to the first department (the ones who said to talk to This department). Finally, someone gave me an address for Cingular’s returns department in Fort Worth, Texas.

I sent the phones back, insured, with delivery confirmation. Then I got a bill last week. Still for $511.36. I called, fuming. I talked with a woman who said they had indeed received the phones and she put me on hold. After a little while, she got back on and said she not noticed I had called a number of times trying to return the phones (apparently the customer service folks were actually logging my calls and not just giving me lip service). She said they would waive the early termination fees and that I only owed for the unpaid service used. I thanked her for being the only person I had dealt with who was any help.

So, I’m happily back with Verizon. And, as it turns out, they too give a discount to employees of my company. Go figure.