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The TL;DR version: activate this phone or I'm out
Dear Sprint,
I have been a longtime loyal customer ever since your acquisition of Nextel. I was on the network with my beloved i90 and it’s follow up, the i730. I was an early adopter and staunch supporter of the Palm Pre and WebOS. When it was announced that newer versions of the Pre (the Pre Plus) were coming to AT&T and Verizon, but not Sprint, I still hung on and supported both the platform and the network until HP pulled the plug. I then moved on to the HTC Evo Shift with its promise of 4G through WiMAX, which would hopefully help the somewhat spotty 3G service in the Washington Metropolitan area. Unfortunately, WiMAX never took off like LTE did, and the plug was pulled on that service as well. Still, I stuck with Sprint. I purchased the Motorola Photon Q with the hopes that Sprint’s promised 4G LTE network would roll out to the DC Metro area as promised on your website. More than 18 months later, I’m still waiting.
I have paid my bills on time, upgraded faithfully every 2 years and patiently waited for the network to get better. Meanwhile, I have watched friends and family move to Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile for better service, more phone variety and faster speeds. For instance, my wife stayed with her Verizon plan and bought a Palm Pre. While she had little problem getting a consistent signal on her phone throughout the house, my Pre on Sprint was hit or miss, working in the kitchen but not necessarily in the living room. Friends and family come over with all manner of iPhone, Moto X and Galaxy everything and can make calls. Me and my Sprint phone, not so much.
Recently, my Photon Q has started to reset itself 3 times a day without any provocation. Since I’m due for an upgrade and my contract is up, I can pretty much chose whatever phone and carrier I want without having the fear of early termination fees. However, I decided to stick with Sprint, hoping that my loyalty and patience would pay off in the form of a lower bill (compared to the likes of Verizon) and improved service (once the long promised network upgrade takes place). Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single phone offered by Sprint that I wanted. I have no interest in the iPhone and moving to iOS, as I’m comfortable with Android. I am not a fan of Touchwiz so I do not want any of the Samsung phones that you offer. I prefer not to have a 5” phone or bigger, so many of the LG or HTC phones are out. The one phone that would work for my needs would be the Nexus 5, which you did carry and does work on both your CDMA network and the GSM networks of AT&T and T-Mobile. Unfortunately, these are no longer in stock with Sprint, since you have moved on to the Nexus 6, which is much too big for my liking. I was able to purchase an unlocked phone (model no. D820) from the Google Play Store, with the hopes of having this activated on your network. This, unfortunately, was not to be.
First, I needed to get a SIM card to access the LTE network and complete the phone activation. Visiting multiple Sprint stores in my area ended in frustration, as they claimed the phone did not need a SIM, they did not have any SIM cards, and they could not activate the phone. After searching for a day, I was able to go to Sprint’s Worldwide Chat Support and have one shipped to me. However, after installing the SIM card I was still unable to have the phone activated. An hour long online chat session proved fruitless as well. Even though I have the MEID and the ICCID from the SIM card, I was told that only Nexus 5 phones that were purchased from Sprint could be activated. The only suggestions the tech had were a possible phone by-back with Sprint (which would not give me nearly the value of the phone and still leaves me in a situation where Sprint does not offer a phone that I want) or to find a way to sell or return my phone and upgrade with Sprint (which takes more time and hassle than should be necessary). I have looked through numerous posts on Sprint’s community page and various forums on the internet, and it seems there is a lot of misinformation coming from Sprint. Depending on what tech you talk to, you are told either (a) Sprint can’t activate the phone if it wasn’t a Sprint Nexus 5 (even though it’s the exact same, carrier unlocked, SIM unlocked phone that you can get from Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile or Google Play); (b) only SOME of the Nexus 5 phones not purchased from Sprint can be activated or (c) Sprint can and will activate a Nexus 5, regardless of where it came from. None of this makes any sense and none of this gets me any closer to having a working phone on my current network.
After close to a decade, I am tired. I am tired of the lack of service. I am tired of the lack of choice. I am tired of the poor customer support for current customers at the retail level (new customers coming over from another carrier are treated like kings, though). I am tired of the lack of knowledge and straight answers from technical support. I am tired of not having a phone I can use at home or at work. I am tired of the runaround. And I am tired of Sprint.
If there is anyone at the company that can assist in getting my Nexus 5 working on your network in a timely manner, please feel free to contact me as soon as possible. If not, I will have to take the phone I bought with my hard earned money and go with a carrier that will have little to no problem activating it on a network where I should be able to get a reliable signal. I should not feel like a battered mate in a relationship, but that’s pretty much what my dealing with Sprint feels like right now. And like any unhealthy relationship, it must end soon.
Sincerely,
Me <-- Dave Thomas knows what's up...
__________________________
Jay: Look here homie, any nigga can get a hit record. This here is about respect.
Game: Like Gladys Knight.
Jay: Aretha Franklin.
Game: Word, I like her too.
Jay: Nigga...
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