Review: MetroPCS
I
am not a member of MetroPCS, however many of my friends and family are.
And since I do, and have had a cell phone for many years, I felt I
could be of assistance with their phones, technical support and
contacting their company. So I became involved, and that is why I am
writing this review.
When you are a business or a corporation,
people need to be able to reach customer service, whether it is to
complain, nag or with uncertain questions. MetroPCS has this feature
from their phones it is 611.
You can also reach them online at
www.metropcs.com
But the fact being, is reaching them by phone is an accomplishment in itself. Unfortunately, I told my friends and family members with this service, there was no way a company would just leave you hanging and not care, so I tried from their phones, for many hours, and on several different occasions and days. I even tried different ways, for instance, to compliment them, or to ask questions because I was interested, not just for complaints and concerns.
Every time I reached a representative, they were descent enough to say their name and operator number at a speed so fast, you had no clue what they were saying. Often I found myself asking, "What did you say your name was?" Because when I talk to you, I say your name back to you, and take notes. This way when something is said, and if I quote you later, to another representative, I can say "Oh yeah, well operator Lisa told me differently on such and such a day." I learned that long ago, and the hard way.
Anyway, after reaching customer service, I would speak. My one son, is paying for wireless web, and was sold a phone that could not get online. So he wanted to plain and simply remove the wireless web from his bill. It was costing him $10 extra. I explained this, and was told,
"Really? That's strange." And then straight to dial tone, no silence no nothing but the hum of the dial tone.
Ok, so I assume I lost the call. I call back, different person. This person has an attitude,
"And what did you want me to do about it?"
Like it wasn't simple enough, "Please remove it from his bill."
The woman sighed loudly into my ear, "I can't do that."
Ok, it's probably because it's my son's phone and not mine. "Let me give you to my son, he's right here, it's his phone."
I hand the phone to my son, he agrees, yes he wants the service removed from his plan, and phone. She tells him, "I'm sorry, I can't do that."
My son rolls his eyes, "Ok, then who can help me?"
She sighed loudly into his ear. "No one, you shouldn't have signed up for it, if you didn't want it."
He chuckled, "The man at your store in Cocoa on 520, who sold me the phone never said it could or couldn't get online. He told me it was his best deal, and I should take it."
The woman cleared her throat this time, and said: "Yeah, the guy in Cocoa is an ass; he doesn't know what he's doing. Maybe next time, you will ask questions, and read- this way you won't make mistakes." She then proceeded with hanging up on my son. To say the least, neither of us were impressed.
Then a friend of mine has their service and phone. Where you put the cable to plug the phone into charge, had fallen out of the phone and it was hanging on by a thread outside of the phone. He called customer service, and it took him three days to reach a representative, who finally told him to take the phone itself, to Merritt Island, the store in the strip mall there, was also a repair shop.
So I took him. We go inside, the woman pushes the piece back inside and plugs it into the wall, and says nothing is wrong with it. We show her, and the piece falls back out. She puts it back, and says nothing is wrong with it, still. Then to another employee, they both start talking their own language in front of us, looking at us and laughing. Don't they know they are being rude? We tell her we want the phone replaced.
"Why, it is not broken, you just don't know what you are doing!" The she speaks to her counter part, again in their native language.
"We called 611; they said you could fix it or replace it." She snatches the phone and goes into a private room in the back; again she is talking in her native tongue in the back room, while the other girl stands there and stares at us.
The woman comes out with a man, and the phone. He says, "If you want to replace it, it is $10, if you want us to copy your phone book on the new phone that is another $10."
Then all three of them start talking back and forth in their native tongue. Do they even want our answer? I asked- why the fees?
The man looked at me, and then said, "Because there is nothing wrong with this phone. And if there is, it was self inflicted." While they were replacing the phone, we asked why 611 was so ineffective.
The man, who was the store manager, responded, "Because this is basically a pre-paid service. Customer service is not our goal. If it was, the plans would cost more."
Yes, MetroPCS has great deals. And everyone wants one, because of the cost. But there phones are not sturdy. You will think, this will be perfect for the kids. None of there phones are sturdy enough for children. They do not bounce, they shatter. Yes, they are thin and light weight. The company is allegedly, not yet nationwide either. On their web site, they are welcoming Philly now. I was told by the store manager, they were Florida based, and it was a trial period, a few months back. However, looking online, they are home based in Texas.
There stores are everywhere around me, within a few miles from one another. Sometimes they have their stores within a Sprint store. I am not sure if they are affiliated with Sprint, I couldn't find anything on the web page stating such either.
I do know they offer four lines for $100. But first you must buy the phone, which all of their phones are priced $100 and up. So to get the four line deal, you would need to first buy four phones, which is equivalent to say the least, at $400. One advantage, is that there is no contract.
They do offer international calling, picture phones, and various other plans, which their pricing, and yes- it is awesome. Another advantage that they do offer- is they offer unlimited talk and text. You don't have to wait for nights and week ends, you can talk anytime without any worries! But for every plus, most of the time, add $10 onto your plan. They charge $5 to pay in the store, $2 to have a bill sent to your home, $2 to pay VIA phone. Everything they do-has an added fee.
As for their customer service it is far from good, even in the store. It is more then obvious, all they care about, is making money. There web page states, 4.4 million people have switched to their service; so I guess there is a chance there are satisfied customers some where! Unfortunately for me, my family and friends, we just seem to be experiencing, um-technical difficulties. Today, I made a payment on my sons bills, VIA the internet. I was supposed to pay both of their bills online today for them. They gave me the cash, I used my VISA.
You can only pay on one phone per day. I called the customer service toll free number, from my own phone, and the automated robot voice, when I asked for an Agent, told me point blank, "I can help you, there is no need for an Agent at this time." Could the voice help me? No. I asked again, and again, to be told no, I can handle this. When at the store to pay my other sons bill, I asked if they personally reach people when they call and have problems. The woman told me no, she rarely reaches anything except automated as well. I asked her what she does in the event of a question she cannot or does not know the answer to, she says she calls another store. I had to pay $5 extra to pay the bill at the store, $2 extra online. But yet, no customer service. How is this supposed to make everything better?
Here is another thing my friends and I noticed. When you reach the person who speaks fast and hangs up on you, they are Spanish. No offense here- just noticing some facts here. And in the stores we dealt with, which were 14 total in this area- we checked consistently, we found only Spanish people. So we asked several store managers about this. The answer from most, was "We are new company. We hire anybody." (Yes the English is wrong, because it is a quote!) I asked him if Caucasians have applied, and he said, "Caucasians no want to work. Sometimes we have a few coloreds though, not often any whites, I so sorry." So another manager said, "I was told the company itself is Spanish and Mexican. I too, noticed only my heritage are employed there. But I thought nothing of it."
Never have we seen anything other then Spanish speaking people. And yes, the sad part, is that they aren't afraid to talk about us Caucasians in front of our faces in their own native tongue. That is rude, you are in America, what you are doing is the same thing as being two-faced. You are talking in front of our faces, but behind our backs-for those of us who don't know your language. And by the way, some of us American Caucasians have learned Spanish. Think before you go degrading and judging us.
However, to rate this company on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, I rate their people skills at a one, and really, it needs to be in the negatives. As for their deals, I rate them an eight. The quality of the phone, again a one. And yes, I have seen various types, and felt, and dealt with plenty of their different types of phones. This company doesn't strike me as they care. They know economy needs cell phones, and at low cost. They know, if you are hurting, they are your only choice. But, now I am reading on their web page, it is stating: "Like your phone but not your service, bring it to us!" So for those who have durable phones already, this just might be something you might want to consider.
Myself, I advise that you buy a "boost" phone, and use the walkie talkie feature; it is $1 a day. If you use the cell phone part of it, the price varies, as to what time of day it is. But if you are calling a Sprint or Nextel customer, if they have the Sprint to Sprint feature, or Nextel to Nextel, there isn't a fee for the receiver of your call. Boosts are easier on children too. They can take being dropped, and man handled. "Boosts" are prepaid also, but they are a division of Sprint and Nextel, and they do care about their customer service.
Am I upset with this company? To say the least, I am totally unimpressed and fed up, and I don't even carry their lousy service. I hear nothing but complaining from everyone I know. How can 4.4 million people actually be satisfied? Oh, and if you are thinking of suing me for my review, think about this: use the money you are going to sue me with, to get Customer Service Agents. And then teach them, and your store employees tact, and professionalism. I don't care if you don't want to use your monies for that. It's called common courtesy, and customer service. It is in every business, and should be in yours!
Disclaimer: I am only one person, along with my friends and family- who "claim" to agree with me. You on the other hand may have had better service and what not from them. I am, however, entitled to my opinion. And one more thing, I am not prejudice. And as for you MetroPCS, I was told ALL publicity is good publicity, even when it's bad!! LOL
You can also reach them online at
www.metropcs.com
But the fact being, is reaching them by phone is an accomplishment in itself. Unfortunately, I told my friends and family members with this service, there was no way a company would just leave you hanging and not care, so I tried from their phones, for many hours, and on several different occasions and days. I even tried different ways, for instance, to compliment them, or to ask questions because I was interested, not just for complaints and concerns.
Every time I reached a representative, they were descent enough to say their name and operator number at a speed so fast, you had no clue what they were saying. Often I found myself asking, "What did you say your name was?" Because when I talk to you, I say your name back to you, and take notes. This way when something is said, and if I quote you later, to another representative, I can say "Oh yeah, well operator Lisa told me differently on such and such a day." I learned that long ago, and the hard way.
Anyway, after reaching customer service, I would speak. My one son, is paying for wireless web, and was sold a phone that could not get online. So he wanted to plain and simply remove the wireless web from his bill. It was costing him $10 extra. I explained this, and was told,
"Really? That's strange." And then straight to dial tone, no silence no nothing but the hum of the dial tone.
Ok, so I assume I lost the call. I call back, different person. This person has an attitude,
"And what did you want me to do about it?"
Like it wasn't simple enough, "Please remove it from his bill."
The woman sighed loudly into my ear, "I can't do that."
Ok, it's probably because it's my son's phone and not mine. "Let me give you to my son, he's right here, it's his phone."
I hand the phone to my son, he agrees, yes he wants the service removed from his plan, and phone. She tells him, "I'm sorry, I can't do that."
My son rolls his eyes, "Ok, then who can help me?"
She sighed loudly into his ear. "No one, you shouldn't have signed up for it, if you didn't want it."
He chuckled, "The man at your store in Cocoa on 520, who sold me the phone never said it could or couldn't get online. He told me it was his best deal, and I should take it."
The woman cleared her throat this time, and said: "Yeah, the guy in Cocoa is an ass; he doesn't know what he's doing. Maybe next time, you will ask questions, and read- this way you won't make mistakes." She then proceeded with hanging up on my son. To say the least, neither of us were impressed.
Then a friend of mine has their service and phone. Where you put the cable to plug the phone into charge, had fallen out of the phone and it was hanging on by a thread outside of the phone. He called customer service, and it took him three days to reach a representative, who finally told him to take the phone itself, to Merritt Island, the store in the strip mall there, was also a repair shop.
So I took him. We go inside, the woman pushes the piece back inside and plugs it into the wall, and says nothing is wrong with it. We show her, and the piece falls back out. She puts it back, and says nothing is wrong with it, still. Then to another employee, they both start talking their own language in front of us, looking at us and laughing. Don't they know they are being rude? We tell her we want the phone replaced.
"Why, it is not broken, you just don't know what you are doing!" The she speaks to her counter part, again in their native language.
"We called 611; they said you could fix it or replace it." She snatches the phone and goes into a private room in the back; again she is talking in her native tongue in the back room, while the other girl stands there and stares at us.
The woman comes out with a man, and the phone. He says, "If you want to replace it, it is $10, if you want us to copy your phone book on the new phone that is another $10."
Then all three of them start talking back and forth in their native tongue. Do they even want our answer? I asked- why the fees?
The man looked at me, and then said, "Because there is nothing wrong with this phone. And if there is, it was self inflicted." While they were replacing the phone, we asked why 611 was so ineffective.
The man, who was the store manager, responded, "Because this is basically a pre-paid service. Customer service is not our goal. If it was, the plans would cost more."
Yes, MetroPCS has great deals. And everyone wants one, because of the cost. But there phones are not sturdy. You will think, this will be perfect for the kids. None of there phones are sturdy enough for children. They do not bounce, they shatter. Yes, they are thin and light weight. The company is allegedly, not yet nationwide either. On their web site, they are welcoming Philly now. I was told by the store manager, they were Florida based, and it was a trial period, a few months back. However, looking online, they are home based in Texas.
There stores are everywhere around me, within a few miles from one another. Sometimes they have their stores within a Sprint store. I am not sure if they are affiliated with Sprint, I couldn't find anything on the web page stating such either.
I do know they offer four lines for $100. But first you must buy the phone, which all of their phones are priced $100 and up. So to get the four line deal, you would need to first buy four phones, which is equivalent to say the least, at $400. One advantage, is that there is no contract.
They do offer international calling, picture phones, and various other plans, which their pricing, and yes- it is awesome. Another advantage that they do offer- is they offer unlimited talk and text. You don't have to wait for nights and week ends, you can talk anytime without any worries! But for every plus, most of the time, add $10 onto your plan. They charge $5 to pay in the store, $2 to have a bill sent to your home, $2 to pay VIA phone. Everything they do-has an added fee.
As for their customer service it is far from good, even in the store. It is more then obvious, all they care about, is making money. There web page states, 4.4 million people have switched to their service; so I guess there is a chance there are satisfied customers some where! Unfortunately for me, my family and friends, we just seem to be experiencing, um-technical difficulties. Today, I made a payment on my sons bills, VIA the internet. I was supposed to pay both of their bills online today for them. They gave me the cash, I used my VISA.
You can only pay on one phone per day. I called the customer service toll free number, from my own phone, and the automated robot voice, when I asked for an Agent, told me point blank, "I can help you, there is no need for an Agent at this time." Could the voice help me? No. I asked again, and again, to be told no, I can handle this. When at the store to pay my other sons bill, I asked if they personally reach people when they call and have problems. The woman told me no, she rarely reaches anything except automated as well. I asked her what she does in the event of a question she cannot or does not know the answer to, she says she calls another store. I had to pay $5 extra to pay the bill at the store, $2 extra online. But yet, no customer service. How is this supposed to make everything better?
Here is another thing my friends and I noticed. When you reach the person who speaks fast and hangs up on you, they are Spanish. No offense here- just noticing some facts here. And in the stores we dealt with, which were 14 total in this area- we checked consistently, we found only Spanish people. So we asked several store managers about this. The answer from most, was "We are new company. We hire anybody." (Yes the English is wrong, because it is a quote!) I asked him if Caucasians have applied, and he said, "Caucasians no want to work. Sometimes we have a few coloreds though, not often any whites, I so sorry." So another manager said, "I was told the company itself is Spanish and Mexican. I too, noticed only my heritage are employed there. But I thought nothing of it."
Never have we seen anything other then Spanish speaking people. And yes, the sad part, is that they aren't afraid to talk about us Caucasians in front of our faces in their own native tongue. That is rude, you are in America, what you are doing is the same thing as being two-faced. You are talking in front of our faces, but behind our backs-for those of us who don't know your language. And by the way, some of us American Caucasians have learned Spanish. Think before you go degrading and judging us.
However, to rate this company on a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, I rate their people skills at a one, and really, it needs to be in the negatives. As for their deals, I rate them an eight. The quality of the phone, again a one. And yes, I have seen various types, and felt, and dealt with plenty of their different types of phones. This company doesn't strike me as they care. They know economy needs cell phones, and at low cost. They know, if you are hurting, they are your only choice. But, now I am reading on their web page, it is stating: "Like your phone but not your service, bring it to us!" So for those who have durable phones already, this just might be something you might want to consider.
Myself, I advise that you buy a "boost" phone, and use the walkie talkie feature; it is $1 a day. If you use the cell phone part of it, the price varies, as to what time of day it is. But if you are calling a Sprint or Nextel customer, if they have the Sprint to Sprint feature, or Nextel to Nextel, there isn't a fee for the receiver of your call. Boosts are easier on children too. They can take being dropped, and man handled. "Boosts" are prepaid also, but they are a division of Sprint and Nextel, and they do care about their customer service.
Am I upset with this company? To say the least, I am totally unimpressed and fed up, and I don't even carry their lousy service. I hear nothing but complaining from everyone I know. How can 4.4 million people actually be satisfied? Oh, and if you are thinking of suing me for my review, think about this: use the money you are going to sue me with, to get Customer Service Agents. And then teach them, and your store employees tact, and professionalism. I don't care if you don't want to use your monies for that. It's called common courtesy, and customer service. It is in every business, and should be in yours!
Disclaimer: I am only one person, along with my friends and family- who "claim" to agree with me. You on the other hand may have had better service and what not from them. I am, however, entitled to my opinion. And one more thing, I am not prejudice. And as for you MetroPCS, I was told ALL publicity is good publicity, even when it's bad!! LOL
Published by Deneale K. Williams
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