Alltel is the Worst Cell Phone Provider Ever!!!

Well, let me just say one thing about Alltel. DON'T EVER GET A CELL PHONE THROUGH THEM!!! Not only can you not share your texting minutes like they advertise, but there are often issues with dead spots where there shouldn't be dead spots, roaming (and having to pay roaming charges on a national plan-stupid) issues, and many other things that are not necessarily something you really want to have to deal with regarding your service provider.

That said, this is what happened to me. I received an email from Alltel letting me know that I could upgrade early. To a Blackberry. Cool, right? Wrong!!!

It seems that my mother is a more valued customer than I am. Which is strange since her cell phone is on MY family plan. Her name is nowhere on the account. The first line listed, the main line listed, on the account is mine. It is different in many ways from my mother's and my father's. So, at the end of the email, is a notation that the upgrade is only available for my mother's phone. When I called Alltel to see if the change could be made to my phone, I got this really difficult to understand hispanic woman (I think--she was difficult to understand!) who, when she stopped speaking from the prompter on the computer was easier to understand, suggested that my mother could come and get her own account through them, but that it still would not make a difference in what line is upgraded. So I sent an email, hoping that at least someone would see it and, basically, fix the issue:

I am not sure where this should go, but I have a question and a complaint. I received an email today that said that because I was such a good customer, I could go ahead and upgrade to a Blackberry (which is what I was planning on doing in October) instead of having to wait. However, at the bottom of the email, it said the offer was valid only for the number ending in 9823. I have a family plan that my parents are on and that number happens to be the number for my mother. She does not want the upgrade. But that is neither here nor there. She is not actually the customer. I am. I called the number it said to call on the email to ask about it, and all I was told was that my mother could come and get her own account with Alltel, because I had mentioned that my parents were going to get their own service after the contract was up, but that my phone could not be upgraded. This is the most incredibly annoying, ridiculous thing I have ever heard. My parents are planning on using their local phone service after this contract expires to get cell phones so I don't have to pay so much for them. If I can't upgrade without them still on the contract, fine. However, I was told that even though I pay the monthly payments for the service through Alltel, I could not get an upgrade until October. So what is it? If I upgrade in October, will I still have to carry the family plan that I have already, with the other two phones on it, or can I drop them without any penalties? Why can I not get an upgrade early on MY phone when I am paying for the service and not the person whose line is it is deemed valid for the upgrade and I got them at the same time, my line is the originating line, and it is under my name? Tell me why I should stick with Alltel after January, when my service contract is up, when I can't get satisfaction from anyone I speak to at Alltel and every time I ask a question that has nothing to do with me making a payment, it appears as though I am putting someone out. It's looking a lot like I will be going to AT&T when my contract is up unless there is a valid reason why these things are occurring.

Now, I know that there are issues with cell phone companies all the time. That's not the point, however. This is the reply I got--tell me if you see where they answered all my questions:

----- Original Message ----
From: "alltel@custhelp.com"
To: brandy_monts@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, September 5, 2008 1:48:02 PM
Subject: Upgrades [Incident: 080904-000993]

Thank you for requesting assistance from our online support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response

Thank you for choosing Alltel!




Subject
Upgrades

Discussion Thread
Response (Orlicia D) 09/05/2008 01:48 PM
Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for choosing Alltel. My name is Orlicia and I will be happy to assist you regarding upgrades. I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Unfortunately, promotions can not be transferred between the lines on your account.

Alltel strives to appreciate our existing Customers with various promotions. Understanding that you may not have received a promotional offer at this time, certain Customers qualify for particular promotions, which can have a variety of reasons. Length of service, location, and equipment eligibility are a few of them.

Feel free to routinely check http://www.alltel.com/phones/index.html for our latest promotions.

We regret that your are now considering disconnecting your service, because of this issue.

Again, I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Sincerely,

Orlicia
Alltel Online Customer Service
Customer (customer customer) 09/04/2008 11:25 PM

So, being upset, this was my reply:

Yeah, this is what I thought. You see, the information that you take into consideration is the same for all three phones on the account. It is obvious to me that Alltel does not really care about what their customers want or their needs. The first number listed on the account was the phone number to the phone that I have, and not the phone that is available for upgrade. It's not inconvenient, but it is annoying and honestly, annoyance is not something that I or any of your other customers need in their lives. The person who uses the phone is not your customer. The customer is the person who pays for the account. That happens to be me, not the user of the specific phone. The line that an upgrade should have been available for is the phone of the person who pays the account--or all three lines, since we are supposed to be able to "share." Unfortunately, I have come to find out that Alltel shares very little except annoyances, and therefore, although I won't be canceling my service because I would get screwed by Alltel in this way, I will be changing my service to AT&T in January when the service contract runs out. Thanks for nothing.

Very Much Sincerely,
Brandy Monts

http://wickedlywanton.blogspot.com/


I have decided to get an iPhone.