SYSDEB@ukcc.bitnet (Hisle, Debra) (08/15/89)
John Higdon recently posted a fairly long complaint about US Sprint. In the interests of equal time, I thought I'd share my opinion of my service since 1987. I chose US Sprint as my 1+ server when I moved to Lexington. Yes, the first bill took about three months to arrive. I really couldn't complain about that, as it took about three months for my husband's independent consulting status to gel, so cash-flow kind of coincided. Since then, I have yet to notice billing errors or delayed billings. We had one incorrect charge, when a call to Peru, Indiana was billed as a call to the country Peru. Instead of correcting the charge, my friendly US Sprint Customer Service Rep just removed it. In fact, the only complaint I have about the billing is that is made on a due-upon-receipt basis, rather than providing a due date. That's just a personal preference, I suppose; I'm rather sloppy with mail. Recently, I was trying to make a call to The Netherlands for the first time, and didn't realize that the 0 at the beginning of the city code is only used within the country. After trying direct, I dialed the Sprint operator, who gave me the number for customer service. I had supposed from all the Sprint bashing that customer service isn't even open on Sunday mornings, but I was wrong. I did not have to wait for a representative, and he was very helpful in deciphering the unfamiliar number format for me. The call went through just fine, although it was disconcerting to get a couple of beeps rather than the familiar ringing. Our local phone book, which provides cursory instructions for international dialing, said to allow at least 45 seconds for ringing to start. It was more like 25 seconds, and my friend picked up before I realized that the beeps meant a connection, not just a step along the way. On normal long distance calls (mostly California, Atlanta and Houston), I haven't noticed a delay for connection. I don't notice the line quality one way or the other, except that when my mom calls (either ATT or MCI -- I'm not sure which), the background fuzz reminds me what I'm missing. People really do think I'm in town when I made unexpected calls, but I put that down as much to my reputation for travelling as to line quality. Recently, receiving calls from my husband when he was in Jamaica made mere background fuzz fade in comparison. It's easy to forget good quality, until a really bad connection comes along to remind you. We talked through, on various occasions: a delayed echo on my end (makes for VERY short thought units), bad cross-talk or just plain static, with dropouts for variety. - Deb Oh, and I don't work for US Sprint, I just use the phone.