Sprint Store Ricardo Lerdo and Staff Liars--broke my phone, lousy service, manager wouldn't follow thru and promised to help... Totowa, New Jersey

I am very upset by the recent service or lack of service I received recently and the hassle of hours of driving around and talking on the phone with a total of six people.  Whats the problem with Sprint these days???  Is it time to start a new account with ATT for an iPhone or continue previously, pretty hassle-free service with Sprint???

1) Twenty-one year old Son drove malfunctioning, fairly new Blackberry phone (862 377 8628) to Sprint store but was turned away--turns out they're not a "real" Sprint store.  The phones radio was not working and the battery was jiggling.  While the screen worked, text and calling was disabled.

2) I call customer service, turned over to insurance who wants 100-- for new phone.  Then I get back with regular customer service; they tell me to go to an actual company store 16 miles away.

3) The next day my son takes phone to store #0171, managed by Ricardo Lerdo, but is told he has to come back in an hour despite the 2pm appt. and work order put in by Sprint on e-ticket .

4) Son drives 5 miles and waits at mall.

5) Son goes back to store and the guy is putting on his coat but pops the back off, takes in the back and announces "water damage" and tosses it to other store worker.  She too says water damage and nothing they can do.  Upon leaving store, son discovers  new damage: a button missing and keys 1, 4, and 7 inactive. 

5) Son drives home 16 miles with broken phone.

6) I call Sprint and let them know of the store treatment and that there has NEVER been water damage to the phone.  They tell me that there's nothing they can do without proper diagnoses by store tech, so I call the tech while on the phone with Sprint rep.

7) Store manger Ricardo Lerdo is oblivious to the case and e ticket order, and he even says it's not in his system. Laughing, he tells me to hold on.  When he comes back he tells me his tell performed the procedure to determine water damage.  i ask what that is, and he says it's to take phone apart and observe mother board.  I inform him that was NEVER done.  Lerdo says that I would notice red and green corrosion around the battery.  I tell him that there is absolutely none.  I am put on hold again.  He returns and tells me to bring in the phone--that he'll show me the water damage.  I tell him I live 16 miles away and that this would be our 2nd trip to his store--he says, come in and I will help you and take care of you for your trouble.  I ask him what possibly he could do if he is sure theres water damagehe says not to worry, hell take care of it.

Now, back on the other phone with the Sprint rep. she realizes the store is shady and that no one performed the proper procedure nor recorded water damage on the work order.  She talks to her manger and credits my acct. $75.00 at this point for the 3 hours of phone and travel time I had accrued at that point.  I thank her and she wishes me luck.  Ricardo reassures that for my time and hassle just to come down and he will help us.

8) My son and husband arrive at store #0171 on Sat. Nov. 7th at 2pm.  They are told to come back in an hour for Ricardo is out to lunch.  They return but while Ricardo see them shortly, the case is handled by his assistant mngr.  Ricardo refuses to talk to my husband (who is a calm, sweet man.)  The assistant does the taking apart and announces a key is missing and that they should touch the phone.  Ricardo overrides the concern and a water damage diagnoses on the mother board is written up.  The manager says he wont do anything for it.

9) My son and husband leave with a broken phone that now has a key missing to drive home 16 miles at 4:30pm; two and a half hours later.

10) NOW I am really upset.  I call Ricardo.  They won't get him on the phone and the "a*s. mngr." tries to explain.  I go into detail about their conduct and how they did not do anything they or their store manager claimed he would do.  The assistant manger finally gives Ricardo the phone--I wait on hold for four minutes. 

11) Ricardo promises the phone came in broken and that even though he should not touch the "broken" phone he went ahead and found water on the mother board.  He says a key was missing.  Never was a key missing until the techies worked on the phone!!!  I asked him what happened to helping me with it and he basically talked in circles about his assistant manager taking over and deciding not to help my son and being busy with a customer.  I asked if I had come in myself if he would have followed through like he promised.  He spoke in circles again.  I told him I would write this report to both Sprint and a consumer warning web site, which I absolutely am. 

12) I go home and spend 45 minutes on the phone ordering the new phone and then when I just ask to confirm the credit promised, no on sees the credit so I am transferred to another person with whom I spend 15 minutes making sure I am credited.  She was very nice. 

I am disgusted.  If the Sprint name is going to be on private contractor stores, I may very well consider terminating service upon the very next issue we have.  I thank you for the customer care, but honestly, all the time and anguish is NOTTTTTTT worth 75-.  I just want good service and good phones and spend a couple minutes on the phone IF I must.

An Extremely Dissatisfied Customer,