Sprint Sprint Nextel Sprint Cellular giant erases contacts off my phone then refuses to honor free cell phone as apology Fridley, Minnesota

I went into a Sprint store for a quick repair and they told me they would have to reset my phone, which erases all data on your phone. They said they had a computer they could upload my contacts to and then transfer them back once the repair was done. I hadn't backed up my phone on my own computer in over a year and told them I wanted to first go home and back it up. "We do this all the time, all the data will be safe" I was told. So I reluctantly gave them my phone.

The repair took a few minutes and soon I was on my way. When I opened my contacts, I only had names. All the other data was gone. This is my primary 'computer' when I travel and keep all notes of my clients in my phone. I have lost thousands in business due to the loss of data.

Sprint Executive Services said they would send a new phone as an apology. Not much of an apology but I agreed to it. The e-mails back and fourth from the Customer Service Department told me I could pick a phone and suggested the Palm Pre. They told me to wait for the Pre to come out. I waited for months.

Now, Sprint tells me that I can't have the Pre. They tell me it is not part of the free phones they regularly ship to customers for grievances.

So, after losing thousands of dollars through lost client data...after waiting for nearly 6 months for a phone...never asking for free service or making any other demand...I'm stuck.

Pulling my business from Sprint does me no good. I've been a loyal customer of theirs for nearly 10 years. What do I do?