Nextel Sero Nightmares!!!

[TravisT]

I'm the new kid on the block, and I'm having tons of trouble trying to get my sero account set up. I've been reading a bunch on here, but now hopefully I can get some help (and provide someone after me with some as well).

I placed an order with nextel sero using the www.sprint.com/sero website. I used an employee's email address and the order process went smoothly. I am currently a sprintpcs customer, and I live in a nextel partners area (realized this after the fact). This Monday the phone was shipped to me. I received it Tuesday, and my order status page showed that the phone had shipped and was awaiting activation. This is where all of the fun began.

To date, I have spent about 8.5 to 9.5 hours either on the phone with Nextel communications, Nextel Partners or at the local Nextel store. At one point, I was emailed by the web department saying they needed more information from me and to call them. I did, and they said the credit check was complete, and I was good to go. They said I could call back in a couple hours to the welcome center to activate my phone.

Currently, my account (which I actually have an account # now) is in a tentative state. It is also showing to be a Partners acct #, so Communications can't seem to do much with it - but neither can Partners. Of course, everyone I talk to gives me a different story. I've been told that my order was canx, that I needed to leave a $150 deposit, and most of all that I needed to wait 24 hours and call back. I have also been told several times that everything has been completed in my account setup (with the exception of assigning a temporary # to the acct), and that they could not figure out any reason why it was still tentative. As soon as my account is placed in active status, I've been told that they can activate my phone with no problem.

I know Larry and some others may be able to point me in the right direction. Please help me out, I have literally called or been transferred to over 30 different numbers over the course of the last 4 days. To top it all off, a friend of mine placed an order at the same time as me, and he is in the same boat. Who should I talk to?

[TravisT]

Also, if being in a Partners area is the problem, could I possibly get an account setup in a Communications area under SERO (like atlanta or something), and once it is set up have my number changed to a local (Partners) number? I want to port my current (local) sprintPCS number over anyway.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

you might be able to port your Sprint number to Virgin or something prepaid.........but i recommend it because its one of the only carriers that ports their numbers out for some reason.......try it

[TravisT]

Well my problem is that I really want nextel (I know, I'm sick to still want it after all this crap), but no one else has ruggedized phones and I really like the direct connect. Being in the fire dept and military, it is a feature that I have been missing out on for a long time since I am currently a sprint customer.

I really don't want to switch to a prepaid service. Not sure if I made it sound like I wanted to switch from sprint (PCS/Nextel), but I don't think I do. I have a feeling regardless of the company, the customer service is probably about even across the board. I've been a sprint customer for almost 10 years, and I have not had to call customer service but 20-25 times throughout the whole period. Every time I did, it was a nightmare (almost every time), but in between, I had no complaints.

I need any advice you guys (and girls) can give me on getting this SERO account set up with nextel partners. TIA.

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by TravisT

Well my problem is that I really want nextel (I know, I'm sick to still want it after all this crap), but no one else has ruggedized phones and I really like the direct connect. Being in the fire dept and military, it is a feature that I have been missing out on for a long time since I am currently a sprint customer.

I really don't want to switch to a prepaid service. Not sure if I made it sound like I wanted to switch from sprint (PCS/Nextel), but I don't think I do. I have a feeling regardless of the company, the customer service is probably about even across the board. I've been a sprint customer for almost 10 years, and I have not had to call customer service but 20-25 times throughout the whole period. Every time I did, it was a nightmare (almost every time), but in between, I had no complaints.

I need any advice you guys (and girls) can give me on getting this SERO account set up with nextel partners. TIA.

Since you are a fire fighter & in the Military, why don't you call & see if they have a discount for you that will work out better or equal to the Sero plans?

Maybe then you can bypass the Nextel Partner & deal with Sprint/Nextel directly, or they can straighten this out easier vs the Sero issues your having.

I believe if your a career Firefighter, they offer us a 15% discount thru Sprint/Nextel. I am not sure about the military discount and how much they offer off the plan.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

well if you did it on the Nextel side of the SERO site........they dont ask you for your billing zip code until you check out.........if Nextel offers service in that area they will give you service but SERO isnt meant to work in partner areas which is why they are having trouble properly activating your service