Alltel has a serious problem

My girlfriend signed up a week ago today. I was going to go today and switch to Alltel. Because of the mobile to mobile minutes, we had 3-4 relatives that were thinking about switching.

We all live in Kansas and were going to sign up for the National Freedom plan. The one that advertises "

If you go to their website and look at their map for the National Freedom Network plan it shows two areas: green and yellow. The green area is labeled "National Freedom Coverage Area" and the Yellow is labeled "Nationwide Roaming at .59 per minute"

On that map, I live about where the C is in the work Kansas City. By their advertising I feel it is safe to assume I'm WELL with in the network, and should never have to worry about roaming charges unless I'm in the yellow somewhere.

Here's where the problem began:

Just to be on the safe side, I called Alltel's 800 # and asked them. The first lady asked for my zip code and told me I would be fine in Topeka, and would be covered by the network. I called again, later and asked the SAME question and was told that she had no way of telling if I would be covered. I called again later and was told that I would not be covered. I proceeded over a week to call at least 8-10 times and 1/2 the time they told me I would be covered in Topeka and 1/2 they time they said I wouldn't be covered in Topeka.

I asked the questions very specifically and very direct. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't have any unexpected roaming charges. I even asked once or twice if they would remove them if I got them and they said yes. Three of the ones that said I would be covered in Topeka actually looked up the zip code. One of those acted like I was crazy because even after I asked if I would be covered and not charged roaming and she said yes...I asked more than once if she was sure.

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Las night my girlfriend came to Topeka to visit me. She noticed on her drive here from Emporia that her phone went to roaming a lot. This is all at least 60-100 miles from the little yellow speck above Kansas City (well w/in the green) Her LG LX5450 has a timer that shows roaming minutes. She looked at it and it said she had 5 roaming minutes. She was upset. I figured the would just remove them from her bill, so I said I would call and find out. I called 1-800-Alltel1 and asked for a SUPERVISOR. When I spoke to him he had a different story. He said that the green area was just an "approximation" of coverage. According to him at anytime, no matter how far you are within the green of the map you can start roaming and be charged for it. He said you had to check your phone every time and make sure you aren't roaming before you call or answer the phone.

That is NOT what their plan says. That is false advertising. If I'm 100 miles inside of what the map says is my coverage and I have a plan that says no roaming, I better NOT be charged for roaming.

The supervisor told me there was nothing they could do. He said that for all cell companies and plans you could get charged roaming in the area they show if you hit the wrong tower. He said all I could do was set it to use only one tower the home tower.

I KNOW that isn't true. For the last 3 years my girlfriend an I have been on an AT&T regional plan that covered all of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas and most of Missouri and Arkansas. Between the two of us in 3 years we have only been charged roaming for one call!!! And that was when I was 2 miles inside my area of Kansas. One call and they removed the charge.


It gets worse......

When I called Alltel and told them about the problem, I called from her Alltel phone in Topeka using the *611(or whatever). I checked it first, and it was not roaming. After that we went home and she called her parents to tell them about it. I checked the phone again for her, and it was not showing roaming.

According to the roaming timer on her phone BOTH calls were charged for roaming!!!!!!!!! She now has 34mins of roaming on that line. For all 34 we were well within the green area of that map, and for 30 mins of it we both looked and made sure it wasn't showing that it was roaming before we called.


I think I'm going to every place on the internet I can find and complain, and I'll file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Even if there is some way they can get around what their map shows and charge for roaming 100 miles inside of the yellow where you get charged roaming.....they can NOT get around the fact that they tell people who call to sign up that the will not be charged!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I just called the 800 # again to see what they said. I told him the #1 feature I wanted in my plan was no roaming. I didn't care about much else. I gave him my zip code, and he recommended the National Freedom plan. After a bit, I get him to say I could still be charged with roaming in my area, but he recommended the Total Freedom plan. With that there is never roaming anywhere.

From my previous knowledge I know that if I use this plan in Topeka(66609) I would not be in my local area. And with the total freedom plan that means my nights and weekend and mobile-to-mobile minutes will NOT work. So I ask him...."Would me living in Topeka change my coverage any? I mean, does me living in here change my coverage or how I will be charged at all?" He said no!!!!!

 

I know that now, but that wasn't the only problem. I was told be SEVERAL people that I would NOT EVER have to pay roaming while in the green area. Their are either several incompetent ppl at the 800 # or they lie and want to get the roaming charges out of you. That's the only way you can look at it. The sad part is, some of them sounded like they didn't have a clue about much of anything, and those are the ones that told me that I would roam. The ones that sounded like they really knew what was going on, told me I would NEVER roam. On lady asked me for my zip code, and the told me I would NEVER have to worry about roaming. I asked her a different way and she answered "in Topeka, with the National Freedom plan, you will not roam" According to the supervisor, you roam A LOT in Topeka. No one wants to worry about roaming in their hometown. I've had a cell phone for 3 years and haven 't ever thought about roaming.

How would you feel if you were told you would NEVER roam at or anywhere with in miles of your house, then one night on the way to the store your long lost friend calls, you pick up the phone and answer real quick without noticing you were roaming a block from your home. You talk to your friend for 2 hours catching up.....and then get charged $60 for answering a call a block from your house...on a plan that you were told you would NEVER roam within 100 miles of your house?

 

My girlfriend hasn't got a bill yet. She started service a week ago. They told her she couldn't be charged for roaming in Emporia, and if I got one I couldn't be charged for roaming in Topeka. I called the 800 # and was told several times that both that it was impossible and LIKELY that I would get charged in Topeka.

According to the supervisor I spoke with, there's a chance I will be charged for roaming on the West side of town, more of a chance in the middle.....and he said I'd probably be charged roaming on the East side.

So when she signed on the line they told her it wasn't possible. I was told it wasn't possible by at least 3-4 different people. It is possible. The need to work on how their reps, represent their coverage.

We are going to test how likely it is for me to get charged, and then decide. She still has a week to return it. After being lied too, I would just switch to another provider, but no one else has the mobile-to-mobile with emporia and Topeka in it and covers a tiny spot in S.E. Kansas we want coverage in.

In that tiny spot in S.E. Kansas, Cingular has bought land to build a tower, and had the phone company install some equiptment in the office. So it should be covered some day....I just don't know how long it takes.

 

AZO, help would be appreciated. If you wish to help, it would work better if you actually read everything. I can tell by your statement that you have not. If you had you would know that there is no bill to be had. I'm not fool enough to wait for a bill to find out if I've been lied too. I was lied too. I was lied to by at least 4 people that I can think of. I asked directly, multiple times, sometimes until they were irritated if I could get charged roaming in Topeka. They all said NO. Their supervior said it is very likely I would. I don't need a bill to understand that the other 4 or so people severly mislead me.

The last time I called. Just as a test. I told the rep the #1 thing I cared about in a plan was no roaming. I told him I didn't care about anything else, just didn't want to every have to pay for roaming. I didn't care about minutes or cost....just roaming. Did he suggest the total freedom plan? No, he suggested the National freedom plan. He finally suggested total freedom after I said twice "so with the National freedom plan I will never pay roaming?"

I'm not worried about how the National Freedom plan works. I may even keep it. What really ticked me off was that I was guarenteed several times I could never roam in Topeka, and I can.

 

I think it's a very important part of their job to know the differences between their three plans. They all should be aware that with the TFP plan roaming charges aren't possible and with the NFP they are. Yes people make mistakes. I think there is a serious problem when 1/2 he reps make the same mistake. I think there is a serious problem when you tell the the #1 think you want is no roaming charges and they offer you plan that has them, and only say that it will charge roaming after you push them. Was that a mistake? He knew it charged roaming, because he said so after I asked him a few times. How is this a mistake?

Whether or not I live 1,000 miles away is irrelevant for this problem. They said that it wasn't possible to be charged for roaming with the NFP as long as you were in the green. I could be sitting in the green on their lap and be charged for roaming.

I know how to talk to them and ask questions. I've never been a customer who calls, points fingers and yells. If anything I'm more polite than they are.

The bottom line is, several ppl at Alltel's 800 # are giving out incorrect information on how the NFP works. That information could cause someone to unknowingly enter into a 1-2 year contract assuming the plan is what they want and what they are told. After they are locked in with no free way out, they may find that it costs them .59 per minute to make a call from their house. What use is that?

I don't need to calm down. I'm fine! I may even use Alltel. I just know a problem when I see one, and they have a serious one. Their's no way around it this is a serious problem be it a scam, lie, mistake, accident...whatever. There is no clause in the contract that they will let you out for free and w/out paying your roaming bill because before you got your phone you were told by 4 of their employee's it wouldn't be possible for you to roam.

I'm sure anyone who is defending Alltel would be upset if they entered into a contract due to misinformation from 4 Alltel employee's and their phone "could" be hypothetically useless in their home.

I spoke to a supervisor. I spoke with him just so I could ask if it were possible for me to be charged with roaming....not to complain. I had to try to get a straight, correct answer. He told me that they have had MANY complaints about how the map is presented also. He even offered that he didn't believe it was very clear. It was easy for me to assume there was no roaming in the green area, because I've had a phone for 2.5 years and NEVER been charged for roaming. I stay in the map I was given, and to be honest, I've not been in my home area for 1.5 years....but I have been in my region. My coverage isn't perfect, but I DON'T get charged for roaming, and I only hit an At&t tower once every couple of months when I travel.