Simple Freedom network outage

Hi all...

I've been getting nothing but a fast busy or an "All circuits busy" message since last Friday when I try to call out on my Simple Freedom Nokia 3587i on the west side of Cleveland and the western Cleveland 'burbs.

I've called Simple Freedom customer no-service 3 times since it started happening. When I called Friday night, the CSR told me that it was "snow/weather related issue" and had no idea as to when it would be addressed. I tried my phone again Saturday- still can't call out, getting a fast busy. I called again- still no estimate as to when the issue would be fixed. I tried to call out on my SF phone again on Sunday- still getting that damn fast busy. This time the CSR says that the outage is due to an "upgrade" being done to the tower my phone is using and said that it should be working again in 2 days.

Am I the only one in the Cleveland (or other) area affected by this? Will going to to Wal*Mart store where I bought the phone and complaining get me anywhere? Will they feel sorry for me and refund my unused balance?

This is ridiculous. I guess the Simple Freedom group at Alltel feels that since I have a ~$80 airtime balance and 300+ minutes left that I'm not on the verge of switching to another provider and that there's no need to fix the issue in a timely manner.

When my minutes run out I am finished with Simple Freedom.

 

I should add that a couple months ago that Alltel did an unannounced "upgrade" of the Simple Freedom voice mail system. I found this out when I went to get my voice mail and my PIN no longer worked. I had to call in to SF customer service and get my PIN reset and waste minutes re-setting up my voice mail.

Simple Freedom used to be decent back in 2003 when I first switched to them but they've really taken a dump recently. Last year I had roaming issues on the Nokia 5185i that I had before I got the 3587i I have now (when I dialed a number I got dumped to the American Roaming Network).

Is it really too much cost and effort for Alltel (or, more precisely, the Simple Freedom group at Alltel) to notify SF customers before an "upgrade" that could potentially have a major impact on service (such as the basic ability to make/receive calls)??!

Sorry for the rant, but I'm kinda P'd off right now.

 

Seems as though I vaguely remember search Alltel's website for info about the voicemail upgrade, but couldn't find the info. Is it still there?

What new features/functionality did the upgrade add? What issues, if any, did it fix?

Anyways... the fast busy issue seems to have been resolved. I can call out OK now.

 

I saw this verbiage in the Simple Freedom Terms and Conditions:

"The refund contemplated by the paragraph is the only liability Simple Freedom will have to you or any other person for claims of any type arising from or related to Simple Freedom’s provision of or failure to provide Service or related equipment ("Claims"). In the event that you are unable to make or receive calls for a period of twenty-four consecutive hours as a direct result of Simple Freedom's gross negligence or willful misconduct, you, as your sole and exclusive remedy, may require Simple Freedom to terminate the Account and refund to you the balance remaining. Notwithstanding any other Terms of Service, in no event shall Simple Freedom be liable for any special, indirect, punitive or consequential damages whatsoever, regardless of their cause, or for Claims arising from or related to matters beyond Simple Freedom's reasonable control, and in no event shall Simple Freedom be liable to you or any other person for damages in excess of your Account balance at the time any Claim is made."

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I wonder, since I was unable to make any calls for more than 24 hours this past weekend, if I could call customer service, cancel my service and get a refund. Or would it be more hassle than it's worth? Has anyone tried this?

 

It started working OK again Monday night at my house. It also worked fine at my office where I work (about 10-15 miles from Akron).

I think the issue was with only the tower that my phone uses when I call out from my house.

Still aggrevating though.

 

It would probably be more bother than it's worth to try to get a refund, espcially since the issue no longer exists. I'm just going to wait until my minutes are all used up and go with Cingular's prepaid service after my airtime is all used up. I tried T-Mobile's prepaid last summer, but couldn't get a signal in a couple places I frequent. And their coverage is pretty sparse to nonexistent outside of major or mid-size cities. But aside from the coverage and dead spots I encoutered, T-Mobile seemed pretty good with decent 24 hour customer service. And the free inbound text messages are a nice bonus.

 

Dang, wish I'd seen this back in September. It still would have been nice, though, if Alltel would have sent a text message about this "upgrade" back in September.

Did this upgrade add any new features or functionality?