I ran into some problems with a cell-phone carrier, who hasn’t.  Right?  You can read a diatribe about what happened here: Been Cheated By: Sprint.

What I learned in this situation was that using the telephone support, while convenient, is a pain in the butt and not worth the time.  Going into a store, and dealing with a real person is way better.

I worked with the manager at the store near my house when I had a problem (not the first, not the last), and she got to know my face.  When she had the problem taken care of, I told her “I’ll see you when it happens again”. Her response “Hopefully, you will not have problems any more”.

Two weeks later, I was back in the store.  She fixed the problem, apologized, and as I left I told her that I would see her again when it happens again.  She replied with the same answer as before.

When I went back in the store with the last problem, she wasn’t there, but her employee called her and they worked together (the manager at home with her daughter) to find a solution.  Corporate found a temporary solution, but it was ludicrous and I was done dealing with the issues.  I asked her to cancel the cell contract, and to have the carrier pay for the cancellation fees.  Since the manager knew me, and had personally dealt with my problems, she was able to convince the carrier that I had been harassed enough and that they needed to let me go for free.

The Moral: when you have a problem with a company, deal with the same person repeatedly so that you can have some history with them.  Then when it is time to get some real work done, they know what is going on and can take care of the problem immediately and conclusively.