I know when I’m roaming and I know when I’m not roaming. My cellphone is the one with the problem.
I am in and out of government buildings during the day. I can have great network service in the hallway and walk into an office or other room and suddenly, as if the door were a portal to some magic place like Narnia, I’m roaming. I went 2 feet, but I’m roaming.
This happens to me constantly during the day, especially in one particular building. It’s like the building is the Bermuda Triangle of cell phones. My phone loses all bearing and direction for no apparent reason other than the fact that I stepped into a different room. Most of the time the room is an interior room without windows but I’m no more than 30 feet at any time from the hallway that was just fine a few seconds ago.
My biggest complaint about roaming when I’m not roaming is that I feel like it’s an expensive default for the cell company, in my case Sprint. It’s like they have it set up so that if I have a weak signal, my phone flips over to roaming. I guess I should say, sometimes it flips over to roaming, other times it works just fine. I feel like the phone company is using a weak signal to make a little extra cash.
You would think walking back into the hallway from the cell phone Narnia would fix the problem. Back in the hallway? Should work. Hardly ever. Most of the time, once my phone starts roaming when I’m not, the phone won’t flip back over to the regular network without a soft reset.
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lol, if this wasn’t involving you having to pay extra for something that’s not your fault, this would have been a very funny complaint. I feel for you on that one, have you tried complaining to Sprint about roaming fees that clearly shows you’re not roaming?
But I like the Bermuda Triangle and Narnia feel, that made me laugh out loud for sure! lol
my own name on July 11th, 2007 at 8:39 pm | Link
I COMPLETELY AGREE.
and i have sprint as well. its probably just the greedy people there….
mz on November 3rd, 2008 at 5:10 pm | Link
Sprint is the worst. T-Mobile was ok. MetroPCS will be my next company but their service areas are very limited.
T-Mobile just sent me a letter on June 8, 2009 notifying me that they are canceling my service due to excessive roaming (ends July 7, 2009).
When I called their customer service, they told me they are the last cell phone company to halt excessive roaming as they review past billing cycles to determine who gets the T-Mobile Axe. They do not give a warning to allow you to make corrections to your travel habits. They just shut your phone off after sending you a 30 day notification.
I am still a shock to me that they can do this. All my family members and several friends bought into T-Mobile service for the mobile-to-mobile benefits. Now I have been given the T-Boot, therefore I intend to take as many as possible with me (as soon as everybody’s contracts come to an end).
Are there any cell phone companies who do not do this to its customers….one that respects its customers???
ima innapickle on July 6th, 2009 at 5:37 am | Link
sprint is absolutely TERRIBLE. i’m sitting in my house in boston, MA right now with 3 bars and it says i’m roaming.
stevo on September 10th, 2009 at 5:53 pm | Link
I have been a Sprint / Nextel customer for nearly 8 years. I have never ever had problems with this company until as of late. I came back from deployment and started to notice small roaming charges. I don’t make a lot of calls. and I’ve noticed these roaming charges are in my home network - to my own voice mail, and to another Sprint phone.
I called them up for the past 3 months now. First I was told that my software needed an upgrade, so I got that. No problem right? Still the next month roaming charges to my voice mail and to my best friend, who also has the Sprint phone, which is covered over the mobile to mobile unlimited.
So a few tech calls later I learn that the charges are coming from a tower in Canada, which 50-80 miles away.
My phone is always set to Sprint mode only, and to notify me before any roaming charges. Normally it’s ok with that.
All the roaming charges are taken off each month, but it becomes an annoyance. The options that were given to be was a plan that’s $10 more to include roaming, or upgrade my phone.
Hate to be a conspiracy theorist here, but are they trying to force people into buying more expensive plans or phones? I’m not going to switch networks, but this is odd for Sprint and I’ve never had any problems before about this. Why are things like this happening?
Ann on October 29th, 2009 at 10:58 am | Link