Are you considering Metro PCS as your cell phone carrier? Do you think that the $29 Android phone that Metro PCS been advertising is a great deal? Well, you may want to read this first.
Sure, Metro PCS cell phone service is inexpensive. That's nice. You get unlimited talk, text and web on a smart phone for around $50 a month. Plus you get other neat little things like unlimited 411, conference calling, and voicemail. Sounds like a really great deal, right?
... Then the other shoe drops... THUD! Let's see... where should I start? How about coverage area? While coverage area has improved quite a bit in recent years, it still isn't as good as other carriers. I mean, even Walmart's Straight Talk has a better coverage area than Metro PCS. (They have a lot of better features than Metro PCS, but that's another blog post. lol) While I admit, I have never tried calling out of the country with a Metro PCS phone, I do know that you cannot call out to places like Alaska. And are you heading out into the mountains... say... going over the hill from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe or to Reno? Forget about being able to call someone if you break down along the way. With Metro PCS, you will get a bit of spotty coverage here and there, but nothing reliable for most of the trip.
Now for the next issue- Customer Service. Customer service is a big deal, in my book. If we are going to fork over hard earned money, and you don't have the decency to give us good customer service, then why on Earth should we help to line your pockets? We'll go somewhere else, thank you very much. First I'll talk about when you call them. If you are activating a new phone, the customer service isn't that bad. See how they lure you in? But if you call for ANYTHING else, forget about it. After jumping through hoops and yelling at the automated voice thingy that never understands what you said, you have to wait on hold for a long time to get a live person... if you can even get that far in the first place. The last two times I called, I wasn't able to get to a real person at all. Most of the customer service reps that I WAS able to get ahold of in the past few years, have been very unprofessional and sometimes outright rude. I recall one time, after holding for about 20 minutes, being told that the computers were down, and I'd have to call back later. No apologies or anything. When I was about to ask when a good time to call back would be, I was hung up on. Nice.
Going into a Metro PCS Store is not much different. If you are buying a new phone or accessories, the clerks are ready to help you. But if you have a question about your service or you want to pay your monthly bill, you're not so lucky. They just direct you to the automated bill pay machine for paying your bill, or hand you a brochure for the questions on your coverage. And don't even think about trying to return a car charger that, just the day before, the clerk insisted would work with your phone, but it didn't. When my husband tried to return his, they told him that they would not take the return. He had the receipt and everything. We have been to many different Metro PCS store locations... I don't mean the authorized dealers... the METRO PCS Stores themselves. I kid you not, EVERY store is the same! Last week, my husband went into a Metro PCS Store (in a nice neighborhood, as if that should even matter) to check out the $29 Android phone deal that they had been advertising on the radio and on TV. Well, the clerk told him that it was only for those who wanted to add a line to their existing service. When my husband told him that they didn't say that in either of their ads, and asked the clerk to check to be sure, the clerk got really rude and unprofessional. At this point my husband pointed out that they are just doing a "bait and switch", just to get people into the store. My husband asked to speak to the manager, and the clerk went over and whispered with her. The manager went to my husband and asked him to leave the store. When he asked her for her name and for the phone number for their corporate manager, she refused to give him both. This is how Metro PCS treats a customer that has been doing business with them for over 7 years.
I have talked with quite a few other Metro PCS customers and they all have similar stories. Many of them left the service due to poor customer service.
So, to sum it up, Metro PCS provides inexpensive cell phone service, mediocre coverage area, and very poor customer service.
Overall Rating: ¢
Are you a Metro PCS customer? I would love to hear what you think about them.
