The Phone Might Not Be Connecting, But The Employees Definitely Aren’t

I have a prepaid cell phone. It doesn’t have some of the bonuses of a monthly plan with the big carriers, but it’s FAR cheaper, and I wouldn’t be taking advantage of those bonuses anyway. Also, they now have unlimited talk and text. Yay! Or at least until the day I pick it up to make a call, and instead, it auto-connects to a support line talking about adding more minutes.

Confused, I check my account; it shows that the airtime is still good until the end of August while it’s the middle of June, but it doesn’t show talk or text at all — unlimited, zero left, or anything. According to the site, my plan only covers data. Further baffled, I call out again to get this support number. I’m slightly worried that there are no separate “technical” and “account” options, just “buy more time” and “support”. I connect with support and explain the problem with my account.

Support #1: “Okay, sir, I will ask you to please reset your phone.”

Me: “Um, I know that’s always the first step for tech support, but the issue is with my account, not my phone.”

Support #1: “Yes, sir, it appears that your phone is not connecting your account properly.”

Me: “Yes, it is. When I check my account — including from other devices — it shows that I don’t have any minutes or texts.”

Support #1: “I understand, sir. It is because your phone is not connecting to our network that it is not showing properly. If you could please restart your phone, then we will try to connect.”

Me: “I’m on the phone right now, talking to you. Can you call me on my home number?”

Support #1: “Yes, sir. Please restart your phone and we will see if it connects.”

Realizing I’m talking to a brick wall, I hang up, restart my phone, and call the main support line from my landline. Shocker, restarting my phone doesn’t fix an issue with the account.

Finally, I get through to someone with an almost impenetrable accent that I can’t even place, but they speak slowly, so at least I have time to try to figure out what they’re saying.

Support #2: “All right, sir, are you calling from the phone in question?”

Me: “No, I’m calling from my other line.”

Support #2: “All right, sir, thank you. Would you kindly restart your phone, please?”

Me: “I kind of just did. I had to call back because I called from that line and they asked me to restart.”

Support #2: “Yes, sir, if you could please restart your phone now.”

Me: “Oooookay.” *Does so* “All right, it’s back up.”

Support #2: “You should be able to make your calls now, sir.”

Me: “You sure about that?”

I punch in a number and put the phone on speaker.

Me: “Yeah, that sounds like your support line. Like I said, my account is messed up.”

Support #2: “Okay, sir, please, if we could, go into your phone’s network settings.”

Me: “Okay, but why, though?”

Support #2: “We need to be sure that your phone is connecting to the correct network.”

Me: “My account. Is currently messed up. It is not showing that I have any minutes, but I should have unlimited minutes.”

Support #2: “Yes, sir. If we are to fix this, once the network is corrected, this will fix your issues.”

Me: “I doubt it, but fine.”

I follow all the steps, restart my phone AGAIN, and make a call.

Me: “And it’s still not going through.”

Support #2: “All right, sir, thank you for your patience. I will ask if we can try to reset the network settings one more time.”

Me: “No. I want to speak to a supervisor, now.”

Support #2: “All right, sir, I can do the transfer for you, but if you would like to give me a chance, I am certain I can fix this for you.”

Me: “And I’m certain you can’t in any timely manner. Please send me to your supervisor.”

Eventually, I get through. I explain the situation, and the supervisor takes a look at my account. They say something in a language I don’t understand, but they do NOT sound happy about it. They also start rapid typing in a way that sounds like a machine gun going off.

A minute later, they pipe up again.

Supervisor: “I’m very sorry for all of this, sir. I have made some changes to your account. I do not know how this happened. If you could, please type [button combination] on your phone. Depending on the model, it may ask you to reset after connecting.”

I hit the buttons. It confirmed reactivation, and the message said to reset. I reset. I made a test call, and THE CALL WORKED! It really is amazing what happens when you listen to the actual problem the customer is having.