Complaint Review: Liberty Wireless

As of today, July 19, 2004, IT HAS BEEN ONE MONTH AND 12 DAYS that I have been without a working wireless phone from Liberty Wireless. I purchased a wireless phone from this company in May of 2004. I received it on approximately May 29, 2004, and on June 7, 2004, the phone stopped working. (It was an LG 1010).

The phone would simply not pick up a signal, and, when I called Liberty Wireless to report it, they told me to remove the battery for 24 hours and replace it to see if it would work and call back if not. Of course it did not work, and I called back. They said they would send me a replacement phone AFTER I sent them mine. They only use UPS ground, so I knew this would take about 3 weeks or so.

I returned the phone and patiently waited for the replacement. When it finally arrived on June 29 or so, I called them to have my account reactivated (they had suspended it so my minutes would not be wasted). They could not activate the phone because they did not have a "lock code" for it for programming purposes. No reason was given as to why they would ship a phone that they did not have the "lock code" for. I was told to wait 48 hours and call them back for the lock code.

After 48 hours, I called and was told to call back in 48 hours. After ANOTHER 48 hours, I called back and was told to call back in 48 hours. This would have gone on ad infinitum if I hadn't demanded to speak to a supervisor, who told me they would send me another phone. I was livid, as I did not want to wait another 3 weeks for them to ship me a phone only after my bad one had arrived, so she told me they would do an "advance replacement," where they would ship me a new phone BEFORE they received the defective one from me.

I patiently wait a week and call them back to get the progress report and tracking number on my new phone, only to be told that the previous representative never created an "invoice" on my phone and that it was never shipped. The new representative, who told me his name was John Anderson, promised me that he would create the "invoice" while I was on the phone and that I should give him seven days to replace my phone.

Seven days later, I call again, only to be told that the invoice John Anderson had created was for a purchase phone, not a replacement, and, as a result, the warehouse did not ship my phone. I demanded again to speak to a supervisor, and wound up talking to a "Les D.", who promises me AGAIN that I will receive a working phone from them in 5-8 business days. I was also told that, since I had sucessfully used my original phone for 37 minutes--seven minutes over the limit--that I am not entitled to a refund, only a replacement.

I guess this process of my calling for a replacement phone and their doing a song and dance as to why it has not shipped could go on forever. I told "Les D." that I would be calling her every day until I got the UPS tracking number for the phone that supposedly is being shipped to me.

Christine
Lubbock, Texas
U.S.A.