47 minutes. That is how long I have been hold with Sprint. Have I spoke with a customer service representative? No I haven’t. Does the recording that tells me that one will be with me soon play every minute? Yes it does. I have heard it 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 times. Am I getting mad? You bet I am. Fine. I give up. I’ll try again at lunch.

Update 12:31 PM: I’m on hold again. 22 “The next available representative will be with you as soon as possible” and counting. I am beginning to think that the whole thing is a scam … you just sit on hold forever and they never have to replace the phone. I should be at the gym now, torturing my self on the treadmill, but no I’m sitting here listening to a rotation of three classical music pieces with the “The next available representative will be with you as soon as possible” interruption every 60 seconds. I pay five bucks a month for this protection plan and I’ve told myself that it is well worth it in case this kind of event, but every second that passes with no friendly Customer Service Representative telling me not to worry, my new Treo is on the way, is making me very anxious and irritable. Its not just my phone that is not working it is my PDA and that is unacceptable. I’ve got about 10 more minutes before I have to hang up and go back to work. Then I’ll have to start all over again. If I don’t get a hold of someone today I may have go ballistic on someone.

Update 2:47 PM:Called again. Got an answer immediately. Really makes me think that no one was even there earlier. Did they tell me don’t worry your new phone is on the way? No they didn’t. They said you have to go to the nearest sprint store. Huh? Then why have I devoted over 2 hours of my day to calling this number? Why don’t you just say on your website go to the Sprint Store? Tonight, I go on a field trip to the Sprint Store. If they tell me I have to call the 1 800 number, it could get ugly.

Update 8:03 PM: Drove 26 miles to the Sprint Store. Sat in some sort of traffic thing for 30 minutes. Waited another 30 minutes or so while the “tech” in the backroom of the Sprint Store looked at my phone. Apparently he thought it was dead too. Duh. So they ordered me a new one. I assume that means a new refurb, but that’s fine. It will be here in 2-5 business days. I should say it will be there. They can’t ship it to me. It will be shipped to the store. Which means another trip down there for me. I am pissed. They could have done this over the phone and they could have shipped it straight to me. This is a crock, I am paying for this level of service. Once the “new” phone is in my hand and working, I’ll be OK.