Call Kurtis: Message Not Getting Through

We all know cell phone service can be spotty, but a Carmichael woman says her texting abilities are spotty. After spending more than a month waiting for a solution from her carrier, she called Kurtis Ming.

Susan Call is living with Multiple Sclerosis. It's affected her mobility and ability to talk loud and clear. She absolutely needs text messaging to keep in touch with friends, family, and her caregivers. But she says when certain people send her a text, the message isn't getting through.

"It's important for her to get texts," says Caregiver Maria Bernardino.

But Call hasn't been getting all her texts since switching to MetroPCS in August. She can send them, but people like Bernardino, who have a certain carrier say their texts aren't getting through to Call.

Call says the process of trying to get the problem fixed has been very frustrating. Initially she and Bernardino thought it may have something to do with her Blackberry which was made for another provider. They took the phone to the store that helped her unlock the Blackberry so she can use it with MetroPCS. Staff there looked into it and said the problem wasn't with the phone.

"They went as far as proving to us it was not the equipment it was the line," says Bernardino.

So she and Call went to a MetroPCS corporate store in Citrus Heights. A representative there said it could take a week to fix the problem. But a week came and went, so they called the store.

"I said 'how long are we going to wait?' and he said, 'well, it could be weeks,'" says Bernardino.

Again, this phone is Call's way of communicating. Bernardino says there was no sense of urgency and no explanation of what was causing the text problem.

"If all it is is pushing buttons... is it putting her name at the top of the list because of how urgent it is? You know, why can't we have that done for her?" asks Bernardino

We called up MetroPCS and the problem seemed to be moved to the top of the list. That same day the company realized the number wasn't completely transferred over back in August, during what's called the porting process. They fixed it and just like that, Call started getting all of her texts.

"Hallelujah! Finally," says Bernardino.

A MetroPCS representative wouldn't go into specific details with us about the problem, but did send us this statement:

"It is our policy not to comment on the specifics of customer service situations, but I can confirm that MetroPCS fully resolved the situation with Susan Call. Customer service is a top priority for MetroPCS, and we strive to answer customer questions and resolve inquiries in a timely manner."
When you switch over phones from one service provider to another you should keep in mind every feature may not work. Call's Blackberry is not on MetroPCS' compatible list.