This email regards Order #: 102-5298571-64XXXXX

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus which I recently ordered was delivered on May 11, 2012 as stated by Amazon.

I initially had substantial difficulty getting this phone to activate on the Sprint network. Most of the time the phone kept cycling through the activation process and returning Error 6: Connection Error.

Despite a call to Amazon Wireless customer service I ended up getting the phone activated by following the directions at www.sprint.com/activate. While I spoke to a male customer service representative at approximately 7pm ET on Friday, May 11, 2012, an agreement for a callback 30 minutes later at 5XX.XXX.XXX9 was never fulfilled by Amazon Wireless and to date there appears to have been no attempt made by Amazon Wireless to follow up on this matter.

Overall I’m quickly approaching the point where the $50 saved over a direct Sprint purchase is being negatively offset by equipment difficulties and customer service failures.

I am somewhat annoyed by this and this experience has left me underwhelmed with Amazon Wireless’ level of customer care.  Someone at Amazon Wireless needs to hear this.

Aside from this concern, I continue to have voice and data connectivity issues with Sprint and the Galaxy Nexus that didn’t exist on my former Sprint device (HTC EVO 4G). I have written an email to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and am awaiting a response call from his executive team.

If Sprint cannot resolve this matter, I will likely be looking to return the phone and let my contract with Sprint terminate normally in July. That said, I trust I also have 14 days to make certain that a particular device is working properly on my account.

I am annoyed and disappointed with Sprint’s Now Network and I believe you need to understand why.

My previous two-year contract with Sprint was set to end in July. As per the usual upgrade/customer retention process, I was offered an equipment upgrade effective May 1, 2012. After doing a number of comparisons and some research across numerous carriers and manufacturers, I opted to exercise good faith and renew with Sprint and purchase a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The phone was purchased through Amazon Wireless.

Today I have the displeasure to report to you that Sprint’s network performance on the Galaxy Nexus is simply abysmal. Even my two-year old HTC EVO 4G, with its history of issues, offered far better performance overall.

It’s enough when one considers that the phone failed to activate properly and a call to Amazon Wireless ended in a request for a callback that never happened. I eventually ended up getting the phone activated by following the instructions at www.sprint.com/activate. Rest assured I plan to take up that matter with Amazon Wireless under separate cover.

So to say that it has not been a good experience from the start is putting it lightly.

Right now, my focus in writing to you is that of the unacceptable network performance I’m experiencing so far. Voice signal is far less robust and 3G connectivity is far more uncertain than anything I’ve experienced on my HTC EVO 4G.

I’m not sure that Sprint can resolve this matter in any reasonable time frame since the problem rests either in the capacity of its current network, the radios in the Galaxy Nexus or a combination of both. There has certainly been a lot written about weak radios in Samsung phones and my experience in the last 24 hours certainly lends credibility to those claims.

I’m also fully aware of the Sprint website that offers street-level information of current and future network enhancements, but that seems to do little to offset the difficulties I’m now experiencing. Basically a wireless network is only as good as its ability to connect consumer devices and deliver voice and data traffic. Beyond that there is no other consumer value.

I will await a response from your executive team, which based on previous communication has always come within a reasonable time frame. At that time I will evaluate the next logical step forward for this situation. Unfortunately, the best one may be voiding my contract extension, returning the Nexus, reactivating the EVO and letting my contract expire normally in July. At that point I will need to move to a new carrier despite higher prices coupled with data caps and throttling.

I suppose I should return to the task of blogging. I know I want to, yet finding my niche – as is the case with all other areas of life – I’m struggling to figure out what I want to say, what I should and shouldn’t say and how best to communicate the passion for so many subjects that often lives inside of me.

For now, I’m swimming in a sea of feelings, beliefs and convictions that aren’t always easy to sort out. I’ve thought about commenting on the insanity that is our political system, and in particular, as we gear up for the next Presidential election. Then I’ve thought about bringing my readers along on my weight-loss journey, but that isn’t going so well right now and I don’t think it would be a pleasant ride for most.

Well, at any rate, I wanted to put something out there. I can’t promise when I will blog next, but I do hope it’s soon. Today, I need to refocus my efforts on me. While that might sound selfish, it is more preservation than conceit. I need to lose weight and that isn’t going to be possible until I can grab firmly on the reins of this diet, which have up til now be quite elusive (or is it evasive?).

Pride48 2012 in Las Vegas is just 190 days from today. I need to lose 150 pounds to be where I would like to be. The odds of losing nearly 1 pound per day is statistically unrealistic, so this means accepting a goal that is much smaller and consequently much less than where I need to be; meaning I won’t reach my desired goal weight by September unless I become the recipient of some miracle, have gastric bypass surgery (which I don’t want to do), or am able to kick my butt into high-gear and fast-track this weight loss once-and-for-all.

I don’t know why I procrastinate so much, but I think I need to solve that dilemma too if I am to be successful at really bringing about measurable change in my life.

That journey should start today.

Until next time….
XO ~ Veritable Virgo