Google and Sprint Together?

Really?

When the HTC Hero first came out with Google all over it, I thought it was an android phone by Google that Sprint was promoting. So, being a self proclaimed "Google Head" I changed carriers, switched over to Sprint ( something I swore I would never do again because of bad experiences with bogus billing issues) and decided, I was just going to take it for the team this time. So when I ported my old number and got everything hooked up, I  found myself quite disappointed when the first rep told me using Google Voice to make calls, meant I would be using my anytime minutes.

I ended up going through quite a few customer reps from various departments, explaining to them my frustration of having a phone that had "Google" printed on it, it being marketed as a Google platform phone, meaning I should be able to access and utilize all things Google from it without an additional charge, and Sprint - the company who I purchased the phone from and was receiving mobile services from- had absolutely no clue as to what Google Voice was, how it worked, or anything. Finally, the last few reps in the tech dept, escalations, agreed and told me I should not get billed for calls made via GV as it should be viewed as Data since it was on the Google Platform.

Needless to say, that failed, I was still billed. Minutes were taken from my anytime minutes. That sucked.

Then I found out I if I used the older version of the Google Voice application, I could use the 3rd party number it used to dial out as one of my "home numbers" with Sprint (for $5 they allow you to have unlimited calls to and from one land line) to be able to call out and receive calls from my GV on my cell without disturbing my anytime minutes. This worked out great, until I discovered the many features hidden in the Google Application Updates.

Fast forwarding to today, I was excited when I saw the tweet about Sprint and Google. Eager to find out more info, I tweeted both Google and Sprint and got no reply. So I called Sprint to find out more info.

Why was I not surprised when Sprint told me my conversing with them was the first time they heard anything of the sort? Not even the technical department, escalations department could answer any of my questions. That is kind of disturbing.

I suggest now what I suggested then, a while back when the HTC Hero came out and was all the rave, "If Sprint is going to push a product with another company's brand, it may be in the best interest of Sprint to be able to know SOMETHING about the company, the products it offers, the functionality of the product it is selling, and other little details pertaining specifically to the product they are selling. It is called good business."