By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – If you live anywhere in Howard Township, especially in the Barron Lake area, chances are for the past few weeks you have been experiencing problems with your NEXTEL cell phone not working properly.
Calls come through, you answer, but no one is on the line and the person on the other end cannot hear you.
You try dialing out, but cannot connect to any numbers you're calling. When you finally do get through to someone, they ask why you have been hanging up on them or ignoring their calls. You can't even check your voicemail messages. The only thing you are able to do is chirp your way through a conversation, and a lot of times those calls are dropped as well. It has been very nerve-racking for many NEXTEL customers, so what is going on?
Representatives from NEXTEL said their company is currently investigating the problem, which has something to do with the towers in the area. However, there is no estimated time of resolution, meaning it could be fixed tomorrow or weeks from now.
"It's very discouraging," Karon Krueger, administrative assistant at Gordon Engineering, said Thursday.
The problem, which NEXTEL said is affecting people around the Detroit and Leet Road areas, makes Krueger's job more hectic, as she has to make all of the phone calls for her employees, instead of them making the calls.
"We have to call locators, which is something the guys usually do on their cell phones. If our employees are in this area, they can't call them, so they two-way me (which is one feature on NEXTEL phones that seems to be working properly), I have to call the locators, then call our employees back. It's like we are chasing our tails and playing phone tag," Krueger said.
It's also a big disruption in her personal life as Krueger uses her phone as a landline.
"Nobody can call me and if they do, I'm not on the other end. I can't even get a hold of my family members," Krueger added.
Krueger, as well as many other NEXTEL customers, have called the company in search of answers, but, unfortunately, NEXTEL doesn't have any right now.
"They can't tell us what the problem is, where it is or when it will be fixed," Krueger added.
In the meantime, customers who are experiencing problems have been receiving credits to their account and will not be charged while the service is being interrupted.
"I like NEXTEL and always have. I will never use another carrier. I just can't believe it's taking this long to fix the problem and the fact that they don't know when it will be fixed is even more disturbing," Krueger said.