Consumerist
Here's a sad story from reader Kristin:
I signed a contract with Sprint in 2004, things were going great. My husband and I decided to move in January 2007 and needed a phone service that reached our area...Sprint did not. Now, pay close attention to the dates..... I called Sprint in January of 2007 and told them that I would like to cancel my contract with them. They explained to me that my contract which I opened in 2004 was up to expire in three months, three months being March of 2007. I said fine, I will continue to pay the monthly bills until such time but DO NOT want to renew the contract because I had already secured another cell phone carrier, Verizon. They said, well can we offer you a free phone to keep you around? I said NO, just please DO NOT renew my contract. So three months go by and I sit down one day to pay my bills and what do you know.....there's a phone bill from Sprint. I started to make phone calls, but...every single time I entered in my account number to speak with a customer representative, DISCONNECTED. So I thought, let me try to write some emails...they can't hang up on emails...but they definitely IGNORED THEM! Now, let me explain that I work with an organization that closely monitors my credit report and cannot take the chance of ANYTHING being reported to a collections agency so month after month I paid a bill for a phone that I no longer used...HELL I couldn't even find the damn phone. So fast forward to February of 2008, I FINALLY got to speak with a customer service representative that had a ton of attitude. I explained to her that I have been trying to have this phone disconnected for over a year. She said well, I can disconnect the phone for you but it will cost $200 since your contract doesn't expire until 2009. I said no mam, that is incorrect, my contract should have expired in March of 2007. She said, No, it's 2009. I asked to speak with a supervisor, she said "HOLD" and nobody ever came back to the line. So today APRIL 10, 2008 I get a bill for $268.00. I call the Finance Department at Sprint. I ask why would I pay $268 for a disconnection fee if my contract ended in March of 2007. She stated that I would have had to of signed or verbally gave approval in 2006 to renew the contract but they don't keep records going back that far......EXCUSE ME??? What do you mean you don't keep records going back only 2 years??? I said, NO, I NEVER signed or gave a verbal approval of anything, infact, I tried to cancel this phone over a year ago and got the run around. She said well sorry mam, but you will either have to pay this or we will send it to collections. Again, SPRINT is not worth my job, so today APRIL 10, 2008 15 MONTHS LATER I am out a grand total of $988.00 for a phone that I HAVEN'T USED!!! Needless to say, I will NEVER use Sprint again and after speaking to family and friends about this situation who all use SPRINT...they will NOT be renewing their contracts and a couple will be calling to cancel. DON'T MESS WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS...cause in the end you will be the one losing! BASTARDS. Thanks for letting me rant.Oh my gosh, Kristin that is horrible! First we'd like to suggest that you call the Sprint Consumerist Hotline: (703-433-4401). We're not sure how much luck you're going to have negotiating with them, but we'd take the opportunity ask for them to send you copies of all your phone records as well as a copy of something that says you authorized the contract extension. I know you said that they told you they don't keep records but that's a bunch of baloney. Take notes during this conversation, or record it.
Next, you may want to try to launch an eecb (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) on Sprint. You might want to remind them how angry the Minnesota Attorney General is about the 30,000 complaints she's received about Sprint extending contracts without customer consent. Sprint has a new commercial that invites you to email the CEO at dan@sprint.com. We suspect you'll get a canned response, but we'd love to be wrong about that.
Finally, if that doesn't work, why not file a lawsuit in small claims court? Bring all the evidence you can get from Sprint that shows you never used the phone. If you're lucky, they won't even show up and you'll get a default judgment.
Does anyone else have any advice for Kristin?
(Photo:Maulleigh)
Comments
So they're trying to hold you to a contract that they have no recod of you agreeing to. That makes sense.
Oh wow, that sucks.
Paying a bill = admission of guilt or acknowledging of responsibility in most cases.
I paid a traffic ticket from another state without looking closely at it and ended up getting my license suspended once.
If you move to an area where there is no coverage you don't have to pay an ETF. You got played by the original CSR. If you had asked you could have gotten out of your contract right then without paying an ETF at all.
If you file a lawsuit in small claims court, use a Sprint address for a mall kiosk. Less chance they actually show up.
@warf0x0r: Working for a cell company, that statement is false. New contracts are worded very carefully to assume that if you move out of a carriers service are, you are the one breaking the contract. It used to be if we couldn't serve you, you got out free provided you give us proof of relocation. Now it's basically "We provide the service. If you move to an area where our service doesn't reach, that's your won fault for moving there."
I once had ATT try to say that I agreed to a contract extension when I did not. My two years was up and I wanted out. I contacted my state Attorney General and a week later ATT backed down and let me go without an ETF.
I would also recommend that if you need to contact a CSR, do not give up because their phone system sucks.
@uberbucket: Are you a lawyer? If not, where did you get your information?
Paying a bill is not an admission of guilt or an acknowledgment of responsibility. In many cases people pay bills they don't actually owe to avoid going to collections, etc., then sue to recover.
I'd say follow on the footsteps of that guy who gave Dell his small claims court papers... At the mall kiosk.
Why if your phone is about to expire did you only try to call and email a couple times then wait almost a year. You should of know when you were paying the bill each month to try and cancel.
I dont see how the total of $988 is Sprint's Fault, the $268 for the ETF but not the whole thing.
You dont have to put in a account number when you call just keep hitting 0 and you will wind up with a person.
Does anyone else see the logic in waiting that long then complain? Because I don't...
uhm....what kind of company monitors your personal credit report, and would fire you if you're in some type of dispute???
Man I thought it sucked where I worked....
I would think that would be some sort of invasion of privacy. "You may never make a finacial mistake, or you're fired."
...I bet they have a camera in the toilet, too.
err...financial....sorry.
"So fast forward to February of 2008, I FINALLY got to speak with a customer service representative that had a ton of attitude."
I like how she said that, it made it sound like she was on hold that long...
Sprint has three year contracts?
Sprint is simply a crooked company.
I've never used them and even I had collections issues with them.
If her contract was expired, continuing to pay it to prevent a mark on her credit would not have extended nor renewed her contract.
My sister has had Sprint for about 5 years, the last 3 or so without a contract. She can drop her service at any time, as this woman should have been allowed to with no difficulties.
Another suggestion to Kristen would be to report Sprint to the BBB as well. Always make sure when dealing with customer service to get their full name or at least their first name and employee identification number.
@Verdigris: In 2003 I called sprint and said that I moved and asked if I had to pay an EFT. They said No.
Could the CSR have been wrong, maybe. I guess I'd say I was wrong if someone can produce an official statement, but otherwise I'm going with what sprint told me... for whatever that is worth.
Of course paying a bill is acceptance of the charge, you don't have to be a lawyer to work that one out. It was silly to do so irrespective of the perceived consequences. It would be illegal for the employer to dismiss as a result of a valid credit dispute.
And the timeframe is too long. Why didn't she visit a Sprint store, and return the phone with a letter saying not to renew? If you did this (or post it in via registered mail) in March of 07 there would be no case to answer...
@warf0x0r: That was in 2003. It used to be that way but has since changed on a national scale.
@scoli83: Bills, no; traffic tickets, usually.
Before you send an EECB, I suggest you first obtain a basic understanding of the concept of the paragraph.
I bitch at my girlfriend all the time (well like twice) when she pays bills she shouldn't because they say if she doesn't pay it immediately then she will be reported. She did it for some collections for a movie rented from a store 6 states away that we never went to just recently.
I don't understand. Your job requires that you bend over and take it any time some company tries to rip you off and threatens to report you?
And why on earth would you let this ride for a year, without even sending them a letter?
@midwestkel: I agree. I would have called every single day until it was resolved. You can complain about the time involved in such a venture, but apparently that time was worth nearly $1000 to the OP.
Ignoring the problem does not make it magically go away.
@thejoker2099: No kidding. I want to know what job it is or at least which company they work for so I can avoid ever applying there.
I also wouldn't have put up with that BS from Sprint for so long. I would have gone to a Sprint store and made the employees call and fix it if I couldn't get through either email or phones.
And if I got fired for the credit ding, I would have sued the company for wrongful termination as well as Sprint for commiting fraud.
How nice that your job holds you hostage by your credit report. This is cropping up more and more.
How long until most of America can't get a job because they've had a "black mark" on their credit?
Well, Sprint fucking blows, but I am surprised that after losing many dollars over a period of over a year she didn't take more action than calling a couple of times and then folding and paying a bill she doesn't owe.
Personally, if I were in her situation where my job was some sort of maniacal tyrant (I assume she's working in some sort of high risk financial environment.. one time I was going to get a job working for B of A as a tax verifying agent that the government outsourced to them, and it required extensive background check, credit history, etc so maybe it's something like that), I'd just let them all take me out before I submitted to any BS. Then again, I'm also the type of person that would kill myself just to prove a very important point of some gruesome and sadistic sort.
@scoli83:
I'm by no means a layer, I was speaking from personal experience.
The tickets and fines I've mistakenly received from state and county government and subsequently paid were what I was referring to. At least in these examples, paying the fines was and admission of guilt, even when it was later determined to be an error on the part of the government, I was unable to recoup the fines.
It's hopefully much different when dealing with a business.
That Consumerist Hotline worked for me not long ago - got me out of an ETF that I shouldn't have had to pay anyway, but I couldn't get the CSR's to budge.
>>thejoker2099
>>uhm....what kind of company monitors your personal credit report, and would fire you if you're in some type of dispute???
The government or another employer, if your job requires a security clearance. It may also apply to people that have to be bonded for their jobs.
Well I fell in the same trap almost. I took a trip to Australia to get married and a vacation for 3 months, so I called sprint and told them to put me on vacation status for 3 months so they dont charge me regular rate. I left to Australia on December 2006 and supposed to be back end of February. My contract was supposed to end in March. When I came back I found that they have charged me for the phone for three months (monthly plan was 150 because it was for business) and the total was 490ish with the tax. The most amazing thing is even though my phone records show that I never used the phone, somehow I was charged 20$ a month extra for messages, with 10$ per message for 2 messages. Needless to say, I called them up, no luck for 2-3 weeks, I refused to pay them those charges so they end up renewing my contract and then the next few days they send me another bill for breaching my contract. So I end up owing them almost double the amount with late fees. The funny part is every time they send me a bill showing that I do not use the phone because it was disconnected, they charge me 20-40$ for messages with 10$ per message.
I really hate sprint, it ended up ruining my credit and till now, I couldn't do anything about it.
I switched away from Sprint because of the constant barrage of text messages, e-mail and phone calls (some at 6 AM!) asking me if I wanted to renew my contract.
In hindsight, it probably would have been better for her to sign a new contract with Verizon and move her old number over. For me, that seemed to be the most painless way to switch from Sprint, since it required no interaction with their CSRs.
@MyPetFly: When I got laid off from a job about 10 years ago, a friend of mine who had connections wanted to get me a job at one of the credit reporting agencies. It would have been an IT job. They were up front in telling me that I needed excellent credit just to get hired, and had to maintain excellent credit too or I could be terminated. Since I live in an at-will state, it's not illegal to fire me for nothing at all, which is all they'd have to do.
@uberbucket: How can you be guilty of something that was erroneous in the first place?
This is an easy one!
All you need provide Sprint or a court
of law is proof of your moving date
to your new residence outside of
their coverage area.
This would be "the preponderance of
the evidence", given that Sprint has
gone on record as saying that they have no records, and any judge anywhere is going to look at your move, and whatever coverage map Sprint publishes, and agree that the only rational move anyone would take under those circumstances would be to cancel the service. At that point, the tariff takes over as filed with the PUC, which includes the rule on ending a relationship when the customer moves out of the service area.
Slam dunk, and Sprint should realize this, and fold their hand if you make them aware of the well-documented nature of any cross-country move.
I want to know what job she has that can fire her for having bad credit?
Sprint did a similar thing to me. I had a Sprint account several years ago, but never renewed my contract. One day, I looked at the bill and saw that a discount I had received for years has vanished. I called and they explained I renewed my contract and lost the discount. I had to chew on them to explain to me why I would renew my contract when I would get nothing in return and LOSE the discount I had. Eventually, they looked at the "call" where I hypothetically agreed. Turns out the call was less than a minute and they admitted I couldn't have verified my Id or anything in that time, so they cancelled the contract.
The next day, I went to AT&T to get a new plan/phone because darned if I'm going to stay with a company that pulls stunts like this.
A month later, I get a "contract breach" bill where they are fining me for backing out of the contract I had to fuss them out of the month prior. It took about half an hour of fussing, but they fixed it. Bastard tried his best to keep me from talking to a manager despite demanding to do so.
I hate Sprint with every fiber of my being now. I still remember when I walked into the AT&T store and a rep asked me what they could help me with. I held up my Sprint phone and said, "these fuckers at Sprint have finally managed to piss me off and I WILL NOT be affiliated with them after today!" Everyone in the store froze and stared at me, while one rp in the back shouted, "You have no idea how many times people come in and say something similar to that about Sprint."
Compared to AT&T, I have yet to figure out how Sprint stays in business...aside from the sheer cash it makes in trying to rip off its customers.
I'm a former Sprint rep and I con confirm contracts are frequently extended without their consent. It's actually pretty easy to get a way with if you know Sprint's system, if you check the "CSR condessions" post that was on here awhile back, you can see how it can be done. A rep can not tell you a contract is being extended, extend it anyway and note in your account that you agreed to said extension and that's enough proof for a Sprint Supervisor to keep you stuck in a contract you never wanted. If you dispute the contract, you'll get some variation on "I apologize for that ma'am but the notes indicate you did agree to extend your contract and you should have received a confirmation letter informing you of the new contract." Of course Sprint doesn't give a crap if it may have gotten lost in the mail or sent out to the wrong address. You don't have to actually read it, but as long as the system notes the letter was sent out, you have now been "fully educated" on your new contract. I once went against policy (which requires we follow notes) and accept a woman's claim that she had not agreed to an extension she had been given and reset her prior contract date, but most Sprint reps will not be that generous or understanding. There are incentives for extending your contract: Monthly discounts, account credits, half price add-ons, etc. Each of these can earn a commission for the rep who secures the extension. This provides a terrific opportunity for reps to commit fraud and get commissions. Sprint policy is that you can get fired for such actions, but that means you have to get caught, the vast majority of calls are not recorded and hence many agents get away with this type of behaviour. Consider how often Sprint is mentioned in posts on this site, that should tell you a lot about how they feel about their customers.
I deal with Sprint all the time. I assure you. She should have been able to get this fixed within a year. Obviously the time was more valuable. So here I blame the victim. Sorry...and as far as the job thing and the monitoring the credit, that's insane. I get my credit checked monthly by companies I've never heard of and had dings on my credit from all over the place I had to dispute. The credit system is a fucking mess. It's getting worse too.
@morganlh85: I applied for a helpdesk job at ING a long time ago and the HR person wanted to run a credit report on me as part of the interview process. Something about them not wanting to hire a person who's likely to be tempted to commit fraud to get out from under a mountain of debt, or something.
I told em no and moved on, because I didn't think it was any of their business.
Well...unless you drive a Fiat, a Peugeot, or a Lambo, there's always the possibility that someone else renewed for you lol
@CaliforniaCajun:
FWIW, at the airline I work for, we're very strict about our pilots having decent credit...however, for otherwise well-qualified applicants, we do give them a fair chance to explain any deficiencies - this is a perfect example of why trusting your employees is fucking important.
@Burn3r: Sounds like they didnt put you on vaction leave, which is actually a plan and you would've had to restart your contract. Those $10 charges were probably $9.99 or $9.95 and they are premium messages, a monthly subscription (like jamster or any other place that you can get "FREE" ringtones), Thats why you still got charged.
***TIP FOR EVERYONE: Dont ever give your cell phone number out to anything online that gives you "FREE" stuff or text anything to anything for free stuff, once you do that then you are subscribing to a monthly subscription plan of some sort.
Sprint is able to tell if you subscribed to it or not through the Premium Message Gateway that Verisign runs that has all the company information for those 6 digit companies you see on TV that want you to text to.
Sorry to jerk you all back to the very first response from CMU_Bueller, who reminds us: "So they're trying to hold you to a contract that they have no record of you agreeing to . . . ".
Companies have all kinds of slimy ways to trick lazy consumers out of their money -- fine print, auto-renewal subscriptions, termination fees -- and maybe you can blame the consumer if they fell for one of these tricks -- here, the initial respondent asked Sprint, How did you trick me?, and the response was, We can't remember, just PAY us.
Holy cow, if you're going to defraud consumers, at least do your basic homework and cover your tracks . . . .
@BensAngel:
Paying a bill doesn't mean you agree that the debt is valid. You may be paying the debt/bill to avoid other complications while you work the issue(s) out.
A ding on your credit report is not worth it, even if you are innocent. I'd pay the amount, and get several fold back.
I did it to a cell phone company a while back: Charged me for a warranty monthly warranty several months out of my contract. I did NOT authorize it at all. $6. Disputed it. Got confirmation of the charge's removal. Asked for the new current balance...and paid the bill minus the warranty fee.
Next month's bill: A fee for not paying in full and ANOTHER warranty charge. Didn't bother contacting the company, simply complained to the Division of Consumer Affairs (I live in the county seat, so the office is literally two miles from my home).
End result: Credit of $12 (two months of warranty), plus another $120 credit, and a free month of service.
Always fight for your rights.