We must be a tabloid, we’re getting our stories from Sploid:

“Federal law allows for soldiers called to active duty to get out of a lease on a house, apartment or car within 30 days. Against the all-mighty telecoms, even Uncle Sam is helpless, though. Our fighting men and women still have to pay their cell phone bills.

Pfc. Dane Gabrielson, a 25-year-old member of the Wisconsin National Guard, shipped out to Iraq a year ago, leaving behind a Sprint cell phone and a $68-a-month bill. Ever since then Dane’s mother, Tamara Harris, has been begging Sprint to cancel or suspend his service, but to no avail.”

Just when you thought Sprint’s customer service couldn’t get any worse…

Photo: U.S. soldier morning the loss of buddies dying from excessive cellphone charges. Quote: “That should’ve been me going over my daytime minutes.”

“Sprint Won’t Let G.I. in Iraq Cancel Service” [Sploid] (Thanks to Ian!)

UPDATE: We really, really are a tabloid. Dan writes: “I read this story on digg two days ago, and even the original article (Sploid’s source) is very light on facts. For instance, if the soldier in question didn’t attempt to cancel or suspend his contract before he left, Sprint (which, according to many accounts, does let activated soldiers out of their contracts) has no way to confirm that his mother is indeed his mother (if he didn’t have her on the account as an administrator). If this is the case, Sprint is just following standard privacy and security proceedures, and certainly doesn’t deserve to be lambasted.”

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