You wouldn’t think that making a cellphone call in your own bedroom would get charged as ‘roaming,’ but that’s exactly what happened to Andrew W. One side of his room is bathed in Sprint coverage. If he shifts to the other side of the bed, all of a sudden he’s roaming, and getting charged for it.

Not only was Andrew unhappy about the diminished service, his bill more than doubled.

The first Sprint CSR said he was screwed and had to deal with it. But in the second call, Andrew changed his tactics and got what he wanted.

He says, “When trying to get money back from a company because of a policy error on their part, start the CSR conversation with, “I had a question about your policy on _____, could you help me understand?” And only when they’re done explaining it, then state why you think that policy was incorrectly applied in your case. In other words, leave the pitch out of it until you and the CSR are on the same page. They’ll have no wriggle-room that way.”

Zing!

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.