Sprint has confirmed that it has further extended its ETF-Out period from the previously reported deadline of January 31st to March 15th of this year in response to the administrative fee increase to $0.99 from the former $0.75 rate first implemented in December.
No further reasoning was given in regards to the extension.
How do I take advantage of this? What do I need to say?
yeah how do i transfer my 3 existing lines to att without etf?
Most sites are saying the most effective way is thru echat: http://search.sprint.com/inquiraapp/contact.jsp
I called and cancled my service with no problems. They asked why and just said Becuase yall changed the admin fee too 99cents and broke contact. They asked me if what would keep me and i said nothing so they canceled my service at the end of my billing cycle.
Purging. One of the things I can attest to is that Sprint is purging customers. Part of the companies corrections process is to do 2 things. Get back to the basics in customer care. They actually have really great policies, but because of so much outsourcing those policies sometime get lost in the transition. The second thing is to purge ‘problem’ customers. Everyone knows lots of people want to leave Sprint. These people damage the company more than they help with bad advertising. As much as Sprint wants to keep these customers they can’t afford to because those customer prevent them from getting new ones. By extending this offer 2 things will happen. A lot of those customers will leave. If most of your complaining customers leave your remaining customer will be happier customer survey scores improve and what you’ll find is that other companies will begin to drop. Also it allows the company to handle some issues that customer may have. Since customer sometimes will not call until their contract is up, it keeps the company from actually helping. Since customer have to call in, it gives the company one last time to actually fix problems, well at least the ones that are fixable.
Interesting that this is the same day as the rumored Pre launch, no?
I would advise against canceling service through eChat… for all the reasons I’ve pointed out in the past about eChat. I would instead suggest calling customer service directly.
There are reports of being shot down, told the deadline was 1/31. Is that true?
There are always reports of being shot down. Sprint Customer Care is never fully trained on ETF-outs. It’s a chronic problem we’ve been pointing out over the past five years. If you are denied canceling service (sans ETF), politely ask to speak with a supervisor. If you get nowhere, politely end the call, and try again the next day.
We have great relations with Sprint at PhoneNews.com. Unlike other, unreliable news sites… if the ETF date had not been extended, they would call us. We would set then update the article and set the record straight.
As far as I am aware, the deadline has been extended to March 15.
I opted out before the first ETF end date of 1/31/09. I did it completely through sprint’s e-chat customer service. Here’s what you need to do.
1. take your existing numbers and port them to another carrier of your choice FIRST
2. once the port is completed, contact sprint customer service through e-chat and tell them you want to cancel your account due to the recent increase in Sprint’s administrative fees. Tell them you understand that Sprint is allowing customers to exit their contracts WITHOUT ETF’s due to this. I contacted e-chat before porting my numbers to find out the best way of doing what I wanted to do, and the representative was completely knowledgable of the ETF out program and gave me the advice I’m giving you.
3. in my case, I actually ended up dealing with 3 different reps through e-chat. All of them knew about the early no-ETF going on right now. If you have 2 numbers that are subject to ETF’s, each customer service rep is only able to waive the ETF for one line. You’ll have to end your chat session and start up a new one with a different rep to have additional ETF’s waived for each line of servcie you may have. This is because each rep is only authorized to waive ONE $200 ETF fee for each customer.
I exited both my contracts with Sprint over a 2-day period and actually have a credit on file now. Not only was I able to port my numbers to Verizon and get a better phone, but did it without ETF’s, and in turn SPRINT IS PAYING ME BACK TO DO IT!.
Chris, does this apply to corporate accounts? I have an Corporate Liable account and the Rep from retentions said My account doesn’t get charged an administrative fee therefore does not quality for ETF free termination.
It’s possible some corporate liable accounts have negotiated out the fees. You’d have to check your company’s bill to see for sure.
During a chat session today, I was told that had to call before 2/27/09 to do this. I’m cancelling one right now but I am considering porting 4 lines out. Unfortunately, they won’t terminate the contract today so I can decide later.
Is it allowed for them to simply end my contract today without cancelling service? What do ask for or insist for this to happen?
I’m on chat now, they say it is incorrect
Can you also go into a store and end your contract there?
I just emailed dan@sprint.com to let them know that I am not consenting to the change. We will see what happens.
Finally spoke to Customer Care. She was a real smart a**. However, I did port my two lines out yesterday, and terminated my Sprint today without an ETF. Was told that was available until 2/27/09.
AmazinglySmooth, dan@sprint.com is simply a feedback box. It is not a point of presence for customer service.
If you object to the chances, and want to end your service with Sprint, you need to call customer service… or at the very least, file an initial request with eCare.
Lyle Jones, as we have said repeatedly, eCare and chat are not the suggested ways to cancel service or port out. You should call customer service.
I’m not really interested in ending it right now, but I do not want the contract hanging over me. I’m hoping they will simply set the end date of my contract for now so I can shop around. I have been with Sprint for a long time, but the iPhone looks so good these days (especially with the big disappointment of MR5 on my Instinct).
I ported one of my numbers today and then called up to cancel. They cancelled the number that I didn’t port without any problems but they are saying that I still have to pay for the number that I ported. Anyone have this problem or any suggestions?
I’m still not able to get them to simply end my contract. I just want to end my contract without discontinuing service. Why is this so hard? BTW, dan@sprint.com does get filtered to CS.
Jeff, I believe that you have to be ready to walk away from sprint. When u call them, u have to tell them that the administrative fee is the ONLY reason that you want to cancel. They may try to get u to admit that there may be other reasons for cancelling but DON’T DO IT!! I believe that admitting cancellation for any other reason will not waive the contract fee.
I’ve gotten them to agree to waive the ETF but only if I cancel or port; I’m just not ready to sign up with another 2 year contract with anyone else.
I’ve decided to try AT&T. This works out for me just about everyway. My ETF with Sprint would be $200 for the next 16 months since I upped my contract back in June (for the Instinct). By getting out now, I figure I can always go back and start over a contract with Sprint but under the new ETF plan. If AT&T works out, then they have a better ETF too (starting at $175 and dropping $5 per month). Because of this, it is to my benefit to port out regardless of whether I stay with AT&T or now. Sprint really dropped the ball on this one.
i just tried today and i was told the deadline was the 15th of February
Thank you, PhoneNews.com. You saved me $1000 with this tip; I had 5 lines to cancel (one that never got used and 4 that I ported out). I have a data card too, but I’m keeping that one since Sprint has the best data service and my contract is almost over. Had Sprint not offered this, my wife and I would have been stuck with our Instincts, which is an ok phone but is just too limited (especially when it is compared against the iPhone).
Sadly, Sprint’s lower prices just weren’t enough to keep me; they just kept dropping the ball on the Instinct MR’s. MR5 was especially disappointing (not one feature enhancement or bug fix mentioned by users was corrected)–instead we got flashing hard buttons. That was just a slap in the face as far as I’m concerned. They put it out there that another release was coming so the expectations were high. It was then delayed by 3 weeks yet so little was improved (actually nothing that I could see). It makes me sick how long the phone has been in “beta” even after the release and marketing blitz. In fact, IMO, Sprint continues to dupe people everyday into buying it. I’m just glad I’m free from that mess.
I just got off with online chat and was HOUNDING them – even asked for numbers for my lawyer to call but they would not budge! She said I had 30 days from the day it posted on my bill. I even spoke with a supervisor etc etc and pulled all punches and still NOTHING.
Good luck folks :-/
My January bill is on the 24th, so I canceled last week without issues. You should try to email dan@sprint.com since they told me March 15th.
I just got off the phone with a supervisor (after talking to a regular associate) the supervisor would not budge since it is past the date.. I also pointed out how I get alot of dropped calls and missed calls that do not even show up.. He still would not budge, I pretty much talked to the guy for 30 minutes, no go 🙁 I told him I was never told about this change, he said it was sent in my november bill, I told him I never got it.. he said it does not matter since it was in there.. Dangit lol.
You can go online to verify if it was there or not. If they left it out of your bill for some reason, that would reset the period which you have to cancel.
IT SEEM IS SPRINT SURCHARGE WENT UP EVERY 2 PAYMENT, AND KEEP GO UP . SPRINT NEED TO FIX THIS PROBLEM.
sprint needs to improvement if not spint will loose customer.
I agree with you.