As you may have heard today, Sprint will start assessing new fees for customers who swap 3G smartphones on Everything Plans after January 30th. Customers are facing a mandatory bill increase of $120/year for swapping phones they already own. If you haven’t seen our previous coverage, please read it first to avoid confusion.
Sprint has informed PhoneNews.com that they do not view this as a material change, as they are exempting warranty and insurance replacements of devices, so that customers who do not swap phones through their own initiative, will not be affected.
This puts us in a dilemma. For the untold thousands of people who swap out their $700 smartphones after the work week is done, you are materially impacted by this change. You now cannot use your service in the way Sprint advertised when you signed a two-year contract. Yet, Sprint is refusing to give you the option of cancelling service, and walking away amicably.
It’s no secret why Sprint is doing this. On one hand, their profit sharing with Clearwire has clearly failed thus far. On the other hand, Verizon is days away from launching iPhone 4. An ETF-Out at this time would cause hemorrhaging of customers to Verizon Wireless. Sprint would literally be better of being sued down the line, and losing a class action lawsuit, possibly years later when they themselves are selling iPhone or comparable devices.
And, that’s before you factor in the fallout on PhoneNews.com from Sprint, for all the stuff we just wrote above.
We’ve had experiences with situations where PhoneNews.com and the carrier don’t see eye to eye at all on the status of an ETF Out. On the other hand, we’ve gone the extra mile and worked with carriers when everyone is in agreement on the matter.
We don’t want to tell people that the best solution here is to dispute charges and wind up dealing with predatory debt collectors. We really don’t, and we’re speaking from experience there too. On the other hand, Verizon’s iPhone 4 is probably going to keep Sprint from changing their minds this time around.
In the past, we’ve started with FCC, BBB, and PUC complaints. To be honest, they haven’t worked in the past, and resulted in lip-service grade testimonials months and years afterwords. They certainly aren’t delivering the change we’ve believed in previously. Not that we’re telling you not to do that either.
So, we’re stuck here. We don’t have a good solution to this one. Many of you need to swap in a mil-spec feature phone when you go out into the wilderness… it’s how you live your life on the weekend. Do that after January 30, and your wireless bill will go up $120/year. We don’t roll that way often, but we certainly have G’zOne units in our office for the occasion. So, we know the dilemma you’re in right now.
We want your feedback on this, we want to hear what you have to say on how to move forward here.
We need a well organized, mass filing. To the FCC, BBB, FTC, state Attorney Generals, and whoever else might be able to help.
If we try to tackle this as individuals, it won’t even get a response for months. if we all come together with an organized effort, Sprint will either cave or be smacked down.
This is an obvious material change. We were told we would use our devices a certain way when we agreed to the contracts. We are now being told that our bills are going up if we use them that way. If that isn’t a material change, I’d sure like to know how and why it isn’t.
Phoneman, been there done that. I’ve tuned into PhoneNews.com for years and I’ve seen them try that.
Class actions would be the next step, but they only serve to make rich trial lawyers richer. The little guy gets ripped off, and then gets a prepaid calling card, or worse, a Sprint gift card. Gee, thanks.
I don’t have a good answer here, but government hasn’t reigned the carriers in on this, and CTIA’s customer code is bogus if unenforced by anyone.
My advice: Get a prepaid phone and remind the carriers that you can vote with your wallet on a month-to-month basis. I like the notion of a Virgin Mobile MiFi, Clear 4G, and a Palm Pixi for $65 on PagePlus. All month-to-month, no getting ripped off.
@ Tom S
The little guy is for sure going to get ripped off if we don’t make an effort to fight back. If we just let them walk all over us, we’ll get ripped off this time, and even worse next time.
Class Action should be the absolute last resort. It takes way too long, and like you said, the lawyers are the only ones who get any benefit from it. Our first resort should be an easy, well organized effort to file with the FCC, BBB, FTC, ans state Attorney Generals. Who was that pre paid company, Lets Talk? This type of effort just worked with them, so it could work with Sprint as well.
Just getting a Virgin mobile MiFi or phone won’t help anything though. It doesn’t hurt Sprint one bit if you drop Sprint and then sign up with a Sprint MVNO. Maybe drop Sprint and get a T-Mobile prepaid or something. But dropping Sprint and then getting Sprint pre paid doesn’t hurt Sprint at all. They still take your check every month and they still count you as a subscriber.
Plus, CDMA pre paids don’t have good phones anyway.
After reading all of these articles today I went into the Sprint store to discuss my options. 1st, my 10 year anniversary and eligibility for sprint premiere is Feb. 6th. I wanted to find out if they could do something so I could get a new phone now. That was a big no! I then asked more about when 4G was coming to OKC, They told me not to expect it before the end of the year. My next plan was to get an android 3G phone so I wouldn’t have to pay the $10 until 4G is available. The rep told me that was my best option. Sprint went from 1st to last in the 4G race overnight IMHO. I am tired of waiting for a service that they keep promising but never deliver. Yes, I am paying a little less money on Sprint, but at least I won’t be waiting on the web pages to load on my phone or the lack of phones if I switch to another network.
I have been a HUGE advocate of and for Sprint for the entire time that I have had my service. This is now the final straw. I will be taking my business to another carrier. Sprint you just lost a loyal post pay customer. Good luck surviving on all of the prepay people that you give more service for less money.
I will be paying the ETF just to get out of this. This is completely ridiculous! Over the holidays the executives must have been beaten silly with a stupid stick because they are making crazy decisions that are running off their best customers.
Once again Sprint is pissing off their customers. They seem to be really good at it too. The only thing sprint has going for them at this point is their pricing. There Wimax network I find to be useless in most places, especially inside buildings. I’m in Sacramento at the moment and there is suppose to be wimax coverage, but its always hit and miss. Anyhow I’m sure Sprints “big annoucnment” will be really nothing special. Just a way to distract from Verizon’s iphone launch. Well its sprints fault, if they want the iphone, there is a cdma version waiting for them.
I’m just going to wait for tmobile to match their pricing to sprint or offer something similar to any time, any mobile (I assume that will go away too), then i’ll take my 9 out of contract lines and business elsewhere. I’m really getting sick of this cdma locked in BS.
Honestly if Sprint wants to avoid such a backlash they should at least say the 10 dollar pricing is on NEW phones that will be coming out, not on current phones.
I left sprint sans ETF about two years ago after they jacked up my bill mid contract. I have no regrets. Will be watching this new development and will add my support to you guys in any way I can.
@BillyBob
If you did not go to the Sprint store on the west side of Penn across from Penn Square. They told me when I was there several months ago that my buddy could get upgraded I think about 2 weeks earlier over his original due date. They have someway of doing it for preferred customers if you are one. See what they can do for you it might get you in under the wire if you want to stay with Sprint. I left 3 months ago after 10+ yrs with Sprint after buying 2 BB Bolds. Dropped calls and txt send fails even with a Airave. It is my opinion all wireless carriers suck. Good luck.
1 year ago I was forced to “upgrade” to a premium data plan for my HTC Hero. They tacked on $10/month for the extra data usage. I had a big problem with this because I was already on an unlimited data plan. No one at Sprint has ever been able to explain why the unlimited data plan required for my Hero is $10 more per month than the unlimited data I had on my previous phone. Now Sprint is at it again. After 10+ years this is the last of it.
Best option is to encourage people to avoid Sprint altogether; unless their decision really hurts the revenue, they won’t reverse it.
Is it possible that Sprint is preparing this for an iPhone launch?
I’ve been with Sprint for years. While Vzw’s prices are outrageous compared to Sprint’s, their network and their phone selection right now are appealing.
I’m strongly debating on jumping off this sinking ship. The only thing keeping me here is my corp discount.
Sprint: Quit screwing your customers. You messed up with the Clear deal. That’s YOUR fault, not ours.
Oh, and for the love of God, give up on this WiMAX crap. It’s obvious to EVERYBODY by now that it’s a dead end and that the future is LTE. You keep pushing WiMAX, and we’re all going to get stuck with a horrible phone selection, because the economy of scale for WiMAX just isn’t there anymore.
When my contract is up I will be leaving and going the month to month route. These carriers are getting way out of hand and the only thing that talk is OUR wallets. People we have the power to make changes but all people usually do is complain with no action.
JohnK:
“No one at Sprint has ever been able to explain why the unlimited data plan required for my Hero is $10 more per month than the unlimited data I had on my previous phone. Now Sprint is at it again.”
Do you see a pattern?
Anyone who has been around since the beginning of SPRINT, remembers, VISION /POWER VISION/EVDO….each one came with a “bonus” charge, if they liked you, they would credit your account for the period of 24 months, however if they did not they would selectively, cherry pick whom they would not give a break, this has been their practice since 1997!!
The fact is, that SPRINT, “has once again written checks it’s body can not cash”, to paraphrase a quote from TOP GUN, which checks you ask?
1. Sold only to Lease back the Towers
2. Clearwire/WIMAX deal
3. Prepaid “all you can eat” such as it’s own Boost / VIRGIN Mobile
4. Failure in pushing their own customer’s to the “Everything Plans”, less than 10 % success rate out of 48 million accounts.
5.Predicted loss rate based on a new report by CHANGEWAVE: “Only 4% of Verizon’s customers plan to switch in the next 90 days. In comparison, 10% of Sprint/Nextel’s customers say they plan to switch…”
6.To few customers switched to 4G, hence the $10 revenue per account over charge simply put, “just does not cut it”, vs. the 45 million remaining potential accounts!
7.Wave of new iPhone’s for the top two competitors, i.e. iPhone4 CDMA VZW and the iPhone5 AT&T. (maybe SPRINT will get the “industry first” White iPhone lol)
8. The SPRINT ETF, by comparison to the rest of the industry is lower, however by enforcing the January 20th deadline they achieve two points:
a: The Panic/Fear Factor, in other words, if you are on the edge, this could push you to sign up with a new phone, either 3G for lesser cost of $120 per year or $240 over the life of the contract, or jump on the 4G bandwagon there after, this could generate a boost in sales, if you were so inclined or if the sales staff was a capable and convincing force!
b: The ETF factor, again if you were so inclined, “bite the bullet, and get the H…out of Dodgeâ€, thereby providing SPRINT with another however temporary “shot in the arm” financial “boost”, pun intended!
However, let us examine the other perspective of the “ETF dilemma”,
as many of you have stated, it is a material breach, SPRINT can and will say it is not, however it is a “de facto†material change.
You see as you might recall, at the point of sale, SPRINT staff always push the fact, that at anytime you can “easily change back and forth the ESN, without changing your planâ€, the $10 increase charge, whether SPRINT likes it or not, makes this into a “de facto Material Changeâ€, mark my words, they will give in to it eventually.
I believe that Dan Hesse and his company SPRINT, are panicking, this is their desperate, last ditch attempt to one way or another squeeze the already stretched thin consumer one more time.
For the record, I have been with SPRINT since 1997, off contract since December 2009, Fair & Flexible 700 starting at 6pm, unlimited text/roaming/picture/video/data and including taxes & Fees under $50.
I have noticed that my 3G download speed has dropped from a high of ~1Mb/s in March of 2010 to as low as 0.07-0.12 kb/s today, my monthly usage has dropped from a high of 650 minutes to max 150 minutes, about 90-300 text messages, zero pictures and video since 2MB pictures is too low of a limit for my photographic needs, and lastly, my data usage has dropped from ~4GB to about 1,5 GB, constant error text messages, calls that never make it to me, or end up in voice mail with delayed message notifications, that is if any, my monthly statements have not been detailed in over 8 months, despite multiple attempts, each department blames another, nothing surprising there, they are forcing me anyway they can to drop the plan, coincidence?
Meanwhile, I await with my vintage 2008, Palm Pro 850 with the classic WM 6.1, for the right time to act, I have a feeling it is soon.
“stay thirsty my friendsâ€
Thank you
this is it. im out. sprint truly sticks. like and old cow it never changed
Why are you complaining about paying $10 more a month when if you went to Verizon or AT&T your data plan would still be more than Sprint’s even with the additional fee??? Are you people crazy? Yeah it sucks but what are you gonna do??? Leaving to go pay more at another carrier for both your service plan and your data is pretty dumb.
“Leaving to go pay more at another carrier for both your service plan and your data is pretty dumb.”
Leave and go to one of the smaller carriers. I left Sprint for Metro on my personal line and I’ve used Metro for years on my business line. $45 for unlimited everything (after my $5 multi-line discount) is a pretty good deal…and no contract means I can leave at any time if they decide to pull something similar.
A cdma iphone on metropcs is looking better and better.
“I never met a cdma phone I couldn’t get working on metropcs or cricket”
The issue with MetroPCS on iPhone hacking is that the Verizon iPhone will certainly not support AWS. So, it will only work reliably in markets that are 850/1900 MHz banded.
And that’s assuming Apple makes reprovisioning CDMA easy. It might take a jailbreak and radio stack hacking, depending on how hard coded Apple made it. Apple has had three years to lock down CDMA phones… I would not be surprised if they set a new standard in that arena.
verizon is the best! jersey loves big red!
Yep. That’s right. I’m a Sprint lover, and frankly I think they’re in the right on this. Does it suck that the next time I upgrade to a phone that likely consumes even more data than the phone I already have will increase my monthly fee? Yep. But at the same time can I complain? Nope.
The cost to provide me service has increased because of my data consumption, and every other major provider agrees, which is why they have either capped data (increased the price of their plans) or started throttling the high users on their network (reduced their cost by decreasing the amount they need to invest).
Sprint hasn’t acted any differently than the others and if you leave them just because you’re frustrated that you’re paying too much, then enjoy paying more to AT&T or Verizon.
When AT&T capped data, they grandfathered older customers. Verizon has said they will cap 4G data, but grandfather customers with 3G data.
So, to “Dan’s the man”, we’re not saying Sprint doesn’t have the right to raise rates. They certainly do. They just have to let people trapped in a contract the option to cancel service without paying an ETF. Customers signed a contract with the (mutual) understanding that they could swap 3G smartphones on the weekends, or whenever they wished.
That’s a material change, and Sprint needs to let people cancel, or keep the agreed-upon terms that were previously in place.
@ Dan’s the man
The problem isn’t that your bill goes up when you get a better phone. It’s that your bill goes up even if you get a lesser phone. Heck, your bill goes up if you switch to a dumb phone and then back to your current phone.
If I have a Touch Diamond and a Touch Pro 2, and I use the Touch Pro 2 as my main phone, should my bill go up if I decide to carry a smaller Touch Diamond for a night out?
And if you agree that it shouldn’t go up, then you certainly agree that the bill shouldn’t go up when I switch back to my Touch Pro 2 the next day.
Honestly Verizon has ripped people off for years, I had Verizon smartphone for 7 years because my whole family had verizon, it cost me a fortune monthly close to $100 assuming I didnt go over on my data cap of 5gb which is total garbage I use up 5gb in about two weeks. Even with this $10 permonth increase for smartphone users its still cheaper for the unlimited everything at $79.99 per month with no DATA LIMIT!!!! I switched to Sprint and have been very happy with my EVO it wipes the iPhone all over the floor and 4G works well outdoors indoors my 3G is plenty fast. I dont understand how anyone can complain yet Verizon got away for years charging more I dont see mass exodus from their company.
700 dollar smart phone? When is the last time someone paid 700 for a phone? Even out of contract the EVO/EPIC are only 449/499. Even then very very few people pay full price they are either eligible for 75 or full discount on a phone bringing it down to 199/249.
I dont think they should be let out of there contract ETF free. The rate only changes is you get a new phone! Its not a material change. It only changes if you buy a new phone, upgrade or swap to a different device on your own.
If your phone is replaced with insurance or repair do not
All the complaining is really out of control. If sprint would have capped the unlimited data on smart phones everyone would be even more angry.
The fact is, your paying $10 and its unlimited. I understand no one likes to pay more money, but Sprint is still cheaper, and they arent forcing you to pay the extra $10. if you don’t want to…then when you contract is up switch carriers and move on! No need to complain!
@ Jon
First off, Sprint is no longer cheaper than T-Mobile.
Second, if I currently own several Sprint phones and was promised that I could easily swap between them when I agreed to this contract (and was even shown how to do it online), then charging extra now is absolutely a material change.
@ Phoneman, how much do you get paid an hour? All the time you’re spending complaining about this has probley already cost you more then $10 a month.
Everyone needs to complain about something. There are more important things to worry about, thats all I’m saying. If you don’t like it, switch to t-mobile and sell your current sprint phones to pay for the ETF! Problem solved!
@ Jon
I get paid enough to have a smartphone and a data plan, obviously.
And I have no intention of paying Sprint an ETF. They are breaking our agreement by raising my bill. That is a material change.
Get Sprint to admit this is a material change and let people leave without an ETF, problem solved.
@Christopher Price So anything we can do?? I LOVE how your site challenges the carriers for things like this and stands up for us. Way to go. You got me wanting to investigate though does it say in my contract that im free to swap esn’s or at least 3g ones without changing my rate?? Im assuming not since Sprint is defending this and seems you guys dont have a workaround either. And of course they are rude as always when you call them
SPRINT : How much do you make an hour?!
Customer : What does that have to do with anything, it is the principle that is at hand!
SPRINT: If you don’t like it, switch to t-mobile and sell your current sprint phones to pay for the ETF! Problem solved!
Customer: Whose problem is solved?
SPRINT: Your ETF problem, anything ELSE I can help you with?
Customer: Thank you, ..so helpful, let me give you another $10 for that tip!
Times sure have changed, customers can no longer complain??
A handful paid arrogant SPRINT employees, you know who you are, insulting paying customers, it is only about the money because your company/SPRINT constantly changes the rules, either by reinventing the wheel of “data” and new “fees” or by changing the terms and not following the ETF rules, soon T-Mobile will pass SPRINT in Nationwide ranking, because people are leaving, and SPRINT can not pretend it is not so.
@ Jay Dobbs
“I dont understand how anyone can complain yet Verizon got away for years charging more I dont see mass exodus from their company.”
Let me shed some light for you,
nobody claims VZW is cheap or even affordable, quite the contrary Verizon is notoriously over priced, however, it provides consistently quality service, fact is SPRINT, like it or not is a second tier carrier, somehow AT&T’s former executive Don Hesse now at SPRINT, has gotten confused, thinking SPRINT with half the accounts of VZW or for that matter AT&T and it’s shoddy service is up to par with the big boys!
The bottom line is one can not pay little and expect much, but when you come this close in charges, it is ones own duty to make the most out of their money and consider the pros and cons of staying or leaving!
SPRINT, constantly adds insults to injury, you want to turn the other cheek, it is your prerogative, as long as you are a paying customer and not a paid employee with personal bias, you should be able to complain your valid point, that is what the forum is for, to help each other understand what makes sense and what does no longer make sense.
Thank You
there is nothing anybody can do anymore and sprint realized this.
They can make as many non-ethical changes like this, and we cannot do anything but vote with our wallet, the problem is most people will just suck it up and get it from the rear.
But there will be one time that customers will say enough is enough, we are getting there, sprint execs are testing our resolve, and so far we have failed to show them what could happen
Creighton,
Since you are paying Sprint for service, any change to swapping phones would be implicitly material. Sprint has touted and promoted how easy they’ve made it to swap phones online in recent years.
In our opinion, Sprint’s own marketing promised that you could swap phones for free. Any change to the charges in swapping pre-owned equipment would be material.
When Verizon changed the pricing structure for “advanced feature phones”, they grandfathered any MEID/ESNs of the affected devices which were on people’s accounts already. That way, the pre-owned devices on a Verizon account would be able to use their existing data pricing, and thus would not be subjected to a material change.
Sprint could implement something similar, but probably won’t.
Verizon customer service is far worst than anything I have to deal with at Sprint just call them and try to get a credit for overage, aint gonna happen. I was with them for years and the only solution I ever had was to upgrade my calling plan to prorate my overage. Consistent calling service yeah it wasnt bad, but Sprint has the same coverage area I had with Verizon and trust me I live in one of the worst coverage areas in CA because to the west of me is open ocean so NONE of the carriers thought it wise to expand coverage over a bunch of wasted ocean space. I have a feeling if enough Sprint customers are as upset as some of you kiddies they will do right and probably amend the amendment LOL!
@Christopher Price Hey thanks for replying so I actually just got off the phone with retentions and they will not let me out they said because of this without an early fee they offered me nothing. I told them I would way my options any other advice you can give me or Are we just all screwed??
@ Jay Dobbs
Everybody here most likely would agree, that there is no such thing
as “a perfect carrier”!
That is the truth; they all have their issues:
AT&T: Poor Coverage / dropped calls/yet one of the best phone selections
VZW: Charges for everything / poor CSR/yet provides consistent service
SPRINT:Missed Calls/Failed text messages/4G outdoor/uses VZW roaming!
T-Mobile: Dropped Calls/ First with Android and a nice phone selection
SPRINT goes out of its way to appear as a value-carrier, and yet nickel & dimes you on fees and repeated cases of breach of contract.
So the question of who is the best carrier depends on ones individual needs, you do your due diligence and pick a carrier, sign the contract thinking you have an agreement to live by, but here comes SPRINT with it’s surprises, the law says that if there is a material change in your contract you are exempt of ETF charges, so the provision is there to allow you to be free & clear to leave, however as usual, greedy Dan Hesse SPRINT CEO would like his cake and eat it to!
Thank You
Ooops …eat “too”!
@Christopher Price do you think I should waste any nore time with Sprint abt this. he offered to transfer me to another manager but I was already tired of being on the line just to get another no. But I feel like they just expect us to buckle so now im out that money if i ever wanna just swap to a banged up instict or anything for travel or emergencies so not fair this is just the icing with there rude service lately plus the end of premier status of course unless you pay them more. If they keep up like this I see Tmobile ovrtaking them again as the value leader the perks are going away. And Tmobile is solving there coverage probs with wifi etc. I just brang family over from Att. Are you guys going to be reaching out to Sprint with what you messaged me previously abt this to advocate further about it ???? THANKS!! any help appreciated.
I have been with Sprint for over 10 years…loyal. When they changed the contracts in January, I decided I was leaving. I want an iPhone and have been waiting…and was finally done. (I do NOT like ATT, but enough is enough.) So, when I called the customer service rep asked me why I wanted to terminate my contract. I was honest and told him I want an iPhone and am sick of waiting for Sprint. My biggest mistake was believing the words that then came out of his mouth…this was January 2010…he informed me that Sprint was going to be offering iPhone within the next month or so…they had already beta tested it and were just waiting for Apple to make the announcement. He gave me a small credit on my bill for agreeing to wait it out. So I agreed, since I love Sprint. HE LIED TO ME KNOWINGLY…and now, Sprint wants to change the contract and tell me that it is not a material change, because it only affects me when I get a new phone (which they know I will have to)…I have had it…I will pay the ETF, and join in any suit…or file my own… Sprint used to be a better provider with better prices…no longer…it’s all the same crap…I didn’t want to switch, but Sprint has pushed the last button…way to be slimy and liars!! BBB will be getting a call!
I have spent hrs on the phone with them pretty much to be laughed at over this. I feel stuck as well I have emailed Dan@sprint.com which does go to his admin assistants. They will reply but with the usual canned bull*** I have replied back I am considering other options. Others should speak up too It’s the principal the LEAST they could do is say that the 10.00 does not apply to pre owned devices you have that have been previoulsy been activated !!!! What the HELL
I heard of a method to get out of your contract, if you want it enough.
(If sprint is not treating you fair, you could start playing hardball)
If you roam too much (voice or data) it costs sprint money.
If you cost sprint too much money, they will want you to leave.
(roam, roam, roam, and roam some more)
I think it takes maybe two or three months and they
will notify you that they are terminating your contract with no ETF.
Anyway, something to think about 🙂
Here are 2 proven long-term methods to get out of ETF @ SPRINT, note that patience is key and firmness and courtesy is helpful, remember you are attempting to earn a couple of hundred dollars, so work at it, or just pay the ETF, if your time is more valuable to you and good luck to you:
1.Keep roaming in excess of 50% of your contract limits, for a period of 3 months, report reception issues on your account at the same time, please be aware that the problem is that “forced-roaming” or “at will roaming” have been retro-actively removed from all SPRINT cell phone units since mid 2009,
however, on window mobile units you can install “forced-roaming”, just do a “search”, this will provide the “Roam only” option.
2. Consistent contact of the cancellation department via customer service, only after complains on valid documented issues that you are experiencing have been noted at customer service level, in conjunction with your stated extreme unhappiness with SPRINT, remember this will take time, not an hour or a day, until you get a sympathetic ear at the other end of the line i.e. @ “cancellation department”, you need to reach an individual who truly understands and wants to help, however rare, they do exist!!!
Thank You
“Trust but Verify” -President Ronald Reagan
Keep in mind, it is imperative,
to get the name/employee id/call center location/time and date, additionally, once you have succeeded with the above step @ the cancellation department,
make certain to contact customer service twice,“trust but verify”,
ask them what your “Account /ETF status” is on your account,are you under contract?
Again with the name/employee id/call center location/time and date, of these two individual SPRINT employees documented on your last bill, just to double check,in case of a “surprise” denial by SPRINT, at a later date!
Best of Luck & Thank you
Creighton,
Your time may be better spent on filing complaints with the FCC, your state’s PUC, and the BBB… in that order.
@Christopher Ya my crusade per say is over I spent alot of time complaining & Top managers from Sprint were decent at least to call me earlier this evening again actually. Needless to say it could be worse & I just recently moved family onto my account from ATT and there happy & I’m still saving money etc myself. I just really hope Sprint’s upcoming announcement is good & that they offer the new WebOs devices in the future as well. What would be a really great announcement from them would be something along the lines of UsCellulars belief project but I highly doubt that lol. Anyways thanks for looking out!
Filed the following complaint with the Missouri PSC:
Sprint is instituting a $10 fee on activating a smartphone on an existing line. I already have four lines, all on smartphones. Two of my lines use the HTC Evo 4G, which make them susceptible to a $10 monthly fee which I am fine with. Sprint is now extending this fee to all smartphones. The other two lines on my account already have smartphones, and the new Sprint fee is applicable if I activate a smartphone on either of those lines, despite the fact that these two lines already have smartphones, and I am not changing to a higher level of service when I am activating a different smartphone. The fee did not exist when I signed the contracts on these lines with Sprint, and now they refuse to treat this as a material change. To me, since this infringes on the right I previously had to activate a different phone on one of these two lines without paying extra, by adding a fee, it is a material change, and hence, Sprint has already made a material change to the contract without my permission, and hence I should be able to break my contract at any time, without paying an ETF.
I want the PSC to make sure Sprint is not allowed to get away with this blatant disregard for consumer rights.
[…] Kyocera, Sprint During its media event in New York this evening, Sprint and Kyocera have lifted the veil on the forthcoming Kyocera Echo dual screen Android smartphone slated for launch later this Spring for $199.99 after new 2 year agreement and $100 rebate, plus the newly expanded $10 Premium Data charge which PhoneNews.com has covered extensively. […]
I switch devices frequently and am not willing to pay an extra $10/month/line to keep doing it. I already switched to T-Mobile because of this and will pay the ETF when the bill comes because its cheaper than finishing my contract. I did some research and found that T-Mobile offers no contract family plans with unlimited internet and messaging for $109.99 that I am now on. Lets see $149.99 with Sprint or $109.99 with T-Mobile? No brainer i think.
I have had Sprint for one year, I just upgraded to the EVO on Dec 18th. For the money, they still can’t be beat. I won’t complain about the extra ten bucks, the I-Phone plan doesnt come close, i am online on my phone all day! With ATT I would be about 40 more a month, and for wha? its still the best bang for your buck I think.
I was with T-mobile for 12 years, started with voicestream, then t-mobile bought them. I am a loyal customer, but so far, Sprint has done good by me
[…] ESN swap on customers that originally signed agreements under the old rates, we at PhoneNews.com considered this a material change of service. With this new development, Sprint has decided to remove the fees […]
I left Sprint last month for AT&T and couldn’t be happier. I had 5 lines and there was no way I was going to pay an extra $50/month when we upgrade. Now I have 5 iPhones and my bill will be LOWER with AT&T. I was charged the ETF but WILL NOT pay it! If necessary I will see them in court but they won’t get an ETF’fin dime from me.
chesterhound