Humberto Saabedra is the Editor-in-Chief of AnimeNews.bizPhoneNews.com and an occasional columnist for Ani.me. He can also be found musing on things at @AnimeNewsdotbiz

33 responses to “Sprint Raises Administrative Fees Again, Extends ETF-Out”

  1. Fritz

    Has anyone actually tested this? Canceled the contract early and then had the ETF waived?

  2. Tim Cooper

    Just a clarification in the article: It’s not .75 cents, but $.75 or $.99.

  3. Chaz

    This was December of 2007 and January of 2008. Not 2009!!!! Someone has their years mixed up, and are reading old news from one year ago.

  4. Nickolas

    On the administrative fees for Sprint. What exactly are they? I mean how does it affect my contract with them?

  5. Tyler

    Is it true that this is from last year? I haven’t seen anything about this on any other websites.

  6. Terry

    This is NOT from Dec 2007. This is from Dec 2008 and now Jan 2009.

  7. Christopher

    I don’t get it. Why would Sprint increase the fees by 50 cents when the consequence would be to allow a lot of users to get out of their etf? Doesn’t seem to make much sense..

  8. Terry

    On Nov 25th I cancelled my two lines with Sprint because work bought me a Storm and is payin my monthly bill with Verizon. Who could turn this down!? :-b One of the Sprint phones still had a year left on a 2 yr contract and the other line was already out of contract. Both lines were ported over to Verizon phones. I know back on like Nov 17th or so they announced the incrase. Can I call them up now and gracefully argue to not pay the ETF of the $200 bill they sent me because I had a right to get out of the contract and not pay the ETF? If so can someone point me in the right direction of the specific wording to use. I had been a Sprint customer for 8 yrs and the only reasons I switched to Verizon is because work is paying my bill(and for the Storm). I got my sister to switch to Sprint for her Curve from being on AT&T for like 8 yrs. If I leave my job and my free monthly cell bill I most likely will go back to Sprint because they have the plans where you get the most for the lowest monthly bill. Any ideas?

  9. Don Louie

    Maybe they believe the subs who jump ship pick up the new Boost plan

  10. Christopher Price

    Generally, Sprint does a cost-benefit analysis. The number of people that typically jump ship at the ETF-out is usually outweighed by the revenue increase in a matter of a couple of months. Especially with ETF proration entering the game… that’s all the more reason for them to not worry about the ETF.

    As much as I think Sprint wants people to think of Boost as the “next-best-thing”, I really doubt that came into their decision making process.

  11. karen

    Tell them you want them to waive the ETF because they changed the contract and raised the internal administrative fee from the original fee of $0.75 in December to a higher rate of $0.99 per month and that you do not want to pay the increase. Make it clear that they changed the contract and you received an email stating Sprint has confirmed it is allowing customers to cancel service without anETF and this offer has been extended thru January 31, 2009 instead of December 31,2008 and you wish to take advantage of this because THEY changed your contract. I just did it without a problem. It has to be approved by the supervisor so you might have to talk to a rep who then gets supervisor approval. I already received email confirmation and they zeroed my entire balance including what I owed for 19 days of service into the monthly billing cycle. I also was on service with Sprint for about 10 years.

  12. steve

    Can some explains what this means to me if i have 17 lines on my sprint account and decide to leave early?? Thank you.

  13. Scott

    I called Sprint and they said they had no idea about this admin fee going up. They also stated my admin fee went down and told me if I wanted to cancel it is still $200. Anyone had any luck?

  14. joe

    i was told that any body with sprint can change companys and port their numbers to light year wireless just tell them that by jan, 31st is the dead line it is called a matiral adverse affect and may be released from your contract plus make sure that if u want your number make arangements to keep your number from sprint a sales man told me this news i did it and i get great service.

  15. joe

    this is the websit i was told if all of u want it jgarner.mywirelessrep.com he said that all r approved no deposit check it out

  16. Garnet

    Anyone here with a Sprint business/corporate account looking for assistance understanding and taking advantage of this? Please call or e-mail me! (831) 477-1811 / garnet AT foxxr.com

  17. Terry

    I cancelled my service in Nov and I got the bill end of December with the ETF. I spoke with a nice woman the other day and we waived the $200 ETF for me. I told her I paid my final bill and was told that was all I owed. I said I shouldn’t have to pay the ETF because of the the change in the admin fee and it changed the contract on the phone. She had to send it to a supervisor for approval but in the end it was waived all all I had to pay was the extra $9.94 for another line that I cancelled a few days that was not under contract for the additional days past the billing cycle. She event sent me an email confirming it all:

    “Sprint has processed your payment of $9.94. The payment will post to your Sprint account within 4 hours and your confirmation number is XXXXXXXXX. Sprint has also added a credit to your account for $200. The adjustment reason is Early Termination Fee . We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to respond to this email. Thank you for contacting Sprint. Have a great day!”

  18. marius

    Listen PEOPLE THIS REALLY does work.
    I called on my wife behalf and told sprint I wanted out of my contract because of the changes in Sprint Administrative Fees. Sprint cancel department put me on hold for about ten minutes. Then they came back on a stated ok… your last bill is such and such and you will not be charge ETF, is that all.
    I said YES and that was that.
    Yes you have until Jan 31st to do this.

  19. Garnet

    After speaking with a Sprint Account Services rep yesterday, she notified me that this has been extended until March 15, 2009.

  20. Sprint Further Extends ETF-Out to March 15th | PhoneNews.com

    […] 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 […]

  21. Blake

    Has anyone had success with their business account using this info? Because I went to the online to the web chat and they told me that if I canceled they wouldn’t charge me th etf’s, I have the conversation saved and everything! I then ported my lines to another carrier and I called back to confirm that I wouldn’t be charged and they are now saying that I was misinformed and that there are no admin fees on business accounts and so I would be charged etf’s unless I ported back. I tried to escalate this and I still had no luck and so now I am kind of stuck. But this is one of the reasons I don’t want to continue to do business with them. I was thinking about going to the BBB but I’m not sure yet. Any ideas or any successes? Please help!

  22. Garnet

    Blake,

    It seems that only the chat support is honoring this right now. If you reach out to phone support they will not give you the Opt-out.

  23. Nick

    Actually phone support will do it just the same as chat support. You just have to know what to say. I got out of my contract in a matter of 10 minutes. Now I have a BB Storm on Verizon and completely happy with it. They also let me port my number. I didn’t think I was going to be able to but they let me.

  24. Christopher Price

    Legally, you are always entitled to port a number out when an ETF-out happens.

    The customer service representative is supposed to schedule the account to be closed at the end of the billing cycle (or any date before that, if you want to close the month out early). The account is supposed to then be coded to not have an ETF billed.

    Then, the account will stay open and you can port out to another provider.

    If you are told this isn’t an option, ask for a supervisor. Again, they are required to offer this per FCC regulation.

  25. kevin

    Does this apply to aircards as well?

  26. Alberto T

    KEVIN,

    Yes it does I just got this done a couple of minutes ago on my aircard.

  27. scotty

    Hi christopher could you tell me what a port out means and how I go about transferring my old number from sprint to another provider. many thanks.

  28. Garnet

    scotty,

    Moving your number from Sprint to another carrier is referred to as ‘porting’. This is done after you have your new service, or while signing up for it. Your Sprint line must be ACTIVE at the time and any Verizon rep will be happy to help you port your number.

  29. Pete

    I was wondering when to call sprint. Should I do it before having my number ported with a new carrier, or after? If I should do it before, will my current cell number be recycled immediately, or do I have some time to go and have my number ported with the new carrier?

    Any help will be greatly appreciated!

  30. Garnet

    Pete,

    Call Sprint Account Services (866-235-1185) before doing anything with another carrier. Tell them you plan on Porting out your number, but want your account notated that you will not be charged an ETF. If they tell you the deadline has passed, ask for a supervisor or call back to speak with a different rep. Once they notate your account, you will need to call Sprint back after your number has been successfully ported to make sure they credit the ETF charges.

    I’d be happy to process a Verizon order for anyone needing assistance with Sprint. My number is 831-477-1811 and please reference “PhoneNews article”

  31. MATT

    I am still confused on exactly what to say to them. I plan on doing it via chat – will someone write out the EXACT words we should say if trying to get out with no ETF charge? I’ll just copy and paste 🙂 GREATLY appreciated!

  32. Kenneth Graff

    This does work! My sister just told me that she called Sprint and told them that they did not inform her of the fee increase and therefore they were violating the terms and agreements and they(sprint) had to let me out of my contract WITHOUT any fees. Good luck everyone!!!

  33. Todd

    I called the Srpint/Nextel rep and they said businesses are not charged the Admin Fees so I was not eligible to terminate without an ETF. Anyone know how to get out of a business contract without the ETF? Thanks.

    Todd