Re: Sprint

On 2007-09-09 20:08:05 -0500, Wes Groleau <groleau+news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:

Jolly Roger wrote:
On 2007-09-08 22:32:53 -0500, Wes Groleau <groleau+news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
I've had Sprint for a year, and six times they've tried to
trick me into paying more than I contracted for.

That's strange. How have they tried to trick you exactly?

Are you sure you want me on that soapbox?

I don't know, but I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't interested. ; )

Well, first there's all the taxes fees that they won't disclose
up front--but all the carriers do that. Some carriers, however,
as Sprint did, will LIE and say that "USF" is required by the government.

Right, so this is a "trick" most or all providers play.

We contracted for a four phone plan, no roaming charges, nationwide
calling at no extra charge, 23% employer negotiated group discount.

The day the first bill arrived, they sent me an e-mail saying 'don't
pay it, it is incorrect and you will get another bill by <date>.

Before that date, they disconnected for non-payment, and when I called
to complain they said the balance was over $200. Straightened that out
(though they still insist a year later that I should pay a late fee for
the bill THEY said I should ignore). Part of the excess was they tried to charge an extra activation fee.

Ouch. That's unfortunate. Sounds like a pretty major screw up.

Month or two later, they are charging fifty cents a minute for roaming.
When I called them on that, they said the sales person did not have the right to promise no roaming. "It's in your brochure!" "Oh, it doesn't
apply because he is independent and not a Sprint employee."

Who did you purchase the plan from, if not a Sprint employee? Why would one risk purchasing a Sprint plan from someone other than Sprint?

"Well, how the heck am I getting roaming charges INSIDE a metropolitan area? Sprint has NO towers in or near Fort Wayne?"

"Oh, yes, but the phone automatically uses the tower with the strongest
signal."

"So, if your tower is a quarter-mile away, and Verizon's is a tenth,
you use that as an excuse to extort thirty dollars an hour?"

So they backed off on that one.

At least they showed good faith and made good on it.

Then two months later, they are charging fifty cents a minute for
long distance! Nope, not paying a cent that is not in my contract.
So they credited that one on the next bill.

Is all of this somehow related to the fact that you didn't purchase this plan through Sprint themselves? I have to wonder...

Is that six? Maybe my estimate is off. Oh, they're also charging
$10 per month for GPS locating, which was advertised as being included,
with the disclaimer that said it's not really on a different page.

That sounds like a simple matter of reading the fine print to me.

Then they send a six or more page bill in an attempt to confuse
any customer without an accounting degree--and yet in all that paper,
even when they are trying to charge for long distance, they won't
itemize the calls.

Huh? All of my calls (including long distance calls) are itemized. It's been that way for 6 or so years. BTW, did you know you can discontinue paper bills and get them online at http://sprintpcs.com as PDF documents (searchable PDF documents, at that)? They even keep your old bills online for you to access at any time. Very handy, and saves trees! : )

And finally, they are still saying I should pay late fees for all
the incorrect charges I didn't pay.

I'd keep fighting them on that - you shouldn't have to pay late fees on mistaken charges.

Half way through the year, one phone just died. Working fine, I set
it down on the dining table. Fifteen minutes later, picked it up
and it was completely dead. Swapped batteries with my wife's phone,
nope, still dead. Salesman says I have to go to Sprint. Sprint says
I have to go to Sanyo. Sanyo says I have to ship it to them at my expense, and if they feel like pretending I abused it, they will fix it
and send me a repair bill. If they will admit that it's not my fault,
it will be fixed at no charge (other than the four to six weeks I am
paying for a phone that I don't have.

That seems like standard practice for all providers / manufacturers these days.

I go to a Sprint store to complain about this putrid treatment,
and end up paying $55 for a replacement. I guess that's about $100
discount, though I'm sure Sprint lost no money on it.

I guess it was worth $55 for you not to be without a fourth phone for 4-6 weeks. ; )

My experience contrasts yours: I've had Sprint for around 6 years, and I'm still on the same plan I was on when I originally signed up. My contract expired around 4 years ago, and I simply never renewed. Not long after I purchased my Sprint phone, I told them not to make promotional calls to my cell phone. So the only "tricking" they can do

Yeah, they do that to. Violation of state and federal law, but since they get someone in India to do it, they can pretend "Not guilty"

At any rate, all you have to do is ask them nicely to stop. I haven't received a telemarketing call from them or anyone else to my cell phone in years. I live in bliss!

: )

--
Apply rot13 to this e-mail address before using it.

JR

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