Sprint - Fraudulent Practices

RJA · Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Posts: 11

Anyone considering Sprint or who already has Sprint needs to beware of this.

I called Sprint last Sunday to find out what my contract expiration date
was. I was told that it was 1/29/2008. The rep sensed that I may be
cancelling and asked why. I told him that I had poor reception. He then
told me that if I wanted to, I didn't have to wait until the 29th to switch.
Since I was within 30 days of the 29th, I could change without any charges.
I asked if he was sure and he said yes, and that he would leave a note on my
account saying so. As a result, I went directly to Verizon and switched.

5 days later, I received a bill for a $150 cancellation fee. I called
Sprint and told a rep to check the notes wher ehe found the note from the
first rep and said he would issue a credit. He said I should call back the
next day (today), to verify that the credit went through.

I called back today and not only had the credit not gone through, the note
was edited to say that I called and understood all charges which I would
incur.

Not only did the supervisor deny the credit, he unethnically modified the
notes to make it appear that I was told that I would be charged $150.

Liars and Cheats. It's up to the Better Business Bureau now. Don't fall
for this if you're a sprint customer, and don't sign up for Sprint if you're
not.

Archived from group: alt>cellular>sprintpcs

RJA · Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Posts: 11

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in message @nntp1.usenetserver.com...
> In article ,
> "RJA" wrote:
>
>> I called Sprint last Sunday to find out what my contract expiration date
>> was. I was told that it was 1/29/2008. The rep sensed that I may be
>> cancelling and asked why. I told him that I had poor reception. He then
>> told me that if I wanted to, I didn't have to wait until the 29th to
>> switch.
>> Since I was within 30 days of the 29th, I could change without any
>> charges.
>> I asked if he was sure and he said yes, and that he would leave a note on
>> my
>> account saying so. As a result, I went directly to Verizon and switched.
>
> You had 3 weeks left to go, and you believed a first level CS person?
>
> Well, it was a fairly inexpensive lesson.

Yeah, it's not going to cost anything when the BBB is done with it.
Regardless if the CS person was right or wrong, he did say it, and that's
all that matters.

dafydd · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 13

First, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this sort of
experience, if it truly happened the way it was presented was not just
awful. That being said, please allow me to clear up a point. No one
can alrter notes that are put into your account. After they are saved
by the representative that originaly adds them, they are part of your
permanent record. So if the original note the rep said they were
putting in was ever actually put in, it is still there. And I am in
100% agreement with you, that if the agent even just said that there
would be no fee, that should be enough, but as everyone knows, a
verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.

What I would do if I were you is to send a detailed email to
customer.servicenet@sprint.com including your Sprint Phone number,
Account Number, Billing Address, and email address of record, as well
as alternate means of contact like say a landline number where you
can be reached and during what time frame. Make sure to be very
detailed in your story, and be as pleasant as you can muster. This
will get the issue escalated to a higer level, and hopefully you issue
resolved in a timely manner.

On Jan 12, 6:04 pm, "RJA" wrote:
> Anyone considering Sprint or who already has Sprint needs to beware of this.
>
> I called Sprint last Sunday to find out what my contract expiration date
> was. I was told that it was 1/29/2008. The rep sensed that I may be
> cancelling and asked why. I told him that I had poor reception. He then
> told me that if I wanted to, I didn't have to wait until the 29th to switch.
> Since I was within 30 days of the 29th, I could change without any charges..
> I asked if he was sure and he said yes, and that he would leave a note on my
> account saying so. As a result, I went directly to Verizon and switched..
>
> 5 days later, I received a bill for a $150 cancellation fee. I called
> Sprint and told a rep to check the notes wher ehe found the note from the
> first rep and said he would issue a credit. He said I should call back the
> next day (today), to verify that the credit went through.
>
> I called back today and not only had the credit not gone through, the note
> was edited to say that I called and understood all charges which I would
> incur.
>
> Not only did the supervisor deny the credit, he unethnically modified the
> notes to make it appear that I was told that I would be charged $150.
>
> Liars and Cheats. It's up to the Better Business Bureau now. Don't fall
> for this if you're a sprint customer, and don't sign up for Sprint if you're
> not.

Ron · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 95

On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:54:06 -0500, "RJA"
wrote:

Writing your State's Attorney General and a copy to the FCC and FCC
may get faster results than the BBB ever could, which is funded by
Sprint.

As any long time reader here has read, Sprint CSRs in many call
centers have their handle time strictly enforced, and thus some/many
will tell you whatever it takes to quickly get you off the phone.

Ron · Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 95

On Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:15:59 -0800 (PST), dafydd
wrote:

>First, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this sort of
>experience, if it truly happened the way it was presented was not just
>awful. That being said, please allow me to clear up a point. No one
>can alrter notes that are put into your account. After they are saved
>by the representative that originaly adds them, they are part of your
>permanent record. So if the original note the rep said they were
>putting in was ever actually put in, it is still there. And I am in
>100% agreement with you, that if the agent even just said that there
>would be no fee, that should be enough, but as everyone knows, a
>verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.
>
>What I would do if I were you is to send a detailed email to
>customer.servicenet@sprint.com including your Sprint Phone number,
>Account Number, Billing Address, and email address of record, as well
>as alternate means of contact like say a landline number where you
>can be reached and during what time frame. Make sure to be very
>detailed in your story, and be as pleasant as you can muster. This
>will get the issue escalated to a higer level, and hopefully you issue
>resolved in a timely manner.
>

Why have to hope that it wiull be escalated by the overseas rep that
attempts to read it ???

Google "Executive Services" 817 for the Forth Worth
phone number into the 3rd level folks that have authority to
fix things.

RJA · Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Posts: 11

"dafydd" wrote in message @e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>First, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this sort of
>experience, if it truly happened the way it was presented was not just
>awful. That being said, please allow me to clear up a point. No one
>can alrter notes that are put into your account. After they are saved
>by the representative that originaly adds them, they are part of your
>permanent record.

This person did tell me that notes can't be edited, but I really would think
that a supervisor could do so. How else do we explain that the note now
says "customer called, verfied password, and understood all charges?"

>So if the original note the rep said they were
>putting in was ever actually put in, it is still there. And I am in
>100% agreement with you, that if the agent even just said that there
>would be no fee, that should be enough, but as everyone knows, a
>verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.

I'm actually wondering if this type of practices is encouraged. Maybe reps
are supposed to tell you this when they realize that it's imminent that you
will cancel, causing you to switch and then billing you for $150.

>What I would do if I were you is to send a detailed email to
>customer.servicenet@sprint.com including your Sprint Phone number,
>Account Number, Billing Address, and email address of record, as well
>as alternate means of contact like say a landline number where you
>can be reached and during what time frame. Make sure to be very
>detailed in your story, and be as pleasant as you can muster. This
>will get the issue escalated to a higer level, and hopefully you issue
>resolved in a timely manner.

Thanks for the info. Do you work there?

RJA · Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Posts: 11

"Ron" wrote in message @4ax.com...
> On Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:15:59 -0800 (PST), dafydd
> wrote:
>
>>First, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this sort of
>>experience, if it truly happened the way it was presented was not just
>>awful. That being said, please allow me to clear up a point. No one
>>can alrter notes that are put into your account. After they are saved
>>by the representative that originaly adds them, they are part of your
>>permanent record. So if the original note the rep said they were
>>putting in was ever actually put in, it is still there. And I am in
>>100% agreement with you, that if the agent even just said that there
>>would be no fee, that should be enough, but as everyone knows, a
>>verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.
>>
>>What I would do if I were you is to send a detailed email to
>>customer.servicenet@sprint.com including your Sprint Phone number,
>>Account Number, Billing Address, and email address of record, as well
>>as alternate means of contact like say a landline number where you
>>can be reached and during what time frame. Make sure to be very
>>detailed in your story, and be as pleasant as you can muster. This
>>will get the issue escalated to a higer level, and hopefully you issue
>>resolved in a timely manner.
>>
>
> Why have to hope that it wiull be escalated by the overseas rep that
> attempts to read it ???
>
> Google "Executive Services" 817 for the Forth Worth
> phone number into the 3rd level folks that have authority to
> fix things.

Thanks. I found this:

Executive Services - For when things get really messed up
1-866-519-5698
1-888-347-8988
1-817-215-3070

newman · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 15

I agree with what you are saying. In the past, when I've had billing
problems, an email to customer service usually took care of it.

"dafydd" wrote in message @e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
First, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this sort of
experience, if it truly happened the way it was presented was not just
awful. That being said, please allow me to clear up a point. No one
can alrter notes that are put into your account. After they are saved
by the representative that originaly adds them, they are part of your
permanent record. So if the original note the rep said they were
putting in was ever actually put in, it is still there. And I am in
100% agreement with you, that if the agent even just said that there
would be no fee, that should be enough, but as everyone knows, a
verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.

What I would do if I were you is to send a detailed email to
customer.servicenet@sprint.com including your Sprint Phone number,
Account Number, Billing Address, and email address of record, as well
as alternate means of contact like say a landline number where you
can be reached and during what time frame. Make sure to be very
detailed in your story, and be as pleasant as you can muster. This
will get the issue escalated to a higer level, and hopefully you issue
resolved in a timely manner.

On Jan 12, 6:04 pm, "RJA" wrote:
> Anyone considering Sprint or who already has Sprint needs to beware of
> this.
>
> I called Sprint last Sunday to find out what my contract expiration date
> was. I was told that it was 1/29/2008. The rep sensed that I may be
> cancelling and asked why. I told him that I had poor reception. He then
> told me that if I wanted to, I didn't have to wait until the 29th to
> switch.
> Since I was within 30 days of the 29th, I could change without any
> charges.
> I asked if he was sure and he said yes, and that he would leave a note on
> my
> account saying so. As a result, I went directly to Verizon and switched.
>
> 5 days later, I received a bill for a $150 cancellation fee. I called
> Sprint and told a rep to check the notes wher ehe found the note from the
> first rep and said he would issue a credit. He said I should call back the
> next day (today), to verify that the credit went through.
>
> I called back today and not only had the credit not gone through, the note
> was edited to say that I called and understood all charges which I would
> incur.
>
> Not only did the supervisor deny the credit, he unethnically modified the
> notes to make it appear that I was told that I would be charged $150.
>
> Liars and Cheats. It's up to the Better Business Bureau now. Don't fall
> for this if you're a sprint customer, and don't sign up for Sprint if
> you're
> not.

NoConsequence · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 36

On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:54:06 -0500, "RJA"
wrote:

>"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in message
>@nntp1.usenetserver.com...
>> In article ,
>> "RJA" wrote:
>>
>>> I called Sprint last Sunday to find out what my contract expiration date
>>> was. I was told that it was 1/29/2008. The rep sensed that I may be
>>> cancelling and asked why. I told him that I had poor reception. He then
>>> told me that if I wanted to, I didn't have to wait until the 29th to
>>> switch.
>>> Since I was within 30 days of the 29th, I could change without any
>>> charges.
>>> I asked if he was sure and he said yes, and that he would leave a note on
>>> my
>>> account saying so. As a result, I went directly to Verizon and switched.
>>
>> You had 3 weeks left to go, and you believed a first level CS person?
>>
>> Well, it was a fairly inexpensive lesson.
>
>Yeah, it's not going to cost anything when the BBB is done with it.
>Regardless if the CS person was right or wrong, he did say it, and that's
>all that matters.
>
What exactly do you think the BBB will do? What "proof" do you have
of the original conversation? This can and will degenerate down to a
he said/she said scenario, but the only side with actual documentation
is Sprint...so who do you think will win?

I don't work for SPCS but do work as CS for a different Wireless
carrier. I get threats all the time about going to a PUC, BBB or
State AG - and frankly, nothing ever comes of it. Just earlier this
week I had a caller tell me he was going to ruin me in his city of
150,000...and I wasn't really concerned about it.

Dennis Ferguson · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 196

On 2008-01-14, NoConsequence wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:54:06 -0500, "RJA" wrote:
>>Yeah, it's not going to cost anything when the BBB is done with it.
>>Regardless if the CS person was right or wrong, he did say it, and that's
>>all that matters.
>>
> What exactly do you think the BBB will do? What "proof" do you have
> of the original conversation? This can and will degenerate down to a
> he said/she said scenario, but the only side with actual documentation
> is Sprint...so who do you think will win?

So what you are recommending is to record every call you make to
Customer Service so you can make a transcript if you need it? That
is a bit sad.

Dennis Ferguson

Thomas T. Veldhouse · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 83

RJA wrote:
>
> Liars and Cheats. It's up to the Better Business Bureau now. Don't fall
> for this if you're a sprint customer, and don't sign up for Sprint if you're
> not.
>

Their whole damn system is held together by "notes". To make matters worse,
they don't even have in the system when you are due for a $150 credit towards
a new phone, so they simply use the date of the last time the ESN on your
account changed; that is the last time you swapped phones, whether you got an
insurance replacement, bought a newer [but used] model on Ebay or simply
bought full retail ... it doesn't matter, you lose your $150 credit until two
years from that change.

Their incompetant system and poorly trained CSRs [both in-store and call
center] are enough to keep me from ever using them again.

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse

America is the country where you buy a lifetime
supply of aspirin for one dollar, and use it up in two weeks.

Thomas T. Veldhouse · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 83

Ron wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:54:06 -0500, "RJA"
> wrote:
>
>
> Writing your State's Attorney General and a copy to the FCC and FCC
> may get faster results than the BBB ever could, which is funded by
> Sprint.
>

The FCC will do you no good what-so-ever with a billing issue. And further,
you just clutter up the system with frivolous filings ... so don't do it!

Nice try Phillip!

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse

America is the country where you buy a lifetime
supply of aspirin for one dollar, and use it up in two weeks.

AZ Nomad · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 31

On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:24:15 -0600, Paul Miner wrote:
>On 14 Jan 2008 13:34:06 GMT, "Thomas T. Veldhouse"
>wrote:

>>RJA wrote:
>>>
>>> Liars and Cheats. It's up to the Better Business Bureau now. Don't fall
>>> for this if you're a sprint customer, and don't sign up for Sprint if you're
>>> not.
>>>
>>
>>Their whole damn system is held together by "notes". To make matters worse,
>>they don't even have in the system when you are due for a $150 credit towards
>>a new phone, so they simply use the date of the last time the ESN on your
>>account changed; that is the last time you swapped phones, whether you got an
>>insurance replacement, bought a newer [but used] model on Ebay or simply
>>bought full retail ... it doesn't matter, you lose your $150 credit until two
>>years from that change.

>Like I said last week when you made the same claim, I've changed ESN's
>many dozens of times over a 5 year period (handset tester) and never
>had my date reset for the $150 credit. In fact, even now it shows a
>date from 2001. Either I'm special, or you're (once again) making this
>up.

I've experienced the same thing. My date is 4/2008, and I haven't purchased
a phone from sprint since 11/2001. Since then I've activated a phone I
got from a phone replacement insurance program (reset), and a couple
of ebay phones which also reset my date upon each activation.

You must be special. :-p

Thomas T. Veldhouse · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 83

Paul Miner wrote:
>
> Like I said last week when you made the same claim, I've changed ESN's
> many dozens of times over a 5 year period (handset tester) and never
> had my date reset for the $150 credit. In fact, even now it shows a
> date from 2001. Either I'm special, or you're (once again) making this
> up.
>

I don't recall seeing your refutation last week. However, I assure you that
it is true. I had reception problems at my client in July or August of 2006
and thought maybe a new phone would help ... hell, I won't retell the story
here again, it is archived you care to look. In any event, I got stuck with
ESN swap issues resetting the rebate. Yes, it is true. Further, my Daughter
had an insurance replacement on her phone and I was told that she wouldn't be
given the rebate until 2 years hence [I believe they offered $50 or $75 after
one year].

You claim that you have switched many times is unique to be sure. I am not
entirely sure I believe it, but I guess I have no real reason to think that
Sprint's systems aren't consistant from locale to locale. In any event, it
is/was fact and was widely reported in teh past that the discount is triggered
off of the duration since the last ESN swap. I leave it to those doubtful of
this to google the archives. Is isn't an isolated issue.

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse

America is the country where you buy a lifetime
supply of aspirin for one dollar, and use it up in two weeks.

Jack Hamilton · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 15

"Thomas T. Veldhouse" wrote:

>RJA wrote:
>>
>> Liars and Cheats. It's up to the Better Business Bureau now. Don't fall
>> for this if you're a sprint customer, and don't sign up for Sprint if you're
>> not.
>>
>
>Their whole damn system is held together by "notes". To make matters worse,
>they don't even have in the system when you are due for a $150 credit towards
>a new phone, so they simply use the date of the last time the ESN on your
>account changed; that is the last time you swapped phones, whether you got an
>insurance replacement, bought a newer [but used] model on Ebay or simply
>bought full retail ... it doesn't matter, you lose your $150 credit until two
>years from that change.

Does the contract say anything, one way or the other, or is the new
phone program only in marketing literature?

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