Please take me off the list, Sprint!

Unfortuately, Mr. Helpful is correct. Since I don't have a cell phohe
with Sprint, if they were to call me, they'd be breaking the law,
since I'm on both the Massachusetts and nationwide DNC lists. But as
a Sprint customer, they are allowed to call and annoy you.

This is WRONG...they should have stopped the calls as soon as you
askedn tehm to do so. I don't blame you for going with another
carrier. I'd have done the same thing.

I had a similar problem, not with a cell phone company, but with the
Boston Globe newspaper. I was getting Sunday-only delivery, which is
really all we have the time to read. Their current TV ads are pushing
the Sunday-only plan.

But they would NOT leave me alone about getting the paper seven days a
week. I kept telling them NO, and asked them to quit calling me, but
the calls continued.

I finally decided that walking out to the store each Sunday to buy the
paper was a lot less hassle than dealing with these annoying phone
calls, which by that point were coming several times a week. So I
canceled my subscription, and the calls stopped. Since I was no
longer a customer, as far as they knew, they could have gotten in
trouble for calling me after that.

All businesses should have a way for customers to *opt out* of such
*courtesy calls*.

Next time they call blow a whistle in the phone that will work.

It's official. Cellular One has my business. I am calling Sprint to
cancel my contract tomorrow

I've never had a problem with the products and services Sprint has but
their Customer Service lines are notoriously bad.

I had an experience once regarding my account in making a switch when
my contract was up (to another plan)....as I found out later they
"store" your previous contracts and if there are 5 or more in there
they can't make any changes....now if they were trained properly this
would have never happened....but...

I think in your case its a similar problem....they may not know how to
stop those calls without the help of a supervisor and in that field
especially where competition is stiff time is everything so they may
cut corners and not note your account to stop those kinds of calls.

Suggestion? If they don't stop find out about reporting it to your
state's Attorney General as someone else mentioned. This day and age
you can file a complaint directly online.

I'm also surprised since you did write to Sprint that the Corporate
Office didn't contact you. When I had a problem last year at one of
their stores, I was personally called by one of their reps in Virginia
and I told him what happened...he was very gracious about it and that
was that...

Many companies use outside telemarketing businesses to handle their
outbound calls. For this reason, when you request to be removed from
their list, they have to notify all of the telemarketing companies
they use. This does not happen immediately.

The representative to whom you make the request inputs the information
and it is sent to the department that handles it. That department
then contacts the telemarketing companies. However, most businesses
only do this on a monthly or bi-weekly basis. They turn in all
requests at that time. This is why it can take 2 weeks or 30 days or
however long that particular company has alloted itself to
follow-through.

This is not the fault of the representative to whom you are making the
request. They cannot push a magic button and make the telemarketing
calls stop instantly. They can only forward the request to those who
are responsible for it and trust that your phone number will be added
to their no-outbound calls list within the referenced time period.

I would wait, as annoying as it can be, for the thirty days to expire.
Until then, set your phone to vibrate and check the incoming number
before answering. If, after thirty days, you are still receiving
calls, take it to the next level.

Good luck.

I can't pretend to know all about the law, but what they are doing is
probably legal. That really stinks!

I cannot imagine how calling you on a daily basis, basically with what
sounds like a recorded telemarketing attempt, could be referred to as
a "courtesy call". But it's cute of them to try.

If they don't stop, Something you could consider is contacting someone
in your state Attorney General or Corporation Commission offices (I
think it varies depending on our state) to see if they can help you. I
do know that there are certain circumstances that may allow you to
terminate your contract with Spring early without a penalty, but I
don't know personally what those are.

If the calls continue and are annoying you that much (they would me!),
be brutal with them. Call and offer to cancel. They will likely jump
through hoops trying to get you NOT to leave.

I wish you the best of luck with this annoying problem and I hope that
you get better soon!

What's the big deal?

They're being "courteous" by calling you.

I wish anyone would call me.

I'm so alone.

The do not call list is specifically meant to block telemarketers from
making unsolicited phone calls to your phone.

Unfortunately, companies that you have a current relationship with eg.
phone compenies and banks, cannot be stopped from calling you by using
this list.

That's the excuse companies like Sprint will use to continue to make
these calls. Seems kinda counter-intuitive that they would keep
deliberately antagonizing their customers in this manner however they
can and do.

Guess who had a missed call from our magical 888 number at 9:10. Seems
to be around the same time every day... Now I'm getting more pissed

I feel your pain Amanda. I had the same problem with my fiancee's
phone when I added him to my plan. I finally called and told them that
if we wanted any of the services, we'd let them know. If they didn't
stop calling his phone, we'd be cancelling the services. Permanently.
The calls stopped after that.

I've been with them since 2001, and will unfortunately be stuck with
them till 2008. The only problem is where I live, Sprint is the only
carrier that I can get a signal from. I wish I could get service from
someone else. Oh do I wish.

The generic response I got, to me, has NOTHING to do with my
complaint. Not even in the ball park.
here it is...

Thank you for your inquiry regarding Sprint Nextel's accounting,
internal accounting controls, or auditing matters. All submissions
related to these topics will be shared with Sprint Nextel's Audit
Committee in accordance with established procedures. Again, thank you
for your interest in Corporate Governance & Ethics at Sprint Nextel.

Excellent letter!

May I suggest the use of an airhorn next time one of those clowns call
you?

Superb letter Amanda!

I have to admit, I would have lost my cool long before this so
congrats on holding it together!

They are lucky to have you as a customer.

Seriously. Most people would not be nearly this nice about it.

Great letter, Amanda. It's polite, reasonable and to the point.

Isn't it ironic that they call them "courtesy" calls?

Amanda, here's a tip.

Go into your phone's contacts list. Enter in an entry called
"Annoying Sprint" and program it for 888-281-9351. Set the ringer to
silent, if you phone has it. If not, get a silent ringtone (let me
know what phone you have and I'll dig one up for you, if you'd like)
and use that.

This way, the phone won't ring when they call. And you'll know, at a
glance, that it's those Sprint folks calling to sell you something.

If it's important, they'll leave a voice mail. You might consider
setting your voice mail message to include "This mobile phone does not
accept sales calls, even from Sprint. This is an official request to
put me on your do not call list." If you're really mad, add "Your
caller ID has been logged and will be turned over to the FTC if I
receive further calls from this number."

OK, maybe that's over the top. But you should definitely just program
in the number with a silent ring.

It's on silent, I just have to see the flashing... I appreciate the
help though :)

Wow. You're being polite. By this point, I'd be screeching at
whomever continued to call me. Normally, I would NEVER side against
Sprint. But in this case, I absolutely think you're right. The 30
day waiting period to be taken off of a list? Ridiculous.

Could you perhaps put your cell phone on a do-not-call list? Granted,
you shouldn't have to, but this seems extreme.

Orrrr (sorry, Sprint, but the OP is right on this one), call the BBB?

I'm not sure what other advice to offer - Sprint's never done this to
me, so I'm stumped. Good luck, though!

That would drive me up the wall! Are they recordings or a real person?
I think if it was a real person, they'd be getting an earful from me
after repeatedly asking them to stop calling. 30 days is beyond
rediculous. I hope they listen. That's enough to make me never want
Sprint. Verizon never did that... unless I was late with my bill..
oops :P Let us know if they reply.

Great letter, Amanda.

I hope that Sprint listens to you.

That's just their lame excuse to get a few more opportunities to
advertise before they actually stop it. I hope they can resolve this
problem for you and pronto.

I'm sorry this is happening to you. I never understand why it takes
so long to do certain things with some of these large corporations.
At work, I have a 2 week old ticket in with Nextel just to see if a
particular direct connect number is available, unreal.

Amanda,

This sort of thing makes me mad. And when I saw it was you (and
knowing what you're dealing with), it just underscores how ridiculous
these companies are being with their claims on a 30-day waiting
period.

It almost makes me want to get everyone I know to keep calling Sprint
(a company that I like, otherwise) to show them how it feels.

I did a ShopperCast post about this
(http://planetfeedback.typepad.com/shopping/2007/02/is_opt_out_an_o.ht
ml).

Good luck. With this and everything else.