Sprint is Terminating My Service?

If you were charged on your cell phone bill for ringtones or other
mobile content that you never authorized and/or you were sent
unsolicited SMS text messages and you want to fight back against these
companies, get in touch with some class action attorneys.

These fellows are investigating unauthorized cell phone charges and
wireless SMS text spam and might be able to help you:

http://www.ClassActionConnect.com/?q=node/680

I just have to say this.. on the news the other night, I saw Sprint
and Nextel are cancelling customer's accounts if they call CS too
much. Maybe I should start calling nonstop and make up bogus
complaints to get them to cancel OUR account early? lol jk!

Sprint just let everyone know what they have to do to get out of their
contracts if they are unhappy with their service.

I suggest that anyone who uses Sprint call customer service once a day
for a couple of months. Let Sprint know what they think of this.

Haha I just watched a story about this on the news about 5 minutes
ago. All cell phone companies suck. I agree with you, you wouldn't
need to call customer service if they'd stop making problems on your
bill. I think they're going to get a lot of bad press about this.
They deserve it. I hope they didn't have the nerve to charge you an
early termination fee.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-07-09-sprint-disconnects-custom
ers_N.htm

The above link is to the article in USA Today stating that Sprint
Nextel is terminating the service of customers that call customer
service too frequently.

I'm too tired to get into this debate or even express an opinion - -
just wanted to pass along the link.

This is real and has been reported in the main stream press (e.g.,
Wall Street Journal).

"Apparently, this was about 1000 customers. The Wall Street Journal
reported that terminated subscribers called an average of 25 times a
month at a rate 40 times higher than average customers, according to
Roni Singleton, a spokeswoman for Sprint. Some of the calls were
related to billing issues, she said."

25 times a month is about once a day.

While Michael was trying to resolve a legit issue, the fact is that he
DID call "pretty much every day." When Sprint runs their query...
they see that Michael has placed some 30-odd calls in the last month.

The question for Michael: prior to just recently, were you a frequent
caller? If this patten only just started, it seems all-the-more
outrageous that they'd cancel. On the other hand, if you're someone
who (for whatever reason) has been calling frequently for some time...
that's a somewhat different story.

The other facet to this is that many of those cancelled were SERO
customers. Seems that SERO has been royally abused. People signing
up for SERO (perhaps using an employee's name they got off a forum or
web site instead of actually knowing someone), then calling and asking
for "better deals." Several of those complaining about being canceled
are known on the Sprint forums as people who make it a habit of asking
for things like being able to transfer an existing account to SERO
(explicitly not allowed), asking for extended N&W hours (e.g., start
at 6 instead of 8 or 9), asking for credits for dropped calls/failed
downloads (to the tune of dozens a month), and so forth. Not saying
Michael was an abuser, but the fact that he was a SERO customer AND he
made 30-odd calls in the past month... you can see how he's end up on
a list of customers would rather not have.

I did a reverse lookup on 877-527-8405. It doesn't bring up
anything.

Now wouldn't you think that a number for Sprint Customer Care would be
PUBLISHED?

Something definitely smells fishy here.

Damn. I wish Sprint would send me that letter. I would be thrilled!
It is disturbing that they would do that, but it doesn't surprise me
at all. It's a totally typical Sprint reaction. I think I will make
a point to call them more... I am joking, of course, but it is
tempting.

You will be better off in the long run. The service from Sprint has
hit an all-time low and I have a feeling they will be losing a lot
more customers with or without their "customer firings."

http://www.switched.com/2007/07/06/sprint-dumps-problem-customers/?nci
d=NWS00010000000001


It seems this has become a practice of Sprint.

I do understand that there are people who cannot be satisfied -
customers who tie up the phone lines every day and take time away from
others. However, if the OP has only been calling to solve the
problem, I'm unclear as to why he would be considered a nuisance.

If the OP were a lonely senior citizen or a pesky novice who needed
help finding the numbers on the phone itself, I would understand the
need to curtail the number of contacts made by him.

I worked at Verizon a while back when it was Air Touch and we had a
guy and his brother that spent $200 a month that would come in every
month and argue about whatever they could think of to get a credit.
They would come in the same day every month and it literally meant an
hour or more of them trying every way to get a credit. Finally I added
up the credits on the account for the previous year and they were
given $3500 in credits and free equipment. They had spent something
like $3000. They were always pretty smug about getting credits because
they were a 'gold customer'. The next month they came to me and
started to discuss their next credit, I told them the figures. They
told me he spent $200 a month and I told him he cost us about $30 a
month and it would be in the best interest of the company if he took
his business to Ameritech. I said I would give him a credit of $150
but only if he agreed to cancel service and pay the $150 cancellation
fee.
I let corporate know about his account and about a week later there
was a note that they could not be given a credit under any
circumstance for the remainder of the contract.
That is the type of customer that should get the letter.

The reason is, in part, that he called almost every day. Even if it
was to resolve a legit issue... that's excessive... according to
Sprint.

The old tip of making a pest of yourself to get your way...
backfired.

Michael may have had a legit issue... but when he started calling
every day... he got flagged.

The fact that he had a SERO plan (linked to someone no longer with the
company) likely bumped him up even more on the "we want to get rid of
you" list.

Look at this a different way. Sprint has thousands and thousands of
customers that DON'T call every day. Customers have have few, if any,
problems. This may not be Michael's fault... but clearly Sprint has
many customers that they CAN satisfy.

If you gotta call every day... chance are Sprint can't help you.

Thw way Sprint treated you is outrageous. I strongly encourage you to
file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. You can
do so here:

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm

I took the liberty to call that number. It seems very unprofessional.
The voice message sounded like she was coughing and cutting out.
I found a Sprint number, and called that number. They didn't know that
number.
I'd call Sprint to verify that letter was not a scam of some sort.
And, DON'T use that number to call them. Use a number you know is
legit. Or, call 6-1-1.
It may be legit; but, it sure seems suspicious to me; and the Sprint
rep I spoke with thought so too.

Alot of people see this as a blessing in disguise, and I would have to
agree with them, but only if your credit situation allows it.

Sprint I think is THE most lenient with credit then any other cell
phone company. Before I had any kind of established credit, Sprint was
the only company that would allow me to sign up without any kind of
initial deposit. Verizon and Cingular both wanted a $400 deposit, and
T mobile wanted $250. So I know there ARE other companies out there,
but for me there wasn't. I don't have that kind of money laying
around, and I don't know many others who do.

You should send this letter and the one you received to Verizon
corporate. I bet they might offer you a pretty good deal to switch to
Verizon. When you reach the Corp office they are usually willing to do
a little more for you.
Technically you have a contract and even if it says they can terminate
at any time without warning, that is not exactly true. But it was
probably a good thing they let you go, so you can go elsewhere and get
better service.

Michael, you have just come up with the answer to the most asked
question in the history of wireless phones... How do I get out of my
contract?

I read Sprint's letter to you, and apparently a surefire way to
terminate a contract with no fees and with the company's blessing, is
to be a nuisance. That's not to say I think you are a nuisance, but
being one might help someone else get the result they're looking for.

Here are a couple suggestions for you...

First, go to the www.sprint.com website and log in...fire off a letter
to corporate and explain your situation and see if they could help
you. Sometimes it takes going to the top management to get a problem
resolved.

Second, if this was an employee plan, check with your rep and see if
they could help you out.

Sprint has been known for their customer service blunders in the
past....I hope you can get this resolved and if you get slapped with
the disconnection fee, I would complain like crazy!

I was just reading about this.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9739869-1.html

It wasn't just you that Sprint "fired." It was actually a small
percentage of Sprint's customer base who received this same letter.
Sprint is claiming that this is being done because frequent
complainers are tying up their consumer complaint lines and keeping
others from being assisted. The cynic in me would say that Sprint is
trying to lower its horrific consumer overturn ratio by getting rid of
problem customers before they can get rid of them.

Considering how poorly Sprint is doing in the cellular business and
how much smaller their base is in comparison to its competitors, I
fail to see how Sprint thinks that terminating a chunk of their
consumers is going to turn things around for them. But I guess crazier
things have happened.

Are you still under contractual obligations with them? (i.e. Not on a
month to month) If so, I think they should have to pay YOU the $175
early release from contract fee!!

Good luck!

$30 includes unlimited texting? Quite a bargain I'd say.

'we are unable to meet your current wireless needs..." = You've been
buggin' us too much. We're not making any money off your account, so
good-bye. By your own admission you call them 'alot' (a lot). Since
you first signed on, it was 'every month' to correct their errors.
Are you sure you didn't get notification that there was a change in
your plan? Check your old bills--it's probably in there. But to
placate you, they knocked off $8.00 each time you called.

You've called them 'pretty much every day for the past month.'

I have my own small business and have on occasion had to dismiss a
client for just these reasons. Once a complete 175 page report was
'misplaced.' OK--just this one time. A couple of weeks later, the
backup material couldn't be located. Good thing I archive my
research, which my contract states I don't have to. Alright, here it
is. After more than one time of these various requests, I found I
wasn't making any money on the project, so terminated our
relationship.

At $30/mo. I can understand why they don't care to continue to do
business with you. They've given you lots of lead time to find
another provider. Let's see what kind of good deals you can get out of
the next one.

In my humble opinion, it sounds like they may be doing you a favour.
If they can't get their act together, bring your money and your
business to another company...my impression is that in the US there
are A LOT of different wireless companies...so do a happy dance!

So if you call too much to get Sprint their own problems, they can
terminate your service? Excellent.

Ah well. It sounds like they weren't able to meet your needs anyways,
so perhaps it's best you take your money to a company that will.

Look at it this was, Michael; you're getting away from a company that
didn't provide good service at no loss to you.

You should look into where that kit where went, though.

http://planetfeedback.typepad.com/shopping/2007/07/youre-fired.html

Michael,

I for one think that you are right on point.

You haven't asked for anything other than the resolution to the
problems you've apparently been experiencing since you started their
service. Problems that their inept customer service caused, not you.

I hope at least, that since it was not your decision to terminate the
contract that they aren't trying to saddle you with an early term fee
to boot.

Not that any of the wireless carriers have fared that well around here
lately, may I suggest that you take your business to Verizon?

The company I work for uses Verizon for all their cell and PDA
services and overall, we've had relatively few complaints. The few
problems we have experienced were mostly billing related and were
resolved within one call.

I wouldn't hold out hope for them to fix things for you and your
letter has moved Sprint to the number 1 spot on my most hated
companies list. There is no excuse for treating a customer like
they're an expense, inconvenience or nuisance.

Go to someplace where they'll appreciate your business!

You were costing the company more money than you put in. Compare what
Sprint pays their reps to talk to you and the amount of time you kept
them on the phone and what you actually paid monthly. Sprint got
probably 30 dollars for every 300 dollars they paid out to employees
to spend time talking to you. It looks like they did the right thing
from a financial standpoint. I'm surprised more companies don't
terminate customers in this fashion.

To be honest, you sound like a lonely guy to spend this much time
talking to customer service. Or maybe you just like the way it feels
to have someone calling you Sir. Who knows, but you have to realize
that although Customer Service is free, you should try to keep your
use of it in moderation.

Michael T.,
I might be reading this wrong but it appears to me that all of your
commumicating has been over the phone with Sprint.
While they are a communications company and things should be able to
be worked out through that mode I have found with Sprint it is best to
go to one of their corporate stores and speak with a representatives.

Make sure it is a coproate store and not a franchise operation.
I am sure you can pull a list from Sprint.com.
Hope either your approach or my suggestion sheds some light on your
issue.
Stop back and let us know how it goes.
BillR.

Wow.

Since you were on a SERO plan, can you call the employee that referred
you. Perhaps they can help/shed some light on the situation.

Anyone, that looks like a classic "Let's fire the customer" sort of
thing. Even though it appears that it's not your fault, they've
determined that it's just not worthwhile dealing with you.

Which is sort of how consumers feel sometimes. Just fire the company,
even when the customer was in error.