Sprint is a Dishonest and Unethical Company

Hi Brad, my name is BJ Dehut and I'm a representative for Sprint. I'm
very sorry to hear about your account issues and would love to help
you get everything straightened out as quickly as possible. Please
email me at: BJD@Sprint.com and we'll get everything taken care of
ASAP. Thanks!

I think this would be a stronger letter if you had described your
attempt(s) to get these services blocked and given a timeline.

For instance, if you asked that the services be blocked, were told
that it had been done, discovered that your son accessed them, asked
again that the services be blocked at the same time that you paid for
what he did, were told that they had been blocked, and then discovered
that he had accessed the services again, I think you are absolutely in
the right.

If you discovered that your son accessed the services, paid for what
he did and asked that the services be blocked in the future, were told
that they had been blocked, and then discovered that your son did it
again, I think you are absolutely in the right.

On the other hand, if you asked that the services be blocked and were
told that Sprint will not do that for you, I think you are on the hook
for this set of charges as well as the last ones. If you asked that
the services be blocked -- and were told that it had been done -- when
you got your son's phone but never again, I think you're on the hook
for these charges (because you were on notice from the last time) but
not the others.

I realize that even if you asked for the services to be blocked after
the last unhappy surprise and were told that they had been blocked, it
is still your word against the presumption that the service reps
always do their job correctly. But a description of how the
conversation went should at least give the company an idea of whether
you are claiming that something plausible happened, and if you knew
the reps' names or the days of the calls you could at least show that
what you are saying happened could have happened.

But as it is, it isn't even clear to me whether, if you are telling
the truth (and I have no reason to think that you aren't), you are
entitled to have these charges waived. I suspect Sprint will "fill in
the blanks" in a way that works for them. And if in fact you were
told that your son would no longer be able to access these services
after the last time you knew he was doing it, that is really too bad.
If you decide to rewrite this letter, I hope you will include whatever
details you can recall about your dealings with Sprint's reps in the
past.

My 8 yr old son and I have a shared plan with Sprint, and we have had
it for two years. We have not had any problems like this, and its
because I made sure to tell MY SON not to use certain features.

I agree that if Sprint has the ability to block features, and you
specifically asked for them to be blocked, then they should have been
blocked. BUT they are such a huge company and it is your word vs
theirs. You should have covered your own arse by being on the same
page with your son.

I agree with the other two posters. Since you have told your son not
to use those features and he did? So who's fault is it really?
Carriers for what ever reason (can't or won't) block the internet
features since it is required to beable to get ringtones that kind of
stuff. As of now i don't believe that sprint will do anything like
that. Carriers don't block anything. So it is up to you to be
responsible enough not to use any of those services that you know are
extras. For those charges like internet chat and downloads and
everything the only way to get charged for them is actually using
them. So I would make you son pay for them. Sprint in my opinion
anyway is way over priced and in my area their coverage stinks. With
that aside it would probably be better to switch out. For a family
with know issues in billing like that I would recomend switching to
t-mobile if you can. I have been with them for a while now and are
very good in my opinion. And with a Family Plan you can get a new
feature for 2$ per month that will allow YOU to block things as you
see fit like downloads and everything. And if you don't have internet
signed up for you can't even get to the internet and thus no
additional charges. Probably would work better for you.

Unfortunately, the fact that you "paid the previous unsolicited 3rd
party charges" is an indication to Sprint that you knew the this
capability was on your account. So you were not "tricked" and
further, your son used the services so you need to pay for them.

You may feel that $200 per phone for an ETF fee is unreasonable and
should be pro-rated but that is not what you agreed to when you signed
your agreement. No carrier I know of pro-rates ETF fees no matter how
long a customer has had their service.

The person who should be the target of your anger is your son. He is
the one that used the services and he is the one that should have to
pay for them.

No - - I don't work for Sprint. Sorry for not being on your side with
this one but a contract is a contract and by paying the previous 3rd
party charges you knew this capability had not been blocked.

Sprint is one of the worst to deal with for customer service.

I wonder if paying the previous charges is why they aren't backing
down on these ones? Not that it's right, but they might take that to
be your approval.

Personally, If it were my kid, I'd be getting ALL over your son about
this. If he is old enough to have a cell phone and rack up $650 in
fees (after being told NOT to do it!) and charges, he is old enough to
pay up when the bill comes due.

Tell him he better go get a paper route or something.

Just as you have requested Sprint block those features, I'm sure you
instructed your son not to use them. Sounds like neither party
listened to you, and there's no reason to think they will stop until
you take some action.