Sprint wireless customers, pay attention!

[kimmyann]

Another thing to determine is (1) will they let this option to cancel without ETF "only" be for the affected line (which is line #2) or will they let this be the option for all the lines in your family plan (you can have up to 5) or will they let this option to cancel be for the first two lines on the family plan?

They told me that it is for all of my lines (we have 4). She listed the cost of the termination fee for each line & said that all of the fees are waived when/if we choose to cancel. We are switching to Ntelos today (waiting for the phones to come). They will buy you out of your old contract anyway, so it really doesn't matter for us. If anything this has only made me decide to quit taking & settling for these companies that decide to screw over loyal customers. There is too much competition out there now & I'm sick of it. Next is my cable/phone/internet provider.

 

[adventure_woman]

What is ntelos? I have never heard of them before.

 

[KristinU]

Thanks so much for posting this - mine is auto-deduct as well, so I wouldn't have noticed until after the fact...not that $5 is big, but major principle issue here!!!

 

[starry_solo]

They told me that it is for all of my lines (we have 4). She listed the cost of the termination fee for each line & said that all of the fees are waived when/if we choose to cancel. We are switching to Ntelos today (waiting for the phones to come). They will buy you out of your old contract anyway, so it really doesn't matter for us. If anything this has only made me decide to quit taking & settling for these companies that decide to screw over loyal customers. There is too much competition out there now & I'm sick of it. Next is my cable/phone/internet provider.

That's great! I have 4 lines too (3 are contract, one expires August, one expires September, one expires October) so if I can get out of the contract lines, that's what I am taking. I have no idea what Ntelos is but I think we're heading to Verizon. I had to send them another email (haven't even received a response from the message I sent them on 3/4).

 

[starry_solo]

Finally got my response as follows:

Thank you for contacting Sprint.

We have reviewed your inquiry and completely understand your frustration.

On your January invoice, we informed all impacted customers of the discount on the second line no longer applying.

We have recently changed our shared plan billing practice so that the 2nd line is not included in the base rate plan charge anymore. This is in line with the shared plan billing practices at all other post-paid wireless providers.

Please note, being that we bundle text services along with the minutes, you would still enjoy a larger discount than through any other post-paid provider, who only discounts the voice service.

Because this is a materially adverse change in agreement:

You have 45 days from the invoice date where the change took effect to cancel without an Early Termination Fee. If you will be porting out the number (taking the number with you to a new carrier) the port must be completed within sixty days of notification and a credit for the Early Termination Fee will be issued once the port is completed. If you wish to cancel services outright, you must notify us within sixty days of notification for processing for the Early Termination Fee(s) to be waived. We do not allow for agreements to go month-to-month due to this change. By cancelling without ETF, any pending offers or concessions will be null and void if applicable.

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this inquiry, please contact me directly.

 

[gparr]

I just got off the phone with Sprint.

I was told there is no breech of contract as I contracted for phone service which they are providing. I asked to speak with her supervisor and of course I got nowhere...I asked to be let out of my contract and then I was quoted a LARGE fee to do so!!!

I am PI*SED right no and I can't stand it!!!

 

[adventure_woman]

Here is the e-mail addy of the Sprint person I e-mailed who told me we could get out of our contract for both lines:

sean.colletti@sprint.com

When I asked him until when did we have to decide by, he said 4/31/12. We haven't switched yet, so we still have to see how that is going to work.

HTH!

EDIT: I actually just called Sprint to get more info, and they had the e-mail strand on my account so all should be set to waive the termination fee for both lines.

AND - as an FYI - if you are switching to Verizon online - go through eBates - it looks like you will get a $50 cash back on new customer bonus!! http://www.ebates.com/stores/verizon.com.htm?query=veriz&position=1&type=suggest&store=10794

(If you're not a member of eBates - http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=apW5Yg1YqeWiWR6FQRO6zg==)

 

[KristinU]

I, too, have had success working with Sprint to terminate our entire contract without Early Termination Fees.

I poked around on the Sprint forums and found an email address: dan@sprint.com, which is who I emailed to. Somebody (other than Dan) called me to try to retain us, then referred my info to another area and they called me the next day as promised.

All in all, they've handled me pretty well with this, and I think they see the error of their ways. As I told them, it isn't about the $5, it is about the way the change was communicated. When they took away their platinum customer plan it was plastered all over for several months, even though that too was a take-away...but this, such a buried little memo visible only if one were to download an online bill rather than just view it online, it is just not an appropriate way to communicate a change to the user contract. I just can't be comfortable and assured that they won't communicate the next material change to the contract in a similar manner.

Thanks again, OP, for posting this!

 

[DawnM]

I am on hold with them right now.

She is transferring me to someone higher up. She won't do anything for me, but we will see what else is offered.

I may be changing companies!

UPDATE: She told me they would indeed give me 30 days to cancel my plan with no early termination fees. She also said she wants to offer me something to stay but her supervisor was on another line so she will call me back tomorrow.

I could kick myself for giving up my really great cheap plan!!!!!!!!

 

[DawnM]

Call them and ask to speak to someone higher up.

Thanks to OP for this heads up. Checked my bill, sure enough $5 higher. Emailed sprint, and they sent me a reply in less than 24 hours.

It essentially said this is the price, take it or leave it. No offer to give me a credit, no offer to let me out of my contract early, nothing!. Their excuse was that they are the only one with truly unlimited service and need to pay for that.

I've been a Sprint customer for over 15 years. I think this stinks. But I also don't want to switch. My DH and I just got smart phones in the 12 months and are happy with sprint otherwise.I guess when our contracts expire, we'll have to reevaluate. Like the cable company, they just do what they please!

 

[starry_solo]

So, this is what I wrote in response to the email I got from Ben:


Thank you for the options. Does this apply to all the lines I have? I currently have 3 on contract and 1 non-contract line. My bill date shows
2/27/12 so I have either until (1) 4/12/12 to cancel the lines or (2)
4/27/12 to port the numbers over. Please confirm that I can cancel all lines without the ETF and/or port the number over.

Thank you.

----

and the response I received was:

"Yes, per my original response you are correct."

----

so I wrote back and said:


Thank you for the confirmation that I may cancel all lines/port without the
ETF. That was my primary inquiry and my secondary inquiry was about the
deadlines.

-----

So, we will see what happens next. If he writes back and says "no" or not.

 

[starry_solo]

Forgot to mention that since it took a while for Ben to respond, I sent another inquiry, and got this other response:

"Thank you for contacting Sprint. Information about the Discount Policy Change for Shared Plans is listed on page 4 of your 1/27/12 invoice and on page 2 of your 2/27/12 invoice.
Below is some additional information about the Discount Policy Change. The Primary Line is the only line that is discounted and all add-on shared lines are billed.

If you decide to port your numbers to another Wireless Provider Sprint will waive the early termination fee. This is only valid 45 days staring today."

So, I wrote to confirm that I can port all 4 numbers to another provider.

 

[nancy155]

Thank you for this information. I looked at my bill online and then proceeded to contact Sprint. They gave me a $100.00 credit on my bill which extended my contract 9 months but did not affect my upgrade timeframe on my phone which is next month. I was pleased with the attention I received.

These boards are so helpful!

 

[djm99]

What is $5 higher? I've had Sprint for 10 years now, but I was thinking about switching, what should I be looking for on my bill.

 

[KristinU]

What is $5 higher? I've had Sprint for 10 years now, but I was thinking about switching, what should I be looking for on my bill.

The overall bill is about $5 more. Impacted customers are those who have the family plan and have a corporate discount of some sort attached to their account. In the past they discounted the base family plan rate by the discount percentage (lines 1 & 2), but with this change they split out the base family plan rate into two separate line items and discount only the first line.

 

[DawnM]

Their website STILL shows that the first two lines are included in the price.

I am trying to figure out if changing my plan would serve me better but I can't tell because the actual prices they are charging are not even up on their "family plan" list.

Anyone know what the cost is for the lowest family plan (currently $69 for two lines).

I am the only one who uses data so I am thinking of getting that line and putting the other two ($10 each) on talk only and maybe the $5 text plan for my kids (they only use it to text me so it would be fewer than 100 per month).

But I can't figure it out.....what is the base price for that plan under the new pricing?

Dawn

 

[NVDisMom]

Thanks OP for the heads up! They offered me an $88 credit to offset the new billing method. That works out to 22 months of discount for us. I'm cool with that. I priced out a similar plan for our family of four with AT&T and they can't come anywhere close even at the 3MB level of data service. Considering we get unlimited data, I'm going to have to stick with Sprint. But I will gladly take the credit!

 

[starry_solo]

Their website STILL shows that the first two lines are included in the price.

I am trying to figure out if changing my plan would serve me better but I can't tell because the actual prices they are charging are not even up on their "family plan" list.

Anyone know what the cost is for the lowest family plan (currently $69 for two lines).

I am the only one who uses data so I am thinking of getting that line and putting the other two ($10 each) on talk only and maybe the $5 text plan for my kids (they only use it to text me so it would be fewer than 100 per month).

But I can't figure it out.....what is the base price for that plan under the new pricing?

Dawn

They didn't offer me a credit for the remaining months of my contract. Even if they did, it would only be about $15 because I only have 5-6 months left on my family messaging plan.

For the plan, Sprint requires all phones to be under the same plan if you do a family plan. Otherwise, you could have one phone be under the plan with unlimited data ($79.99) and then the other phones to be a talk/text plan. You can't have a family plan where the phones have different "plans." Base rate for a talk plan for one person is $29.99 (200 minutes) or for two people is $69.99 (no texting). If you want to get texting, then you have to go for unlimited texting (no plans for limited # of texts). There isn't an option to do unlimited data for the first line and then talk for the 2nd/3rd lines.

Yet another reason why I'm leaving Sprint.

 

[DawnM]

Oh, I think I get it now. The current "family plan" base price for the first two phones is $130. It is still $130, but they have deemed that the first phone is $110 and the 2nd phone is $20. (for employee discount purposes.)

Ok, so the base family plan is $70 for the first two phones....each additional phone is $10. You can add data and texting PER PHONE on this plan.

So, the first phone would be calculated at $60 and my discount would only be on the $60 I suppose.

That is what i was trying to figure out.

So, if you are leaving Sprint, where are you going? What is a better deal for a family plan?

I am not sure I can give up my iphone!!!!!!!!! I am now hooked.

They didn't offer me a credit for the remaining months of my contract. Even if they did, it would only be about $15 because I only have 5-6 months left on my family messaging plan.

For the plan, Sprint requires all phones to be under the same plan if you do a family plan. Otherwise, you could have one phone be under the plan with unlimited data ($79.99) and then the other phones to be a talk/text plan. You can't have a family plan where the phones have different "plans." Base rate for a talk plan for one person is $29.99 (200 minutes) or for two people is $69.99 (no texting). If you want to get texting, then you have to go for unlimited texting (no plans for limited # of texts). There isn't an option to do unlimited data for the first line and then talk for the 2nd/3rd lines.

Yet another reason why I'm leaving Sprint.

 

[starry_solo]

I am going back to Verizon. With Sprint, I had dropped calls constantly (daily), even when I hadn't moved from my location or moved the phone. Texts wouldn't go through (or would come through over 20-30 minutes later). Both at home and at work. I would call and call and they would say nothing was wrong on their end, blah blah blah.

It was a horrible experience starting with Sprint (they were supposed to waive the activation fee and then they wouldn't, and all sorts of other things happened in the first month that I should have just cancelled it within the 30 day cancellation policy). BTW, one month after I signed up with them they dropped the discount on the 3rd and 4th lines!

A larger discount (27% vs 15% at the time with Verizon, but now I can get 22% with Verizon) isn't worth the aggravation of having to call one person 10 times to finish a conversation because of dropped calls!