Watchout, Sprint Is Pulling An AT&T

[lugnut33]

Sprint is changing people over from the unlimited air card usage plan to the 5gb plan without notification and there is nothing you can do about it. I just got off the phone after an hour conversation and 6 different people. They will allow me to get out of the aircard contract, but not the rest of my phone lines. Pretty crummy if you ask me. So, I had been a customer with them for 4 years, and now that will be done.

If you are using a Sprint aircard (for internet connection) please be very very careful because you could end up with a huge bill. Luckily for me I caught it before that happened because I got an e-mail saying that the change had already been made. They tried telling me it was on my last bill, but I went back and checked it and NOPE, there is nothing there. I never got an e-mail notification until it happened.

I talked to CSR Basil and he said he was surprised they are doing this to customers. Well, tomorrow my Congressman is getting a phone call because this is an injustice to the American people by switching them over without telling them.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Technically, they have to send you a letter with the change in service. They CAN NOT just tuck it in to a bill. It's called paper slamming and isn't allowed.

Good luck in your fight.

 

[FireDancer]

They have to send you new ToS (physically or online) and allow you to opt out of your contract without penalty. This could be as simple as a check box when you log in to pay your bill.

I hate this trend but saw it coming a mile away. They are preparing for the day (which is pretty close) when we consume our multimedia via the web as opposed to via the television. Sadly, like most things technology related, congress has very little idea how to address it.

I always found the term unlimited to be disingenuous anyway. You are always limited to the amount of data you can download. Take the bits per second you can download, multiply it by the number of seconds in your billing cycle, and you have your monthly data limit (only limit you should be subject to IMO).

 

[lugnut33]

Best as I can tell I never got anything, and they have not made their people in the trenches aware of it. Two reps were totally confused and said they had never heard of it. I have reviewed all my mail, e-mail, and previous bills and I'm not seeing anything. I'm not saying that it wasn't hidden somewhere in tiny letters, but I can't find it.

 

[FireDancer]

Best as I can tell I never got anything, and they have not made their people in the trenches aware of it. Two reps were totally confused and said they had never heard of it. I have reviewed all my mail, e-mail, and previous bills and I'm not seeing anything. I'm not saying that it wasn't hidden somewhere in tiny letters, but I can't find it.

It might not have taken effect yet. These things are often announced (at least in the tech community) long before they are implemented.

I also missed the part in your OP that they will let you out of the aircard part of your contract. While I agree it is crummy I am pretty sure that is all they are required to do.

 

[lugnut33]

Here's what showed up in my e-mail today:

Modification(s): - Important Notice for 608*******: As of 08/30/2010 at 01:03pm, you have used 3969902.00 KBytes of your 5 GB (5,242,880 KBytes) monthly Sprint Data usage allotment. The terms and conditions of your plan state that you are allowed 5 GB of data card usage. To ensure quality service and maintain high levels of network performance, Sprint can suspend data usage when you exceed the 5 GB cap. Any suspension will remain in effect until your monthly usage is reset on 09/21/2010. You can avoid overage charges by monitoring your usage; simply sign into your account at sprint.com.


You are right, that is all they have to do is let me out of that contract. I've been with them since 01, guess they wont need me when my phone contracts are up. They are having a manager call me tomorrow to discuss.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

It stinks since you've been with them so long, but I think you are right in moving on. AT&T paper slammed me over text messages ~8 years ago. They lost my business the following month and I refused to pay the charges. Told them what they did was illegal. I turned them in too.

Best of luck.

 

[Keli]

Actually AT&T didn't do to their customers what Sprint is doing to you.
AT&T informed everyone of their changes which were that they would not sell the unlimited data contract any more.
But if you already had the existing unlimited data contract then you could continue with that plan even if your contract is up and you are signing a new contract. My dh signed a new contract on his phone after the new rules took effect but since he already had the unlimited data plan on his old phone he was able to get it again on his new one.
Definitely didn't just tell us we couldn't have that option anymore. I currently have the unlimited data plan on my phone too and intend to keep it when I renew my contract when the white iphones are released

 

[lugnut33]

Basically Sprint is "slamming" customers into a new program and breaking the terms of the contract. Not cool.