Grrrrr Sprint PCS Boooo Hisssss

[Marshac]

I was just forced to send a letter to my State's AG. In a previous case, they were very good at resolving the situation... I love 'em

Below is the letter I just sent in... striped of the normal business letter formatting, and my actual phone number of course. If you were in this situation, what would YOU do? The last thing I want to do is roll over and pay them... unless it turns out that I actually somehow owe them money.

Quote:

This letter is in complaint of Sprint PCS’ billing practices. At the end of August 2005, I transferred my cellular phone number (XXX XXX-XXXX) from Sprint PCS to T-Mobile. The following week I contacted Sprint to ensure that my account had indeed been cancelled, and that there was a zero balance- I was assured that my account had been cancelled, that that my account balance was zero. Furthermore, I was informed that I would receive a closing statement in the mail, with a zero balance, as my online account access had been terminated. Until today, I had never received any closing statement, so I had assumed that my account was in good standing. Today (10/6/2005) however, I received a past-due notice indicating that I owed $70.48, or service charges for the month of August plus a penalty charge. Not only does this bill directly conflict with what I had been told by a service representative, but also contradicts Sprint’s own billing policies “Monthly charges for your service plan are billed one month in advance, but any additional usage charges are billed after the fact.” In other words, my July billing period pre-paid for the August service charges. Additionally, prior to transferring my number to T-Mobile, I had paid Sprint for $1 in roaming charges prior to canceling my account, just to make absolutely sure that my account would be terminated with a zero balance. I am not a deadbeat customer, and hopefully my due diligence to pre-pay Sprint $1 in roaming charges attests to this fact- I do resent the somewhat predatory, and confusing, billing practices that Sprint PCS appears to be undertaking however. I have attempted to resolve this matter by calling their toll-free number, however language barriers with their call center staff proved to be insurmountable. Failing to locate any additional means to contact Sprint PCS, I have decided to forward this matter to your office.

[MJ]

Did you CC Sprint?

[maddythebeagle]

I like the way you handled this and have had much success doing it this way with my local phone company. Cell phone and cable companies seem to have a lot of complaints. That is why I like to avoid both!

I think the point is that these companies would rather you spend your valuable time straightening up their incompetence and their time is better spent recruiting new customers.

[Marshac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ Did you CC Sprint?

The AG does that

[JPatrick]

quote>I am not a deadbeat customer, and hopefully my due diligence to pre-pay Sprint $1 in roaming charges attests to this fact- I do resent the somewhat predatory, and confusing, billing practices that Sprint PCS appears to be undertaking however. I have attempted to resolve this matter by calling their toll-free number, however language barriers with their call center staff proved to be insurmountable. Failing to locate any additional means to contact Sprint PCS, I have decided to forward this matter to your office.>quote

Just curious- - -In another thread you said you spoke Spanish and tried to speak English- - - If this is the case,* what was the basis for the language barrier you note in your letter?

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPatrick quote>I am not a deadbeat customer, and hopefully my due diligence to pre-pay Sprint $1 in roaming charges attests to this fact- I do resent the somewhat predatory, and confusing, billing practices that Sprint PCS appears to be undertaking however. I have attempted to resolve this matter by calling their toll-free number, however language barriers with their call center staff proved to be insurmountable. Failing to locate any additional means to contact Sprint PCS, I have decided to forward this matter to your office.>quote Just curious- - -In another thread you said you spoke Spanish and tried to speak English- - - If this is the case,* what was the basis for the language barrier you note in your letter?

Maybe he doesn't speak "intransigent moron" fluently.

[justin]

My guess is Hindi laced English?

[Marshac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin My guess is Hindi laced English?

That's it. I was trying to be nice about it.