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View Full Version : Can I cancel data plan sans ETF b/c of negligence?


jwinslow
08-24-2007, 12:24 PM
Do I have grounds for canceling my account with no ETF? Since they caused the problem and have not fixed it in a week, Sprint has cost me hundreds in lost man-hours and internet connectivity, since I work from home.

Who do I talk to about canceling my account, that has the power and ability to understand and address this issue?

Short version

Swapped modems, not credited despite noted return 4+ weeks earlier, despite assurances otherwise by phone
Large outstanding balance = deactivated service
Phone call clears up issue, balance and service will be switched back on
Service not back on, remote modem still not responding
Endless phone calls get nowhere
Ecare promises to have tech support call in 1-2 days.
7 days of no service and counting (4 days since ecare promise)


Long version (copied from email to sprint):

Sprint's negligence caused a disconnection of my service. I had to call in and explain their negligence, again, which resulted in a refund and a supposed reactivation of my service. After 8 phone calls and 7.5 hours on the phone, the connection still has not been re-established.

My weekends are extremely valuable business-wise, and Sprint's gross ineptitude has cost me a full day's work of time wasted on the phone, with nothing to show for it. This prevented me from doing some important business that had to be done saturday night, which is the only reason I didn't give up on this absurd excuse for customer service after 4+ hours. I HAD to have my internet working Sat night. Unfortunately, after 5 hours on the phone, and 2.5 hours on hold on that particular call alone, I passed out at 3:30 am. What's even more pathetic than waiting on hold 2.5 hrs is that apparently I sat on hold until 5:50, when the phone call ended. I have no idea if I finally got through to someone or it just ended the call... but my phone was ON HOLD for OVER 4.5 HOURS.

Here is the detailed version:

Recently I got a bill for 280.00 which was in error. I switched modems via a sprint return kit, and was supposed to be credited 250 upon return. There was no question that it was returned, many weeks ago, as they had disconnected my service until they got the other modem back.

Call #1:
I called up a week ago (or so), and got nowhere. They had no record of the modem arriving, even though it had been received long ago... and the service had been reestablished as a result. They said they were sure it would turn up soon, and I would be credited for the 250.

Except that didn't happen. And so instead of owing the proper amount of 30, my account balance showed 280. Then tonight, Aug 18, my service was disconnected b/c of the high unpaid balance. More negligence on Sprint's part.
b

So Saturday night, I called up again (Call 2)... and finally convinced Sprint that they had received it. So they gave me a temporary credit of 250, and I paid the remaining 30. They assured me that the service would be turned on within minutes.

8/18

Call 2. 10:30 pm - 21 min, got $250 credit, paid bill, service was going to be switched back on

Problem is, the service wasn't working, not after 5 min, not after 20. It was still giving the same 777 errors (remote connection not working) that it did when my service was disconnected.

Call 3. 11:26 pm - 18 min, explained problem to CSR, then to tech support, who when trying to put me on hold, he instead kicked me out to the tech support waiting queue with the elevator music (that you get when you first call in)

Call 4. 11:44 pm - 34 min, told CSR rep that I was cut off by tech support rep. He claimed to be referring me to a tech support rep, but instead I waited 20-25 min on hold. I finally got thru to a tech support rep, that person suggested rebooting, and reinstalling the software. I had rebooted many times before calling. While I did the second suggestion, the phone call ended (not sure why).

Call 5. 12:30 am - 21 min, called sprint, entered '0' for operator... and after 20 min of elevator music, the music stopped, and a few seconds later the call ended. It didn't drop, I had full bars.

Call 6. 1:04 am - 5 hours, 1:18 csr, told wait would be 5-10 min, stayed awake until about 3:30, still on hold, when I passed out. The next morning, the call showed that it lasted 4 hours and 50 min. So I was on hold for over 4.5 hrs.

8/19

Call 7. 12:35 pm - 22 min, explained problem to CSR, then later to tech support, who was the first to offer to call me back if they dropped my call again. And lo and behold, the call dropped while they were fetching the adv. tech support referral.

Call 8. 12:58 pm - 30 min, called me back and began contacting adv tech support. She stayed on the line to make sure I got someone. I got thru to the Adv Tech Support. He asked my telephone number (standard drill). Before I could give him mine in case we got disconnected, guess what? We got disconnected.

8/20

Emailed problem and the above explanation to customer care. They promised a tech support rep would call within 24-48.

8/23

Some billing rep calls up with some $25 dollar sorry credit. I tell him that does not fix the week-long downtime I've endured with my home business. He then offers $50. I still tell him that does not compensate me for the downtime, or fix the problem, but he says he'll just put it on my account and I can talk to someone else.

8/24

4 days later, still have not heard from technical support. Starting my 7th day without internet connectivity.


eirrom
08-24-2007, 12:51 PM
My understanding is that you can cancel a data plan at anytime w/o ETF as long as you maintain your calling plan.

SempreGatto
08-24-2007, 01:22 PM
Are you referring to PAM or do you have an actual data card as a line on your account? PAM can be cancelled as it is an addon and you would still maintain the phone line. If you have a data card/plan that counts as an actual line of service and you will be charged an ETF if you wish to cancel before your contract is up.

jwinslow
08-24-2007, 01:51 PM
Are you referring to PAM or do you have an actual data card as a line on your account? PAM can be cancelled as it is an addon and you would still maintain the phone line. If you have a data card/plan that counts as an actual line of service and you will be charged an ETF if you wish to cancel before your contract is up.Sorry for not being clear. Data Card plan, no phone contract.

I know you have to pay an ETF for simply cancelling, I was wondering if my situation would be an exception, given the amount of time & money sprint has cost me already.

SempreGatto
08-24-2007, 02:25 PM
So you changed/upgraded your Sprint equipment which resulted in billing errors and no connectivity. Do you have any other lines with Sprint? I was able to have them My cancel My second line, no ETF, just because I didn't need it anymore. Of course It's possible, just depends on who you talk to lol but it would be more in your favor to allow them the opportunity to resolve the issues and compensate you for your losses through credits and perks IMO unless you have another resource that can provide the services your business needs. Do you have another carrier in your area that can compete with Sprint plan, coverage, pricing, etc.?

Lamuchachaloca
08-24-2007, 05:58 PM
Sorry for not being clear. Data Card plan, no phone contract.

I know you have to pay an ETF for simply cancelling, I was wondering if my situation would be an exception, given the amount of time & money sprint has cost me already.
unfortuanatly Sprint doesn't compensate for lost wages etc etc even if its thier error that has your services off or that keeps you on the phone :(. That would cover the question of getting the etf waived. I don't understand why you are still dealing with the issue. If the phones have been returned if nothing else you should be able to get a temp credit on the acct to keep svcs on till it can be resolved..... i agree with trying to get some perk or discount for your time and trouble (maybe a discount on the etf??) but nothing is a guarantee(due to that no compensation for lost wages rule)but it shouldn't be too hard to get something back for your aggrivation and just as a courtesy for the problem from sprint, a lot of it will depend on your credit/pymnt history with sprint and how nice you are to the rep :)

Dan
08-25-2007, 03:57 AM
I dealt with similar on the return of a device recently. Sprint assured me they were going to send me a new device and a return kit, which they did. I got a bill for the full price of the new device and called inquiring how long it takes for the warehouse to scan in the returned device. I was informed 7-10 business days (or 2 weeks at 5 business days per week)

Spoke to sprint about my bill, and what I was expected to pay. Account services rep told me to pay the bill less the cost of the device and "nothing will happen to your account as you have no spending limit." My daughter ended up in the hospital at the beginning of the month, and almost immediately my wife gets a text message saying to pay the bill or services will be suspended. I call sprint and speak to someone in account services who tells me that I need to pay the bill and then let sprint scan the device in (basically when they get to it) and then the price of the device would be credited back.

In the end, the device was scanned in that day after a couple account services reps called the warehouse asking why it had been over a month with no action on the returned device. Had I not been "on the ball" though, sprint was unwilling to give me any temp credit to keep my account current and save the account from a "non-pay" suspension.

We pay our bills on time every month, most months we pay the bill when it shows up online (before it even is delivered by mail) and sprint was going to disconnect us????

For the OP: Sprint will not compensate for lost business, etc as the connection card is not advertised as a replacement for an internet connection. I do not know if sprint applied the temp credit properly or not, or if suspension's were removed from all lines or not, but that is something that tech support and account services (retentions) will be able to help you with.

Depending on the cost of your plan monthly and the amount of time you are without the service, sprint may apply certain credits to your account to compensate you for the loss of the service, but will not compensate you for suspected loss of business.

A dollar amount credit, or a percentage discount for one month may be applied as a one time adjustment for the screwup's of the warehouse in not acting promptly to scan your return in.

Good luck!

jwinslow
08-25-2007, 10:32 PM
Thanks for the responses guys. I'm very new to sprint and your experience was very helpful here.
So you changed/upgraded your Sprint equipment which resulted in billing errors and no connectivity.I changed it over a month ago. The equipment was working fine, until the account balance became due. I called a week before that date, and was assured it would be taken care of in time (the 250 return credit), since they had already received the item. That didn't happen, and the service was switched off.
Do you have any other lines with Sprint? I was able to have them My cancel My second line, no ETF, just because I didn't need it anymore. Of course It's possible, just depends on who you talk to lol but it would be more in your favor to allow them the opportunity to resolve the issues and compensate you for your losses through credits and perks IMO unless you have another resource that can provide the services your business needs.Good suggestion, I may go that route.Do you have another carrier in your area that can compete with Sprint plan, coverage, pricing, etc.?I actually got sprint data b/c there was no other option, but since signing up DSL has become available. I was happy with sprint until this fiasco. I dealt with similar on the return of a device recently. Sprint assured me they were going to send me a new device and a return kit, which they did. I got a bill for the full price of the new device and called inquiring how long it takes for the warehouse to scan in the returned device. I was informed 7-10 business days (or 2 weeks at 5 business days per week)

Spoke to sprint about my bill, and what I was expected to pay. Account services rep told me to pay the bill less the cost of the device and "nothing will happen to your account as you have no spending limit." My daughter ended up in the hospital at the beginning of the month, and almost immediately my wife gets a text message saying to pay the bill or services will be suspended. I call sprint and speak to someone in account services who tells me that I need to pay the bill and then let sprint scan the device in (basically when they get to it) and then the price of the device would be credited back.

In the end, the device was scanned in that day after a couple account services reps called the warehouse asking why it had been over a month with no action on the returned device. Had I not been "on the ball" though, sprint was unwilling to give me any temp credit to keep my account current and save the account from a "non-pay" suspension.

We pay our bills on time every month, most months we pay the bill when it shows up online (before it even is delivered by mail) and sprint was going to disconnect us????Ridiculous, but way too familiar.

For the OP: Sprint will not compensate for lost business, etc as the connection card is not advertised as a replacement for an internet connection. I do not know if sprint applied the temp credit properly or not, or if suspension's were removed from all lines or not, but that is something that tech support and account services (retentions) will be able to help you with. The temp credit was applied (until they could scan it in for the perm one), and the suspension was lifted. both happened on the first call in after the service went down.

The problem was, the modem continued to not connect for a week, the same way as when it was suspended.

Depending on the cost of your plan monthly and the amount of time you are without the service, sprint may apply certain credits to your account to compensate you for the loss of the service, but will not compensate you for suspected loss of business.

A dollar amount credit, or a percentage discount for one month may be applied as a one time adjustment for the screwup's of the warehouse in not acting promptly to scan your return in.

Good luck!Thanks, this is helpful, understanding the distinction in what type of 'loss' they recompensate.

SempreGatto
08-27-2007, 12:53 PM
so any update?

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