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For the past year I have been paying the wrong state tax on my phone bill. I called Sprint and they denied the mistake claiming that my 540 area code was for Maryland. I politely corrected them but only after talking with a supervisor did they agree that I was correct after all (figures!). They also said that my next bill will show the correction.
My question - If the taxes are lower should I ask for a refund? Can I leverage this mistake to say goodbye to sprint and cancel without an ETF on claims that I may be personally liable for the taxes to Virginia which they should have paid in the first place? I know this is a stretch but you know it is a two way street :)
jumonjii
11-10-2007, 11:00 AM
It's unlikely since this wasn't resolved immediately and you let it last for a year.
I would email ecare and explain the tax issue and ask if you can get your bill adjusted accordingly.
some18mybrain
11-10-2007, 11:26 AM
The most they'll do is refund you whatever you were overcharged for your taxes.
aau007
11-10-2007, 11:44 AM
The most they'll do is refund you whatever you were overcharged for your taxes.
Exactly. And how much difference in actually dollar you think there is between the 2 states. Maybe less than $2 for every month? That brings it to between $20 to $25 you might get for the year if you have hours of time to deal with Sprint. Work a couple hours overtime and you get yourself covered.
If you feel so strong about it, report it to the Virginia State taxing authority and let them go after Sprint and possibily start an audit on their taxes in VA state.
alyxx
11-10-2007, 12:59 PM
once you pay a bill, you agree all charges on the bill are correct - so the most they should offer is a refund on the current bill, and to make adjustments so the future bills are correct ~
cheezit
11-10-2007, 01:52 PM
Can I leverage this mistake to say goodbye to sprint and cancel without an ETF on claims that I may be personally liable for the taxes to Virginia which they should have paid in the first place?
If only it were that easy to get out of a contract. If billing errors were a bonafide reason to cancel, everyone that has ever had Sprint would have reason to cancel.
The SPCS Guy
11-10-2007, 07:50 PM
Ok, so WHO lives in Maryland? And why did Sprint think you did? And no you cannot get out of contract for Taxes. Whether you owe them or not, you'll have to live with it.
JE
RavenTBK
11-10-2007, 07:52 PM
Good luck. I've been getting double charged with local taxes for the last THREE years with no luck on resolving it. I get charged with my county's 911 fees, as well as a neighboring counties 911 fee and local option tax.
Taxes are something that Sprint continues to play stupid with. The computer is right, the customer is wrong. Even Executive Services claims the same. :indiff:
Its only an extra $2 each month, I guess it could be worse.
deanwoof
11-10-2007, 11:08 PM
it's not like sprint themselves are reaping in the tax charges, are they?
Dan
11-11-2007, 12:14 AM
it's not like sprint themselves are reaping in the tax charges, are they?
One would assume that sprint is simply forwarding on the collected taxes for a state / municipality that has a tax on wireless services.
Having said that, it is both the responsibility of sprint and the customer to ensure that they are being taxed correctly. Sprint is supposed to collect taxes based on the billing address and also collects taxes for other areas if you choose to have your wireless number there. An example would be having a NYC wireless number while living in Jersey. You will likely get charged NYC taxes as your number is a NYC number and taxes for Jersey as that is where you have you bill sent to.
If, however, the OP is getting charged incorrect taxes due to an error on the part of sprint, it was his responsibility to inform sprint of it when the error was detected. Sprint is not in the habit, generally, of giving refunds on old bills.
The moral of the story is to always check your invoice and ensure that it reflects factual information. :thought:
Tomas
11-11-2007, 01:20 AM
For a period of time after I moved from one town to another (about three miles) and notified Sprint of my new address their system continued to charge me for the tax charged by the city I no longer lived in.
I called *2, was transfered to a bean counter in the back room who took my information and promised to correct the problem.
My next bill had a $26+ correction refunding the taxes collected in error.
No problem, simple, common error. Easily corrected - and it was.
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