Is Sprint making everyone a deadbeat?

[lgmayka]

On the new billing system, our bills are arriving later and later. And since account numbers have changed, typical bill payment programs are forced to send our payments by paper instead of electronically. (Or perhaps Sprint is actually refusing to accept electronic payments.) Worst of all, Sprint's billing department is woefully backlogged in crediting payments and cashing checks--at least partly because of the other factors.

The net effect is that I got my Sprint bill, promptly ordered my bank to send payment, and yet...4 days after my bill's due date, Sprint still shows a balance due. Please understand that this is entirely due to Sprint's incompetence. Nevertheless, I am afraid that if this goes on much longer, I will have difficulty getting Sprint problems resolved because Sprint's internal system will have me marked as "balance unpaid beyond due date"--i.e., a deadbeat.

Does anyone know whether Sprint plans to clean up its billing department, or will they just remain incompetent forever?

[HaywireM520]

I've had no problem with it, but my account has always been on ensemble so that May be why. Heck, they even helped me out with my bill when I was in between jobs!

[pixielee]

hmmm other than my bill did come out 10 days late this month, i cant say ive ever had an issue paying my bill, electronically, sending checks in the old days, or otherwise ... my issue is just sprint touching the account and messing it up lol!

im curious which typical bill payment system you are using that doesnt accept sprints account numbers .. cant say ive ever heard of that .... doesnt suprise me, but strange lol

[lgmayka]

im curious which typical bill payment system you are using that doesnt accept sprints account numbers
I use Microsoft Money and my bank is Chase. The bill payment system certainly accepts Sprint's account numbers; but if an account number is new, the system must necessarily send the payment by paper check the first time, for security's sake. At that point, I think the receiver is supposed to send back the directions necessary to send the money electronically next time.

My bill for May (dated May 5) was the first one with the new Ensemble account number. I arranged payment almost as soon as I received the bill, so the bank sent out a check on May 16. The check cleared on May 29. That was bad enough.

My bill for June arrived much later. Again I arranged payment almost as soon as I received it; but since Sprint had not set up electronic transfer, the bank had to send out a paper check again, this time on June 20. Today is July 2, and not only has the check not cleared, Sprint has not even posted the payment to my account.

So once again I ask: Does Sprint plan to clean up its billing department before or after the bankruptcy?

[oldguy]

I use Microsoft Money and my bank is Chase. The bill payment system certainly accepts Sprint's account numbers; but if an account number is new, the system must necessarily send the payment by paper check the first time, for security's sake. At that point, I think the receiver is supposed to send back the directions necessary to send the money electronically next time.
Sending a paper check the first time may be your bank's policy, but it is not required. My bank's bill pay service (ezbills) sends first payments electronically, if possible (and it almost always is).

My last billing statement closed June 27, and the bill was available on-line June 30th. (I'm on e-bill, so I don't get paper bills.) This is the same as usual, so perhaps the delays I've been hearing about have been fixed.

I've just paid the bill electronically via my bank. It gets posted tonight (I have 'til 4PM to cancel), and will be debited from my account tomorrow. Usually Sprint shows the credit to my account late the following day, with the date of payment the same as the date the money was withdrawn from my account. With the holiday weekend, it's possible the payment might not show up online until Monday. I'll post back when the credit shows up on My Sprint.

[TheEsupremacy]

My bill has been two weeks late the past two months in a row. The new Sprint is awesome. :rolleyes:

[PokerFace23]

the day after my bill releases, i pay my bill using my banking website. never had any glitches or hiccups.

[lgmayka]

the day after my bill releases, i pay my bill using my banking website. never had any glitches or hiccups.
That is fine, but I hope you all agree that your effort does not excuse Sprint's incompetence. It is simply unacceptable to send out a bill two weeks after the due date, then to dilly-dally another two weeks or more in posting the payment.

It is now July 3, and Sprint has not yet posted the payment sent out by my bank on June 20. I paid the bill promptly upon receipt--but since the end of my billing period was June 4, this means that Sprint took two weeks to generate my bill and get it to me.

I could perhaps excuse all of this incompetence if Sprint were to admit its failures and adjust the due dates accordingly. But Sprint continues to use due dates that it as a company is utterly unable to meet.

[oldguy]

I'll post back when the credit shows up on My Sprint.My electronic payment to Sprint shows as credited on "My Sprint" as of this morning. This is even faster than it's been in the past - less than 24 hours after submission.

[yappering]

This whole country is going to sh%t.

[MISTRESS]

Sprint has "lost' my payment more than once

[lgmayka]

My payment finally did post on July 4, a full 14 days after mailing. This is only one business day prior to the point at which the bank recommends stopping payment due to loss or theft.

[thinch]

I always pay online using a credit card and I never have to deal with "incompetence," "unacceptable," "shoulds," "supposed to's" or any other abstract buzz words, or pages of verbiage. It simply just gets paid.

[Dan]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.6) Sprint:PPC6800)

I think its far faster to pay on sprint's site, but some people want to have it scheduled on their bank's site and not have to worry about going to sprint.com a few days before it is due.

Personally, I just pay on sprint.com with my bank debit card and get the protections of a CC transaction and the rewards points the card offers :)

:wavey:

[Jstn-R]

yeah OP i've had 3 banks in the past 6 months and never has sprint cash it in late. always within 4 hours. but i do what dan said .USE SPRINT.COM

personally i dont ever let others do something for me i can do myself.

[5PR1NTUSER]

My payment finally did post on July 4, a full 14 days after mailing. This is only one business day prior to the point at which the bank recommends stopping payment due to loss or theft.


One thing to think about here is that most if not all companies will advise you to make your payments early and allow 7-10 business days for processing if you take into account there were possibly 2 weekends in there (4 days) that your payment was processed within 10 business days... Just my honest opinion

[Romeo8Juliet]

I use Microsoft Money and my bank is Chase. The bill payment system certainly accepts Sprint's account numbers; but if an account number is new, the system must necessarily send the payment by paper check the first time, for security's sake. At that point, I think the receiver is supposed to send back the directions necessary to send the money electronically next time.

My bill for May (dated May 5) was the first one with the new Ensemble account number. I arranged payment almost as soon as I received the bill, so the bank sent out a check on May 16. The check cleared on May 29. That was bad enough.

My bill for June arrived much later. Again I arranged payment almost as soon as I received it; but since Sprint had not set up electronic transfer, the bank had to send out a paper check again, this time on June 20. Today is July 2, and not only has the check not cleared, Sprint has not even posted the payment to my account.

So once again I ask: Does Sprint plan to clean up its billing department before or after the bankruptcy?

How is it Sprint's fault that YOUR bank did not set them up as an electronic payee? The policy that a NEW account number requires a check, is NOT Sprint's fault. that is indeed policy of CHASE! It is NOT sprint's responsibility to contact YOUR bank and tell them how to do what they should already know how to do.

The bank/bill pay company is supposed to contact the merchant to determine how/if electronic payments are acceptable. It is NOT the responsibility of Sprint to ensure your bank knows what they are doing.

Typically, a check will take 5 to 10 business days to reach the merchant and processing time in addition to that.

Contact your bank and ask them to set Sprint up as a electronic payee or pay via sprint.com and be done with it.

Oh, and I used to work with financial institutions and bill pay, so, my posting does have factual basis. :)

Not everything is Sprint's fault. No matter how much everyone wants it to be.

/rant

[someguy]

I have never had a problem paying my Sprint bill over online billpay over the past 5 years (maybe longer).

I made a payment on June 24 and it showed credited by Sprint on June 26. My bank does show Sprint as being an electronic transfer though. If your bank says that they are making an electronic ACH transfer, and Sprint isn't posting your payments within a couple days then I would have your bank look into it. Most are helpful and do what they can to get things resolved.

[lgmayka]

One thing to think about here is that most if not all companies will advise you to make your payments early and allow 7-10 business days for processing if you take into account there were possibly 2 weekends in there (4 days) that your payment was processed within 10 business days... Just my honest opinion
Chuckle. Please re-read the original post. Sprint took two weeks to send me the bill! I myself scheduled payment promptly once I received the bill. Sprint then took another two weeks to process the payment.

Any company so incompetent as to require 2 weeks to send a bill, and 2 weeks to process a payment, clearly has no right to demand any greater promptness from its customers. Thus, Sprint needs to incorporate a 2-week period for the customer into its due date calculation--i.e., a total of 6 weeks.

[Romeo8Juliet]

Chuckle. Please re-read the original post. Sprint took two weeks to send me the bill! I myself scheduled payment promptly once I received the bill. Sprint then took another two weeks to process the payment.

Any company so incompetent as to require 2 weeks to send a bill, and 2 weeks to process a payment, clearly has no right to demand any greater promptness from its customers. Thus, Sprint needs to incorporate a 2-week period for the customer into its due date calculation--i.e., a total of 6 weeks.

My post will be on the assumption that you do not currently use e-bill. (By the way, if you don't - use it, it'll take away your "two weeks" excuse)

How dare a company take a week to prepare a bill and send it to you - considering the USPS probably took 3-5 days to deliver it to you.

How dare Sprint not process the payment instantly when received as a check from Chase. Let's not factor in mailing time to the two weeks, once again - 3-5 days. So, a week to process & post a payment - hm. not unreasonable to me.

If you use e-bill, forget the entire post. :)

[lgmayka]

How is it Sprint's fault that YOUR bank did not set them up as an electronic payee? The policy that a NEW account number requires a check, is NOT Sprint's fault. that is indeed policy of CHASE! It is NOT sprint's responsibility to contact YOUR bank and tell them how to do what they should already know how to do.
Sigh. OK, I'll go over this in more detail.

When a bank is given a new account number and postal address (as for Sprint's new Ensemble bills), plus a customer-provided phone number (which for Sprint is merely a glorified *2), the bank cannot possibly initiate an electronic payment arrangement based on that information alone, nor can anyone possibly expect it to do so. The bank has no way, a priori, to know whether someone/something named "Sprint" at some random new post office box is or is not the Sprint (or if so, whether this is the parent or some random subsidiary with its own accounts). Nor does the bank have any guaranteed secure way to contact whichever company or subsidiary to which this payment is addressed. Anyone who claims that their bank has done or can do such a thing is urgently advised to switch banks, because their current bank may well have sent their money off to the Russian mafia.

The only secure way to set up an electronic payment conduit is for the receiver, having received a paper check from a particular bank, to contact the bank with all the appropriate information (routing number, receiver's business account number, customer's account number, etc.). There is simply no other reasonable way to set this up.

Keep in mind that electronic payment is primarily a convenience for the receiving company, not the bank. The receiving company can streamline its billing greatly and receive its money more quickly by actively accepting and soliciting electronic payment. In contrast, the bank has no difficulty printing paper checks. In fact, by sending a paper check, the bank has interest-free use of the customer's money for at least several days.

However, you are missing the primary point. See below.

Typically, a check will take 5 to 10 business days to reach the merchant and processing time in addition to that.
False. Check the post office's delivery of first class mail. It takes a couple of days at most even going across country. My own Sprint bill actually specifies an address within my own metropolitan area, for which the post office guarantees next-day delivery. (My bank also has its headquarters within this same metropolitan area.)

"Processing" time must be factored into the due date. Once again, a company that takes 2 weeks to send a bill and 2 weeks to record payment clearly cannot expect any greater promptness from the customer than a similar 2-week interval. Hence, Sprint needs to allow 6 weeks total.

In my case, once again, I sent out payment promptly upon receipt of the bill.

[lgmayka]

My post will be on the assumption that you do not currently use e-bill.
If you are referring to Sprint grabbing money directly out of my checking account...I am not nearly so crazy as to allow such a thing. Sprint misbills its customers very frequently. It would be utterly idiotic for any customer to pre-allow Sprint to extract an exorbitantly incorrect amount from his checking account.

How dare a company take a week to prepare a bill and send it to you - considering the USPS probably took 3-5 days to deliver it to you.

How dare Sprint not process the payment instantly when received as a check from Chase. Let's not factor in mailing time to the two weeks, once again - 3-5 days. So, a week to process & post a payment - hm. not unreasonable to me.
Sigh. OK, I'll go over it one more time.

First class mail takes at most 3 days cross-country. Since Sprint's billing department for my account in within my metropolitan area, next-day delivery of first class letters is the rule.

If Sprint wishes to take 2 weeks to send a bill, and 2 weeks to process the payment, then clearly Sprint cannot expect the customer to be any faster; so the customer needs 2 weeks also. Hence, Sprint needs to set a payment due date 6 weeks beyond the billing date. As it is right now, Sprint's laughable due date is 24 days from the billing date, meaning that Sprint itself makes the due date impossible.

What don't you understand?

[lgmayka]

I made a payment on June 24 and it showed credited by Sprint on June 26. My bank does show Sprint as being an electronic transfer though. If your bank says that they are making an electronic ACH transfer, and Sprint isn't posting your payments within a couple days then I would have your bank look into it.
My bank was sending electronic payments to Sprint until Sprint's Ensemble simultaneously changed the account number and the postal address. It is now Sprint's responsibility to provide the bank with the appropriate codes for electronic payment; but Sprint has not yet done so.

[Romeo8Juliet]

The only secure way to set up an electronic payment conduit is for the receiver, having received a paper check from a particular bank, to contact the bank with all the appropriate information (routing number, receiver's business account number, customer's account number, etc.). There is simply no other reasonable way to set this up.Yes, your bank can indeed know that it is infact indeed an Sprint electronic payee, even when it is customer entered information. How? Simple - The billing address you enter.

Not to mention, I entered my own payee information and it matched up with the electronic payee instantly.. but, I guess that's why I don't use Chase. :huh:

Merchants do NOT solicit those who send them checks to provide this information. It is quite funny that you think Sprint (or any other merchant) sits and goes through their checks to say. . "Oh jeez Molly, Chase did it again... Please contact them to let them know this person can send it to us electronically."


Keep in mind that electronic payment is primarily a convenience for the receiving company, not the bank. The receiving company can streamline its billing greatly and receive its money more quickly by actively accepting and soliciting electronic payment. In contrast, the bank has no difficulty printing paper checks. In fact, by sending a paper check, the bank has interest-free use of the customer's money for at least several days.Once again, False. It is for the efficiency of the Bank and/or Credit Union. Why? It's simple. It costs them less money to deliver a payment electronically than it does by check. Not to mention, it's faster and creates less of a hassle when dealing with Customers. "Why didn't the USPS deliver my payment on time"..

*sigh*

False. Check the post office's delivery of first class mail. It takes a couple of days at most even going across country. My own Sprint bill actually specifies an address within my own metropolitan area, for which the post office guarantees next-day delivery. (My bank also has its headquarters within this same metropolitan area.)Wait, you actually believe delivery times posted? Ha. That's funny. Not ALL mail is delivered within the time frame specified. That's more of a generic average. But, *sigh*

Solution to your problem? Do e-billing and make the payment directly on Sprint's website if you are THAT concerned about Sprint viewing you as a "deadbeat." Most people have better things to be concerned with than how a company may indeed perceive them.

Oh wait, nevermind. Sprint is making everyone a deadbeat. :1zhelp:

[Romeo8Juliet]

My bank was sending electronic payments to Sprint until Sprint's Ensemble simultaneously changed the account number and the postal address. It is now Sprint's responsibility to provide the bank with the appropriate codes for electronic payment; but Sprint has not yet done so.

Once again. it is NOT sprint's responsibility to contact YOUR bank to tell them how to deliver the payment.

Call your bank and tell them that Sprint is an electronic payee and you wish to have it set up that way. Guess what occurs then? Your bank does its actual job and calls the merchant to obtain the information needed to complete the task on their end.

Why? Because it is the bank's responsibility. Not the merchant.

In your terms:
What don't you understand?

:rolleyes:

[BrettW]

Once again. it is NOT sprint's responsibility to contact YOUR bank to tell them how to deliver the payment.

Call your bank and tell them that Sprint is an electronic payee and you wish to have it set up that way. Guess what occurs then? Your bank does its actual job and calls the merchant to obtain the information needed to complete the task on their end.

Why? Because it is the bank's responsibility. Not the merchant.

In your terms:


:rolleyes:

its actually both the merchants and the banks responsibility they need to communicate with one and another to setup an electronic payment method.

its the customers responsibility to ensure the bank has the up to date account number, and potentially contact information so they bank can contact the merchant to setup the electronic payment method.

[Romeo8Juliet]

its actually both the merchants and the banks responsibility they need to communicate with one and another to setup an electronic payment method.

its the customers responsibility to ensure the bank has the up to date account number, and potentially contact information so they bank can contact the merchant to setup the electronic payment method.

In the context you have written it, I agree. But, not in the context in which the OP is stating.

The way the OP has posted and outlined his issue, he is basically stating that Sprint should know he is sending his check from Chase's BillPay and should contact chase to set up his payee to be electronic. With the number of paper checks sprint receives and the majority of them being processed electronically... it's quite unreasonable.

I know with us, we would simply note the number of payments going to a specific payee and solicit the merchant to obtain the electronic information needed. I can't recall of ever getting a large corporate contacting any of of our reps to provide electronic payee information out of the blue. That would occur on the smaller companies who didn't receive enough payments for us to solicit them and it was per request of their customer basically.

[lgmayka]

Yes, your bank can indeed know that it is infact indeed an Sprint electronic payee, even when it is customer entered information. How? Simple - The billing address you enter.
False. Sprint's Ensemble uses random newly chosen post office boxes, going to random newly chosen addresses. If I tell you that a payment is going to PO Box 4191 in Carol Stream, Illinois, how do you know which account of which company that is, when you've never seen the address before?

[Romeo8Juliet]

False. Sprint's Ensemble uses random newly chosen post office boxes, going to random newly chosen addresses. If I tell you that a payment is going to PO Box 4191 in Carol Stream, Illinois, how do you know which account of which company that is, when you've never seen the address before?

*sigh*

I'm not even going to go further. Obviously the concept is lost.

Do everyone a favor. Call Chase and request for them to do their job and solicit Sprint to get the correct electronic information from Sprint to set the payee up correctly in their system.

...I'm done with this thread. Although, I did find it quite amusing.

Night all. :)

[lgmayka]

Do e-billing and make the payment directly on Sprint's website if you are THAT concerned about Sprint viewing you as a "deadbeat." Most people have better things to be concerned with than how a company may indeed perceive them.
Hmm. Which of these two are you actually saying?

1) "I don't care about my credit rating, so I don't care whether I pay my bills on time or not."

2) "Sprint forces all its customers to pay their bills late, so Sprint can't possibly report any of them to the credit bureau as deadbeats."

I doubt that you're saying (1), so I suspect you are saying (2). In other words, you are agreeing with me.

[Romeo8Juliet]

Hmm. Which of these two are you actually saying?

1) "I don't care about my credit rating, so I don't care whether I pay my bills on time or not."

2) "Sprint forces all its customers to pay their bills late, so Sprint can't possibly report any of them to the credit bureau as deadbeats."

I doubt that you're saying (1), so I suspect you are saying (2). In other words, you are agreeing with me.

I am not saying number one. In the event you are inferring I do not care about my credit rating - false, all of my bills are paid on time and at the age of 20, my credit score is above 700. In the event you are inferring that I state you do not care about your credit rating, you are indeed false as well.

I was not saying number two as well. My bill and others in this thread have posted, gets paid on time. So that in itself proves the second one incorrect.

For the record, Sprint does not report you late to credit agencies unless you are in collections. You don't go into collections for being a week late on your payment.

Have a good evening.

[MsBeautiful85]

Do you have an account with Sprint.com? (Why not just login on 2-3 days after your bill cycle has end) E bill would be much faster it lets you know when your bill is posted (Sprint will send you an email to let you know your balance). Or you can check your account balance from your cell phone. If not next best thing to do is to sign up for a pre-paid debit card.

[BrettW]

In the context you have written it, I agree. But, not in the context in which the OP is stating.

The way the OP has posted and outlined his issue, he is basically stating that Sprint should know he is sending his check from Chase's BillPay and should contact chase to set up his payee to be electronic. With the number of paper checks sprint receives and the majority of them being processed electronically... it's quite unreasonable.

I know with us, we would simply note the number of payments going to a specific payee and solicit the merchant to obtain the electronic information needed. I can't recall of ever getting a large corporate contacting any of of our reps to provide electronic payee information out of the blue. That would occur on the smaller companies who didn't receive enough payments for us to solicit them and it was per request of their customer basically.

yea i deal with the same situations day in and day out working for Bank of America's online banking technical support.

[rush25]

If you are referring to Sprint grabbing money directly out of my checking account...I am not nearly so crazy as to allow such a thing. Sprint misbills its customers very frequently. It would be utterly idiotic for any customer to pre-allow Sprint to extract an exorbitantly incorrect amount from his checking account.

Sigh. OK, I'll go over it one more time.

First class mail takes at most 3 days cross-country. Since Sprint's billing department for my account in within my metropolitan area, next-day delivery of first class letters is the rule.

If Sprint wishes to take 2 weeks to send a bill, and 2 weeks to process the payment, then clearly Sprint cannot expect the customer to be any faster; so the customer needs 2 weeks also. Hence, Sprint needs to set a payment due date 6 weeks beyond the billing date. As it is right now, Sprint's laughable due date is 24 days from the billing date, meaning that Sprint itself makes the due date impossible.

What don't you understand?

Actually, when you set up automatic payments through Sprint's web site, Sprint emails you as soon as your bill is available, which is almost immediately after the current billing cycle ends, to show you exactly how much your bill is and what day the payment will be taken out of your account. So actually it is quite easy to prevent any exorbant extraction of funds from your checking account. For my account, the billing cycle ended June 10, the bill was posted by June 14 which showed all the details of my bill including the date my payment would be deducted from my account, which was July 3.

[lgmayka]

I'm not even going to go further. Obviously the concept is lost.
You didn't answer my question as to how a bank can possibly know that PO Box 4191 in Carol Stream, Illinois, corresponds to a specific Sprint account.

Call Chase and request for them to do their job and solicit Sprint to get the correct electronic information from Sprint to set the payee up correctly in their system.
Chase already does their job quite well. I haven't had this problem with any other payee, only Sprint. As Chase said, Sprint was only one business day away from what Chase considers to be an appropriate time to stop payment on the check.

It's obvious to me where the problem lies. Perhaps the most laughable element in all of this is Sprint's utter lunacy in simultaneously

a) Taking much longer to send out bills with Ensemble
b) Taking much longer to process payments with Ensemble
c) Pulling forward the due date by several days.

[lgmayka]

Actually, when you set up automatic payments through Sprint's web site, Sprint emails you as soon as your bill is available, which is almost immediately after the current billing cycle ends, to show you exactly how much your bill is and what day the payment will be taken out of your account. So actually it is quite easy to prevent any exorbant extraction of funds from your checking account.
How do you prevent the extraction, other than by cancelling the automatic payments altogether? Keep in mind that in my long-term experience, 1 in every 3 Sprint bills is wrong.

[rush25]

The simple fact is that it is your responsibility to pay for your service. Period. The fact that Sprint is apparently sending out your bill late is annoying, bothersome, and an unacceptable business practice. However, there is some responsibility on the part of the customer to be conscious of and accountable to paying their bills. Before I switched to automatic payments through Sprint's website, there were a few instances in which my Sprint bills we issues several weeks late due to a problem with Sprint's billing system. I continued to pay my bill on time through *2 and *4 simply because I knew my bill was due. It's part of customer responsibility. I'm assuming you've really contacted Sprint about this. When I was having my billing issue, they were able to tell me the dates my bills were issued and confirmed that there was a mistake in their system.

[bcaroo]

How do you prevent the extraction, other than by cancelling the automatic payments altogether? Keep in mind that in my long-term experience, 1 in every 3 Sprint bills is wrong.
I have autopayments set up for years. I set up ebilling about a year ago and it works very well for me. My billing cycle ends on the 18th of every month. This last month, I was able to review my invoice by downloading the pdf file on the 26th - this is a longer than normal time by about 3 days. The payment will be deducted on the 11th. So from the time I have seen this month's invoice, I have had approximately 14 days to review and have Sprint make any corrections. For example, in May my bill was almost $300 due to a variety of problems that were caused by one problem. I knew what my bill was supposed to be, so I called them and had the bill corrected to $188. The amount due via online will reflect the correct total that will be deducted on the appropriate date and will adjust to include any credits applied immediately like a service credit. Things that take place in the next billing cycle will show up on the next bill. The only time you will not see the credits show up in the total due is after the payment is withdrawn - this is because your amount due is now $0 since you made a payment.
Now mind you, my bill is rarely wrong because I do not have a lot of add ons or separate discounts. I knew that May's bill was going to be wrong because of what was happening with my lines - we were trying to add lines that would draw off my family plan. They were able to add lines under separate plans but could not make them draw correctly. They corrected all the mistakes and my bill remains correct. I check it as soon as it posts. I have never had a problem with the autopayment option with Sprint.

[rush25]

How do you prevent the extraction, other than by cancelling the automatic payments altogether? Keep in mind that in my long-term experience, 1 in every 3 Sprint bills is wrong.

Well, you call customer service....

I'm not sure as to why this is a difficult concept. And seriously? 1 in every 3 Sprint bills is wrong? Is this just a guess or do you personally have every third bill from Sprint with incorrect charges? Having your bill through Sprint.com is a great way to prevent incorrect charges such that you can monitor your use to avoid any extra charges.

[lgmayka]

1 in every 3 Sprint bills is wrong? Is this just a guess or do you personally have every third bill from Sprint with incorrect charges?
Yes, that is my own personal experience. Of course, if a recurring error requires a call every month for 3 months before it is finally corrected properly, I count that as 3 wrong bills.

[lgmayka]

The simple fact is that it is your responsibility to pay for your service.
The primary problem is not the payment but the acceptance of payment, and that is on Sprint's side, not mine. Legally speaking, Sprint has already been paid the day that my check arrives in their office. The fact that it takes Sprint two weeks to actually record the payment in their billing system is their problem.

Once again, Sprint finally recorded my payment only one business day before Chase would have considered it appropriate to stop payment on the check. Clearly, Chase is not used to dealing with such inefficiency.

[Dan]

Yeah, it takes about 10 days or so from the end of the bill cycle to have the paper bill in your hands. It comes about 2-3 days after it is available online in pdf format.

Here is how I deal with sprint and their bills. Step one, look at amount due and determine if it seems right. Step two, call about any errors and have them corrected, or skip and use step 3, pay bill from sprint.com.

Once you pay from sprint.com, you have a code given to you showing sprint accepted the payment and if they screw up and have it as late, you simply give them the confirmation code.

So, no worries about sprint taking 2 weeks to process your payment, and it comes out of the account (checking or credit) of your choice. Sprint has your checking account info if its done electroncally from your bank i'd bet, so the only benefit of doing it from your bank's bill pay site is that you can schedule the date to pay.

[BerryWriter]

Why don't you just pay your bill on Sprint's page? That's what I do and have never had a problem-and the payment posts to my account within 4hrs. I'm not talking about auto-pay, I'm talking about setting up a one time payment. Or go to the Sprint store and pay your bill there. I agree with the others..it's not Sprint's fault.

[lgmayka]

Why don't you just pay your bill on Sprint's page? That's what I do and have never had a problem-and the payment posts to my account within 4hrs. I'm not talking about auto-pay, I'm talking about setting up a one time payment. Or go to the Sprint store and pay your bill there. I agree with the others..it's not Sprint's fault.
I am amazed that so many posters here think that Sprint has the right to dictate how they run their lives. Do you let your gas company tell you what to wear? Do you ask your electric company's permission to eat at a restaurant?

So let's review again.

Postal mail is the universally accepted means of both bill delivery and bill payment. No company has the unilateral right to demand that customers read their bills online or to pay their bills online, unless such was clearly specified in the terms and conditions of the contract. Period.

My own personal banking system is indeed set up for electronic payment, through my banking software (Microsoft Money) and my bank. As I have already explained, Sprint unilaterally cancelled my electronic payment arrangement by changing account numbers and billing addresses simultaneously.

So again, if Sprint takes 2 weeks to send bills and 2 weeks to record payment, it must give customers a similar 2 weeks to pay bills. Sprint should therefore set the bill due date 6 weeks beyond the end of the billing period.

[BerryWriter]

I
Postal mail is the universally accepted means of both bill delivery and bill payment.

What century are you living in? These days most people pay their bills online. I write exactly ONE check a month-for my rent. Everything else is done via EFT online. Get off the soapbox already.

[lgmayka]

These days most people pay their bills online.
So do I. But Sprint unilaterally cancelled my electronic bill payment when they simultaneously changed account numbers and postal addresses.

[BerryWriter]

This really needs to be moved to the rants forum because you are hellbent on blaming Sprint for YOUR BANK's issue. You obviously don't want to hear anything we have to say because you are right and everyone else is wrong. Good luck getting things resolved with that attitude. Geesh.

[Romeo8Juliet]

Postal mail is the universally accepted means of both bill delivery and bill payment. No company has the unilateral right to demand that customers read their bills online or to pay their bills online, unless such was clearly specified in the terms and conditions of the contract. Period.

My own personal banking system is indeed set up for electronic payment, through my banking software (Microsoft Money) and my bank. As I have already explained, Sprint unilaterally cancelled my electronic payment arrangement by changing account numbers and billing addresses simultaneously.

So again, if Sprint takes 2 weeks to send bills and 2 weeks to record payment, it must give customers a similar 2 weeks to pay bills. Sprint should therefore set the bill due date 6 weeks beyond the end of the billing period.

All I can say is... :laughing:

What century are you living in? These days most people pay their bills online. I write exactly ONE check a month-for my rent. Everything else is done via EFT online. Get off the soapbox already.

Ditto. I write no checks a month.. it's wonderful.

This really needs to be moved to the rants forum because you are hellbent on blaming Sprint for YOUR BANK's issue. You obviously don't want to hear anything we have to say because you are right and everyone else is wrong. Good luck getting things resolved with that attitude. Geesh.

I second that motion. (and your conclusion on the OP - I agree 100%)

[+Eric]

I am amazed that so many posters here think that Sprint has the right to dictate how they run their lives. Do you let your gas company tell you what to wear? Do you ask your electric company's permission to eat at a restaurant?

LOL @ you man. What does any of this have to do with what anyone wears..... I don't let anyone run my life. In fact I'm so adamant that no one has control over me or what I do, I pay my bills and take responsibility for making sure they get paid, on time, however it takes. I'm so adamant that I have control over MY life I take control, and don't blame others when I fail to meet my obligations, NO MATTER the reason.


So let's review again.

Postal mail is the universally accepted means of both bill delivery and bill payment. No company has the unilateral right to demand that customers read their bills online or to pay their bills online, unless such was clearly specified in the terms and conditions of the contract. Period.

My own personal banking system is indeed set up for electronic payment, through my banking software (Microsoft Money) and my bank. As I have already explained, Sprint unilaterally cancelled my electronic payment arrangement by changing account numbers and billing addresses simultaneously.

You sir, are responsible for notifying your bank of any changes to your account, including changing your payee from check to electronic......

It's the only logical method. Just like Romeo8Juliet said way back on the first page I think. You've told your bank, to pay your bill for you. Therefore that is their responsibility. It then becomes YOUR responsibility to keep them informed of any and all changes that may affect their ability to do what you PAY THEM to do. Granted, chase may give you free bill pay, but as they say... "Nothing in life is free." In other words, you pay for it one way or another.

Oh well, you're clearly set on letting sprint and probably other companies run your life, since you don't want to take responsibility to make sure you're bills are getting paid on time. Couple the fact that you don't wanna take responsibility for this... and you have a bank make payments to your account automatically, it can be surmised that you let companies run your life more-so than anyone posting in this thread.

[goodiemob]

soapbox?some ppl dont have web acess.

[Trekker]

When a bank is given a new account number and postal address (as for Sprint's new Ensemble bills), plus a customer-provided phone number (which for Sprint is merely a glorified *2), the bank cannot possibly initiate an electronic payment arrangement based on that information alone, nor can anyone possibly expect it to do so.

I disagree. I use Bank of America's bill pay and have set up numerous "payees" and was immediately allowed to send an electronic payment. In many cases BofA already has the payee's address set up in their system.

One additional thing that surprised me, when I was migrated to ensemble, I thought that I would have to go in and delete my old Sprint account and add a new one with the new account number. Not so! When I went in to check, BofA already changed my bill pay to reflect the new account number and sent me a notification saying the account number had changed. All of this was done automatically without me having to initiate the change!

I would definitely recommend Bank of America & their bill pay system. I've been using it for many years and have had ZERO errors. I balance my checkbook usually on a daily basis.

[rush25]

The hallmark of immaturity is expecting the world to bend to your demands.

For whatever reason and whomever is to blame, paying your Sprint bill through your bank as a payee causes your bill to get posted late at Sprint. The logical reaction would be to change the way you pay your Sprint bill. The illogical reaction would be to demand Sprint alter their method of issuing, accepting, and posting their bills and payments because it is inconvenient for you. Do you think Sprint cares why anyone pays their bills late? Nope. And by stating that postal mail is the universally accepted method of bill delivery and bill payment, you're essentially using this as yet another excuse as to why you've failed to alter the method in which you pay your Sprint bill, assuming that you truly want this problem resolved. Obviously postal mail remains as a universally accepted method of bill payment and bill delivery; a significant amount of communication is still dependent on postal mail. However, does the fact that you didn't receive a bill due a mistake from the USPS mean that you don't have to pay your bill? Because, after all, if the universally accepted means of bill delivery fails, there is no way I would be responsible...right?

[BrettW]

and with all that has been said, this thread has run its course.


thread closed.