[kre]

Hi,

I am new to this forum and my problems with Sprint. According to Sprint, I currently owe them $2600 for PCS Vision Usage. I found out on March 7 when I received the bill in the mail. I immediately called customer service and had the Internet shut off completely from my phone and tried to figure out what happened. Over the next several weeks and countless conversations with every department, I found out that my phone was being used as a modem. Every few days huge downloads (up to 4 mb) were taking place. All of the usage took place between midnight & 6 a.m. when I am asleep. I have never used the phone as a modem and do not have the cables to do it or the know how. I have DSL at my home and office so there is no need for me to use the phone as a modem. I talked to the fraud department and all they had to say is that it is impossible to clone for vision. So after a month and a half of talking to countless representatives and getting the runaround, I am out of options. A few of the reps said that it is possible to clone for vision, it is just VERY difficult to do. So I do not know what to think, but all I can say is that I did not use the phone as a modem and anything is possible with technology. I think I am going to have to take legal action to get this matter resolved, but I wanted to see if anyone has any advice or if anyone has even heard of this type of thing before.

Thanks.

[fonefreak]

quite interesting. i dont think today's cell phone can be cloned like old days. maybe it's a billing error. wait, you got 8100 and live in LA area? wth.. same here lol. very scary..

[dumwaldo]

did you have a unlimited vision pack on that phone?

if you did then sprint absolutely can not charge you for the usage. all they have the legal right to do is turn off your service. they do NOT have the right to charge you a per KB rate if you had an unlimited vision pack.

BTW
it is not possible for sprint to turn off the internet on your phone. all sprint can do is turn off the unlimited service. the only way to turn off the internet service on a phone is to do it in the phones settings and disable vision.

so did you have an unlimited vision pack before?

peace,
dumwaldo

[SpineDoc]

He was accused of using the phone as a modem, doesnt Sprint state in their contract/TOS that usage as a modem is prohibited and will be charged a per KB fee? I know this is a HUGE gray area and has not been tested yet, but seems to me that in a legal action the contract you signed would tend to stand up. But that is a moot point in this case since he is not debating whether it was used as a modem or not.

This whole not allowing us to tether thing is really going to bite Sprint in the ass. Other carriers are providing tethering solutions, when will Sprint learn?

[dumwaldo]

the only thing in the TOS that i have ever read about using a phone as a modem is that they retain the right to deny or terminate your service. it does not say that they will have the right to charge you a per Kb rate. if you know of somewhere in the TOS that says they have the right to do something different i would appreciate if you could point it out for me.


this is from the TOS
Unlimited PCS Vision plans/options are only available with phones or PCS smart phones where the device is not being used as a modem in connection with other equipment (e.g., computers, PDAs, etc.) through use of connection kits or other phone-to-computer/PDA accessories, or Bluetooth or other wireless technology. Sprint reserves the right to deny or to terminate service without notice for any misuse.

[Snoopy572]

I bought a used phone recently and once I activated it the vision service was still active under the old user's name. I was able to do everything using his info. So I think it is indeed possible that someone else may have been using your info. Not sure how relevant what I'm saying could be to your situation, but maybe it can help with discovering new possibilities.

[dfwtxpatrick]

FYI....You CAN change your username and PW to match someone elses and it WILL allow you to access the web under their username & pw. Not only that, but you CAN access that persons downloads under the Content MGR on SPCS and get the downloads they have. Been there, done that!

This is a problem that SPCS knew about when I worked in the Trouble Dept. Getting someone to admit it will be very hard.

I suggest that you go onto the SPCS website and change your Username & Password ASAP! This will make your old info obsolete and should correct the issue.

Also, if you have anything in the content mgr on the SPCS website, see what date it was last downloaded and see if it matches the date it was dl to your phone. If you never downloaded anything to your content mgr, check it anyway, someone else may have dl some stuff and you get charged for that as well!

There's alot of things that would need to be done, but believe me, it can be done!

[SL10]

This is why I got my MSL codes to erase any account info in a phone b4 I sell it. Been there done that.

[SL10]

Originally Posted by Snoopy572

I bought a used phone recently and once I activated it the vision service was still active under the old user's name. I was able to do everything using his info. So I think it is indeed possible that someone else may have been using your info. Not sure how relevant what I'm saying could be to your situation, but maybe it can help with discovering new possibilities.

Btw Snoopy I hope you erased your account info in your old 8100 on ebay?

[dumwaldo]

i would just like to know...

1. did he have an unlimited vision package

and

2. how did he have the "Internet shut off completely"

[sideman7]

I ran into the same problem with an 8100 I sold to a friend... I thought I had erased everything, but my vision info was still there. The next month, I got billed for vision usage on my old phone! Fortunately, I was able to get it straightened out fairly easily....

[Costcolio]

Vision can be hijacked and Sprint knows it. I would also like to know if kre had unlimited vision.

[Alchemy]

Originally Posted by dfwtxpatrick

FYI....You CAN change your username and PW to match someone elses and it WILL allow you to access the web under their username & pw. Not only that, but you CAN access that persons downloads under the Content MGR on SPCS and get the downloads they have. Been there, done that!

This is a problem that SPCS knew about when I worked in the Trouble Dept. Getting someone to admit it will be very hard.

I suggest that you go onto the SPCS website and change your Username & Password ASAP! This will make your old info obsolete and should correct the issue.

Also, if you have anything in the content mgr on the SPCS website, see what date it was last downloaded and see if it matches the date it was dl to your phone. If you never downloaded anything to your content mgr, check it anyway, someone else may have dl some stuff and you get charged for that as well!

There's alot of things that would need to be done, but believe me, it can be done!

You just described a security hole big enough to drive a MAC truck thru. This computer/communications security engineer is freaked...

It still would be useful to know if kre had Vision, but with a hole that big, even an inept lawyer could drive his Beemer thru it.

[kre]

Thanks everyone for your input. It is really helpful.

I did not have a vision package at all. I used to but I never used it so I cancelled it, but I could still access the Internet, as you probably know, I am just charged for it. Sprint is able to disable the Internet completely from your phone. They switched my phone/plan to IP Basic only (that's what they called it) and I can no longer log onto the Internet from my phone and my username and password do not work when I try to sign into the vision part of the Sprint website.

I asked if someone could be using my username and password, but they said no, that the downloads were coming from my phone and each phone has its own IP address so it is impossible to steal...

So the charges stopped occurring the day I shut off the internet, which is the same day I found out about the charges, but the problem is that I still owe them $2,600. They offered to give me a "courtesy credit" for $800 because I have been a good customer, but that's all I could get out of them after a month and a half.

I am having a lawyer look into the matter and your comments will DEFINITELY help my case. If you have any additional input, I would REALLY appreciate it!

Thanks!
kirstin

[jg013c]

My comment is that a lawyer may wind up costing you more than the $1800 Sprint said you owe them ($2600-$800service credit). This is why they have small claims court, so ordinary people can defend their rights for small calims.