Just wait till you need to get your phone warranty replaced. They will ship you a phone still attached to someones account, and make you wait 24-48 hrs before you can activate it!

I'll go one step further and say the old number should play a recording informing callers of the new number.

The service rep apologized many times and was very respectful to the customer. They corrected the issue with tech support and was willing to assist the customer with whatever he needed going forward.

I personally am glad to see all these jerkish type people leaving Sprint. Now they can go have their bad attitudes and jerk-like ways projected at other companies because I personally love my Sprint service.

Also, for the record, Sprint is the ONLY carrier who's customer satisfaction has consistently gone up on the ACSI ratings for the last 8 quarters in a row.

I handle the situation very nicely. I know who they are calling for and explain that the number is mine and I have no idea who the individual is and to please remove my number from the file. I have to do that for each collector and the calls have gotten to maybe once or twice in a 6 month period.

Ironically enough I even got a call from my new employer, at the time looking to collect the debt from that guy as well.

Ok Sprint is wrong. However:

1. Who tries and resolves a problem this complex via chat log?? Would you have a meeting about another finacial issue via chat window? No.

2. The OP is yelling via chat. Sure, I would be upset also but we all know yelling at a customer service reps gets you nothing but a brick wall... doing it via chat gets you canned responses.

They of course bill my phone to a credit card. If they reassign my number, does someone get access to that info too? That's NUTS. No sane company just willy-nilly shares information like that. Attorneys General have freaked out for smaller breaches of security. Geez.

AT&T, on the other hand, is a customer-service nightmare, and some of the "customers" I have first-hand experience representing have 5-digit monthly Internet bills.

Furthermore, Sprint absolutely provides call history for the last four months. Go to Billing & Payment->My Bill->Call Detail to see all incoming and outgoing calls. Providing this access to anyone other than the proper account owner is a major problem.

This right here is a PRIME example of why I despise Sprint with a passion. As a customer, you are treated like crap and the "oh well" attitude. As an authorized vendor, you're treated like someone trying to perform international scams for terrorists and repeatedly told you are lying to them(this isn't a joke either).

And Sprint wonders why the continue to hemorrhage customers.

How was this one reassigned so quickly?

Back when we were still with Sprint, they changed the name on my account and my address three different times. I caught it because I check my accounts online and I'd been having issues with Sprint overbilling me. They could never give me an explanation as to why they changed my name and my address. Needless to say, we don't have Sprint as our carrier anymore.

I really don't see how the OP being a member of the military/having military personnel telephone numbers on his account factors in, either. It sounds more like something thrown in to generate outrage.

I'm not big on "blame the OP" but it sounds like when the problem was brought to their attention they corrected it, apologized and offered a courtesy phone discount, regardless of whether you may or may not have been already entitled. What exactly do you want them to do? If you're that outraged and concerned about your privacy, switch carriers.

Regarding the re-use of numbers, considering the popularity of cell phones it's really not easy for companies to just sit on numbers any longer. Not enough of em out there anymore!

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: Hubby got one the other day, after he told him twice that it was the wrong number, the collector tried to convince him that it had to be our neighbor and would he just run over and knock on their door to get them on the phone!!!

This should also be reported to the security office associated with his (former?) military unit. If Campbell doesn't have the number, he can get in touch with a local FBI office and they'll help. While the odds of the new account holder being malicious are slim, it IS still a potential opportunity for an unknown quantity to have a leg up in phishing them.

Sprint took the state AG seriously enough when I had problems with them, but it really should be reported anyway and it can't hurt to let the MP's light a fire under 'em too.

@speedwell, new and improved: Awesome. You're my hero.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: This is why I gave up having a landline in the Philadelphia area. After having four numbers in all, for three different house, I just gave up. The wrong numbers were constantly calling. One person who left a threatening message on my voice mail scared me so badly that I had the number changed on the spot, even thought it was clear the message wasn't for me. Another deadbeat kept giving out my number as his even AFTER it became my number, so I not only had debt collectors pestering me trying to settle old debts, I had people he'd defrauded just the week before trying to track him down.

Really, they should make the numbers be dead for at least two or three months before reassigning them.

Also, the OP specifically mentions that someone was on his "personal webpage," which would indicate access to the main site, not via the phone.

- Debt problems (many)
- A concerned mother looking for her child
- A con with many school problems
- Some Spanish-speaking friends

And much more.

@dragonfire81: Ex-Sprint VCS here. I vote "messed up."

@bloggerX: I kicked out my ex-boyfriend (we'd lived together over ten years) and he is still giving people my phone number as his own. I usually just say, "He can't be reached at this number anymore," and most callers say "Oh, OK, thanks."

The other day, some obnoxious moron called about one of the ex's debts. He wouldn't accept my standard line. He accused me of "covering" for my ex. He said his wife wouldn't have any problem giving out a number if it was for legitimate business. Finally I blew up at him and said, "OK, Mister, if your wife got sick of you for being a lowlife without a real job, and kicked your butt out on the street without much caring what happened to you, what could she say to convince your creditors to stop harassing her?" And I hung up as he was still going, "Uh.... uh...."

So, no. How it happened isn't obvious in the least.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: Yeah! They would say, "Are you covering for the person?" And then I start cursing at them like a maniac and they STILL call back! After three weeks they've stopped calling me. I kinda miss cussing them out now.

@bloggerX: My husband answered when a debt collecter called one time and he said, "This is not their phone number." and then they questioned him on how long we've had this number! Crazyness.

@Kimaroo - Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: I hate the debt collector ones! They say, "Are you the spouse?" After telling them no wrong number for seven times, I got vicious with them!

I had been under the impression though, that if you change a number, there was a "Freeze" on it of 90 days before it could be reassigned. Either that's changed, was untrue to begin with or somebody at Sprint totally messed up.

Woah.. I wouldn't have thought of this happening when you change a phone number.. but it will be in my head if I need to change a number in the future.

I hate that phone numbers are reused so quickly, I understand that there are only so many numbers to go around, but it's a pain in the ass to get calls that aren't for me. I get calls all the time for the person who used to have my phone number, debt collectors and all kinds of home services because she was an interior decorator. "Hello, we would like to asess the soil in your yard free of charge, would that be ok with you?" "This is an apartment." "Oh. I'm sorry *click*" More recently, someone randomly called offering heating and cooling services and they wanted to "speak with the homeowner".

I wish there was a better way, but there isn't, unless someone comes up with more digits besides 0-9. And that would be a temporary fix anyway.

Notice I don't say "customers"; obviously they don't care about PEOPLE.

Campbell should call the Sprint Consumerist hotline. God knows I have and got what I wanted! They were charging me $75/mo for internet when I already had the damn $15 powervision!!! I wasn't using Slingbox or anything similar, just watching NFL network on lunch breaks.

They shouldn't make the phone # the default for logging on!