This person writes:

What has come out internally is that they have till Jan 8th to accept the VSP [Voluntary Separation Package], and then all bets are off. Also, the tech ops force is going to be diminished and Sprint is going to start contracting out their site maintenance and upkeep. What does this mean? Assloads of the techs who have been there since Nextel are going to be losing their jobs, and contractors are going to be taking their place, leading to worse service than there is now with the skeleton crew they've got left.

How do I know all this? My husband was one of the first to lose his job during Nextel's downsizing prior to the buyout, and we have quite a few friends left at Sprint who are all sweating blood.

"Sprint offers voluntary package to employees " [Fierce Wireless]
(Photo: Getty Images)

Stephanie writes:

I did my research and found out that Credo Mobile (a MVNO piggybacking on the Spring network) is offering $200 towards cancellation fees on your current cell phone plan. So, I called my cell phone provider, Verizon Wireless, and explained that I'd been a loyal customer and that my contract was due to expire in less than three months but that Sprint had this great offer and that I was considering switching. They representative told me that Sprint's coverage sucked and she was sorry to hear that I was considering a switch, and offered to give me a month free! She put me on hold and within two minutes she came back on and confirmed that I'd been given an $80 credit on my bill.

I couldn't believe how easy it was.

Next I called Comcast. I was more than a bit intimidated, because I've had issues with Comcast in the past, but I figured I'd give it a try anyway. I tried the same tactic: loyal customer, can you give me a break on my bill. The customer service rep played hard ball. I told him that their website had all kinds of deals. He said they were only for new customers. I told him Verizon Fios was offering deals. He wouldn't budge.

Finally, I said, "Would Comcast rather I switch to another company?" He finally said he would check for any promotional offers. He put me on hold and said he could knock off $25 from my bill for the next six months.

So, I just wanted to say thanks.

RELATED: Consumer 101: 3 Ways To Lower Your Out Of Control Cable, Internet And Phone Bills

Here's the fee notice:

Administrative Charge
Effective Jan. 1, 2009, the Administrative
Charge will increase to $0.99 per line. For
details on surcharges, please see Sprint Terms
& Conditions or visit sprint.com/taxesandfees

And Matt's story:

I called sprint with the bill (with the exact wording) open, and their taxes and fees site (sprint.com/taxesandfees). First I got a normal CS rep, asked about getting an ETF waiver because of this "materially adverse" change, she said no, but that she would transfer me to an "account specialist" (retentions).

Was transferred to retentions, got a woman who also said no. We debated a little bit, me asking why it wasn't materially adverse, her saying because its a fee, etc etc. Once I realized I was going no where with her I asked to speak to somebody else. Apparently I got to talk to the King of Retentions, or something.

I remember this part the best, because he picks up the phone and says "Hello! I heard you had a question about one of our government mandate fees?" This really set me off. I had been saying the whole time it was their administrative fee and picture message increase. Anyways, we debated, a lot. Basically the only key was to never stop. He kept saying they could change their fees at any time, it even says so in their T&Cs. I pointed out how that was not valid, and how it was the whole point of a contract that both parties agree to the terms as presented, and how could you agree to terms in advance? After about 10 minutes of this I said "is there anybody else I can talk to" and he said "no, I'm the end of the line before you cancel", and then he said "Do you want the number to legal" and I said "yes!".

I was put on hold for about 10 minutes, when he came back he was much much nicer. He said they couldn't ETF free it now because it hadn't affected the account. I told him the reason I called now is because I wasn't to make sure paying the Nov bill is "agreeing" with the change (I'm sure if I called back in Jan there would have been nothing that could have been done). I said ETF free in Jan was reasonable, and asked him to put the note on the account to let me cancel ETF free in January if the account was affected by the change, he obliged.

Called back the next day, and the note was there.

Yes, the account is still not canceled. Yes, that note could mysteriously disappear. But Matt was able to go most of the way towards getting it ready to be cancelled once that new fee starts hitting the account. He just needs to go the next step. He needs to argue with them that it doesn't matter if it hasn't hit the account yet, the terms of the contract have changed. That alone gives him sufficient reason. If they respond by waiving the surcharge, he should insist that the contract has still been changed.

Just because it's in the terms and conditions that they can change the contract doesn't make it so. Ski lodges can make you sign death waivers but if you really do bust your leg up, the lawyers know you still can sue and probably will win. If
contracts could really be changed like this mid-term, then car dealerships could decide 6 months into your lease that you need to start paying a $300/month administrative fee.

Whether or not they obviate the effects of the contract change, the contract was still changed without his consent. If you stab someone, and then put all the blood back in the wound and put a band-aid over it, you've still stabbed them.

Administrative Charge Increasing Jan 1... [Howard Forums] (Photo: your_favorite_mart ian)

Be sure to read our Ultimate Consumerist Guide to Fighting Back, a go-to handbook for the dissatisfied consumer. Once you've decided to go the executive customer service right, be sure you read this first so you know what to say when you call the corporate avatar of your choice.

The Consumerist Executive Customer Service Index

ACS
Adelphia
Air Tran
Alamo
Alaska Airlines
Allegiant
Aloha
Amazon
America West
American Airlines
American Express
Amtrak
Apple
ATA
AT&T
AT&T Wireless
Bank of America
Barnes and Noble
Bell Canada
Best Buy
Blizzard
Blockbuster
Blogger
Bloomingdales
Blue Cross/Blue Shield
British Airways
Borders
Busey Bank
Buy.com
Cablevision
Charter Communications
Chase
Circuit City
Citibank
Comcast
Continental
cox
Delta
Direc-TV
Discover Card
Dish
Disney
Ebay
Enterprise
Equifax
Experian
Fedex
Frontier Airlines
Fry's
Gamefly
Geek Squad
Georgia Power
Helio
Home Depot
Humana
HSBC
IKEA
ING Direct
Insight
Keybank
Lenovo
Loew's
Macy's
Microsoft (and Xbox)
Midwest Airlines
Motorola
National City
Nicors
Northwest Airlines
Norton
Office Depot
Office Max
Orbitz
Paypal
Pitney Bowes
Qwest
RCN
Regions Bank
Register.com
Ryan Air
Samsung
Seagate
Sears
Sirius
Skybus
Sony Ericcson
Spirit Airlines
Sprint
Sports Authority
Staples
Symantec
T-mobile
Target
Time Warner Cable
TransUnion
Uhaul
United Airlines
United Health Care
UNUM Life Insurance
UPS
US Airways
US Cellular
Verizon landline/DSL/Fios
Verizon Wireless
Vonage
Wachovia
Walmart
Washington Mutual
Wells Fargo

In the event you can't find the info you are looking for here, you can scan our backlog of contact info, or use Google to uncover the addresses yourself. In the event you find something we don't have, feel free to share at tips@consumerist.com.

Researched by Alex Jarvis
Last updated: 11/07/2008

PREVIOUSLY: Sprint To Start Discounting ETFs Monthly (Photo: Sam Wilkinson)

Sprint to join rivals in cutting termination fees [AP]
Sprint pro-rated ETF finally gets a date [neowin] (Thanks to Brandon!) (Photo: bryanbope)

RCRWireless reprinted part of T-Mobile's response:

“Although your letter states that carriers’ prices for text messaging appear to have increased since 2005, the opposite is true,” states Robert Dotson, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA Inc. “Since 2005, the prices that T-Mobile charges for text messages — 90% of which are purchased in texting package plans — have fallen by more than half.

AT&T came right out and (almost) blamed Senator Kohl for the spate of lawsuits:

“As you probably know, since your letter was made public, 20 class-action lawsuits have been filed around the country against AT&T and other national carriers, specifically alleging price-fixing for texting messaging services. All but one of these cases cite your inquiry as one of the bases of alleged collusion. We are therefore eager to clear up any misunderstanding,” said Timothy McKone, executive VP for federal relations at AT&T.

If fees for text messaging bundles have dropped, while fees for single-serve text messages have shot up 20 cents, then in a way both sides are right—but if that's the case, we think the carriers are being intentionally dense about the true meaning of the Senator's line of questioning, which (we think) is an attempt to determine whether the carriers colluded to hike individual rates enough to drive customers into more profitable bundle services.

Wireless carriers counter antitrust concerns over rising costs of texting [RCRWireless]
(Photo: Getty Images)

Sprintholidayoffer.com [Official Site via Fry's Forum] (Thanks to Luis!)

The Johnson County District Attorney, Phill Kline, told Fox News that Verizon not only seemed unhelpful, but possibly incompetent:

We did have a problem with Verizon. We're talking about 3 hours afterwards, they [the police] were already pushing for this information, with the sergeant speaking to Verizon directly at 2:30 a.m., demanding that this information be provided and it wasn't.

There was a lack of understanding on their end of what they were incapable of doing. I was on the conference call with Verizon, and we had three technicians telling us different things and using different terms, and we can't guess their mind. We've got a girl that's missing. We have a girl that's missing, we have a likely abduction, we need to find her.

Everyone involved in the search has made it clear that Verizon's incompetence had nothing to do with Kelsey's death, but it could have made the search a lot shorter, and saved a lot of people unnecessary grief. Unfortunately, when Verizon's president met with Kline and Kelsey's parents two months later, he brought three lawyers with him for protection.

Kelsey's mom told Fox, "If [Verizon] brought them because you think we're here to sue you, that's not what this is about." Says Kline, "They didn't realize that they have an opportunity... to establish a course that leads the way that is right and responsible, and instead they chose a different posture, and that's unfortunate."

Kelsey's mom:

We almost didn't get to say to goodbye to Kelsey, because of her body decomposition from being out there so long.

Kelsey's dad:

We never did get a why, that was the thing that was so frustrating, why can't you do this. That question was never answered.

"Why Did It Take So Long to Find Kelsey Smith?" (video) [MyFoxKC.com] (Thanks to Albert!)

To begin with, Wireless Lifestyle, the authorized Sprint dealer that accepted Swanson's phone, didn't sufficiently explain the process to Swanson. Wireless Lifestyle partners with Flipswap, a company that accepts used cellphones in exchange for store credit or donations to charity. Flipswap takes in these used cellphones—"between 40,000 and 45,000 phones a month," according to the Wichita Eagle—and resells them on eBay or to overseas distributors.

Swanson could have either taken a store credit or agreed to have any proceeds from the phone donated to a charity. For whatever reason, she thought the phone itself was going to charity. We don't really care one way or the other in this case, but wanted to explain to you how Flipswap actually works so that you'll know better than Swanson should you decide to donate your phone through them.

As for not wiping the phone before reselling it, Flipswap told the newspaper that although they try to erase every phone that passes through, they're not contractually obligated to do so.

You, however, are obligated to do so, if you value your privacy at all. If you don't know how to erase the date on your phone, visit Recellular's Data Eraser page, where you can download step-by-step instructions on a wide variety of models. (And if you can't find your phone there, try Googling terms like "reformat" or "erase" and your phone model.)

The Wichita Eagle also offers some tips on what you should do before buying a used phone. The most important—well, after making sure the phone will work with your carrier, of course—is to ask for the phone's electronic serial number (ESN) before you purchase it, then contact your carrier and verify that the ESN isn't blocked. From what we understand, very few carriers actually block ESNs with any regularity, because it's not in their financial interest to do so, but better safe than sorry.

"Be aware if you buy or sell a used cell phone" [Wichita Eagle] (Thanks to myvotecounts2008!)
(Photo: Getty)

I've had a Sprint account for a little over three months now. The very first SMS I received was from a Sprint number, 9099. It was a notification that my "request to add service features" to my Sprint account was complete. I received two more of the same message that day. I went online to check out my selected features and everything appeared to be in order, so I went about my day.

Two days later, I received another text message from 9099, Sprint's auto messaging number. This time the message read: "SpringFreeMsg. As requested on 20080712, your Account PIN = xxxxxx. Security Answer = xxxx." I didn't recognize the PIN or security answer, figured it was a fluke, and again went about my day.

I've since received the security information text message 7 times and the service features message 6 times. My bill continues to be correct each month with no services features added or removed, and the security information that they send me is always the same, and is always not mine.

I finally decided to call them today to figure out what was going on. Not surprisingly, they had very little to say about the situation. The CSR's best guess was that someone was requesting their security information, and the system was redirecting it to my phone rather than theirs. She suggested that perhaps it was the person who had my phone number before me, which makes little sense to me. To the CSR's benefit, she was very kind, but explained all this to me as if it was no big deal. I expressed to her my concern that if someone's information was getting sent to me, my information could be sent to someone else. She said she understood, but offered nothing in the way of comfort or assurance that my information was secure.

She told me that she put a note on my account about our conversation and that if anything suspicious (I assume she meant other than the text messages) happened, to give them a call.

I'm not sure if I should/can move forward with this as I have received no negative repercussions related to the messages.

Chelsea, we're gonna go with the CSR and say it's probably some frustrated Sprint customer out there who can't figure out why his/her security-related text messages aren't coming through, and that it won't affect your account at all. What's troubling about that, though, is the obvious security breach of sending that info to someone else (you). Luckily, in this case you seem to be safe.

Still, you may want to keep pushing Sprint to correctly separate the two accounts, just to be on the safe side in case something big happens to the mystery account and the Sprint system decides to think that it's yours.

(Photo: Maulleigh)

The similar price increases, coming at similar times, Kohl said, "is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace."

Kohl noted in the letter that the top four carriers combined have over 90 percent of the U.S. market, and wants the carriers to provide information on

• how their pricing structures differ from their competitors;
• the factors that led to their decision to raise prices;
• a comparison of text message pricing to other wireless service pricing;
• the utilization of text messaging over the past three years.

"Congress questions high cost of texting" [Cnet: The Iconoclast] (Thanks to Brett!)
(Photo: Getty)

He writes:

OK, so here we go! On or about July 25th, I called Sprint to complete a simple ESN swap. And for those who might not be of the gifted mind to understand what that is, it's simply a Phone Swap...going from one phone to the other. Now keep in mind that I already own both phones.
A Motorola Razr-2 and a SANYO 8400.
That means that I previously purchased them, and have decided to swap between one and the other.

Now I am already expired as of May 1st, 2008.

So after deciding that the RAZR-2 was utter garbage that I could not stomach any longer, I called Sprint's NO Customer Service, and informed that rep that I'd like to perform an ESN swap. Now keep in mind that this unintelligent rep never asked if it was a new or already owned phone. Just said ok....and proceeded to ask for the information.

So...needless to say... I went from the Motorola RAZR-2 TO the Sanyo 8400, which Sprint no longer sells, so it's not a NEW phone!

Lo and behold, just a few days ago, I received a letter from Sprint in the mail that says: "Keeping you in the know"...you've recently made some changes...etc..yadda yadda yadda. And along with that, on the right side of the letter , I notice that My CONTRACT has been extended.

Now keep in mind, I am ALREADY EXPIRED AS OF: MAY 1, 2008! So, what this excellent, educated and "well-trained" Sprint rep did was, RENEW my agreement, without telling me, without asking pertinenet information to make a decision as to renew or NOT renew. Just went ahead and got themselves a nice fat commission that I'm sure Sprint won't do anything to reprimand her for!

Just keep them exployed and working tirelessly, renewing unknowing customers all the time to get themselves false commissions!

I've stuck with Sprint since 20000, defended them against all kinds of craziness and even gone thru it previously with their "well-trained"reps, and I still stayed, but this is the last and I MEAN THE LAST GAWD DAMN STRAW!

My Account Number is: XXXXXXX
My Phone Number is: XXX-XXX-XXXX

I have already been assigned a few different case numbers, of which I have yet to have ANY of them resolved. I am tired of waiting to speak with someone. As quick as it took to extend my contract is as quick as it should have taken for it to be rolled back, but of couse they never help, or the reps never know what the hell they are doing, except for: giving mis-information and extending contracts falsely!

I want this issue resolved and I want BOTH lines on my account to be without contract for this hassle. I want some type of compensation that clearly and truely says I am sorry, and not from someones mouth.

If not, then let me out without obligation, financial or otherwise and I'll take the business to a more Realiable CORPORATION who knows how to run a business, called Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T!

And to think I canceled my AT&T line to bring that over to my Sprint account, just to take advantage of the old SERO offer.

The only problems with at&t WAS THAT THEIR PRICES WERE HIGH AS HELL. Other than that, they beat Sprint in terms of Customer Satisfaction every step of the way. TIP TO SPRINT: Get these ghetto, non-educated, can't read, add, or subtract, low life people out of your company!

Sprint shouldn't hesitate to dissolve the unilateral contract extension if you call the special hotline they created for Consumerist readers at: (703) 433-4401.

(Photo: The Consumerist)

Hesse told the New York Times:

“We did it knowingly,” he said. “We are interested in quality, not quantity.”

After two quarters of hemorrhaging, Sprint has begun the process of trying to attract new customers, ones who pay their bills. This might prove something of a problem for a company that has the highest "churn" (the rate at which customers defect for other similar services) of the big three wireless companies.

Hesse says that potential Sprint customers don't know that the company has improved. What do you think? Has Sprint improved?

Sprint Puts Positive Spin on Losses [NYT] (Thanks, Dan!)
(Photo: Maulleigh )

Now that the California Courts have ruled that ETFs are illegal, does Consumerist have any advice for consumers, like me, who have an outstanding ETF debt with a non-Sprint carrier?

I ask because I canceled my 2002 Cingular (at the time) service due to horrible coverage, terrible customer service, and that I had to routinely call every stinking month to have bogus text message spam charges removed. I switched services, and after doing so, Cingular stuck me with a $270 early termination fee, failed to inform me of the fee or that it was going into collections, and next thing I know, I'm in collections for $580. I didn't find out about this until recently, as I am about to purchase a new car and needed a copy of my credit report.

I initially refused to pay because my cancelling my service was completely justified on my part; the service and coverage I was told I would receive when I signed the contract was NOT at all what I actually did receive. I also refused because their raising of text message fees was a materially adverse change to the contract. Neither Cingular nor their collections drones care.

You can imagine my excitement to hear that ETFs are illegal. I would like to file a suit in small claims against the collections agency and ATT (as successor in interest to Cingular) to recover damages incurred as a result of their sending my account, erroneously, into collections over the ETF AND for attempting to force me to pay a fee which is now known as illegal.

Any advice or leads for advice would be greatly appreciated.

You should obviously talk to a lawyer for real legal advice, "Jurgis," but for now you might want to break your problem into two separate issues:

1. You have a collection on your account that you are disputing;
2. That collection is an ETF, which may end up being illegal banned/voided in your state.

Forget about the legality of the ETF for now; you should file disputes with all three major credit reporting agencies over the $580 collection. The original problem exists regardless of what happens in state or federal court, which is that the company didn't honor their side of the agreement, then failed to notify you that they were sending it to a collection agency.

As to last week's news that ETFs are "illegal" in California, Sprint Nextel will almost certainly file an appeal. Additionally, the ruling might not stand if the FCC moves ahead with its industry-backed plan to step in and say states can't regulate carrier fees. (And if they do, then that might be overturned if states take the FCC to court.) Update: according to outphase, this court's ruling isn't binding upon any other court, or even on itself.

Find a local lawyer to ask whether you can take advantage of the ETF ruling, but our guess is for your immediate needs it won't matter.

That doesn't mean you can't try small claims court anyway, though, if you want to claim that Cingular didn't honor its agreement and that their text rate increase meant you were given the opportunity to legally get out of contract. (Here's a story of a reader who took this route with a subcontractor and won.)

(Photo: Getty

According to the lawsuit, this ruling will affect about 2 million Californians, and may affect other, similar lawsuits that are pending in other states, says the San Jose Mercury News.

"We are disappointed," Sprint Nextel spokesman Matthew Sullivan told the paper.

Consumer's Union (you know them as the publisher of Consumer Reports) were pleased with the ruling.

“This is a huge victory for consumers,” Chris Murray, senior legal counsel for Consumers Union said in a press release, but expressed concern that the FCC might step in and start regulating the fees.

“Not only did this case generate an extensive record showing that these fees are not really used to subsidize wireless phones, but are instead simply used to lock consumers into contracts. Contract law says that's illegal. Let's hope the FCC doesn't turn around and give the wireless industry a get out of court free card.”

We're looking forward to seeing how this affects our readers in California, so if you're battling Sprint over an ETF and you live in CA, send your story to tips@consumerist.com. Let us know how they're reacting to this ruling!

Sprint loses early termination fee case in California [Consumers Union]
Sprint early termination fees are illegal, judge rules [Mercury News] (Thanks, Gilbert!)
(Photo: smcgee )

I want to point out the timestamps. Yup, that's more then 6 hours from when "someone will be with me shortly". And to think, when I connected I was only number 14 in queue!

Way to keep the whole world moving at Sprint Speed!

He canceled the account and canceled the credit card on the account, early termination fee be damned. He vows, "I will never use Sprint again. I will deal with the collector they send after me, but Sprint will no longer receive payment from this point onward." His tale, below.

Nathan writes:

Nine months ago my family moved into a new home, in a development at the top of a foothill in Issaquah, WA. While we had perfect cell reception in our old house, calls in our new house are consistently dropped, and reception ranges between 0-1 bars of service. Being loyal customers for over six years, we decided to work with Sprint to resolve this problem.

In October 2007 we contacted the local Sprint store about our service issues. The representative at the store in Issaquah assured us that they were aware of the issue and improvements would be made in the next six months. Busy with furnishing the house and sending our teen to college, we did not have more time to press the issue with Sprint.

In May 2008, we contacted Sprint again with the issue. It was impossible to communicate and putting a strain on our patience. Once again, the Sprint employee, eager to keep our business, offered another solution; get new phones. In June 2008 we purchased two brand new Blackberry Curve phones, and resigned our contract under the assurance that we would have better reception. Reception was worse than ever. We once again gave the service time to improve. It did not.

On July 24th, 2008 I contacted Sprint Customer Service directly and explained the issue, wishing to cancel Sprint service and a waive of the ETF, given the only reason we re-signed our contract was because better service was assured. The representative “Toni” (Employee #703170319) explained to us that our area shows good coverage on her chart. This is clearly not true. Even outside of our house calls are dropped and scratchy/distorted. I offered to allow a Sprint representative to come out to our house to test our service. She refused and instead tried to push a $300 device that plugs into our internet to boost signal. At this point, I don’t want any more gizmos or false promises from Sprint, so I refused. Sprint clearly tells its employees to give the customer as many problems as possible before cancelling. Toni was very apologetic about the situation, but claimed she could do nothing to resolve it.

After another 45 minutes of going back and forth with Toni, she told me to fax in my account information and the situation to James at Sprint . His fax number was 404-948-9064. I sent the following fax, along with my account information and a graph I made measuring service in different areas of my home.

Fax sent July 24th, 2008

ATTN: James at Sprint

404-948-9064

c/o with Toni- employee # 703170319

Customer: Timothy *******

Message: I contacted customer service regarding being out of coverage at my new home We have attempted to work with Sprint for nearly 9 months on this problem. We were first told that changes would be made to the cell towers to improve the coverage, but nothing changed. Next we were told that our phones were inadequate and that if we purchased new phones from Sprint that would solve the problem. We still have cell phone reception that falls from -120 to -150. I was given this number by the representative Toni and told to contact regarding the waver of early termination fees given the unique circumstances of living outside of reliable Sprint coverage. I have included my most recent Sprint bill as per Toni’s instructions.

The numbers correspond to:

-79 dBm and higher: 5 Bars

-80 dbM to -84 dBm: 4 bars

85 dBm to -89 dBm: 3 bars

-90 dBm to -99 dBm: 2 bars

-100 dBm and lower: 0-1 bar

After not hearing back from James, I decided to give Sprint another call. While I didn’t catch the employee’s name, it is surely still listed on the record. He listened to my problem, listened to how I had tried to work with Sprint, and how I wished to cancel my account. His solution was to “Go outside, or to hilltop to make calls from your cell phone. Sprint does not guarantee call quality in buildings or homes.” This would be a valid argument as it does state this in our contract. However, we do not have adequate service outside either, rendering his point useless. Furthermore, what if my son had to call 911 from the house and was given a “call was lost” message? Sprint truly does not view or respect the customer highly.

He also claimed that “if we cannot provide cell reception in your home, no carrier will be able to.” This is blatantly untrue. We have asked friends with AT&T and Verizon to test call quality in our home. They have absolutely no problems with reception, and a consistent 3-4 bars of service.

After another 25 minutes of arguing, I asked to have James, the man I sent the fax to contact me. After being thanked for choosing Sprint, I was hung up on.

I have cancelled automatic bank payments to Sprint and cancelled the credit card on the account. I will never use Sprint again. I will deal with the collector they send after me, but Sprint will no longer receive payment from this point onward. While I understand that all wireless carriers have problems, these dealings with Sprint have been exceptionally bad. Think twice before signing with Sprint until they improve customer care.

If we had gotten Nathan earlier because we would have told him to save himself the hassle and call the Sprint Batphone they set up especially for Consumerist readers: 703-433-4401.

Looks like despite Dan Hesse's promise to turn around the company, the same problems persist. Too bad. Those new ads are so pretty.

"Sprint Loses Early Termination Fee Case, May Pay $73 Million" [CNN Money]
(Photo: Maulleigh)

One way to escape your contract is to call up your carrier and argue that they have made a materially adverse change to your service agreement. Most cellphone contracts contain a clause allowing customers to escape their contracts if a materially adverse change is made, usually in the form of a rate increase. Here's an example clause from a Verizon contract:

Your service is subject to our business policies, practices, and procedures, which we can change without notice. UNLESS OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY LAW, WE CAN ALSO CHANGE PRICES AND ANY OTHER CONDITIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME BY SENDING YOU WRITTEN NOTICE PRIOR TO THE BILLING PERIOD IN WHICH THE CHANGES WOULD GO INTO EFFECT. IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE YOUR SERVICE AFTER THAT POINT, YOU'RE ACCEPTING THE CHANGES. IF THE CHANGES HAVE A MATERIAL ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOU, HOWEVER, YOU CAN END THE AFFECTED SERVICE, WITHOUT ANY EARLY TERMINATION FEE, JUST BY CALLING US WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER WE SEND NOTICE OF THE CHANGE.

Below are some recent rate increases by the major providers. Some of these might have occurred far enough back that they are outside the window to call and complain, but we've also heard from readers who didn't get any notice, or who got late notice, thus keeping them within the required period to contest the change.
T-Mobile
We posted about this a couple weeks ago, but just to reiterate: T-Mobile is raising its text message rates on August 29th. That's a materially adverse change to your contract. Run while you can.
Verizon
Although Verizon likes to play dumb about what constitutes a materially adverse change to your contract, a Verizon fee increase was the impetus for this article: A reader writes in that he used Verizon's recent Federal Universal Service Charge increase to escape without an ETF. Here is Verizon's increase notification:

The Federal Universal Service Charge (FUSC) is a Verizon Wireless charge that is subject to change each calendar quarter based on contribution rates prescribed by the FCC. On July 1, the FUSC changed to 2.42 percent of assessable wireless charges, other than separately billed interstate and international long distance charges. The FUSC on these charges changed to 11.4 percent.

Sprint Nextel
There are conflicting reports that, as of July 13, Sprint will be eliminating its SERO plan altogether, or making existing customers switch to unlimited data "everything" plans, or just forcing that on new PDA customers. Barring that, a text message increase probably isn't too far away.
Other Techniques
We offered advice on escaping your contract last year when the iPhone first came out. Besides complaining about materially adverse changes, you can sell your contract, complain that service is substandard, move to an area out of your network, join the military, or die.

PREVIOUSLY: 6 Ways to Cancel Any Cellphone So You Can Get an iPhone
"Material Adverse" Clauses in Cell Phone Contracts [United Consumer Action Network]
(Photo: Getty)

Bill writes:

I read the Consumerist daily and have learned about Sprint's crappy customer service. However, I am a Sprint third-party vendor (i.e. I'm not on Sprint's payroll...but I sell their stuff), and I was happy with their 99.99 "Simply Everything" plan, so I signed up.

Cut to a month later; I paid my two bills in time, in full, and added extra to my payments to keep a negative balance. You never know when you'll need to miss a month for unexpected expenses, and in this day and age, better safe than sorry. To this date, I had a -$50 balance...at least, I was under the impression I was.

On my way to work this morning, my phone was shut off for "exceeding my account spending limit." Hmmm...I'm being cut off because I pay ahead?!?! Ok, ok, in their defense, maybe it was a malfunction...

Nope. I called customer service and the CSR explained "well, you did have 3000 texts last month." I explained I had the unlimited package, to which he said "ummm...well no you don't...wait, you do...let me get my supervisor..." Fortunately, the CSR gave me the benefit of the doubt and reactivated my phone, but even then explained that "it will probably shut back off in a couple of days." I actually give kudos to the CSR...he was professional and helpful...for once.

I bring up two points in my tip: Sprint CSRs are actually pretty decent (at least THAT one), but I still didn't know paying ahead gets your service cut off.

Don't run a negative balance; you essentially give companies an interest-free loan at your expense. Leave the money where it belongs: in your account, earning interest.

If Sprint keeps disconnecting your service after your balance is restored, call our super-special executive customer service hotline set up just for readers, at: (703) 433-4401.

(Photo: Getty)

Reader Scott is jubilant over the huge discount he got from Sprint:

Took advantage of the upcoming launch of AT&T’S iPhone 3G to squeeze a lower rate out of Sprint PCS. I’ve had to endure a decrease in Sprint service at the same price for the past year (crappy reception, slow network, can no longer send pix via SMS (thanks, a’holes)), so I told them I was switching to iPhone.

They gave me a whopping 25% (TWENTY-FIVE percent!!!) discount on my voice plan, zero discount on data plan. No mention of a contract extension whatsoever.

Give them a call and see if they can hear you now.

Here's how you do it. Note: It really helps if you don't have a current contract, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try:

1. Call your current cellphone company.
   
2. Tell them you intend to cancel. You should be transferred to a retentions representative.
   
3. Say something like this:

   Hi, my name is ___________, I think I've been a good customer, but that iPhone looks really enticing, and I'm thinking about switching to AT&T.

   I'd like to stay with you, and I was wondering if there was any way you could _______ (throw me a discount, free text message package, something). Can you help me?

4. Stand firm and negotiate.

Some cellphone companies try to tack on a contract extension with a discount, so make sure they do not do this. Good luck!

(Photo: Steve Rhodes )

• 
  
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• Payday Lenders Close Due To Lack Of Interest

(Photo: El Grande Mono )

Chelsea writes:

I've had Sprint service for seven years because I receive a state employee discount, and it's been pretty smooth sailing. Luckily when I renewed my plan in May, I was paired with a sales manager who seemed both friendly and efficient. Going through my first bill I noticed four incorrect charges, including mysterious internet usage and a late fee, despite the fact I've been on automatic payments for years. I emailed Sprint about these charges and promptly received a long and apologetic response from someone named Steffi. She credited all of the charges and informed me of a way to block internet access altogether. This all was great, so I wanted to express some gratitude:

Thank you for responding so quickly. I really appreciate your help with this invoice. If there's no charge in preventing internet access, I would like that to be applied.

You know, there's a lot of Sprint hatred out there, but I've never had a huge problem with anyone. Seeing weird charges on my bill had me worried, but I'm happy to see Sprint sticking to their word to provide good customer service.

Thanks again.

Soon after that email, I received this reply:

Thank you for contacting Sprint.

I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to write



regarding the excellent service you received. Our goal is to serve you



with world-class customer service, and feedback from customers like you



is a great source of motivation in our endeavor to achieve that goal.

I have added Sprint Vision Pack for $15.00 on the account effective June



20, 2008.

Now you can enjoy:

• Unlimited Web/Data Access on Handset
• Unlimited Picture Mail and Video Mail
• Multimedia - Sprint TV Channel 1

Have a nice day!

Sincerely,



Peter P.



Sprint

......Wha-? I re-read my email to make sure I didn't somehow authorize this, but no, I mentioned preventing internet access. What a fool I was, doting on Sprint before the job was done. Instead of calming down and being rational, I replied with a crazy email rife with superfluous exclamation marks and all caps. I pointed out that's the exact opposite of what I asked for and asked if anyone even read my email.

The response email from Gloria D. wasn't nice and certainly lacking any apology. But Vision has been removed, so oh well. A toast to Sprint and another glorious two years.

(AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

The Top 10 Reputations

1) Google

2) Johnson & Johnson

3) Intel

4) General Mills

5) Kraft

6) Berkshire Hathaway

7) 3M

8) Coca-Cola

9) Honda

10) Microsoft

The 10 Worst Reputations

10) DaimlerChrysler

9) General Motors Corporation

8) ChevronTexaco Corporation

7) Ford

6) Sprint

5) Comcast

4) Exxon

3) Northwest Airlines

2) Citgo

1) Halliburton

Does this survey ring true to you? Do these companies deserve the reputation they have?

Another interesting bit of data from the survey:

The Top 5 Biggest Decreases In Reputation

1) Bank of America

2) Halliburton

3) Wal-Mart

4) Sears

5) Nike

Seventy-One Percent of Consumers Say the Reputation Of Corporate America Is "Poor" [Harris]

• AT&T - mymessages.wireless.att.com
  Preferences
• Verizon - vtext.com
  Text Messaging > Preferences > Text Blocking
• Sprint - www.sprint.com
  My Online Tools > Communication Tools > Settings & Preferences
• T-Mobile - www.t-mobile.com
  Communication Tools

"How to Block Cellphone Spam" [New York Times] (Thanks to Melinda!)
(Photo: justinbaeder)

"The government will never, never accept such penalty amounts," then-Nextel marketing vice president Scott Wiener wrote in an e-mail in January 2004...A spokesman for Sprint-Nextel, John Taylor, said the company determined it could not assess the termination fees in its federal contract because it would have been against the law.

Why do consumers put up with these fees, but the government won't? Why is it illegal to charge the government ETFs, but not us? Perhaps Sprint thought that if they started charging the government ETFs, someone would get wise and question the fees, and anti-ETF legislation would be enacted...

Government relieved of cancelled cellphone fees [USAToday] (Thanks to Jason!)

Here's a highlight from our inbox. We think it captures the tone rather nicely:

These customer service people at Sprint are worthless, moronic, time suckers. I have never spend so much time trying to get bad customer service from a company. 6.5 hours last month, 6 hours this month. I hate Sprint. Should I tell you about how supervisor Donna [redacted]was supposed to call me back? One of Sprint's little games to get customers with issues off the phone, tell them a supervisor wants to call them back. Hey DONNA it has been 48 hours, I am waiting for your call...

For those of you who'll be canceling your data card contracts over this, and you appear to be legion, try the Sprint Consumerist Hotline: (703-433-4401).

(Photo: cmorran123 )

1) I don't need any extra features or accessories, so don't bother trying to sell them to me.
Cellphone sales reps are under a lot of pressure to sell features and accessories. Go ahead and use this information to your advantage. Avoid expensive accessories, but go ahead and see if you can't use extra features as leverage. Need that data plan anyway? They don't need to know that. Let them convince you.

2) I'm under contract with you guys, can I have a better phone anyway?
The answer to this question is "no." If you're under contract, the sales reps have no reason to give you a deal on a phone, unless you're close to your contract expiration date. Even then, you'd be better off waiting until your contract is up and shopping around for the best deal.

3) I've been a loyal customer for many years! There's no way I'm switching! Reward me!
You can try calling your cellphone company and asking for a "loyalty credit" before heading over to the store to begin your negotiation, but keep in mind that sales reps tend to get less commission for retaining customers than they do for getting new accounts. You're probably going to get the best deal from a company that considers you a new customer.

4) Yes, I would like a 2 year contact!
You ideally want no contract. If that's not possible, you'd like a one year contract. Cellphone reps tell us again and again that there's no real benefit to you, the consumer, for signing up for a 2 year contract. Sometimes you can't avoid it, but you owe it to yourself to try.

5) I have not shopped around, I do not know what your competitors are offering, and I have no idea what the hell is going on right now.
Shop around. Look at each company's website. Check out the phones. Read reviews. Learn about the plans. Then go around to each company and ask when they're willing to offer you. Write each offer down. Now you can start your negotiation. Don't believe this is possible? Check out this letter from a reader who used tips from Consumerist to save lots of money on his new cellphone plan.

Bonus Tip: Go cellphone shopping at the end of the month, when some reps are under increased pressure to meet their quotas.

We know you have lots of cellphone shopping tips. Add them to the comments and help your fellow man.

(Photo: medalian1 )

Some people think the BBB doesn't work. They do, but only if the company cares about keeping a clean record. See when you look up a company in the BBB database it shows you how many complaints have been filed against the company, how many were answered, how many did the consumer report as being satisfactorily resolved, etc. So if you have a valid complaint, file it with the BBB, and the company cares about its BBB record, you have a decent chance of getting a solution. You might not believe it, but it turns out Sprint is one of those companies. Here's Kevin's story of how the BBB got his erroneous text message charges refunded and let him leave contract early without early termination fee...

Kevin writes:

I've filed two complaints with them so far in 2008. Here is the text of the one I filed in January...

"Double charged my debit card and refuses to credit the duplicate charge back to my account.
I called to make and a payment yesterday through Sprint/Nextel's automatic payment attendant. The pre-recorded service told me the payment "cannot be processed at this time, please hold for an operator." So a person gets on the phone and takes my payment manually. Then this morning when I checked my bank account online I saw that two payments had gone through. When I called to request the duplicate payment be reversed they refused. This comes after several battles with their customers service department over services ordered which were incorrectly authorized.

For instance, I have two phone lines and there have been 3 or 4 times now when I've had a service such as text messaging or insurance added to one of the lines. The customer service people have added the service to the wrong phone, thereby incurring extra charges and it takes forever to get a credit. These are small inconveniences and nothing I'd normally report to the BBB. But after refusing to issue a credit I've had enough with them. My contract with them is up in August after 3 years of being a customer. I've explained why I am unhappy with service and they will not let me out of a contract. I've talked with many acquaintances who've had similar issues and I feel it's time for someone to do something about this company. The problems with service began after the merger with Nextel."

After this I was contacted within 48 hours and the dispute was resolved where Sprint/Nextel issued me a credit for a free month of service.

Then in April I went over my text message limit. I beefed up the limit to 1,000 texts per month, but they added it to the 2nd line. This caused another huge bill in May. When I called to tell them they added the text plan to the wrong phone they refused to credit me or fix the problem.

At that point I filed the 2nd complaint with the BBB briefly describing what happened. It basically stated what I just did and less than 24 hours this time a Sprint/Nextel representative called me to resolve the issue...apologizing for the treatment I received and they resolved the issue VERY generously and told me they realize their customer service is lacking and they're "taking steps to rectify the situation." In addition to free unlimited text messaging they've offer to wave the penalty for severing my contract early. That says a lot and the fact that they acknowledged their customer service dept sucks.

To my satisfaction, I was told I can dissolve my contract with them before it's up in August without any additional penalties. I got a follow up email from the BBB today asking if I am satisfied.

Kevin is now a happy Verizon customer. Here's where to go to get started filing a BBB complaint online.

(Photo: mod_complex)

Here's what readers said in previous rounds about why they hate these two companies...

Blue Cross Blue Shield:

"BCBS is just plain evil. They make a profit from deliberately denying service not based on your medical needs but on their bottom line. I personally have had nothing but trouble with them since the very first day I was "covered" by their organization.

BCBS is the best rationale I can think of for government run healthcare, and that's saying a lot. "

"Blue Cross bid our contract for insurance assuring us that they would provide the exact same services, THEN turned around a year into the contract and denied claims we could take with our previous services."

"Big Pharma, shame on you."

"So I was just reading an email that I received from my insurance carrier (Aetna) about their delay in their ending coverage of monitored anesthesia for colonoscopies. They said because of misinformation given to the public from websites (like the consumerist I'd imagine) they delayed pulling the plug on covering anesthesia. They didn't say they were abandoning their plans just yet just delaying them until they can strong arm their members into agreeing to stop using monitored anesthesia in favor of the cheaper sedation methods. I would guess most of the BCBS affiliates will do the same and drop their coverage of monitored anesthesia if they haven't already.

As I get older, insurance companies make me very nervous and anxious. That's a shame."

"Did you know that if you lose your job and are told your coverage is "through the last day of the month," so July 31 or whatever, that only means through midnight ON July 31? So nothing on July 31 is actually covered? Standard procedure for them."

"As I've posted before, health insurance