automatic service contract extensions

I recently switched my line from one account to another by signing a
Responsibility Transfer form at the Sprint store. I did not see anything
about a new service agreement either on paper or on the phone when I called
to confirm the transfer. However I got my confirmation in mail today and on
it stated that I now have a new 2 year service agreement on my line. Is this
normal for a transfer/plan change of a phone that has been out of the
contract for almost 2 years? I did not want to get a new phone or a new
contract. All I wanted was to transfer the line to a different account.

I called Sprint and the representative told me that the new contract is
added automatically by the system, and I can't get out of it. I told them
that I would consider canceling the line if I can't get rid of the contract
(that I did not know about) but their answer is that I would have to pay a
$150 early termination fee, according to the contract that I did not
knowingly authorize. When I told them that there shouldn't be a contract to
begin with they kept bringing up the one that should have expired almost 2
years ago. I was on the phone with them for almost an hour before they
decided to hang up on me.

Now my question is, if I had been out of my previous contract for almost 2
years, what makes Sprint think that they can add another 2 years on my line
without even telling me when I asked for the line transfer? I didn't even
ask for a new phone or take advantage of any of their special offers. Is it
even legal for them to automatically bind me to another 2 years without
disclosing the information to me first?

Any ideas or comments?

Thanks

---

› See More: automatic service contract extensions

"Eddie Chen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I recently switched my line from one account to another by signing a
> Responsibility Transfer form at the Sprint store. I did not see anything
> about a new service agreement either on paper or on the phone when I
> called
> to confirm the transfer. However I got my confirmation in mail today and
> on
> it stated that I now have a new 2 year service agreement on my line. Is
> this
> normal for a transfer/plan change of a phone that has been out of the
> contract for almost 2 years? I did not want to get a new phone or a new
> contract. All I wanted was to transfer the line to a different account.

Eddie---
Similar thing happened to me. My content manager disappeared from my Vision
Package so that I could not download applications, games, or any other
content items. Called Sprint to remedy the problem. They couldn't fix the
problem, but suddenly my contract was extended for a new two year period.

Not a single change was made to the account on that call. And I still don't
have my Sprint Vision package working properly.

I won't be back for another two years when these are up!

SG

"Eddie Chen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I recently switched my line from one account to another by signing a
> Responsibility Transfer form at the Sprint store. I did not see anything
> about a new service agreement either on paper or on the phone when I
called
> to confirm the transfer. However I got my confirmation in mail today and
on
> it stated that I now have a new 2 year service agreement on my line. Is
this
> normal for a transfer/plan change of a phone that has been out of the
> contract for almost 2 years? I did not want to get a new phone or a new
> contract. All I wanted was to transfer the line to a different account.

When you say above you "switched your line", are you trying to tell us you
changed plans? Are there any additional details you didn't mention, like
getting a new phone, and using Sprint's rebate on the new phone? Or ... did
you add the 7:00 PM N & W option to your account?

We need some additional details.

<snipped>

Bob

Bob Smith wrote:
> "Eddie Chen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I recently switched my line from one account to another by signing a
>> Responsibility Transfer form at the Sprint store. I did not see
>> anything about a new service agreement either on paper or on the
>> phone when I called to confirm the transfer. However I got my
>> confirmation in mail today and on it stated that I now have a new 2
>> year service agreement on my line. Is this normal for a
>> transfer/plan change of a phone that has been out of the contract
>> for almost 2 years? I did not want to get a new phone or a new
>> contract. All I wanted was to transfer the line to a different
>> account.
>
> When you say above you "switched your line", are you trying to tell
> us you changed plans?

He was very clear about what he did: he moved his account from one
person's name--hence responsibility--to another's (e.g., from one spouse
to another).

Perhaps if you hadn't snipped the part where he wrote "I didn't even ask
for a new phone or take advantage of any of their special offers" you
wouldn't need any answers.

The issue is if transferring an account causes a de facto contract
extension (or new contract, if there wasn't one previously). For all I
know, that could have been in the fine print on the "Responsibility
Transfer form" he signed. But if it's not on there, and not stated
somewhere else (e.g., TOS) then I'd say he shouldn't have to put up with
this nonsense.

If it were me, after I checked everything over--three times--I'd only
give SPCS one more chance to rectify the situation. After that I'd be
filing a complaint with my state's Attorney General's office (and with
Kansas) as well as any other agency that would listen. If there was
never a consent, implied or otherwise, to a two-year contract than
SPCS's actions border on criminal (the ETF threats sure smell a lot like
extortion to me).


--
Mike | As the light changed from red to green to yellow
| and back to red again, I sat there thinking about
| life. Was it nothing more than a bunch of honking
| and yelling? Sometimes it seemed that way.

"Tinman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Bob Smith wrote:
> > "Eddie Chen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >> I recently switched my line from one account to another by signing a
> >> Responsibility Transfer form at the Sprint store. I did not see
> >> anything about a new service agreement either on paper or on the
> >> phone when I called to confirm the transfer. However I got my
> >> confirmation in mail today and on it stated that I now have a new 2
> >> year service agreement on my line. Is this normal for a
> >> transfer/plan change of a phone that has been out of the contract
> >> for almost 2 years? I did not want to get a new phone or a new
> >> contract. All I wanted was to transfer the line to a different
> >> account.
> >
> > When you say above you "switched your line", are you trying to tell
> > us you changed plans?
>
> He was very clear about what he did: he moved his account from one
> person's name--hence responsibility--to another's (e.g., from one spouse
> to another).
>
> Perhaps if you hadn't snipped the part where he wrote "I didn't even ask
> for a new phone or take advantage of any of their special offers" you
> wouldn't need any answers.
>
> The issue is if transferring an account causes a de facto contract
> extension (or new contract, if there wasn't one previously). For all I
> know, that could have been in the fine print on the "Responsibility
> Transfer form" he signed. But if it's not on there, and not stated
> somewhere else (e.g., TOS) then I'd say he shouldn't have to put up with
> this nonsense.
>
> If it were me, after I checked everything over--three times--I'd only
> give SPCS one more chance to rectify the situation. After that I'd be
> filing a complaint with my state's Attorney General's office (and with
> Kansas) as well as any other agency that would listen. If there was
> never a consent, implied or otherwise, to a two-year contract than
> SPCS's actions border on criminal (the ETF threats sure smell a lot like
> extortion to me).

Yes, I did snip out that part, and no, I didn't pay attention to his one
comment with his wife. What I didn't hear though was whether there was a
plan change on the other account. If, and I stress if, he moved his account
to the other, and it was necessary to open a family plan, then the contract
may have been necessary.

Bob

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> Yes, I did snip out that part, and no, I didn't pay attention to his one
> comment with his wife. What I didn't hear though was whether there was a
> plan change on the other account. If, and I stress if, he moved his account
> to the other, and it was necessary to open a family plan, then the contract
> may have been necessary.
>

Therein, I suspect, lies the issue. If two phones were "merged" into
one account, and minutes on a shared plan were the result, then the
phone being transferred had to be moved into an appropriate plan code.
This does indeed require a contract renewal. No such renewal would have
been necessary had this been ONLY a (in Sprint's terminology) Transfer
of Responsibility.

Bob's right, there's some information not quite clear in Eddie's
description. And maybe that's because Eddie wasn't told. It appears,
from this incomplete information, that the store rep didn't communicate
all the consequences of what was done.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

"O/Siris" <0siris@mywây.côm> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
<snipped>

Bob's right, there's some information not quite clear in Eddie's
description. And maybe that's because Eddie wasn't told. It appears,
from this incomplete information, that the store rep didn't communicate
all the consequences of what was done.

--
RX_
O/Siris
---------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of which, just where is Eddie? He does this hit & run post, yet
doesn't bother to provide any additional details when asked?

Bob

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...

>
> Speaking of which, just where is Eddie? He does this hit & run post, yet
> doesn't bother to provide any additional details when asked?
>

On fact of Customer Service, Bob, is that they never call back to say
it's working.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+