Sprint committing outright FRAUD

Lucky me, I spent so much $$ at SPRINT that they sent me a free phone! So I
called up and ask "what's this?" They say its free, I say no thanks I have
3 phones, 3 lines and 3 family members on plan, don't need another. "Keep
it its free, save it in case one of your phones break". So guess what, they
activated it to a new number and billed me for the number!! So after 15
min going through person after person who can't figure out what to do I get
transferred to "Special Service" which means ignore. I waited 20 min
listening to musac, no answer. So beware free gifts! Sprint is committing
fraud on gullible customers, this is no different than the magazine co that
sends you free magazines and later sends you a bill. Anyone else being
ripped of in this way?
nospamLyleNOSPAM

---

› See More: Sprint committing outright FRAUD

Lyle Walsh wrote:
>
> Lucky me, I spent so much $$ at SPRINT that they sent me a free phone! So I
> called up and ask "what's this?" They say its free, I say no thanks I have
> 3 phones, 3 lines and 3 family members on plan, don't need another. "Keep
> it its free, save it in case one of your phones break". So guess what, they
> activated it to a new number and billed me for the number!! So after 15
> min going through person after person who can't figure out what to do I get
> transferred to "Special Service" which means ignore. I waited 20 min
> listening to musac, no answer. So beware free gifts! Sprint is committing
> fraud on gullible customers, this is no different than the magazine co that
> sends you free magazines and later sends you a bill. Anyone else being
> ripped of in this way?
> nospamLyleNOSPAM

And, just like magazines and other products sent through the mail,
without you having asked for them, it's yours to keep, without charge.

Notan

Lyle,

Sorry to hear about the "free phone" fraudulent scam they pulled on you.
I also was a victim of fraud but it was different than yours, but
maybe I can help you get your problem resolved. My problem involved the
warranty on the phone for which I paid a monthly charge of $5.00. I
lost my phone in July and called up for my "free" replacement and I was
told there was a $50 deductible even though there was nothing mentioned
in the contract I signed or any documentation that they gave me. They
refused to send me a new phone unless I let them (Lockline) charge my
credit card for $50. If I didn't agree to the charge, I wouldn't get a
new phone and I would still be getting a monthly bill for no phone. I
had no choice but to pay it and fight later which is what I did. It was
a "Catch 22" situation.

I talked to several employees and managers at Sprint and Lockline and
told them that the deductible wasn't mentioned in my contract or any
other documentation that I had received and it isn't legal to charge an
arbitrary fee for a deductible. They said I had agreed to the charge or
they wouldn't have sent it to me, so they weren't giving it back. I
took my contract, bills and documentation to the store where I bought
the phone and asked them to show me where the deductible was mentioned.
They couldn't show me and said that the salesperson probably told me,
and I just have a bad memory! I asked them to show me what the
documentation they hand out looks like and they couldn't show it to me,
because THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT! They did however find a down level copy of
a pamphlet that I never received which was from the previous year. It
mentioned that there was a $35 deductible at that time.

Well to make a long story longer, I finally got some satisfaction and
maybe you can do the same thing I did. I turned them in to the Attorney
General (Eliot Spitzer) of my state (New York) on their web site which
lets you report fraud that has occurred. Within 2 weeks of reporting
it, I received a phone call from a Sprint representative who NOW valued
my service and wanted me to be a satisfied customer. He credited my
account for $50 and I was happy! However they couldn't leave it at
that. They then sent me and Mr. Spitzer a note saying that they gave
me my money back and they were sorry that I was confused by their terms
and conditions. I wasn't confused, they were SCAMMING me! I wonder how
many other people have they taken a deductible from where it isn't
mentioned in their contracts?

So try the Attorney General in your state and see if they have some kind
of fraud reporting system. I wish you luck with these people. They
sure aren't easy to deal with and you and I are only two of the many
horror customer relations stories that surround this company!

Steve Henderson

Lyle Walsh wrote:
> Lucky me, I spent so much $$ at SPRINT that they sent me a free phone! So I
> called up and ask "what's this?" They say its free, I say no thanks I have
> 3 phones, 3 lines and 3 family members on plan, don't need another. "Keep
> it its free, save it in case one of your phones break". So guess what, they
> activated it to a new number and billed me for the number!! So after 15
> min going through person after person who can't figure out what to do I get
> transferred to "Special Service" which means ignore. I waited 20 min
> listening to musac, no answer. So beware free gifts! Sprint is committing
> fraud on gullible customers, this is no different than the magazine co that
> sends you free magazines and later sends you a bill. Anyone else being
> ripped of in this way?
> nospamLyleNOSPAM
>
>

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> I
> lost my phone in July and called up for my "free" replacement and I was
> told there was a $50 deductible even though there was nothing mentioned
> in the contract I signed or any documentation that they gave me.
>

I'm glad your situation was solved, but you're wrong nonetheless. ERP
(Equipment Replacement Plan) has *always* had a deductible payment on
it. It's mentioned in the pamphlet, it's mentioned on the website, and
it always has been.

The only "nothing" involved is that nothing promises a free phone under
ERP.

It was a business decision, not a factual one, that got your money back.

--
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+

that's why i never get the ERP....all the money you put into it and they
still want more money from you....and the funny thing is, it only costs them
like 10 bucks to actually make the phone...it's not like they can't give you
a phone....and it wouldn't kill them to actually treat a customer like gold.
For me, if I lose my phone....I'll just go to ebay and buy another one for a
lot cheaper. I'm very careful about my phones...never lost one ever....but
i'll be damned if i ever pay for ERP that really doesn't work.
"O/Siris" <rØbjvargas@comcâst.nêt> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> I
> lost my phone in July and called up for my "free" replacement and I was
> told there was a $50 deductible even though there was nothing mentioned
> in the contract I signed or any documentation that they gave me.
>

I'm glad your situation was solved, but you're wrong nonetheless. ERP
(Equipment Replacement Plan) has *always* had a deductible payment on
it. It's mentioned in the pamphlet, it's mentioned on the website, and
it always has been.

The only "nothing" involved is that nothing promises a free phone under
ERP.

It was a business decision, not a factual one, that got your money back.

--
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+

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 01:31:40 +0000, Steve Henderson wrote:

> Lyle,
>
> Sorry to hear about the "free phone" fraudulent scam they pulled on you.
> I also was a victim of fraud but it was different than yours, but
> maybe I can help you get your problem resolved. My problem involved the
> warranty on the phone for which I paid a monthly charge of $5.00. I
> lost my phone in July and called up for my "free" replacement and I was
> told there was a $50 deductible even though there was nothing mentioned
> in the contract I signed or any documentation that they gave me. They
> refused to send me a new phone unless I let them (Lockline) charge my
> credit card for $50. If I didn't agree to the charge, I wouldn't get a
> new phone and I would still be getting a monthly bill for no phone. I
> had no choice but to pay it and fight later which is what I did. It was
> a "Catch 22" situation.
>
> I talked to several employees and managers at Sprint and Lockline and
> told them that the deductible wasn't mentioned in my contract or any
> other documentation that I had received and it isn't legal to charge an
> arbitrary fee for a deductible. They said I had agreed to the charge or
> they wouldn't have sent it to me, so they weren't giving it back. I
> took my contract, bills and documentation to the store where I bought
> the phone and asked them to show me where the deductible was mentioned.
> They couldn't show me and said that the salesperson probably told me,
> and I just have a bad memory! I asked them to show me what the
> documentation they hand out looks like and they couldn't show it to me,
> because THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT! They did however find a down level copy of
> a pamphlet that I never received which was from the previous year. It
> mentioned that there was a $35 deductible at that time.
>
> Well to make a long story longer, I finally got some satisfaction and
> maybe you can do the same thing I did. I turned them in to the Attorney
> General (Eliot Spitzer) of my state (New York) on their web site which
> lets you report fraud that has occurred. Within 2 weeks of reporting
> it, I received a phone call from a Sprint representative who NOW valued
> my service and wanted me to be a satisfied customer. He credited my
> account for $50 and I was happy! However they couldn't leave it at
> that. They then sent me and Mr. Spitzer a note saying that they gave
> me my money back and they were sorry that I was confused by their terms
> and conditions. I wasn't confused, they were SCAMMING me! I wonder how
> many other people have they taken a deductible from where it isn't
> mentioned in their contracts?
>
> So try the Attorney General in your state and see if they have some kind
> of fraud reporting system. I wish you luck with these people. They
> sure aren't easy to deal with and you and I are only two of the many
> horror customer relations stories that surround this company!
>
> Steve Henderson
>
> Lyle Walsh wrote:
>> Lucky me, I spent so much $$ at SPRINT that they sent me a free phone! So I
>> called up and ask "what's this?" They say its free, I say no thanks I have
>> 3 phones, 3 lines and 3 family members on plan, don't need another. "Keep
>> it its free, save it in case one of your phones break". So guess what, they
>> activated it to a new number and billed me for the number!! So after 15
>> min going through person after person who can't figure out what to do I get
>> transferred to "Special Service" which means ignore. I waited 20 min
>> listening to musac, no answer. So beware free gifts! Sprint is committing
>> fraud on gullible customers, this is no different than the magazine co that
>> sends you free magazines and later sends you a bill. Anyone else being
>> ripped of in this way?
>> nospamLyleNOSPAM
>>
>>

I used to have the additional insurance, signed up for it around 3yrs ago.
Not only did they make it clear that there was a deductible but also last
year sprintpcs sent me not only one BUT two letters including the
explanation of both the monthly rate increase and the deductible increase.
Within one of the letters there was the new contract which explained the
new terms along with a cheat-sheet version that pointed out the major
points of the changes. In both letters there was an opt-out procedure that
explained if you didn't agree with the new terms you have until x date (I
think it was jan 2005) to cancel, otherwise they will raise the rate and
assume you agree with the new contract. Either way the documentation was
not only available to me through my mailings but also both lockline and
sprintpcs could refer me to the contract agreements if I asked. I have no
idea why your specific case turned up such hollow/empty documentation
trail but from my experience sprintpcs made it clear that the insurance
was not a "get a free phone" handout.

In any case as O/Siris already pointed out it was not fraud that got your
money back but the fact that it is a better business decision to eat
50dollars then to deal with a state review board.

Lyle Walsh wrote:
"...in case one of your phones break..."

That seems to be a new angle in a sales pitch. Called CS about another
matter and guy said I qualified for a free phone. Told him I would up
grade later. He said, no its a free phone for a third add on line "in
case one of your phones break".

What does an additional line cost? $10 or so? $15? Kind of high
"insurance plan".

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 03:00:00 +0000, The Eggman wrote:

> that's why i never get the ERP....all the money you put into it and they
> still want more money from you....and the funny thing is, it only costs them
> like 10 bucks to actually make the phone...it's not like they can't give you
> a phone....and it wouldn't kill them to actually treat a customer like gold.
> For me, if I lose my phone....I'll just go to ebay and buy another one for a
> lot cheaper. I'm very careful about my phones...never lost one ever....but
> i'll be damned if i ever pay for ERP that really doesn't work.

I do agree with you that the insurance plan is for suckers, unless of
course it is a 600dollar pda phone then that 5dollars a month addon is not
so bad. It has been awhile since I had to deal with the ERP but if I
recall you had to add it on to pda phones at time of purchase and it was
limited time wise/had heavy conditions on it. With this in mind it makes
my last statement mute.

We should try and be realistic giving every subscriber a new phone WOULD
kill them. When you count in all the fraud that happens now it would not
amaze me for it to sky rocket if all phones were free. After all
subscribers would go as far as microwaving their phones because they had
to get a new one before the warranty ran out. It would be nice but I guess
we all just have to accept they are in business to make money off of us

Steve Henderson <[email protected]> writes:

>I wonder how
>many other people have they taken a deductible from where it isn't
>mentioned in their contracts?

Count me...twice. Heck, they wouldn't even take my deductible the
last time my phone crapped out on me because I didn't (yet) physically
damage it.

--kyler

Central wrote:
> I do agree with you that the insurance plan is for suckers, unless of
> course it is a 600dollar pda phone then that 5dollars a month addon is not
> so bad. It has been awhile since I had to deal with the ERP but if I
> recall you had to add it on to pda phones at time of purchase and it was
> limited time wise/had heavy conditions on it. With this in mind it makes
> my last statement mute.

My personal policy, regardless of carrier, has been to use the
carrier-provided insurance when I buy a phone, for the first twelve months.
It's not worth it for a phone any older than a year, IMHO.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: [email protected] Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Sprint would never committ Fraud. That would be illegal!

On Tue, 18 Oct 2005 20:27:42 -0700, Steve Sobol wrote:

> Central wrote:
>> I do agree with you that the insurance plan is for suckers, unless of
>> course it is a 600dollar pda phone then that 5dollars a month addon is not
>> so bad. It has been awhile since I had to deal with the ERP but if I
>> recall you had to add it on to pda phones at time of purchase and it was
>> limited time wise/had heavy conditions on it. With this in mind it makes
>> my last statement mute.
>
> My personal policy, regardless of carrier, has been to use the
> carrier-provided insurance when I buy a phone, for the first twelve months.
> It's not worth it for a phone any older than a year, IMHO.

Yeah for the first 12 months it is not worth it since just about all
phones come with a 1yr limited warranty. This is why they have limited
time periods that you can utilize the ERP with. Tho the way I have been
going with my phone, cracked, ant missing, etc... a 50 dollar deductible
doesn't seem too bad when compared to the 1yr-2yr forced agreements for
the new for you setups. Still glad I canceled the policy it was a waste of
money and could have bought me a new phone by now.

Have to love sprintpcs marketing ploy when it comes to those free phone
deals, "Here we will give you 150dollars off this phone and you only have
to guarantee to pay us either 600+ over the next two years or 150 etf
before that.", guess it is not so bad if you were going to pay it anyway.

On Tue, 18 Oct 2005 21:59:28 -0700, Mij Adyaw wrote:

> Sprint would never committ Fraud. That would be illegal!

Yeah all they do is let accidents happen through lack of action on their
part which ends up screwing the consumer. Neither of which is directly
their fault because they took no action to prevent or to participate in
actions that would cause fraud on the consumer. So the lesson learned here
today is that if you wish to screw someone balance it out so they get
screwed by themselves based on inaction from yourself.

Central wrote:

> Yeah for the first 12 months it is not worth it since just about all
> phones come with a 1yr limited warranty.

And if you're a klutz like me, you're likely to do something to the phone
like drop and break it. That's not covered by the warranty.

It's worth it FOR ME to insure the phone within the first 12 months of
active use. (Although I have to admit my current phone was bought new, is
only a few months old and ISN'T insured, and it's forcing me to be extra
careful.)

> Have to love sprintpcs marketing ploy when it comes to those free phone
> deals, "Here we will give you 150dollars off this phone and you only have
> to guarantee to pay us either 600+ over the next two years or 150 etf
> before that.",

Where have you been? Everyone does that. T-Mobile's the least bad in that
regard; they only ever do 1-year contracts (never 2). Plus I just found out
that if I trade in my current phone they'll give me a new phone at the
subsidized price without a contract extension. But they're the only carrier
that does that at all...


--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: [email protected] Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Central wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 03:00:00 +0000, The Eggman wrote:
>
>> that's why i never get the ERP....all the money you put into it and
>> they still want more money from you....and the funny thing is, it
>> only costs them like 10 bucks to actually make the phone...it's not

Note to Walrus... err, Eggman: the phones cost Sprint, which doesn't
make any of them, quite a bit more than $10.00.


>
> I do agree with you that the insurance plan is for suckers, unless of
> course it is a 600dollar pda phone then that 5dollars a month addon
> is not so bad. It has been awhile since I had to deal with the ERP
> but if I
> recall you had to add it on to pda phones at time of purchase and it
> was limited time wise/had heavy conditions on it. With this in mind
> it makes
> my last statement mute.
>

I just bought a Treo 650 (love it so far) and was told I had 30 days to
add the protection plan. I normally don't even consider it. But I've
noticed a big difference between my old phones and the Treo PDA/phone: I
used to drop my old phones at least once a day without issue (phone gets
knocked from holster, etc.). I've never allowed that to happen with my
PDAs, ergo my new Treo. I might just call and add that insurance to be
on the safe side.


> We should try and be realistic giving every subscriber a new phone
> WOULD kill them. When you count in all the fraud that happens now it
> would not amaze me for it to sky rocket if all phones were free.

I was told that having to sign-up within 30 days was indeed due to too
much (et least perceived) fraud. Someone kills their phone, signs up the
next day for the ERP, and presto for $50 and change they have a
replacement.

It has ALWAYS been my understanding that the ERPs came with a
deductible. So does the extended warranties on my motorcycle and cars. I
agree that SPCS just gave this guy the money as it was the path of least
resistance. He certainly didn't deserve it, and probably spent more time
on getting his deductible "back" -- in time -- than the $50 was worth.
(Now comes the, "it was the principle that mattered!" reply from the
OP.)


--
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.