Holy cow. I've had more than my share of unauthorized changes to my account - from 2 year agreements I've never agreed to, to free roaming being removed, free mobile to mobile being removed, minute plan changes, night and weekend hours changes to the start time, etc. I've literally called 611 over 90 times in the last three months on top of going into sprint stores 4 times because of my most recent set of problems - which never have been resolved. The result of my trying to get these issues resolved? Quadruple Billing. I've actually been on hold for about an hour now to get the first two credits - nearly $200. Cell phone companies are all about scams, but this is taking it to a whole new level.
Come to the UK and 'enjoy' British Telecom - it'll change your opinions of Sprint instantly. They'll look like heaven all of a sudden.
Here's how the conversation went: Me: I just got my bill and my wife is now on my account, which I never authorized, and additionally she is getting her own separate bill. What is going on? Them: Your wife was placed on your account on July 15th. Me: I wasn't even in the same town as my wife on the 15th. Them: It looks like the transaction started on the 8th. Me: ?!? So - she's on my account, which means she should be sharing minutes with me. Why is her bill $165 on my bill, and it's $150 on her bill? And who authorized putting her on my account on the 8th or the 15th? Them: Her bill is for June 1 through June 30th - The one on your account is pro-rated for the first through the 15th. Me: So she gets placed on my account without any authorization, doesn't share minutes, and the cost of her plan has now more than doubled?!? And what is this other charge for $100. Them: That's a prepayment for July 15th to August 15th. Since she moved, you have to pay in advance. The other charges are Me: So wait a second, she moved to my account and now she has to pay in advance? How are you supposed to pay in advance if you don't know how many minutes were used? What is wrong with you people? Why are you making all these unauthorized changes to my account and why would any of these changes cost so much money? Them: You don't prepay. The bill is for June 15th through July 15th. Me: You just said I was being charged for July 15th through August 15th. Before that you said I was being charged for July 1st through 15th even though she was supposedly added on the 15th but somehow this all got started on the 8th. Are you smoking crack? Do you seriously believe what you are saying or do you expect me to believe all this doubletalk? Them: Wait a minute here. Let me go over it from the beginning. Her bill is for June 1st through June 31st. Your bill is for June 15th through July 15th. And this other item is for June... Hold on. This other... Your bill is... Me: We're now at 25 minutes and you still have no idea what is on my bill, you still have yet to explain to me how any changes were made on my account without my authorization, and you don't have any idea whether you are scamming me by double billing me or making me prepay for services and then pay for them again at the end of the month. Them: Let me put you on hold while I try to figure this out. Me: ok... Then at the 1 hour 32 minute mark they come back with a set of numbers equally bizarre and I end up going from a $700 bill to a $500 bill. When asked to explain what they've done, they come back later with now a $400 something bill which is still way too high and also inexplicable to me. Somehow I end up thanking the guy because he's the first person in somewhere around 100 phone calls who has actually accomplished anything. He also can not tell me even roughly what my next months bill will look like. I felt like Johnny Cochran in South Park. "This does not make sense. This whole conversation does not make sense. Why would a wookie live on endor? If a wookie lives on endor, you have to reduce my bill by $300" One funny thing I did learn today though. When you call up 611 and get that stupid voice recognition system and say "Are you on Crack?", the system will respond with "Do you have a billing issue or a technical issue?"
This is one of the reasons why I refuse to deal with large companies when it comes to cell phones. I'm about to switch to VOIP. It isn't just sprint, but it is all these large companies. They do nothing but scam their customers. The power companies, banks, IRS. The same stupid crap. I have a simple solution to the problem: Don't sign up for their crappy service, save your money, and do business with small companies that aren't near monopolies.