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Comments on news posted 2007-12-31 16:28:16: A Sprint customer tells the Consumerist she just received a bill for $14,000 for just one month of wireless service. ..
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 qworster
join:2001-11-25
Los Angeles, CA
 ·DSL EXTREME
·Brand X Internet
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·Vonage
4 edits | The FACTS are simply this... Sprint seems to make MANY more billing mistakes then any other PCS company. I find one (or several) at least five times a year. Twice in 2007 my phone was turned off (once in the middle of an important call). One time was because had a past due balance of ZERO dollars and ZERO cents! In both cases it was THEIR fault, not mine!! Yes, they turned it back on immediately (well not immediately actually, it takes about 20 minutes on the phone to just GET CSR and then anywhere from 20 minutes to four hours for the phone to come back on). One of these times they told me they were turning me back on as a "courtesy"-but they wouldn't be able to extend another courtesy this year.
HUH???
YOU screw up and it's a COURTESY for you to fix YOUR mistake???!!! What happens if you make the same mistake NEXT month? Will my phone remain turned off because my number of courtesies has run out???
In both cases they claimed it was: "the computer" that automatically killed my service. Hmmm...aren't computers programmed by HUMANS?
I looked at my last bill and now I'm being billed five dollars a month for unlimited service that starts at 7 PM weekdays. Problem is, I don't HAVE this service-and the plan details clearly show this..So now I have two choices-either pay this or deal with the hassle of spending an hour on the phone fixing it-so NEXT month I can discover ANOTHER mistake! Which brings me to another subject-Sprint is SO screwed up that you have to spend half an hour going over each month's bill with a fine tooth comb to even FIND these mistakes. It's almost as if they 'slip' them in because most people don't bother!
Somehow I got on a deadbeat list and began getting nasty emails from them about how my bill was past due (one on Christmas-ONE day after the bill was due!). Some (Sprint lovers) here even called me a liar about it (see an earlier thread). WELL, now Sprint admits that THEY made the mistake-somehow I got on their DEADBEAT list and the harassment began. They promised to fix it, but it still continues.
My dilemma is this-I'm on a GREAT retention plan-one you can't get any more (it's 5 years old)-so I find myself torn between staying and leaving Sprint. They have NEVER offered me anything for my time and trouble spending HOURS on the phone last year fixing THEIR billing mistakes! In fact, if you recall they have DUMPED customers who call too often! How come the phone company, cable company, gas company and electric company can go YEARS without making any billing mistakes, while Sprint can't go a couple of months? How come Vonage has only screwed up once in six years and fixed it immediately, while Sprint averages two-three gaffes every six months? Tell me, is my experience with them an abberation? Am I the exception to the rule with Sprint? | |
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Tazzyone
@imake.com | Could have been worse.... She could have had an automatic bill paying account with them. | |
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fixTheBilling
@rogers.com
| FIX THE F'N PROBLEM Any Monthly service provider... ESPECIALLY NON-BUSINESS ACCOUNTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If any bill is over $100 the REGULAR monthly rate, (before stupid usage or and provider account setup error)... HOLD ACCOUNT & FLAG FOR FOLLOWUP, or better yet... FLAG IT and allow the usage to continue at no cost to the consumer until YOU (the provider get your act together) and follow up to make sure it's legit. If it's not... fix it, if it is... bill for the whole thing.
How hard is it for corporations to figure this out?? AND why the HELL don't the PEOPLE ( YOU!! ) do something about it? I'm am about the least organized person on here, or else i would personally lead the movement or petition to fix these RIDICULOUS practices.
Also, UNLESS people explicitly PAY or ASK to be able to use the DATA services internationally, then disable it!!
These scheme to nickel & dime someone for every little feature on a phone is just ridiculous... Can't the provider send an SMS stating..." YOU are leaving the HOME network with FREE DATA... you will NOW BE CHARGED $.03 per KB or whatever the current rate is while OUTSIDE USA.
We shouldn't have to wait 30 days to get a BILL only to find out something was charged at a ridiculous rate and that there is just about NOTHING can be done about it, unless we cry on the internet and make a big stink.
These problems on the internet should not be used to FIX one bill... they should be an indication to FIX THE BILLING SYSTEM currently in place!!
(but that wouldn't be best for the bottom line though... would it.) | |
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