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Sprint Long Distance...


aramike
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Oh man, I got screwed. Hard.

Some of you may recall me saying that my wife and I had bought a new house. Well, we've been in for about 2 months now without a hitch (other than her spending sprees, but I can live with that).

At any rate, we usually spend a lot of money on long distance each month. For the past two years, we've been with ATT online billing with their One Rate (7 cents) and One Rate International plans. On average, we spend about $500 month on long distance.

So imagine my surprise when the latest phone bill came in ... $2,100! From Sprint, no less. Sprint! I've NEVER used them in my life (except I do use Sprint PCS for mobile purposes) and this shows why. We NEVER selected them as a carrier and yet they were charging us an arm and a leg for LD service.

In fact, for ALL interstate calls (regardless of time of day) it was $3.16 for the first minute (which is ironic because a 3 second call accounts for a minute, which happens often when friends and family have their machines pick up), and 45 cents/minute for successive time. I could call Ms. Cleo or a phone "Companionship" line for less than that. I even get better BUSINESS rates.

Anyway, I got it taken care of with several skilled calls to Ameritech (my phone provider). They kicked the charges back to Sprint, who my lawyer then tore into. Finally, the agreement was (at my request) to pay for all calls at the 7 cents per minute normal rate.

In any case, there's a lesson to be learned here: ALWAYS keep tabs of your phone service. Some companies will do ANYTHING to make a buck. I wouldn't have been pissed at ALL if the Sprint charges were competitive, but $3.16 for the first minute and .45 after that is just FLEECING. That's called trying to catch someone unawares. I mean, mistakes could happen but NO company should be charging THAT much to ANYONE.

Oh, I'll never be using Sprint...

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quote:

So imagine my surprise when the latest phone bill came in ... $2,100!

WTF!!! I'd get a heart attack if that were to happen to me. I'm glad you sorted it out. I can honestly say that I've never had a bill that high in my entire life ( and I make tons of international calls).

Oh by the way, are you still bored?

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something like that almost happened to me. We called our local phone company, had a one-time charge(I am not sure what you call it), but we can not be billed for any other phone provider or have our service switched changed or rerouted for whatever reason.

Almost pays to have have my father has a retired 2nd level supervisor also!

That is, retired from this Baby bell, now SBC Communications.

[ 10-05-2001: Message edited by: jstuart ]

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Sounds like you got slammed. Happened to me once. I was furious. "Seeing red" furious. I called them up and gave them what for. Not even a single curse word. But I immediately got very timid "yes sir" and "no sir" answers to my questions. Questions like You will switch me me back and various other assurances I wouldn't be charged. I then immediately called my local Bell and put a stop on unauthorized switching.

Worked against me recently though. MCI called with a better deal and I agreed to switch. But the block prevented that. I never have gotten it changed.

I don't even use long distance. Not because I am against it but because I have no one to call. My parents are very near me. Credit cards and utilities have the 1-800 numbers. So I'm set. Still want it if I need it though.

What happened to me was by some fly-by-night company. Wouldn't have thought Sprint would do something like that.

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I know what you mean, Charles. Honestly, I don't think Sprint intentionally did that either.

What pissed me off was two things: 1: They actually have the gonads to charge people THAT much for a phone call, and 2: They first tried telling me that there was nothing I could do about it, trying to get me pay for THEIR error.

But, I have a very precise way of handling these kinds of problems -- ALWAYS stay calm. Even friendly. The people you're talking to don't make a dime more or less no matter what happens to you. So, if you sound friendly, they WANT to help you. If you're a jerk, they end up wanting to screw the bolts to you.

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Aramike, I have to say, that really sucks.

and as a Manager in a customer service dept. for a telecom company (not Sprint) I have seen this kind of thing happen before....of course not to that extent, but it's still a surprise...and I always do my best to ensure that the person who got slammed gets compensated properly. usually I suggest a rerate immediately.

Anyway, I'm glad it worked out for you in the end....wait...that came out wrong... at least you ended up paying the rate you were supposed to...even if it was to Sprint, and I don't blame you for not wanting them again. did you ever find out why the rate was so high and why your line was switched? did it have anything to do with the cell phone agreement? why did you feel that you had to get a lawyer involved...I mean wrong is wrong, even a monster company like sprint knows that.

I'm just curious.

Lucas

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did you ever find out why the rate was so high and why your line was switched?

The switch had something to do with the previous line in this house, which is why I don't think it was intentional.

The rate, on the other hand, I have NO clue whatsoever. I mean, do people actually PAY that?

quote:


did it have anything to do with the cell phone agreement?

Nope, had this mobile for over 2 years now and I made it ABUNDANTLY clear to them that I only wanted the mobile. They have GREAT rates for that (ironically, it costs less per minute than that long distance bill I got) and long distance is included at no additional charge.

quote:


why did you feel that you had to get a lawyer involved...

2 reasons, actually.

1: They thought I was an idiot and kept attempting to get me to conceed to paying the bill.

2: By that time, I was WAY too tired to bother with trying to explain common sense to someone who clearly didn't want to hear anything other than me conceeding to pay for it. So I said "you know what? I'll just have my attorney contact your supervisor." And I hung up to sounds of her saying "sir, wait, sir, wait". I didn't have time for that.

Ameritech, on the other hand, was actually quite good about it. It DID take some time to straighten out, but there was NO runaround whatsoever. I was rather appreciative of that fact. They just bounced the charges back to Sprint so I didn't have to pay them to cover my phone bill. Sure, I would have gotten it all back, but in a credit. Sorry, but I'd prefer to keep $2,100 in the bank rather than in Ameritech's computer systems.

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Originally posted by Soback:

I would have been so ticked off that I would canceled my mobile services right there (even if it was a great deal) and sued them for frustration and all that.


LOL! My friend, that is what they call a "frivolous lawsuit". I'm a STAUNCH opponent of that kind of stuff. It's all taken care of, and our legal system has far more pressing matters to attend to.

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Originally posted by aramike:

The switch had something to do with the previous line in this house, which is why I don't think it was intentional.

from my understanding of LD (which is extensive), if a line is disconnected by the local carrier, the LD (with a third party) is automaically disconnected...unless the previous residents of the home merely transferred the name of the local service to you. That way any LD service the previous residents have would remain 'as-is'. The strange thing is that the LD would have continued to be charged to the previous residents...unless there was an agreement to change line "responsibility" with the new residents.

This certainly did not appear to have occurred as you pointed out.

The rate, on the other hand, I have NO clue whatsoever. I mean, do people actually PAY that?

I don't think anyone in their right mind would agree to rates like that. But as I indicated before, if the line was transferred from one tenant to another, the LD carrier "might" revert a plan to a 'basic' plan that has no savings in order to force a potential customer to make a decision. It is an unpleasant strategy, but this makes the LD carrier money, even if they give a full refund to the offended party. There is protection in canada against such unethical practice, and it's called the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Council)...I dont know who the counter part is in the states, but it may be an idea to investigate that, so that perhaps it doesn't happen to other people.

1: They thought I was an idiot and kept attempting to get me to conceed to paying the bill.

ouch. probably an inexperienced rep who assumed it was your fault...most reps don't read notes and block attempts to speak to managers....this is bad, very very bad.

They just bounced the charges back to Sprint so I didn't have to pay them to cover my phone bill.

wow, we can't do that. we usually recalculate the bill and advise the customer of the balance to pay (the difference). We are unable to 'bounce' charges back to the other company. So if we make a mistake like that, the logic is that the calls themselves are not in dispute, just the rates and therefore, pay the LD carrier for the calls made and if a continuing relationship can't be established, advise the customer to contact their carrier of choice.

Sure, I would have gotten it all back, but in a credit. Sorry, but I'd prefer to keep $2,100 in the bank rather than in Ameritech's computer systems.

I agree 100%

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Something similar happened to me once with AT&T charging me for my international calls. I have always used MCI and never switched to AT&T. Yet they refused to negotiate any amicable settlement (like charging the calls at my usual MCI rate) so I had to go ahead and dispute the bill. I'm not sure what happened but shortly after that they withdrew the charges.

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quote:


from my understanding of LD (which is extensive), if a line is disconnected by the local carrier, the LD (with a third party) is automaically disconnected...unless the previous residents of the home merely transferred the name of the local service to you. That way any LD service the previous residents have would remain 'as-is'. The strange thing is that the LD would have continued to be charged to the previous residents...unless there was an agreement to change line "responsibility" with the new residents.

This certainly did not appear to have occurred as you pointed out.


Dunno. I have no clue how these companies conduct business. All I know is the result.

The line is, however, a new phone line.

quote:


I don't think anyone in their right mind would agree to rates like that. But as I indicated before, if the line was transferred from one tenant to another, the LD carrier "might" revert a plan to a 'basic' plan that has no savings in order to force a potential customer to make a decision. It is an unpleasant strategy, but this makes the LD carrier money, even if they give a full refund to the offended party. There is protection in canada against such unethical practice, and it's called the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Council)...I dont know who the counter part is in the states, but it may be an idea to investigate that, so that perhaps it doesn't happen to other people.

Nah, I posted here to give people the heads up. I really don't have the inclination to make it into a huge, time-consuming deal. People just need to keep their heads about them.

quote:


ouch. probably an inexperienced rep who assumed it was your fault...most reps don't read notes and block attempts to speak to managers....this is bad, very very bad.

Yep, all I know is that the guy now has two holes where there was one.

quote:


wow, we can't do that. we usually recalculate the bill and advise the customer of the balance to pay (the difference). We are unable to 'bounce' charges back to the other company. So if we make a mistake like that, the logic is that the calls themselves are not in dispute, just the rates and therefore, pay the LD carrier for the calls made and if a continuing relationship can't be established, advise the customer to contact their carrier of choice.

Needless to say, I was extremely pleased with Ameritech for handling it in that manner.

Hector: You know, it seems as though the shadiest industry in the world is LD carriers. It's one of the few industries where the customer doesn't have to expressly order services to be charged for them.

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...It's one of the few industries (long distance) where the customer doesn't have to expressly order services to be charged for them.

it's more like there isn't a provision that actually REQUIRES a signature for the service to be effective. At the moment this works in the favour of the LD company. I believe that this particular practice will soon change though, but that's more of a feeling....

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