Sprint PCS - told billing including roaming charges - roaming charges were extra, so returned phones in less than 14 days and cancelled account - still had to pay $ 182 in fees

# 9 for September 21, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on September 20, 2003:

From: Kim Barrow [Email User]

RE: Sprint PCS - told billing including roaming charges - roaming charges were extra, so returned phones in less than 14 days and cancelled account - still had to pay $ 182 in fees

We were given phones that we were told included Roaming Charges. We were later told if over half are roaming, roaming minutes are charged even if the minutes are under the total plan minutes. We did not receive this information at the time of sale, and still do not have it. There was no information on any brochures that were supplied regarding this policy. The Customer Service Dept could not tell us how much percentage of roaming we were using. The website account activity did not break this down.

We were told the only way we could get this info was to wait for the bill. We were forced to close the account since the Customer Service Rep could not give us the information to determine if this policy would directly affect us. The return policy forced us to return the phones within 14 days. We could not wait for the bill to see if this would directly affect us. We would then have to pay an extraordinary cancellation fee for each phone. Even so, the bill was $182.00 for less than 14 days of service because we had to pay the activation fees. When attempting to close the account, we called Customer Service and was told that we could not call from home - we had to go back to the place we purchased the phones at. We drove back to Costco (where we purchased them) and were told that this was not true. They had no way of closing the account for us. He directed us to a Sprint Sales location, and we were told that they do not do this, however there is a red phone we can use.

When attempting to close, we were transferred to someone that would not fulfill our request. They continued to try to “win” our service back, despite repeated attempts to let them know the phones were already returned and there is no way the plan needs to be on. We were disconnected. We attempted this again, but this time we wanted her ID number (just in case) we were disconnected again - she refused. We were placed on hold for a long time and no one came back. We called AGAIN, and clearly frustrated, we finally were able to close the account. Since we were at Sprint Sales, I asked the manager to provide we with the fine print that showed that you are charged roaming per minute if over 50% of your calls are roaming- even on the Free Roaming Plan. He was NOT ABLE TO PROVIDE me with anything in the store that had this info. He stared and stared at the brochures, and COULD NOT FIND IT. It was very validating. Given the false information, I believed these charges to be illegal and I completely disputed them in writing. I have not yet received a response, however I called them and they stated that they were going to waive all of the fees. I believe this to be an admission of guilt and I am satisfied with the results. HOWEVER - they still use the same tactics, with false advertising that deserve complaining about and warning others.