A case In support of watchdog groups like the FCC....

[FloriTexan]

My family has been unhappy with our Sprint cell phone service for several years. Every time we try to switch providers we realized that we couldn't because hubby's contract and my contract had different termination dates. So that we could switch at the same time, we synchronized the purchase of new phones two years ago, cut all phone perks but phone service, no texting, no internet, etc. Our contract was set to expire this year so in the spring I called Sprint to find out when our contract expired. I was told July. The first week in July, I called Sprint again to confirm that our contract expired in July and exactly when it expired. Sprint told me that "we were now eligible for an upgrade." As a result of that seemingly affirmative response we went shopping for new phones and switched providers only to promptly receive a final bill from Sprint with nearly $500 in Early Termination Fees (EFTs).

I contacted Sprint again and reminded them of the conversation in July. Interestingly enough, they now quicktly advised that my contract didn't actually expire until September and I owed the money. I told Sprint that I felt they purposefully mislead us into either purchasing new phones with Sprint thereby extending our contract, or misleading us into terminating our contract early so that they could charge the EFT fees. I also asked them about the flyer in the bill that advised me of the class action lawsuit against Sprint regarding the unlawful charging of EFTs and asked what that was about. Sprint held firm and insisted I owed them money and that I should have known that being eligible for an upgrade was not a contract end date.

I advised Sprint in that call that I did not feel I owed them any money and that I would be filing complaints with the FCC and the Texas Attorney General's office. They were unfazed. The next day I filed such complaints. In about a week I got another bill from Sprint and started getting collection calls in which I reiterated that I had now filed the complaints I promised and that I officially disputed the charges and sent them a certified mail letter stating same. I also contacted the lawyers for the lawsuit to find out what it was about and learned that the lawsuit accused Sprint of charging EFT fees for a full two year contract regardless of when it was terminated.

As soon as Sprint received the complaint from the FCC I got another call from Sprint and the representative was most apologetic and after looking at my account records of over 10 years with Sprint, with no late payments, and only 2 months remaining in the contract, she volunteered that they would waive all remaining charges, putting my account back in good standing and thanking me for my business.

Um, yeah thanks! I told them thanks, but it shouldn't have taken a complaint with the FCC to make them to the right thing. If not for the FCC intervention, I have no doubt that Sprint would have ruined my credit and hounded us endlessly with creditors. I have no doubt now that Sprint purposefully mislead us into believing our contract had expired to collect these fees. Their actions proved it.

Thank you FCC! I say bring on more oversight. Consumers need it!