I had that stupid ASL on my account when I got my recent Sprint service 8 years ago. I had a phone with them even earlier which I could not afford and it hurt me when I came back to them. But I was stuck on an ASL and wasn't even allowed to pay my bills online, only in cash at a Sprint store kiosk. My credit score back then was decent (700-ish) but I got a new job that traveled 100% and it was a PITA to find a Sprint store in whatever little town I was in that week. Called and asked to have the limit removed and they said I had a recent late payment. Well yeah, I had a recent late payment because there wasn't a Sprint store anywhere near me that month (Galena, AK!!) and they wouldn't accept a payment over the phone!
So I was stuck with the damn thing until I realized Amex advertised bill pay with Sprint PCS. Sprint wouldn't accept my Amex for payment so I called Amex, whose customer service is the best in the world IMO. 3 days later Sprint called and said my account had been "upgraded" and that my Amex was set up for auto-pay and no more ASL!
Most bank offer overdraft protection (line of credit) so if you're worried about overdraft fees you are 1) not making enough to afford this service/phone (in the TP2 section no less!), 2) not fiscally-responsible enough for this service/phone, or 3) making excuses. If you do have good credit then get a damn Amex and use that for your auto-payments because it's eleventy-billion times easier to work with Amex customer service than it is to work with Sprint. Just make sure to pay your Amex bill on time or you're really in for some trouble
