Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

So I got a letter from Sprint the other day stating they want to charge me $4.99 per month because my account is under an "Account Spending Limit".

I called Sprint today because I find this fee to be bullcrap, and I was told they are willing to cancel my account without paying any early termination fee. I've been with Sprint for 9 years to the month. I've never had a bill under $120 USD and yea, sometimes I paid a few days late, but they always got paid. And now over $4.99 a month, Verizon or AT&T is getting a new customer.

Is there a future for this company?

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

That's crazy, I wonder if us SERO members will be getting the same. My bill comes out to $72.67 a month for 2 lines.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Wow is all I have to say

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

lol so 4.99 more compared to 49.99 more for either of the other carriers.

whats a asl?

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

yup unless you do a automatic withdraw they will waive

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

asl is the spending limit program for those with poor credit. you have to put a deposit down on your contract and you cant exeed that limit. i had one about 4 years ago in the first year of my contract. your out of the program in one year and you get your deposit back in the form of a service credit.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Sprint is kind of screwy with this new charge. I would ask to have your spending limit removed. I havent had one for years and pay late all the time.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

and most people should just sign up for automatic payments. the only reason this would be a problem is if you dont have a bank account.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

my roomm,ate got the same letter, but they worded it so he couldnt get out of his contract. they said it was a term of the asl, that they could increase or add fees as they please without any recourse in the first year.:evil3:

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Moral of the story: Pay your bills ontime! ;)

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

rotflmao

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Or your bank account does't have enough money and you get overdraft fees.

Fact is, every penny Sprint is owed, I've always paid. As far as paying bills on time, hate to admit it, but Sprint stopped sending me bills to save paper and yea I don't have "Pay sprint bill" on top off my head daily. So yea it gets paid late here and there. But never more than a day or two.

The fact is, being told "The only thing you can do is cancel the account and we will wave the fee" over 4.99 for a 9 year customer who's paid over 120-130 a month was a low blow. Can I afford automatic payments? Yes. But this is just unethical.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

how can you be a 9 year customer and still be on the asl?????
in that case just ask too have it removed? did you put a deposit down, if so did you get it back 8 yrs ago? you shouldnt have a spending limit if your even out of your first contract.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I too have been with Sprint for about 9 years and I too have an account spending limit... $9,999,999.00 is what my limit is, I've seen it when I went to Radio Shack and the Sprint sales rep was there and said that was the first time he's seen that... so I'd always get the $4.99 charge!!!

Are you sure this charge isn't because you're receiving paper billing?

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

on my first contract i put down a 450 dollar total deposit for 3 lines. my spending limit was 1500 for some reason. i got that 450 back in a year though. i didnt have to pay a sprint bill for almost 4 months after i got my deposit back. id just ask for it to be removed. idk though. i think sprint has a secret crush on me. they pretty much give me whatever i want. i never have been late, but thats all on my girlfriend, her only responsibility is to keep my phone bill current.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

i'm guessing no one read the buzz about wireless forum nor the announcement by sprint about this about a month ago:

http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/140691

This ONLY impacts customers who had poor credit. I think this has to do with those they deem high risk of not paying their account on time so they're trying to force ONLY those customers to do auto bill pay. While this may be a bit predatory, it's a business practice to make sure Sprint gets paid. If you had to have a deposit when you opened your account or if you missed enough payments to warrant this type of action, then it's those users only they're targeting.

FWIW, I've never even heard of anyone at any cellphone company asking for a deposit when I got a phone, that's probably because I have a very high credit score and good credit rating.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

as far as paper billing, that shouldnt have anything to do with it. they owe you a paper bill. if you opt out of paper, you get a one time 5 dollar service credit.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I don't know why you just don't schedule your payments through whomever your bank is? I do this whenever I get an electronic notification from Sprint that my bill is due. I go to my ING direct account and schedule my bill to pay a few days before it's due and then it's out of my head after that. Seems like simple bill payment practices and then you'd never be late.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

true that.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Thats crazy as hell

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Some people like myself need to make sure they have enough money in their account when the automatic payment is placed to avoid a $40 overdraft fee and is why I dont do that either. That obviously makes sense if you know you will always have enough to cover the bill, but if not its not worth the overdraft fee!

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I never had to put money down or into my account. 9 years ago when I created the account I was only 18 with no credit history.

Now... I am rolling with a 800ish FICO score. I have a mortgage for $300,000 with no cosigner, I walked into the car dealership and walked out with a new car for the sign and drive. I make $90,000 a year. I am fairly sure my credit isn't the issue. And paying the 5 bucks isn't an issue outside of the principle.

As I already admitted, yea I forget to pay my bill sometimes and they are a day or two late, in which they already give me a late charge, which I understand.

What I won't do is pay the late charge early which is what this appears to be. Nor will I give open access for Sprint to bill my account, specially when it's not a fixed amount. We all know horror stories of cell phone companies charging $1,000 bucks or more.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

well there ya go. leave sprint. go to verizon. or better yet, go prepay. after all you can afford it. big baller. one question? do people who make 90,000 dollars ayear even pay their own bills? i figured you had an accountant or an assistant or something.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Had to LOL at this. My accountant is my wife, who doesn't do a great job lol.

And so you know, just because I make a decent amount of money, doesn't mean I'm willing to get ****ed by a cell phone company.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

What this sounds like is, you make good money so you feel since you pay the late fee this should not apply to you. Well either get the ASL off your account or go to Verizon or AT&T and pay more for the principle of all of this.

I have been with Sprint for 10 years and don't have a ASL and haven't had one since my first year with them. I make the same money you do, I have a nice house, 2 cars, I don't have your credit score but I do pay my bill on time so that may be the reason.

Ice

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I don't make 90g a year, but I have my bank auto-pay my Sprint bill ($57) each month for me. Why not take advantage of the technology and save yourself the trouble of forgetting and paying late.

Oh, also, as a customer that pays his bill on time always, I get the pimp deals when I call and ask for them.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I also get the nice deals when I call without having to call retention.

Ice

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

You should get one of those fancy TP2s--they have task/appt notifications so you don't forget things like financial obligations.

And never ever pay anything by automatic withdrawal. Too many instances of companies continuing to withdraw after service is canceled/contracts end/etc. etc.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

also as a fyi, the ASL isnt the only fee that is going up. the regulatory cost recovery fee is going from 20 cents to 40 cents. this is also a breech in your terms and condition. so for those that arent on a ASL with sprint. this also gives you the right to terminate your service without penalty. yes the amount is meer chump change but it none the less breaks the agreement you originally signed up for. now the trick is that you have to contact sprint within 30 days of this change. failure to do so will make it a wash and it becomes irrelevant.

but for those who like sprint and wanna stick around, this is your silver lining if your not eligible to upgrade because you can also negotiate for an immediate upgrade. and your account will either be back dated via contract date or noted as such going forward. so if there is a phone you want now at the 2yr price or like myself that want that option to upgrade sometime this year when a new device comes out you have the capability now..... i just got my tp2 and my upgrade wont be for awhile but this changes all that because you can imagine how many subscribers can or will threaten to jump ship.....you better believe sprint will do everything possible to not make that happen. they lose enough subscribers as it is. this just opens the flood gates.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I agree that giving a someone else the automatic ability to take a differing ammount of money each month from your checking account is not ideal.
You should check out 'mycheckfree', it's free and you can input your sprint info, it will e-mail you when your bill comes in (staing the ammount for reference) and you can tell it to pay your bill on the last day before it becomes over due from your checking account.
Quick few clicks each month after the e-mail and I'm in control of the payment ammount/date.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Forget your credit score, what matters here is your credit with Sprint. If you pay your bills late then I can't understand the complaint when they ask you to simply pay your bill on time (auto draft) of pay a nominal fee. Do this for a year and the ASL goes away. No biggie. Or go to Verizon and continue to pay bills late and pay another $20 a month..I don't get it.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

isn't it funny how people with poor credit get jacked with more financial hardships? I mean I recovered from poor credit from a divorce... there's no quick way to repair your credit... I did it without "buying" a service to repair it either... I slow rebuilt it, took me almost 7 years and now my score is 720+!!

Yeah, I had to pay extra because of my poor credit too

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Sprint finally called back, and removed the ASL status on my account, thus not having to pay the 4.99.

After talking to them, the ASL status was put on my account when I first started service (9 years ago, just turned 18 no credit history). It has absolutly nothing to do with your current credit score or state or payment history (unless your account was closed for failed payments), it has to do with the state of your credit when you created your account.

If you are experiencing the same thing I am (and have good credit), request to be fowarded to the credit department to have the ASL status removed from your account.

GL.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Just remember..... when everything else fails due to poor credit. Put it in ya mamas name.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

ive heard of tmobile doing the samething when you dont have an automatic withdrawal set.i got my spending limit after about a year and a half.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

Glad you got it squared away, but you should have done this years ago. I mean seriously after 9 years you still had a spending limit? Sheesh. But same here though after my first year with sprint my spending limit went away, I have been with them for 8 years.

LOL, thats how you become hood rich.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

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 :violent1:

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I didn't even know what ASL was until today. My accounts just been my account since day 1, never went over what the limit was so I thought it was just normal. Boy was I wrong.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

I fall into the same category as many posting - Divorce screwed up my credit, signed up with sprint almost 8 years ago, got an ASL. I never paid attention to the thing till I saw this thread, but I never thought to have it removed... it hasnt interfered with my service so, meh. But I can feel were the OP is coming from I'd be pissed too. I have been over charged several times by Sprint and been part of one or two class actions because of it.

So if I was ever asked to do this or go, I probably would go too cause I am sure they would do it again - dont trust'em. I travel to Canada alot too, but not so frequent to add it to my plan, so the amount of my bill varies and I would not feel comfortable with some unknow amount comming out. I mean its not like I make anything close to $90,000.00... I am just a social worker :(

But this thread has been useful, I will probably call to have the asl removed now.... probably.

Re: Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??
 

how do you get out of the program? because when i signed up with sprint a few years ago, i was put on the limit. but obviously they didn't take me off of it after the first year because im still on it. when i renewed my contract in october, i asked them about getting it taken off. the guy at the store i bought my phone from said that it can't be taken off and the only thing that happens is that my limit would go up when my paying record is good. i think what he told me was BS because sure there were a few times that i've paid my bills a few days late...but compared to all the times i've paid the same day or the next day when i see that my balance has posted on my account....my spending limit should already be through the roof. but nope....it's still at the same limit for the past 4 years my account has been active.

do i want to pay for the $4.99 each month?...no. will i pay it?...yes. do i want to go auto-pay to avoid it?...not so fast. some of the members do have a point where it's hard to do auto-pay when your bill either goes up or down in any given months. don't get me wrong...i have auto-pay on my credit cards, but i have it set up to pay a set amount each month (and yes...i do pay way more than the minimum...LOL). one scenario comes to mind when i upgraded. the first 2 months within my upgrade, they charged me as much as my monthly for int'l text messages on each month. im not denying that i send international text..but to charge me for all the messages i didn't send was ridiculous. sprint was able to resolve the issue with my account. i was billed about $120 that first month. then it happened again the 2nd month for about another $120!! got that resolved as well. they finally fixed something and now, im only getting charged for the messages i DID send.

but imagine if i was on auto-pay for those months. they would've already taken the money from my account while getting the issue resolved. and when it's resolved, all they'll do is credit my sprint account for said amounts i was over-charged for and not put it back in my bank (probably because they want it in their bank account so it'll earn interest for them). but that doesn't bode well for the other bills i have paid that is set to clear my bank account around the same time. i would get hit with NSF fee(s) even though i originally had enough funds to cover the bills i sent payments for. it's not like sprint will cover my NSF fees if it was their fault.

sorry for the long post...