Sprint releasing contracts over $4.99 a month??

cohowap · #1 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:02 AM

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?

AngeloUCF · #2 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:17 AM

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.

**drewcam888** · #3 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:17 AM

Wow is all I have to say

**Boo Boo** · #4 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:20 AM

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

whats a asl?

meechieervin · #5 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:23 AM

yup unless you do a automatic withdraw they will waive

**austin420** · #6 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:26 AM

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.

**Mojary** · #7 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by austin420

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.

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...

**w7excursion** · #8 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:27 AM

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.

**austin420** · #9 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:28 AM

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.

cohowap · #10 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by austin420

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.

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.