Sprint charged me $125 for equipment wtf?

thesfactor · #1 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 01:35 PM

So last month sprint sent me a defective phone (TP2) where the O key didn't work. I called back within my 30 days and told them about it, so they sent me a replacement. This month when I check my bill i see a charge of $125 for "AE: Damage beyond repair". I called them up and disputed the charge, spoke to a supervisor and explained the situation calmly. I said that it might be an error because there was NO way the phone was damaged beyond repair. I was within my 30 days, had TEP and also knew what exactly was wrong with that phone - they sent me a defective unit in the first place where the only problem was that the 'O' key was not responsive on the keyboard at times. I asked them if they could prove to me that the phone was indeed damaged beyond repair and the supervisor tried contacting Advanced Tech Support who in turn said that they had no clue, all they knew was that an e-ticket had been created saying the phone was damaged beyond repair. I think this is unfair that I've been charged for something that I didn't do.
The supervisor offered me $50 in credit to settle or said that he would send the complaint to an off site team who would call me back in 3-5 business days to see if they could resolve the matter. I chose to have the complaint sent to the off-site team. I'm a bit weary about this off-site business, why in the world would they need to send a complaint somewhere else?? Anyway lets see what happens from here on. The supervisor "Greg" also gave me his employee ID. It's not about the money really, it's about being charged for something you didn't do...I think that's pretty unfair.

pesok · #2 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 01:58 PM

let us know how it turns out

Maverick_TN · #3 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 02:00 PM

And sprint wonders why they are slowly loosing customers and market share.

I'd be curious why they have to have someone offsite to resolve your issue.
I've always had the impression that if it couldn't be solved by whoever you had on the phone, or someone that they could forward you to, then you normally can't expect to see any favorable results.

Good luck with this and keep us posted to its progress.

**PropagandaX** · #4 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 02:33 PM

It was probably just a retarded mistake on there end. The stupid thing about Sprint is they will spend more time and effort ****in around when they could have just made the problem go away. I wonder how much they spend trying to fight $125, I mean really.

c0011j · #5 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 02:45 PM

I am pretty sure by 'off site' he meant another department to handle this issue. I know in Advanced Tech we cannot do anything with purchases within 30 days. That sucks though...
I know whenever we do AE's we try to send to a store first so they can determine whether it is physical damage to prevent the cust from being charged. If it is sent through the AE process with that type of damage customers are charged because it should have been process through assurion.
But in your case it was already defective so should have just been replaced.
I hope it works out.

thesfactor · #6 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 02:55 PM

Thanks for the replies guys. I just got a call back from Sprint (voicemail actually since I was in a meeting). The same supervisor Greg called back and said that the off-site team had denied the issue and that the charge was valid. He sounded apologetic and said that all he could do was issue a $49.95 credit on his end to "help out" with the process. If I accepted it then it would mean the issue is resolved. I guess he probably means well but I don't want Sprint's $49.95 help when they messed up in the first place, they should have fixed it then and there. This is all a bit ridiculous. He said he would call back another time in the voicemail. I will ask to be transferred to someone higher - probably escalations. Do you guys have any tips?

Rhodium500 · #7 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 03:04 PM

call retentions

thesfactor · #8 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhodium500

call retentions

My contract expires in October this year. How can retentions help? They'll ask me to walk and charge me a $250 termination fee.

mjh8812 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 03:30 PM

when i got my touch pro 1 AE'd for a touch pro 2..the first one they sent me was a refurb that had almost the same issue as yours...i work at a repair center so i took it apart and saw that whoever put it together had totally mangled the keyboard housing..im sorry that happend to you getting charged..i wish sprint would check there "refurbs" more before sending them out damaged in the first place..

Machina2o2 · #10 (**permalink**) 03-08-2010, 06:02 PM

This one is ez. Return department opens phone to inspect keyboard issue sees corrosion under the sticker along the board in the O key area flags it for DBR liquid damage which is 119 + tax IE 125 dollars. Its kinda of **** thing to do to a new customer and generally were required to show the customer before we start checking off boxes on the account.