Website issue with multiple phone accounts

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

I just spent about 10 minutes yelling at a CSR and found out it wasn't
even necessary.

I ordered my new phone yesterday (am finally getting around to dumping
Verizon). Vision is set up, and the phone appears on the website.

But I logged on and checked both phones and found out that it listed
7/2/2006 as the contract end date for both phones. 7/2/2006 is my phone's
end date. I just bought it yesterday (7/2/2004). My wife's phone is out of
contract.

So, thinking Sprint had pulled a fast one on me, I called and asked WTF
was going on. The CSR finally advised me to log on to the website using
my wife's phone number instead of mine, after which both phones displayed
*her* original contract end date!

This is obviously a bug on the website. If I flip between phones all the
other details change properly. I can't see why the contract end date wouldn't
change. I'd report it to whichever department at Sprint is responsible for
fixing such things, but I have no clue who to report it to.

Also, the website shows 7/1/04 for her contract end date. We moved here
from Ohio at the end of June of last year and got hit with a contract extension
because the billing system treats a move from one market to another as a new
activation. The CSR today told me that's company policy, that any move
generates a contract extension, which is BS because it screws loyal existing
customers... but on the other hand, between 11/28/03 (the actual contract end)
and 7/1/04, I double-checked and had several different CSRs who were clued
enough to read the notes on my account tell me "you are definitely out of
contract."

I suspect that the CSR today was either too lazy or too stupid to read my
notes, even after I told her to, but I want to know what the official word is
on moves and contract extensions...

--
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Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net
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Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Steven J Sobol wrote:

> I just spent about 10 minutes yelling at a CSR and found out it wasn't
> even necessary.
>
> [snip]

I'm sure there are some who may take you to task for yelling at a CSR,
but Sprint PCS policies often do contribute to this sort of customer
frustration.

I can confirm both of your issues...

> This is obviously a bug on the website. If I flip between phones all the
> other details change properly. I can't see why the contract end date wouldn't
> change. I'd report it to whichever department at Sprint is responsible for
> fixing such things, but I have no clue who to report it to.

I recently added a new line (separate; no shared minutes) to my account,
and I noticed the same behavior. Both lines show the contract end date
of the one used for the original login. It appears to be an anomaly in
the website's reporting only; a CSR confirmed to me that each line
appears on her data screen with its separate and correct end date.

> Also, the website shows 7/1/04 for her contract end date. We moved here
> from Ohio at the end of June of last year and got hit with a contract extension
> because the billing system treats a move from one market to another as a new
> activation. The CSR today told me that's company policy, that any move
> generates a contract extension, which is BS because it screws loyal existing
> customers... but on the other hand, between 11/28/03 (the actual contract end)
> and 7/1/04, I double-checked and had several different CSRs who were clued
> enough to read the notes on my account tell me "you are definitely out of
> contract."

My daughter was given the same shafting, uh, treatment, when she
requested an area code change following graduation from college. She'd
actually been living in the new area for several years, and she just
wanted the convenience of a local phone number with no change in service
plan or options. Both old and new areas are Sprint PCS corporate
markets. No amount of argument or escalation could get anyone at SPCS to
deviate from the "company policy" line, and she was required to start a
new contract.

It's my impression that this is simply a limitation of the billing
software. There is no logical reason why a contract extension should be
required. In fact, such a requirement seems distinctly at odds with the
oft-touted claim by Sprint PCS that it is the only transparent
nationwide network ("built from the ground up" ).

Note that there is no such penalty for a change of billing address,
which can be performed online at any time. In fact, there is no
requirement that billing address and phone number match geographically.
Here's another illogical Sprint PCS policy: Taxes and surcharges are
based on the billing address, not the area code. (My daughter changed
her billing address back to my home after discovering that these fees
were nearly double at her new address.) With SPCS encouraging online
invoicing and payment, the billing address can be meaningless.

> I suspect that the CSR today was either too lazy or too stupid to read my
> notes, even after I told her to, but I want to know what the official word is
> on moves and contract extensions...

Perhaps she resented being yelled at? ;-)

I, too, would like to know if anyone has managed to avoid such unfair
contract extensions.