Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
My family have used 4 phones on SprintPCS for 7 years. 2 1/2 years ago
my son started his first job, after college and moved into his own
account, from mine.
He has paid his bills on time (they debit his bank account each month)
and uses his phone for work which quite often means he exceeds the
anytime minutes (Yes I know the new plans would fix this). This evening
his phone went dead and he called SprintPCS (landline) and they told
him he had exceeded some internal unannounced limit on his account
(around $200 I believe) so w/o notice they cut his phone service
PERIOD.
My question is why would SprintPCS act like this to a good customer who
pays on time and for whom they have permission to directly charge his
bank account? Especially when they could have called him up and offered
him the new flexible minute plans (his contract has just expired).
These new plans would also have meant that the money SprintPCS would be
charging him each month would fall considerably.
End result one good customer is really peeved. Add insult to this by
SprintPCS telling him they are unable to immediately reactivate his
account. It takes some time they say.
I've suggested he call them up and insist to speak to the "retention"
dept, as he clearly is considering ditching SprintPCS for another
service and has no contract now to hold him back. Also annoys me with
my 3 phones. How really silly can companies be.....And my contract has
just expired also.....
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
On 12 Jul 2005 17:04:35 -0700, ian@jardine.net wrote:
>My family have used 4 phones on SprintPCS for 7 years. 2 1/2 years ago
>my son started his first job, after college and moved into his own
>account, from mine.
>
>He has paid his bills on time (they debit his bank account each month)
>and uses his phone for work which quite often means he exceeds the
>anytime minutes (Yes I know the new plans would fix this). This evening
>his phone went dead and he called SprintPCS (landline) and they told
>him he had exceeded some internal unannounced limit on his account
>(around $200 I believe) so w/o notice they cut his phone service
>PERIOD.
>My question is why would SprintPCS act like this to a good customer who
>pays on time and for whom they have permission to directly charge his
>bank account? Especially when they could have called him up and offered
>him the new flexible minute plans (his contract has just expired).
>These new plans would also have meant that the money SprintPCS would be
>charging him each month would fall considerably.
>
>End result one good customer is really peeved. Add insult to this by
>SprintPCS telling him they are unable to immediately reactivate his
>account. It takes some time they say.
>
>I've suggested he call them up and insist to speak to the "retention"
>dept, as he clearly is considering ditching SprintPCS for another
>service and has no contract now to hold him back. Also annoys me with
>my 3 phones. How really silly can companies be.....And my contract has
>just expired also.....
Is it possible that, because of limited credit history, his account
had a spending limit (ASL) on it, and he triggered that limit? If so,
it's there to protect both him and Sprint. That wouldn't have been
"some internal unannounced limit", though. He would/should have known
about it, so maybe it was something else.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 17:04:35 -0700, ian wrote:
> My family have used 4 phones on SprintPCS for 7 years. 2 1/2 years ago
> my son started his first job, after college and moved into his own
> account, from mine.
>
> He has paid his bills on time (they debit his bank account each month)
> and uses his phone for work which quite often means he exceeds the
> anytime minutes (Yes I know the new plans would fix this). This evening
> his phone went dead and he called SprintPCS (landline) and they told
> him he had exceeded some internal unannounced limit on his account
> (around $200 I believe) so w/o notice they cut his phone service
> PERIOD.
> My question is why would SprintPCS act like this to a good customer who
> pays on time and for whom they have permission to directly charge his
> bank account? Especially when they could have called him up and offered
> him the new flexible minute plans (his contract has just expired).
> These new plans would also have meant that the money SprintPCS would be
> charging him each month would fall considerably.
>
> End result one good customer is really peeved. Add insult to this by
> SprintPCS telling him they are unable to immediately reactivate his
> account. It takes some time they say.
>
> I've suggested he call them up and insist to speak to the "retention"
> dept, as he clearly is considering ditching SprintPCS for another
> service and has no contract now to hold him back. Also annoys me with
> my 3 phones. How really silly can companies be.....And my contract has
> just expired also.....
The limit is most likely the amount sprintpcs believes he is capable of
paying back and is what they are willing to risk in-case he defaults
on his bill. It is set so that he can not spend more then they believe he
can payback for his protection and theirs. This limit is not unknown and
is published in sprintpcs online system (once you login it should be in
the upper right corner). Also this limit should have been told to him when
he signed up. Usually sprintpcs asks for such people (esp young people
with no credit history) to give a security deposit and then this limit is
based off that security deposit and your monthly bill. Keep in mind that
this is a good thing and that if your son is fully capable of paying off
his $200 dollar bill he should do so as he uses the phone. Sprintpcs
lets you make payments anytime during the month which will prevent this
from happening again.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
If he was paying his bills on-time, then there is no excuse for Sprint
shutting off his service. Verizon does not do this. You have every right to
be extremely pissed!!!
"Paul Miner" <pminer@elrancho.invalid> wrote in message
news:32s8d19sscfk8391cd7v31nree0mebst7q@4ax.com...
> On 12 Jul 2005 17:04:35 -0700, ian@jardine.net wrote:
>
>>My family have used 4 phones on SprintPCS for 7 years. 2 1/2 years ago
>>my son started his first job, after college and moved into his own
>>account, from mine.
>>
>>He has paid his bills on time (they debit his bank account each month)
>>and uses his phone for work which quite often means he exceeds the
>>anytime minutes (Yes I know the new plans would fix this). This evening
>>his phone went dead and he called SprintPCS (landline) and they told
>>him he had exceeded some internal unannounced limit on his account
>>(around $200 I believe) so w/o notice they cut his phone service
>>PERIOD.
>>My question is why would SprintPCS act like this to a good customer who
>>pays on time and for whom they have permission to directly charge his
>>bank account? Especially when they could have called him up and offered
>>him the new flexible minute plans (his contract has just expired).
>>These new plans would also have meant that the money SprintPCS would be
>>charging him each month would fall considerably.
>>
>>End result one good customer is really peeved. Add insult to this by
>>SprintPCS telling him they are unable to immediately reactivate his
>>account. It takes some time they say.
>>
>>I've suggested he call them up and insist to speak to the "retention"
>>dept, as he clearly is considering ditching SprintPCS for another
>>service and has no contract now to hold him back. Also annoys me with
>>my 3 phones. How really silly can companies be.....And my contract has
>>just expired also.....
>
> Is it possible that, because of limited credit history, his account
> had a spending limit (ASL) on it, and he triggered that limit? If so,
> it's there to protect both him and Sprint. That wouldn't have been
> "some internal unannounced limit", though. He would/should have known
> about it, so maybe it was something else.
>
> --
> Paul Miner
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:33:59 -0700, Mij Adyaw wrote:
> If he was paying his bills on-time, then there is no excuse for Sprint
> shutting off his service. Verizon does not do this. You have every right to
> be extremely pissed!!!
>
It wasn't about paying his plan bill he was being charged $200 dollars in
overage fees. If you rack up a large amount of overages on Verizon and you
have weak credit they will suspend the account till you PAY FOR YOUR
OVERAGES. This all depends on your credit score when you sign up at any
provider. Sprintpcs just prevented him from increasing the overage amount.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
Out of courtesy Sprint should have contacted him and requested payment of
his overage within several days. It would have been a much more palatable
option than terminating his service.
"Central" <spam2@central.2y.net> wrote in message
newsan.2005.07.13.02.40.02.429859@central.2y.net...
> On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 19:33:59 -0700, Mij Adyaw wrote:
>
>> If he was paying his bills on-time, then there is no excuse for Sprint
>> shutting off his service. Verizon does not do this. You have every right
>> to
>> be extremely pissed!!!
>>
>
> It wasn't about paying his plan bill he was being charged $200 dollars in
> overage fees. If you rack up a large amount of overages on Verizon and you
> have weak credit they will suspend the account till you PAY FOR YOUR
> OVERAGES. This all depends on your credit score when you sign up at any
> provider. Sprintpcs just prevented him from increasing the overage amount.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
Yes I acknowledge some of what you and others have said...but.....
Why cut off service w/o notice? What an insult.
Especially when authority to debit a bank account has been given. With
all bills paid on time over 2 1/2 years would it not be better
corporate policy to call the customer for a chat b4 cutting off
serivice w/o notice? Especially when the amount owed to SprintPCS is
actually an agregious over charge, per the new plans just installed
days ago by SprintPCS which probably would have reduced the billing by
maybe $100?
Did SprintPCS actually update their credit rating on my son over the
last 2 1/2 years? I would probably assume they didn't despite the
history of good payments etc.
Sounds to me that SprintPCS is very inflexible, to their own
disadvantage. And why cannot the service be resumed quickly when
SprintPCS is contacted by the customer who offers to make any
reasonable payment immediately?
Nope sorry. This is decidely bad account management period.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
On 12 Jul 2005 21:26:48 -0700, ian@jardine.net wrote:
>Yes I acknowledge some of what you and others have said...but.....
>Why cut off service w/o notice? What an insult.
>Especially when authority to debit a bank account has been given. With
>all bills paid on time over 2 1/2 years would it not be better
>corporate policy to call the customer for a chat b4 cutting off
>serivice w/o notice? Especially when the amount owed to SprintPCS is
>actually an agregious over charge, per the new plans just installed
>days ago by SprintPCS which probably would have reduced the billing by
>maybe $100?
There you go comparing the plan he's on to the rest of the plans that
might be available. The only plan that matters is the one he's on. I'm
certainly not seeing any "agregious over charge".
>Did SprintPCS actually update their credit rating on my son over the
>last 2 1/2 years? I would probably assume they didn't despite the
>history of good payments etc.
>Sounds to me that SprintPCS is very inflexible, to their own
>disadvantage. And why cannot the service be resumed quickly when
>SprintPCS is contacted by the customer who offers to make any
>reasonable payment immediately?
>
>Nope sorry. This is decidely bad account management period.
I'm also seeing a healthy dose of bad customer behavior. As a parent
to the individual in question, you might want to take this opportunity
to impress upon your son the importance of good credit and the
importance of actually reading and making sure you/he understand the
details of your plan, especially the billing section. If the account
has an Account Spending Limit, it wouldn't have been a secret to both
of you.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
Mij Adyaw wrote:
> The problem is that $200 is chump-change. If a person gets a credit card, I
> believe that lowest spending limit is $1000.
*sigh*
No, it's not chump change.
I bill out at $98 per month, average, for my *two* lines. I could probably
activate a third line right now, and *still* not go over $200 per month.
The only time I have EVER gone over my spending limit (which, in fact, *is*
$200) -- in four years of being a Sprint customer -- was when I activated my
line of service in June 2004 and got billed a month in advance plus a
prorated month. Even though my wife is on an old $30/month plan, we got
dinged enough for me to go over.
Whether or not $200 is enough depends on your individual usage. It may be
chump change for some people, but jeez... who spends $1000 on cell phones
that aren't used for business purposes?!
And there are credit cards with lower credit limits with $1000, too.
--
JustThe.net - Steve Sobol / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Coming to you from Southern California's High Desert, where the
temperatures are as high as the gas prices! / 888.480.4NET (4638)
"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table" --Anna Nalick, "Breathe"
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
ian@jardine.net wrote:
> I don't know what limit I have on my account and it does not show on
> any of the online account pages I have checked.
Logging on to SprintPCS.com with my phone number and password, I see a
section over on the right, "My Invoice and Payments." This is on the page
that comes up after I enter the phone number and password and click the
submit button.
--
JustThe.net - Steve Sobol / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Coming to you from Southern California's High Desert, where the
temperatures are as high as the gas prices! / 888.480.4NET (4638)
"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table" --Anna Nalick, "Breathe"
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 16:08:10 -0700, Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
wrote:
>Mij Adyaw wrote:
>> The problem is that $200 is chump-change. If a person gets a credit card, I
>> believe that lowest spending limit is $1000.
>
>*sigh*
>
>No, it's not chump change.
>
>I bill out at $98 per month, average, for my *two* lines. I could probably
>activate a third line right now, and *still* not go over $200 per month.
>
>The only time I have EVER gone over my spending limit (which, in fact, *is*
>$200) -- in four years of being a Sprint customer -- was when I activated my
>line of service in June 2004 and got billed a month in advance plus a
>prorated month. Even though my wife is on an old $30/month plan, we got
>dinged enough for me to go over.
>
>Whether or not $200 is enough depends on your individual usage. It may be
>chump change for some people, but jeez... who spends $1000 on cell phones
>that aren't used for business purposes?!
>
>And there are credit cards with lower credit limits with $1000, too.
Yup. My 18-y/o son has a card with a $500 limit. It used to be $300
when he first got it about 18 months ago.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
Quote
I'm also seeing a healthy dose of bad customer behavior. As a parent
to the individual in question, you might want to take this opportunity
to impress upon your son the importance of good credit and the
importance of actually reading and making sure you/he understand the
details of your plan, especially the billing section. If the account
has an Account Spending Limit, it wouldn't have been a secret to both
of you.
--
Paul Miner
Unquote
You are off track with these comment.
The individual concerned has an excellent job, excellent pay has taken
and nearly completely repaid a whole car loan and overall has a really
excellent credit rating. His overage on his plan is caused 100% by
travel on business (which is reimbursed to him). So your words are off
base.
SprintPCS has now apologized to him as they say that policy is to
contact the individual b4 turning off the phone. Now the phone is back
on though minutes will be charged for the last 3-4 days of his current
month at 40 Cents per minute. He is not reupping for a new plan
immediately as he is considering Cingular.
FI I appear to have no account spending limit, as none shows on any
screen. And when actively travelling it's not easy to keep checking the
amount of the latest bill accruing, esecially if away from a PC for a
few days.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)
On 14 Jul 2005 05:47:11 -0700, ian@jardine.net wrote:
>Quote
>I'm also seeing a healthy dose of bad customer behavior. As a parent
>to the individual in question, you might want to take this opportunity
>to impress upon your son the importance of good credit and the
>importance of actually reading and making sure you/he understand the
>details of your plan, especially the billing section. If the account
>has an Account Spending Limit, it wouldn't have been a secret to both
>of you.
>
>--
>Paul Miner
>Unquote
>
>You are off track with these comment.
>The individual concerned has an excellent job,
Not applicable.
>excellent pay
Not applicable.
>has taken and nearly completely repaid a whole car loan
Not applicable.
>and overall has a really excellent credit rating.
Not applicable now. This might have been a factor when the account was
created, but Sprint doesn't monitor anyone's credit rating on an
ongoing basis. You really wouldn't want them to, for several reasons.
>His overage on his plan is caused 100% by travel on business (which
>is reimbursed to him).
Not applicable.
>So your words are off base.
Looks like I was right on, to me.
>SprintPCS has now apologized to him as they say that policy is to
>contact the individual b4 turning off the phone. Now the phone is back
>on though minutes will be charged for the last 3-4 days of his current
>month at 40 Cents per minute. He is not reupping for a new plan
>immediately as he is considering Cingular.
A person should always explore their options.
>FI I appear to have no account spending limit, as none shows on any
>screen. And when actively travelling it's not easy to keep checking the
>amount of the latest bill accruing, esecially if away from a PC for a
>few days.
*4 doesn't work in your (or his) area? Also check out *3, if you
haven't already.
an.2005.07.13.02.40.02.429859@central.2y.net...