Shouldn't Sprint have to pay the customers an early termination fee?

Question

I just read about sprint terminating service because of "excessive" customer service complaints... If these people paid their bill on time then they shouldn't have their service cut. The fact is, if these people called so much then they obviously have problems that need to be addressed... Most companies charge $150-200 to terminate a contract early, and I feel they should have to pay those customers that fee. Any opinions?

I DO know how cell companies work, and the fact that they "give" these phones away is regardless of the facts at hand.. They give these phones away as a ploy to bring in customers. These "$200" phones only cost these companies pennies in the long run. They brought that "loss" of the phone on themselves when they bait and reel with those phone offers...

Also, the reason these people call the customer service line shouldn't matter. That's what customer service is there for, to answer questions and field complaints from the customers to improve their service. If they can't handle it they should get out of the business..

mainevent: you just stated my point exactly.. the phones cost these companies pennies in the long run BECAUSE THEY LURE YOU INTO CONTRACTS AND MAKE THE MONEY BACK... Yes, up front they cost money, but that's the point- get people to sign a 2 year contract so they can get even more money from you in the long run. I will admit that you are correct that people wouldn't be buying if they charged for the phones and eliminated contracts, personally I would rather have the cheaper phone and sign the contract since I'm going to use the phone for the duration anyway...

Answer 1

Sprint is closing out the accounts without further charges to those 1,000 people who were terminated. Those affected will not spend one dime on their termination.

Answer 2

NO. Sprint probably gave them a phone that cost them $200+ which they used for a time. Then Sprint canceled their account, waived the early term fee to protect against someone keeping the $200 phone and disconnecting their service, LET THEM KEEP THE $200 PHONE, and then made them owe nothing (bill wise) yet you still think Sprint owes them something else? Get real. Learn how cell companies work.


Edit: "These "$200" phones only cost these companies pennies in the long run." Again, proving you know nothing about how the cell industry works. Cell phone companies BUY these phones from companies like Motorola, Nokia, and Kyocera. They don't pull them out of Cracker Jack boxes and then turn around and try to sell them to consumers for pennies all to "lure customers into buying a phone and signing a 2 year contract." They do this because if they can get a guarantee they can have you as a customer for 2 years, they can make their money back. Did you know cell phone companies don't make a single cent of profit off you the customer until AFTER the entire first YEAR you have service with them? The cost per add is enormous, over $300+ for every new customer they sign up. I will agree with you that cell phone companies like Verizon and Sprint have devalued the cell phone cost by offering free phones though. But if they didn't there would be people here complaining that they had to pay $200 for their cell phone up front if they didn't. Pick your poison I guess. I think it would be hilarious if every cell carrier in the world started charging the cost of the phone to carrier up front and waived contracts completely. You'd see the light if that were ever to happen.

Answer 3

I guess that they did it because of a reason. Many people are annoying because they want to get free stuff and they know that the more they complain the more likely they are to get stuff for free. I have had sprint for 4 years and I do have to say that I call customer service about every other month, I use their automated service quite often though.

I am not defending sprint, but I do have to say that some of these people could had been opportunistic.

My understanding is that they are terminating the contract and not charging these people for their last bill. Is this right?

Answer 4

> Sprint is the only company who does not prorate their termination fee. Supposedly, Sprint and T-Mobile were supposed to be prorating and/or reducing their termination fees earlier this year. I don't have specific contract verbage, but you can probably search online for this info. T-Mobile is actually a staggered reduction - not a prorate. But if you still have at least 6 months on the contract, there is no reduction.

Answer 5

They aren't stopping service for any missed payments. According to the story I saw. Nearly 50% of calls were repeat attempts to get info from other accounts and most of the rest were resolved issues that customers thought could be resolved differently by speaking to another service rep. Apparently, only a small percentage are legit problems and they usually don't call back.

Answer 6

Agreed

Answer 7

I agree with you, but it probably wont happen unless they bring a class action law suit. They should probably be happy, now they can get a good company like AT&T.