Hey I just want to let everyone know I uploaded some Document that I've kept in storage, just incase Sprint was to pull something like they are doing now.

I had a credit on my account, and when the conversion happened, my credit soon became money Sprint said I owed. I eventually got them to credit the amount back, however I'm missing more and more money every month due to Sprint charging extra fees. Im not happy. I do hope someone files some kind of class action against them.

Let me know if the documents help.

Sean B.

document located at:
http://www.01mb.com/pioneer/

So I just got off the phone with these guys. Egads, a half hour call with long periods of silence. No elevator music or anything, just long periods of dead-silence. I kept having to say "are you there?". They were -- and *eventually* they did wipe this out from my bill. They said they are working on exempting all phones under the pioneer plan, but it would take 1-2 "billing cycles" and that i would have to call back AGAIN to remove the charges for the next 1-2 billing cycles. Argh. Anyway, looks like threat of legal action (or ongoing legal action) has made them clear this up. :-)

I wonder if the marketing guy that signed for this "$0 for life" deal still works for the company? I bet they rue the day they made that deal. :-)

Can you think of ANY other company or industry that has the you-know-what to ask...no mandate....its customers to "reimburse" it for fees and taxes foisted upon the corporate entity, and then they MARK IT UP on top of that! What they are asking for is nothing less than, "hey, we get taxed on our profits...we want you to reimburse us for us having to pay tax and we need some extra profit on top of that so we can pay the additional tax on the money we collect to reimburse us!"

A specific example here in Texas is that Sprint has asked for a 1% reimbursement for the new Texas Franchise Tax (a "revenue" tax on all businesses in Texas in lieu of an income tax). Sprint is collecting 1% of the customer's gross bill. The Texas Franchise Tax is no more than 0.7% on Sprint's Texas revenue.

I too have the plan, as if they tried this before (check howard forums dot com), I really think this is thier way of flushing out these Pioneer Plan accounts. Stand up! We have to keep our ends of the contract, they should keep thiers. United we stand, sheeple we fall(ow)!

Ev

I also have a Pioneer Program account with Sprint.

They changed their billing system in Feb/Mar 2008 and the new system does not adhere to the terms of the Pioneer Program. Beginning with the new billing system, I've been charged repeatedly (and in violation of the terms of my contract) for call-forwarding. I've been on the phone with the regular customer service line for Sprint, in my local retail store, and now with Sprint's executive customer service. While they have (so far) been willing to credit my account for the mistaken charges, no one has been able to provide a permanent solution as yet.

To make matters worse, since this is ~12 year old account, I can't find my contract. I do, however, have the original Pioneer Program welcome booklet which details some of the plan, as well as a press release detailing the plan and several bills indicating that I am a pioneer plan account.

I'm still hoping that the executive customer service team will be able to resolve this issue, but as of my last conversation with them (2 hours ago) it doesn't sound promising.

We too have the Pioneer Plan on one phone with Sprint. We have added other lines throughout the past 10 years, but have had awful customer service during that time, and finally, FINALLY, we decided to get rid of all but the Pioneer phone line. We thought it would be a good backup and we use it occasionally for guests in town or in the car just in case. Well, I too just got an email saying that my 'autopay' transaction would NOT occur this month and that I have to pay manually. I am P'O'd to find these are surcharges on a plan that cost $0.00 as we agreed to back in 1997. On top of that, I now need to remember to pay it manually every month and this free phone now costs nearly $12 a year plus probably 1/2 hour of my time every month to be sure it gets paid manually. I figured letting the computer handle an autopay (or set up an ACH withdrawal from my checking) should be covered by the $0.96, right? I called Sprint 5 times today, and the first 4 times I was disconnected before ever reaching a human! I tried different options, waited patiently only to be greeted by a dial tone again. Their stock SHOULD be lower than ever, and I don't think the new CEO can dig his way out of this one. Pioneer plan customers need to make a voice together! I suppose $12/year times a few thousand is more than 'chump change', but would it break their bank? Thanks for listening... no one else will.

Gee Sandy, thanks for your blog. I don't have SPRINT but it's kind of an eye opener to help you realize that you REALLY do need to look at the extra charges on your bills. I thought the surcharge of 'just because iwanna' was normal. And I thought it was really SWEET of SPRINT to send you the copy of your bill at 'no charge'- WOW you got the royal service I guess.