News stories, blogs (such as the ones at CNET [1] and the Consumerist [2]), and numerous postings across the Internet, reveal that Sprint-Nextel is terminating customer service contracts because they don't want customers who call constantly to dispute bills or ask questions. You know it is a sad day for competition when a wireless carrier would rather terminate a contract than deal with someone who calls customer service. Isn't Sprint-Nextel one of the companies competing for a share of the market?
The company's termination letter sets the customer's account balance to $0, and they will not charge the Early Termination Fee that is almost always charged if customers try to end service before the contract date is up (see our How to Cancel your Cell Phone Contract [3] guide for more info). In addition, the carrier will allow customers to port their phone numbers to another carrier if they do so within one month of receiving a termination letter.
Most letters were sent out June 29; giving customers until July 30 to port their numbers. There's NO mention in the letter about what you should do with the expensive phone you purchased that only works on the Sprint or Nextel network and NO offer
to cover the difference between the time left on your contract and the new two-year contract for which you would most likely need to sign up. Remember, you are also free to go on a prepaid plan where you pay as you go and not be under a contract.
You are NOT entitled to receive this free pass to drop the carrier unless you received a letter telling you the company no longer wants to provide service to you. If you are unhappy with the service and have not received the letter, you will be charged the full Early Termination Fee. However, if you are unhappy with the company, it sounds like all you need to do is keep calling customer service and the company will ask you to leave.
If wireless companies would just eliminate the Early Termination Fee, customers who feel their needs are not being met would just terminate the service; rendering both the customer and the company with a win-win situation.
So what Sprint-Nextel has left us wondering is:
- Will Sprint-Nextel prevent these customers from ever using the service again?
- What happens to the equipment you have purchased that may be unique to this merged carrier?
- Market competition was supposed to drive down prices and make carriers more customer-friendly. With all of the mergers, is Sprint-Nextel's action an indication of what we will see with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless?
- What will happen to all of the minutes you have left on your Sprint-Nextel contract?
- Is there a possibility you could be blacklisted from the other major carriers?
Will this action dissuade you from ever calling customer service to dispute billing problems?
Let us know how you feel about Sprint-Nextel terminating customer contracts--especially those of you who received the letters. The public will want to know the answers to the questions we posed and read your personal stories related to this most unusual action.
Also, don't forget to check out our resources on Canceling your Cell Phone Contract [3].