I need to know EXACTLY how to get out of sprint

[kgarchar]

OK, so my mom agreed to get out of sprint if I can do it for free, (put all of our plans on at&t so it'll be nice and cheap for my part of the bill) but I'm not exactly sure what I should do.

Sprint is changing the rates on roaming min. from .50 cents to .69 cents a min. as we know when there is a change of contract you have a right to decline & break the contract.
Many of us did this when they changed the rate on the text messaging.

How exactly would I go about doing this. My mom isn't the best at talking her way out of stuff (when someone says they'll give her something free...which is what they'll do) so I kinda need to know what they'll say, and what she needs to say in order to do this. Has anyone recently gotten out of their contract. I need to do this like tomorrow so we can get the new phones asap, so i can get the iphone friday...so guys...some help?

 

[darwen]

It is actually quite simple. Say I want out cause you are going to charge me more to roam.

They will tell you: "...well, we can offer you..."
you say: "no, I want out!"

 

[kgarchar]

so they HAVE to let me out if I refuse, no matter what? and they won't charge me any extra AT ALL?

 

[greymouser]

You need to find out if you are still under their service contract. Unfortunately, I've been calling Sprint several times today, and it seems like that part of their automated call center isn't working, so you have to wait for customer support to pick up the call.

If you are still in your 2-year contract, it will cost you up to $200 to end your contract early. That is from the Sprint website. If you are no longer under the 2-year contract, it should be free. Check out the sprint website.

Go to apple's website and watch the setup video. It tells you how to sign up for your new account, including porting over your existing phone number. I could be wrong, but it sounds like this will automatically end your service with sprint.

One little warning; to sync up your apple to your iphone, you need to have OSX 10.4. I currently have 10.3 (worked fine, waiting for 10.5), so I'll have to add buying 10.4 to my purchase price.

If someone else has a way of getting out of a service plan for free (or for less than $200) post it here. I still have a year left with sprint myself.

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

 

[gauchogolfer]

If you are still in your 2-year contract, it will cost you up to $200 to end your contract early. That is from the Sprint website.

This is not true.

If Sprint changes the terms of the contract (i.e. by charging more for roaming) then you have a fixed amount of time to opt out of your contract at no charge, no matter where in your 2-year contract you are.

 

[kgarchar]

yeah i need to do this for free. I'm just looking for someone that had this done recently, to make 100% sure it'll work

 

[greymouser]

This is not true.

If Sprint changes the terms of the contract (i.e. by charging more for roaming) then you have a fixed amount of time to opt out of your contract at no charge, no matter where in your 2-year contract you are.

Thanks for correcting me. I didn't know this. How do we find out if they have changed the terms of my contract? I sure hope they changed something with mine recently.

Again thanks. You've given me hope that I might be able to save some money.

 

[kgarchar]

so i found out that I do have roaming free where it says "America - Roaming Included" can I change this?

 

[wako]

i think you are out of luck... the time has already passed to get out of your contract. Its been at least 2 or months months now since the changes. You are out of luck

 

[kgarchar]

nah it's effective august 1, I think i have like 2 days

 

[DVNIEL]

Sorry, I don't think you'll be able to do this. They changed the Terms and Conditions in January 2007 because of all the business they lost last year to that text message rate hike.

But even though, you wouldn't be able to use this as an excuse because first off.... you were never charged for roaming because you have free roaming. They are not raising any prices on anything that they are currently charging you. If it's in your contract to get free roaming, then the only way to do so is to remove that and actually start charging you. Sorry.

 

[Affe]

Sorry, I don't think you'll be able to do this. They changed the Terms and Conditions in January 2007 because of all the business they lost last year to that text message rate hike.

I am curious about this because would the terms of when you originally signed be in effect or the current terms?

But even though, you wouldn't be able to use this as an excuse because first off.... you were never charged for roaming because you have free roaming. They are not raising any prices on anything that they are currently charging you. If it's in your contract to get free roaming, then the only way to do so is to remove that and actually start charging you. Sorry.

Actually most of the plans before the last iteration of the "Fair and Flexible" rate plans did not include roaming. My mother had the Fair and Flexible plan with overages 100 minutes for $5. My brother has the Fair and Flexible with 50 minutes for $5 and he updated it to the 30 minutes for $5 w/free roaming.

 

[DVNIEL]

Understood. But like I said if you are not charged roaming, then this doesn't apply to you. If you have a plan that does charge for roaming, such as fair and flexible, then by all means go get your non-ETF cancellation.

You must abide by the current T&C because you were given the chance to agree or disagree with it in January, and you had 3 months to change your mind about staying with them. Since it is June and well over 3 months since January, we all abide by the new January 2007 Terms and Conditions

 

[DVNIEL]

I will be canceling with Sprint also... BUT... i have my own beef. They said I have to pay $200 for an ETF, but I read somewhere that if you "activated" with Sprint before a certain date, it's $150. I activated two months before that date, and I feel that I should only pay $150. I did renew my contract in November 2006, and thats why they feel i should pay $200. It was a renewal of contract, not a re-activation, nowhere was my phone deactivated. It does not say that if "start your agreement," because I feel that is completely different from activation. This is the following agreement:


"How do I determine my Service Agreement Termination fee amount?

If your agreement requires you to keep a phone active/maintain a line of service for a minimum term and you cancel a line of service before the term of the agreement ends, you will be responsible for a Service Agreement Termination fee.
If activated before 5/21/06, cancellation will result in a charge of $150 for each line of service canceled. If activated after 5/21/06, cancellation will result in a $200 charge for each line of service canceled. The charge will appear as a Service Agreement Termination fee in the Other Charges section of your bill.
You do not have to pay the fee if you terminate under our return policy or where the Terms and Conditions of your agreement allow you to do so without the fee."

 

[kgarchar]

is there any way i can get them to waive the charge because their service sucks? I have had 6 dropped calls today. I've used my phone 4 times

yes i had 2 conversations where the call was dropped twice

 

[DVNIEL]

is there any way i can get them to waive the charge because their service sucks? I have had 6 dropped calls today. I've used my phone 4 times

yes i had 2 conversations where the call was dropped twice

Sorry but, not a chance. If that were the case then every carrier would lose customers just to that reason alone.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

You need to find out if you are still under their service contract. Unfortunately, I've been calling Sprint several times today, and it seems like that part of their automated call center isn't working, so you have to wait for customer support to pick up the call.

I ran in to this too this evening. It took my mentioning "cancel contract" to be gotten to a live person. Instead of not available...

Spent close to 1 1/12 on the phone with them in a decent two way conversation. They did not try to bash the iPhone. They listened to my needs and desires. For my real needs, it was decided that a Moto Q at $50 or the Mogul at $350 (IIRC) might be good choices for my needs (I am willing to live with my Video iPod, iPod Nano, or iPod Shuffle for music - have no interest in the video aspect really), which are internet data via the phone.

They were also offering me the Sprint Sero plan (http://sprint.p.delivery.net/m/p/sprint/epc/epclanding.asp) which includes unlimited SMS thru the end of the month. $30 a month for 500 minutes, nights/weekends starting at 7PM, and unlimited data.

They really did try hard to get me to commit to a phone and a plan tonight. Just was not ready to sign in blood for two years without looking at the phones in detail. Might have jumped if they could promise me the Moto Q 2 phone that is due to ship next month.

Or if they could have given me the Mogul at the same Amazon price of the 8525. When I hinted at that, they mentioned the speed advantage of the EV-DO network over the Edge network.

All in all a great call about my concerns about missed calls, and delayed voice mails. Maybe the iPhone will long term make the rest of the carriers commit to serving concerns better in the future.

 

[deannnnn]

There is a place to find out about this... http://www.sprintusers.com

They have forums just like this.... it's the MacRumors for Sprint... haha. But I read the forums there too, and I've seen a lot of stuff like this... it is rare to be able to break a contract and not have to pay the fee.

Post over at SU and see.

 

[mulletman13]

I talked my way out of the contract expense a few years ago when a rate was changed on extra minutes -- it took forever and I had to go through a few people on the ladder before I finally got approval.

All in all, it's harder than cancelling from AOL... you have to go through so much rubbish and really come across like you're either cheap, or offended that they changed the rates.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Keep in mind some times "it is better to dance with the Devil you know, than the Devil you don't know". I am not sold on needing the iPod and video features of the iPhone. Visual Voice Mail would be nice. It is the internet abilities of the iPhone that have me going.

Sorry if I have gone off topic....

 

[darwen]

For my real needs, it was decided that a Moto Q at $50 or the Mogul at $350 (IIRC) might be good choices for my needs (I am willing to live with my Video iPod, iPod Nano, or iPod Shuffle for music - have no interest in the video aspect really), which are internet data via the phone.

They were also offering me the Sprint Sero plan (http://sprint.p.delivery.net/m/p/sprint/epc/epclanding.asp) which includes unlimited SMS thru the end of the month. $30 a month for 500 minutes, nights/weekends starting at 7PM, and unlimited data.

They really did try hard to get me to commit to a phone and a plan tonight. Just was not ready to sign in blood for two years without looking at the phones in detail. Might have jumped if they could promise me the Moto Q 2 phone that is due to ship next month.

You dont want the Moto Q. Windows mobile crashes like no other on it. Just my 2 cents.

 

[thekeef]

There was actually a recent Digg article on this: http://consumerist.com/consumer/app...cellphone-so-you-can-get-an-iphone-272305.php


1. Sell your cellphone contract.

2. Complain that service isn't up to par, file complaints with PUC, FTC, BBB, AG and cc them to the company.

3. Wait for the company to change its rates (like text-messaging), then call to cancel based on the material change of contract. These are usually for the default rates and you won't be able to cancel if you have a package that takes care of it... hint: so get rid of the package and call back.... Here's some recent rate changes and cancellation success stories:
Sprint
AT&T/Cingular
Verizon
T-Mobile
US Cellular

4. Move to an area outside the plan's coverage area.

5. Join the armed forces - you'll need to fax in a copy of your orders.

6. Die - someone will need to fax in your death certificate on your behalf. You'll be dead, but at least you're in heaven. iPhone heaven.

 

[/dev/toaster]

Heres an idea, how about you meet your contract obligations that you agreed to when you signed the contract. The other option is to pay the cancelation fee that you also agreed to.

Seriously ...

 

[wongulous]

Here's my suggestion as someone who has worked in the industry for providers including Sprint/Nextel. It will involve at least 2-3 calls.

Call #1: Call Sprint customer service and request to set your Sprint account billing to eBilling (online bill access). If asked why, just say so that you can save trees. You may get a bill credit. Thank the person politely and hang up.

Call #2: This is the "difficult" call...

After finding an area on their coverage map that is not covered such as Alaska (check http://coverage.sprintpcs.com/IMPACT.jsp to find a place), finding an address within that area, and double-checking that the address is not covered, write down that address.

Call Sprint customer service and advise them that you have been moving and will be trekking off to Alaska finally in a couple of days (have specifics ready to recite). Ask them to check how good the coverage is there. They will say there is no coverage. Pause and be confused for a moment, and see what they can offer you. If they do not offer to cancel your service, tell them that you aren't going to pay for a service that you can't use, and you don't have anyone to give your phone to back in Alabama (or whereever you live). They may ask you for proof of moving, but you aren't moved yet... what proof do you have? You're moving into an extended-stay hotel for a few weeks while you find a place. You have no paper proof to fax in. Persist that you do not want this service or contract until they either cancel it for you, or transfer you to a special "retention" representative, or they may call them a "supervisor." If they

Start over again with the story and persist until you get out of the contract. They'll likely either cut it off in 2-7 days (your timeframe stated), or else at the end of your current billing cycle. It'll be prorated (only a partial bill) if ended before your bill cycle end date. One way or another, you'll get a final bill that you'll have to pay. Since you're on eBilling, you'll be able to log on and check your final bill in a few weeks (don't forget!).

Call #3: Call customer service, pay your bill over the phone and double-check that everything is taken care of. You may want to block your caller ID before you call (*67).

Tada! Bye Sprint.