yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[EVO 4G General] tim.tahtinen:
Here's a summary of this thread, for those of you just joining us.

On September 9th, Sprint increased their Administrative Charge from $0.99/line to $1.50/line, and made changes to the Terms and Conditions, including requiring that any and all arbitration go through JAMS. Both of these changes could be construed as material.

According to the Terms and Conditions (emphasis added):

However, in regards to both changes, Sprint is now no longer allowing customers to cancel their Service without an ETF.

1) Sprint now claims that the "up to $1.99/line" fine print found in Sprint's Welcome Letter and in advertisements on Sprint bills allows them to raise the fee up to $1.99 without penalty. However, this directly contradicts the Terms and Conditions above. It has been discussed that the fine print was originally intended to prevent sticker shock on a customer's first bill, but it is now being used as a hammer to nullify their Terms and Conditions.

Sprint has now added this language directly to the Terms and Conditions, this time without notifying customers of the change, so it's pretty safe to say that there is no convincing Sprint reps that this change is material.

2) Sprint claims outright that the arbitration clause change is not material, despite legal precedent to the contrary.

It is highly unlikely that Sprint customers will be allowed, at this point, to cancel their Services because of these material changes without penalty, given the response given by Sprint reps to recent customer contact.

Contacting Customer Care is definitely a YMMV situation at this point.

If you wish to contest these changes to Sprint, feel free to use this rant on my website to learn more these changes and for some suggested tactics when speaking to Customer Care.

If you wish to contest these changes to someone other than Sprint

, I would recommend you file complaints with federal agencies (the Federal Communications Commission, your state's Attorney General), consumer advocacy agencies (the Better Business Bureau, The Consumerist), and the CTIA for Sprint's violations of following their own Terms and Conditions.
[EVO 4G General] LexLuger82:
Bull****
[EVO 4G General] Vega:
definitely worked for me. enjoying my epic touch because of it just sold my og evo for more that was the epic for a new contract though.
[EVO 4G General] enzojrc:
So pretty much now I can't get out of the contract? I am lost as some people are saying yes we can, some are saying now we can't.
[EVO 4G General] iwin2000:
You can, just go hire a lawyer to sue Sprint over the discrepancies in their ToS. They'll probably settle with you by allowing you to cancel without ETF.
[EVO 4G General] enzojrc:
Nah, by the end of that case my fees would likely be more than the cost of ETF lol.

I just wondered if I call them now and go the TOS route if I can get the cancel, oh well..

THANKS!!
[EVO 4G General] darkflame:
Heheh my g/f works for a law firm. I had her take my contract to her boss for a quick review and he too is saying that the 1.50$ change is material and that arbitration is material too. He said you have to talk to their legal department because retentions doesn't want to risk letting someone go just for playing the lawyer card.

My next question for him will be if I have to take sprint to court if I can have him agree to set my fees that if I win, he'll charge me 4,000$ and if I lose he'll charge me like 500$ or something lol and then tell the judge i'm taking sprint to court for 4G's for lawyer costs (which will all go to him) :) maybe I can get a kick back since it seems that's how these shady telcoms are working these days.
[EVO 4G General] john21511:
I think it says in the contract you can't take them to court you have to send a letter than go to arbitration.
[EVO 4G General] One4mNoWhere:
I did get them to waive my line our of the family plan that I have, probably going to get the SII. I won't pay anything if I send my lovely eve in or else cough up 90 bucks, my g/f said she can get more than that for me on ebay. You do have to keep calling back and be strong in your argument but not rude to the sups, don't even bother with the reps because they can't do anything about it. My question now is that Why is sprint wanting to charge like Verizon and ATT but their service is no where compared to those two.
[EVO 4G General] Jjday7:
No disrespect to anyone but why are people asking why sprint is doing things like the other two big carriers but not providing the same service. Well it really isn't helping the situation when those people then resign with all the new terms being accepted. If your against what sprint is doing then buying the new galaxy s2 with new terms really doesn't make sense, does it? Being stuck on sprint with a 350 cancellation fee would be shooting yourself in the foot and will put you in a situation where you'll be at a loss when trying to get out of contract down the road. It would make more sense to buy the phone on eBay and selling your phone to recoup some cost. That way there is no commitment other than what you already have.

There is no way I'm going to let sprint have me by the balls for 350. I hardly even get any service with them and data speeds are as slow as metro pcs.
[EVO 4G General] packattack12:
+1...good call, unless your switching carriers it doesn't make sense
[EVO 4G General] One4mNoWhere:
i guess the opportunity presented it self and I wanted to get the phone. am not complaining act my paying for 4g and not getting the service.
[EVO 4G General] ckoadiyn:
It isn't for 4g service anymore if you look at your bill its premium data and all smart phones on sprint have the 10$ charge
[EVO 4G General] One4mNoWhere:
Ok they gave it a better name, still doesn't mean half of us get good service.
[EVO 4G General] ckoadiyn:
Lol true true you get what you pay for tho maybe if they charged 30$ like VZW many of us would have better speeds but then they wouldn't have a leg up on the competition in price lol
[EVO 4G General] LexLuger82:
Paying a lawyer just to do that is more than the etf.
[EVO 4G General] bobthemarley:
Verizons 30$ data dollar data plan really isn't that much more compared to sprint's data plan with 2 lines on a family plan.

Sprint: Cheapest plan for smart phones $140 + 20$(premium data plan x2)

Verizon: 100$ for like 400 min. and unlimited texting + (60$ x2 2gb data plan)

Verizon gives you less for the same price but I don't need 1500 min. and i've found that i use less than 1 gb a month so it's worth it to me for better service.
[EVO 4G General] ckoadiyn:
Ur forgetting Sprint gives u free vvm VZW gotta pay for it and Sprint gives u free nav vzw charges for it I know the nav does make a diff but whatever and sprints cheapest is 130 I thought
[EVO 4G General] bobthemarley:
i guess it might be 130 but I'm fine with google navigation but i think 10$ is worth it.
[EVO 4G General] DirtyShroomz:
400 shared family and no unlimited calling to an any cell as well as nights at 9 instead of 7? I'd go over in 2 hours and i didn't even know they had a 400 minute family plan...
[EVO 4G General] bobthemarley:
I guess we have different needs but it's very unlikely to go over unless everyone's calling at the same time.
[EVO 4G General] loumoli:
Just got off the phone with sprint and they told me that admin fee increase will not void your contract :mad: So no early termination :( I have two phones on seasonal stand by and still no go.
[EVO 4G General] MaxCarnage:
400 minutes? lol my wife would burn through that so fast. ATT used to rape me in minutes, was very glad to get Sprint for the unlimited plan.
[EVO 4G General] austin420:
fo realz. me, wife, and s.i.l. use about 8500 minutes average. funny, its normally only 300 or so of the 1500 anytime and the rest is basically mobile to mobile.
[EVO 4G General] daryldc1991:
I will definitely be calling sprint to cancel tomorrow!
[EVO 4G General] LexLuger82:
You can't do it
[EVO 4G General] KB112:
Yeah I am pretty sure this has been locked down.
[EVO 4G General] bobthemarley:
Yea it's been locked down my account has been looked over by someone named Heather. I know i sound like a dbag but i'm gonna roam so much their verizon's gonna pay me. I'm sick of Sprint treating me badly and telling me lies Oh our LEGAL department said so, so Go Away.
[EVO 4G General] DirtyShroomz:
Itys
[EVO 4G General] blindrage69:
Huh who what whats an eft?
[EVO 4G General] augy:
This is going way back but I'd really like you (DirtyShroomz) to stand up and admit that you were wrong and arrogant in your assertion that yearly upgrades were guaranteed to ten year or longer customers.

You also stated that you'd be willing to add the words guaranteed yearly upgrade on my account. You still willing to do that now that SP is going away?
[EVO 4G General] ImCray:
Nbd. Unless, I see a difference.
[EVO 4G General] kkryter:
I've been watching this ( and other similar ) threads for the last couple of weeks and at this point I'm afraid that I waited too long. Interesting thing that I just saw though, it appears that this has now gotten a bit of 'national attention' as there was a link to an article in the daily news letter that I receive from MSNBC every morning. I wonder what the effect of this increased attention will be?

http://broadcaster.msnbc.msn.com/t?r=10&c=9594&l=109&ctl=5C6E1:9F6E8B73BF35A8762CEB76003D12D142&
[EVO 4G General] DirtyShroomz:
I do apologize, things change. They were guaranteed to ten year customers for the last I think 5, 6 years? Unfortunately I know exactly why this program has disappeared and I myself as an employee have lost my yearly upgrade too. Sucks, but I prefer losing that then having my data capped or throttled. Hopefully that doesn't change too much as they are capping hotspot data now.
[EVO 4G General] whoiswes:
This.

I've been an ardent defender of Sprint as we've been customers for nearly 5 years, but their attitude over the past 9 months has been pretty dismaying. I was going to drop my 5 lines and re-up on a new EPRP plan, but now with TMobile's value plans being available, I will most likely jump ship from Sprint at the earliest opportunity and switch. I can't justify Verizon's arm and leg rates and after my last stint with AT&T will never use them for anything again. TMobile has been a great carrier for me in the past and I've never had issues with them.

Thankfully I have only 6 months left on my contract...regardless, it will be interesting to see how this pans out. I will be watching very closely over the next week....
[EVO 4G General] godgib:
So i tried this yesterday, with no luck. They told me that the 50 cent increase was no reason for a contract termination, however then would give me a $100 credit, if I re-signed a new 2-yr contract. I don't know about everyone else however they told me i only have a $50 EFT hmm... I'm still going over to T-mo the first chance I get, the 99.98 plan saves me $50 month I realize i have to bring my own phones or pay retail.
[EVO 4G General] whoiswes:
Discussion is ongoing over at Slickdeals - KS Attorney General's office has been getting quite a few complaints. Hopefully we get some action and satisfaction out of this.

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=357448&t=3212758

I love my Evo but it's time to leave Sprint.
[EVO 4G General] MonitorMonkey:
Got at call from Sprint legal today, (following up on my BBB and FCC complaints) - convenient that it is 2 days after the deadline - still insisting that since they are now paying for the arbitration, its not 'materially adverse', thus if I want to get out of my contract I have to go to arbitration.

Haha, not even worth it since I only have 140 worth of ETF.

Annoying none the less.

**Update** Got another call, I was told again 'we simply don't agree,' and apparently yes, you have to go to Arbitration with JAMS to go any further. Which, wouldnt that be conflict of interest if I did go to a JAMS arbitration, arguing JAMS is not a positive change for the consumer?

Sprint legal said they would be getting back to me 'they never thought of that'.
[EVO 4G General] flexgrip:
That's exactly what I did. Here is a quick and dirty tutorial for getting out of your contract.

Step 1. Get on a decent prl that lets you use 3g while roaming and collect underpants

Step 2. Download the roam control app from the market and switch it to roam only.

Step 3. Wait two months and Profit.

It actually took them 5 weeks before they started *****ing about excessive usage, the 7th week I got a letter saying I would be cancelled, and by the 11th week I was booted.

Now I am heading over to boost with this evo. I have been hearing from others that boost does not send out excessive roaming complaints or monitor it very much. Actually I spoke to a guy that is a manager at altell (buddy of mine), he did the evo -> boost swap about 5 months ago. In our area, Sprint has crappy coverage and Verizon has amazing coverage. So he got the evo running on boost, used the roam control app to force it to roam on verizon with a new prl and has left it on roaming for the last 5 months. Said he hasn't heard a peep out of boost.

So in short, if this is true, you can get verizons better coverage (in my area), unlimited calling, and everything else for $40/mo. Pretty crappy decision for sprint in my book. They lost my $170/mo, an airaive, and two lines because they have crappy coverage. Now they only get $40/mo from me through boost, have to pay even more in fees and I get better coverage. This relationship would almost be a romantic comedy if it wasn't real.
[EVO 4G General] ckoadiyn:
boost is Sprint so way to make sick it to the man
[EVO 4G General] flexgrip:
Yeah I know. All they did by cancelling my contract was make themselves earn less money.
[EVO 4G General] bluphi1914:
figured that wasn't gonna really work
[EVO 4G General] flexgrip:
Keep in mind several people got their contracts dropped when this first came out. Sprint just got a chip on their shoulder about it. I think they technically are supposed to drop the contract within so many days though. Also remember that the ToS you signed up for may not be the ToS another person signed up for. I hear they even vary by state and retailer. Best Buy, for a while, had their own amendments to sprints ToS.
[EVO 4G General] dirkyd3rk:
When I'm trying to watch a 3 minute youtube video that's NOT in HD and it buffers every few seconds we have a problem. We all know whe it comes to data sprint is in dead. I for one would rather have a capped 2gb per line each month at 15mbps or higher than unlimted under 1 or 2 mbps. What's unlimted when its dial up? There's always a catch to everything.... I'm not going to sit around till 2013 when sprint finally gets their network together lol.

I'm going to wait to 9/9/11 when the terms of service legally change then I'm getting out!
[EVO 4G General] MaxCarnage:
I had an episode of Star Trek TNG going from my house to work (I wasn't the driver, don't worry) via Netflix over 3G and it didn't buffer or stutter even once. So this isn't a universal problem; I find their 3G to be sufficient for virtually all my mobile data requirements.
[EVO 4G General] ckoadiyn:
Agreed never have a problem and dirk sounds like ur trying to watch crappy YouTube vids. I can watch a hd vid and its fine on 3g and regular vid is perfect. So either u have bad reception or getting total **** 3g speeds. Deff not a universal problem
[EVO 4G General] dirkyd3rk:
Im sure it isnt universal, I was just saying where Im located sprint is bad and it shouldnt be thats all. They still sit in dead last for 3G and 4G speeds though...." The nations first 4G network and now the nations slowest Network" lol

Ive had an airave in my home the since Ive been on sprint the past 2 years and I live the the freaking city man. For everyone of you claiming great data speeds there's like 100 people *****ing about there **** internet.

Forgot to mention that when I got my airrave sprint was on back order and I had to wait a month for it; doesnt that say something lol
[EVO 4G General] grape8pe:
Worked for Me

I called about canceling my contract and it only took me 15 minutes. I basically quoted the TOS saying I didn't want to pay the ETF "in response to a materially adverse change that we make to the Agreement as described directly below." I sited the new administrative fee and the large amount of changes in the new 9/9/2011 TOS.

The rep put me on hold, asked me some questions and I just stuck to the changes in TOS. He said that my contact is canceled. At first he wanted to schedule my line cancellation but I told him I wanted extra time to consider my wireless options. He left my account open to month to month, but said the contract was no longer subject to an ETF when I decide to port my lines. I got the rep ID number and interaction number in case I run into problems later.

I'm not sure if I will switch carriers or not, but it's nice to know I can with all the new phone coming out. :)

Brice
[EVO 4G General] jonathan413:
lol i agree verizon has 4g in my area and im sitting around with barely 600kbps inside and outside..like you said unlimited is great but not at sprints speed..
[EVO 4G General] c-had2001:
For me half the time I'm on 3g I get no data connection or its so slow it takes 2 minutes or more just for googles web page to load. It's not just my phone my wife's epic does.the same or worse. That's the main reason I want to leave sprint. I have called and had a variety of reasons told to me as why it happens and most blame the network. So like others have said unlimited may be good but if you can't watch a you tube video or web browsing is slower than a blackberry what good is it?
[EVO 4G General] mattykinsx:
I wonder how this video buffers for you guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7nqwGt4-I

My guess is, quite quickly.

In all seriousness, how many times has this subject been discussed? A hundred? Two hundred?

You don't like it? Leave. Please.

Clear up the forums significantly.
[EVO 4G General] ckoadiyn:
LOL it loaded quick enough with hq selected it kept ahead of me watching it the whole time till i got tired of watching I let it go a good min+ also YOUTUBE ****ING SUCKS anymore even on a comp its lags a ton or freezes

PS: I only have 2 bars and am on 3g
[EVO 4G General] dirkyd3rk:
Thats awesome news man! I plan to make them put mine on month to month so I can port my numbers.
[EVO 4G General] packattack12:
Why do you have to be such a jack weiner?
[EVO 4G General] dcoaster:
So does this have any adverse side effects later down the road when you want to upgrade your phone? You still would get the promotional pricing but sign up for a contract? Correct?
[EVO 4G General] packattack12:
If you don't like it, why do you waste your time reading it? Normally I agree with you, but why do you gotta be a ****? Your're clogging up this forum more by your useless ****-talking.

Couldn't agree with you more man.
[EVO 4G General] MaxCarnage:
In your contract materials, doesn't it state that the admin fee can be assessed "up to $1.99 per line"? This increase doesn't break that $1.99 threshold; I don't understand how you're getting out of your contract with this?
[EVO 4G General] UnlnvlslblE:
Just called and the service rep quoted me just that. Could not get without the ETF fee.

Edit: However he did waive my Airave service fee so I ended up getting the bill slightly reduced.
[EVO 4G General] MaxCarnage:
Sounds like some of you may have gotten CSRs who hadn't been given the straight dope on what the contract says and managed to get out of your contracts without ETFs; I doubt that will be happening anymore.

Read your contract.

I've never paid a service fee for my Airave...
[EVO 4G General] dirkyd3rk:
Because typical matty is typical lol. He doesnt like people "sticking it to the man" and thinks we as humans should bend over backwards for major corps that clearly don't care about anything other than money....matty is what we NORMAL people call an IDIOT. Ignore him :D
[EVO 4G General] dirkyd3rk:
Looks like that rep just bamboozled you lol. This has worked for everyone else; if you're going to call and cancel you better have your facts str8 or those reps will get you man. You almost have to write yourself some note cards so they cant fire back. Sprint +1 This guy 0 lol

PS: Ive had an airave for 2 years and haven't paid a dime for it lol, both the old one and new version! Didnt pay for devices or service to use it :(
[EVO 4G General] Beejis:
I got a CSR who said that our contracts say it can increase up to $1.99 and that only those wishing to cancel can get out without a ETF, not those that just want out of a contract. Supposedly they just got "briefed" on this. So I'm still in my two year contact :mad:
[EVO 4G General] dcoaster:
Looks like I just slipped in there in time. Called about 10 minutes ago and had my contract ended for each line.
[EVO 4G General] dirkyd3rk:
Score!
[EVO 4G General] MaxCarnage:
More power to you if you get out of your ETF using this method; not begrudging you, just surprised.

I am not planning on leaving Sprint so I am not even going to bother, but I am genuinely surprised this is working. I did some quick research when I read the OP and from what I read this shouldn't be enough to get out of your contract without a fee.
[EVO 4G General] UnlnvlslblE:
I don't see anything here that talks about a $1.99 fee limit... Am I missing something or did they lie to us?

Edit: Sorry forgot the contract link

sprint.com/termsandconditions
[EVO 4G General] mmegalodon:
Old issues or not, and can't say I've kept up with them, but I remember that happening. And in terms of this being a sign for Sprint to assess their current issues or not ... if this is what it takes I'm shocked. They should be aware of any issues ... issues that have been going on for months. This isn't new and nothing has changed. Apart from it getting worse. Not that one would expect it to change overnight.

I love Sprint. But there are some issues that people are taking into account. Again, new change and new chance. It's that simple.