Sprint: The Provider That Won't Go Away

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What "happened" started in May, when someone illegally began using my phone number in a process known as cloning. To Sprint's credit, it caught the fraud and refunded my account for $900 in bogus calls. But Sprint still charged me for service during the one-month period it was hijacked, and useless to me. In early June, I asked for a refund but the request was denied. I paid the bill and on June 11 signed up with Verizon Wireless.

I thought changing providers automatically ended your service. But then in late June, I received a bill from Sprint for $54.36 covering the period of May 25 to June 25—a second month I wasn't using the service. So I called on July 2 and canceled again. I even said they could bill me for service through June 11. Again my request was denied, and Sprint debited my account on July 19 for the full $54.36. I also asked for a letter confirming my cancellation. I never got it but figured that a second call would do the job.

How foolish! In late July I received yet another bill, this time for a third full month of service. On July 31, I called again, determined to end the madness. I was passed from one rep to another. Both were friendly, but neither was able to solve the problem. The second, an account service manager named Mark, blamed system glitches. "It should be canceled," he said. "It makes no sense." The account should have been canceled automatically when I switched providers, he said. But he couldn't do it manually because Sprint's software kept locking him out and he wasn't authorized to override the software. He promised to refer the snafu to a supervisor and to cancel the most recent bill, for $54.17.

Passing the Buck

To ensure I wouldn't be billed again, I also tried to end the automatic bill pay service. Mark said the system wouldn't let him do that either but that he would send me over to finance. And so began another frustrating runaround from a finance rep who argued for 10 minutes that he couldn't cancel bill pay until I paid my outstanding balance. This is the same balance Mark assured me was at zero a few minutes earlier.

I made little headway other than receiving yet another promise I would receive a letter confirming my account cancellation. I never received that letter, but I did get the Aug. 2 written threat to get a collection agency involved. Even after I convinced my bank, Chase (JPM), to reverse the June debit, Sprint debited my account for the July payment. I called Chase to contest the charge. But Jerry, a supervisor in Chase's customer claim department, advised me to pay the bill and try to get the money back later, rather than risking a black mark on my credit report. "[Sprint] usually has billing issues," Jerry told me. "I've run across a number of customers who've had the same problem."

So have I. Seth Buncher, a 37-year-old video editor who lives in New York, inadvertently overpaid his bill for a year. It took him six months and some 20 phone calls to get the $1,400 back. "It was one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had," Buncher says. "The bureaucracy and the hold times were staggering. I loathe that company."

Sadly for Sprint and its shareholders, so do many dissatisfied customers. Adriano promised to help me solve my problems once and for all. But that's cold comfort to subscribers who can't air their grievances in print.

Ante is Computer Editor for BusinessWeek.