Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Some Recent Wireless Plans Complaints

This year, many mobile phone service providers have been hit with class action suits. The reasons for these allegations vary from unjust wireless plans policies to deception and fraud. I decided to look for recent complaints to see more deeply into what wireless customers are complaining about.

Take a look at this complaint posted consumeraffairs.com. This complaint from Bobbie of Graham NC deals with wireless contract problems with AT&T.
I signed a contract with At&T in July '07. I have had nothing but problems since that time. I have even called to cancel the account, and they gave me credit to stay, so I did. But now it's another month, double fees again, and no insurance on 2 of the phones when I clearly added it in the original contract. Now, I want out of this contract;they have not been honest or fair, and they have not honored their part of the contract as they have said in the first contract.

I just can't see having to pay this kind of money every month, or having to stay on the phone for hours with several reps who all say the same thing: that it isn't their fault, it's mine; but they will do ME a favor and fix it. It will cost me $175.00 per phone to cancel. I have (3) phones and not that kind of money.

The early termination fees that are part of almost all wireless contracts plays a large role in this complaint. The customer will be charged a huge fee for violating the terms of a contract. But what happens if the carrier violate the terms of the agreement? Perhaps consumers do have a reason for filing class action suits against carriers.

Here is another complaint on wireless contracts. This time it is directed towards Sprint. Jon of Indianapolis IN posted this complaint,
I am a long-time Sprint customer. I am waiting for contract to expire to change carriers. Have five phones and checked expirations in November 200,7 and three were expired and two were up in April 2008. Checked website in Jan 2008, and all contract dates had changed. No changes were made to my account. I called Sprint and spoke to four different CSR for over an hour with no explanation. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was told they were busy and would call me back within 24 hrs. No call back was received.

Early termination fees of $150X5=$750 will be charged if I leave Sprint. $189 per month until March 2009 if I don't change 189X13=$2457.

This customer was waiting for his wireless contract to expire. Unfortunately, the contract date changed even if he did not make any modifications to his account. Since he has five phones, the fees he will incur for quiting his contract are huge. Has this type of thing also happened to you?

I think I'm beginning to understand why class action suits were filed against mobile services this year. I found a lot of complaints about shady practices that were employed to charged customers with fees or to extend their wireless contracts without their knowledge.

I also noticed that the customer service of some carriers were sub par when I read many complaints. A lot of the customers were unable to get answers they need and some were even treated rudely. Per haps, the legal action taken against these companies will encourage them to improve their services and the policies of their wireless contacts.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The customer is full of it. Sprint, ATT, Verizon all do not change the contracts without you doing something. These companies are not evil. Just read stuff before you sign it. Do you buy a house without reading the contract. Then why can you be mad if you dont read the contract with a cell phone.???