Sprint Taking advantage of consumers Oklahoma City Oklahoma

My (elderly) mom HAD a phone though Sprint. She had multiple problems ranging from extra charges to unprofessional "customer service reps". She ran into some financial problems and decided that her cell phone was not a necessity. She had already fulfilled her contract term with the company and thought that there would not be a problem in ending her service.

After being on the phone for over 20 minutes, one of their representatives offered her a lower rate plan for 50 minutes at $19.95 a month. She figured that she would be able to keep the phone for emergency purposes. She got her next bill, and once again, there were incorrect charges.

She finally had enough and wanted to do away with the phone completely. Since I work at a different cell phone company, I decided that I would also be on the phone to make sure that they did not try to sell her into keeping the service.

We first spoke with a regular customer service rep. He said that by accepting the lower rate plan, she committed herself to a 24 month contract. I asked if they had her signature accepting the terms. He said that she was to receive it in the mail, and once she signed it, then she would be in a contract. My mom insisted that she didn't renew her contract. I asked for some physical evidence to show her in a new contract, and of course, I was put on hold and transferred to another rep. She informed me their computer shows that she agreed to another contract.

I explained that I had worked many years in customer service, and knew for a fact that their computer can "say" anything, but that she cannot be held to a contract with out a record of a verbal agreement or a physical contract. We went round and round, and I finally said that I would pay the early termination fees to cancel and hung up (this all happened in December 2002).

Today, looking at the various complaints, I figured that I better call and make sure that they weren't going to try any funny business, so I called. Sure enough, the account was just canceled last month (June 23). So, not only was she billed for the early termination fee, she was also billed for 6 months worth of service that was unused. I asked why she hadn't received any paperwork or bills. They simply responded with, "Well, our computer shows that we had returned mail, maybe a wrong address or something." ...

I asked if they tried calling the home number on the account. The rep explained that my mom was contacted by the billing department, and (once again) their computer shows that she refused to pay because she said that the service was supposed to be cancelled. I asked why it wasn't cancelled then, OR from our previous request in December. They didn't have a response, but insisted that none of the fees would be waived. Frustrated, I hung up.

My mom is on a fixed income and cannot afford to pay this large bill that shouldn't even be applied. Is there anyone out there who can give some suggestions on how to get out of this mess?

Outraged in Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
U.S.A.