Sprint Sprint Nextel No Service? No Problem. You pay anyway! Overland Park, Kansas

After four years with Sprint, two years out of contract, I had to leave Sprint as they had no family plan with mixed phones and smartphones. My service with Sprint ended when I ported our four numbers to Verizon. Then, upon calling Sprint, I was informed there was no credit for my prepaid monthly service. So Sprint is keeping my $100 even though I will not be using it more than half the month. According to Sprint customer service, nothing can be done as this expense is mandated by their "terms and conditions."

Recently, I cancelled fire insurance on a house that only had two months left of a one-year term. I was refunded $55 of the $500 annual premium. My sister cancelled a magazine subscription and got a refund for the remaining issues. This is normal expected behavior among civilized people. But such behavior is not contemplated by Sprint's sacred "terms and conditions."

The cellphone industry has a well-deserved reputation for predatory sales, unjust fees and hostile customer service. Any carrier that breaks from these shoddy practices could get my business and that of many others. But the industry believes only in Greed is Good! This is an area needing government regulation. The government needs to require carriers to refund for discontinued service. At the same time, carriers must be required to include all fees in their advertised prices. Otherwise, you might soon see a "discontinued service refund surcharge" in every customers' list of fees.