This is a letter I wrote to Sprint Wireless to try one last time to keep doing business with them. Sprint's nonresponse.
Charles Young (S. account)
1668 S.
Benton, AR 72019
Phone: 501-...
Email: @nowhere.com
August 31, 2006
Sprint PCS Customer Service
P.O. Box 8077
London, KY 40742
re: Account Number 00163... Sprint Phone 501-...
I need to transfer liability from my daughter, S., to me, Charles Young. We believe that someone who knows her security number might access our Sprint account and change our plan.
We have been trying for almost a month to change the account to my name. My wife G. and I have been paying the bill for this account since 2002. I have been mostly managing the account since that time, and exclusively since 2004 when S. had a terrible experience upgrading a phone. We have never been late with a payment. Please research this to see that it is true, and see who sends in the checks and signs them.
We have done everything we can do to change the account, and still have been unable to do so. E-Care said to call from a wired phone with S. on the phone with me. No success. Customer Service said to go to the Sprint store and S. and I would have to show 2 forms of ID. No success.
I have told every Sprint person I emailed, talked to on the phone, and talked to in person that I do not give out my social security number. I have wired phone service with Navigator Telecom and long distance with Power Net Global. I have given neither one of those companies my social security number. I could get wired phone service from AT&T by having my bill charged on my credit card. I could get wireless service from your competitors by paying a deposit. If it is really true that I cannot transfer liability, then I will have no other choice than to cancel the account and do business with a company that will deal with me.
Nobody else in the family has the patience to deal with Sprint. I am told something different by everyone I talk to at Sprint. I make changes, but the bill does not accurately reflect those changes. I will say that during the past year and a half I have usually only had to make one call to get things straightened out each time the bill was wrong. This is a big improvement over having to repeatedly call, Email and write for 3 months before the bill is corrected. However, other family members do not have the patience to tolerate what seems to be incompetence.
When S. and I went to the Sprint store in Little Rock, AR on August 28th, we were told by a supervisor that I would be able to transfer liability to me without providing my social security number. Then the supervisor changed that claiming that she thought that I already had an account with Sprint. That is just another example of being told several conflicting stories - sometimes by the same person who contradicts herself.
At the Sprint store, I was told that I could have only one line on my account if I paid a $500 deposit. That is a larger deposit than your competitors charge, but I would pay it if I could transfer liability on all 6 phones. It would not make sense to have one Sprint phone and 5 phones with a competitor.
We had tried to call the Sprint store before we made the trip to Little Rock to find out if it was possible to transfer liability. For some reason that store never answers their phone. It wouldn't have mattered anyway because they probably would have told us the wrong information over the phone.
My reason for not giving out my social security number to businesses is simply a privacy issue. I can change my password, but cannot change my social security number. Since my soon to be ex-son-in-law has S's social security number, he could access our Sprint account. If the Sprint account could only be accessed only by a changeable password, there would be no fear of the ex messing with the account.
I would still like to keep our Sprint service if it were possible. I would pay the bill by credit card if Sprint allowed that. I pay other bills by credit card.
Someone in our household has had Sprint service since Sprint first offered service in Arkansas in 1997. It will be sad if I have to leave Sprint, even though it is certainly not the same company it was in 1997.
Please respond and let me know if there is any way Sprint can transfer liability to me without divulging my social security number.
If the answer is no, it cannot be done, could you please put a note on my account to waive the early termination fees when I cancel? The cancellation will be due to Sprint not allowing me to manage my account. I realize that Sprint thinks this is S"s, but I have been the one paying the bills. I understand that S. will have to be on the phone with me when I cancel. Or will going to another wireless company and transferring our Sprint phone numbers be sufficient to cancel those lines of service?
Sincerely,
Charles Young
Writing this letter was a waste of time. I received no response. I ended up canceling the broken phone and paying the early termination fee.