Cancelling Sprint contract and porting number

[Gunslinger08]

I'm going to be cancelling my wife's Sprint contract without an ETF because they just raised their Regulatory Charge. I want to port her number while doing this. Does anyone know how exactly I do this? In the past when my contract was actually over, I just went to the other carrier and did it there. In this case, that would result in me having to pay the ETF because the reason for cancelling the contract wasn't stated. What do I need to do?

 

[secretanchitman]

just tell them that you are switching providers and that the ETF does not apply to you because they raised their regulartory charge. if they charge you, ask for a manager, escalate as needed.

 

[Slick5150]

I just did this a couple weeks ago. You may have to call back a few times to get the right CSR, but explain you got a notice that they were raising one of the regulatory fees from 20 to 60 cents, and this constitutes a change to your contract so you'd like to cancel the contract on your account and have it changed to month-to-month to give you time to port your number to another carrier.

You can go online to verify that it says your contract has been fulfilled. At that point you can goto another carrier and port your number over without any ETF being charged by Sprint.

 

[LikeLinus]

Is the Regulatory Charge for every Sprint user? I have not received anything about the changes, but i've been thinking about moving over to Verizon lately. This would give us an out for the ETF as well.

 

[Parasitic]

Good luck canceling your contract without an ETF when it's a raise in the regulatory charge. The contract stipulates that you can cancel without an ETF IF AND ONLY IF it is a material change to the contract on the behalf of the carrier and will severely affect your service. A 40-cent change is often not considered a material change and you will be shot down A LOT.

Not saying you can't do it, but it's a lot of hoops you have to jump through. I did it before when they changed their PC card data plan from unlimited to 5GB a month, but i didn't port the number out so I didn't know how.

I suggest doing it via their online customer chat (did this in June 2008). That way you don't have to be constantly holding the phone like an idiot and you can formulate your arguments better. In addition, at the end of it you have the option of having the transcript of your chat session sent to you via email.

Make sure you tell them to change the contract extension date to no contract or to get a credit for the ETF so you have time to port out. If you don't tell them you're porting out they'll cancel the account right away.

Also after you check your account status online I would also call in and confirm it.

 

[Mermaidman]

Is the 'regulatory charge' set by the gov't? If so, then how is Sprint liable for that change? It does sound like one of those bogus fees made to sound official.

 

[Parasitic]

Is the 'regulatory charge' set by the gov't? If so, then how is Sprint liable for that change? It does sound like one of those bogus fees made to sound official.

They are bogus fees. Every carrier in the US does them in their postpaid divisions.

 

[eits]

i had an account spending limit and they suddenly decided to charge a fee for having a spending limit unless you had automatic bill payments from your bank account. i called and told them i wasn't going to pay it and they need to get rid of my spending limit. whenever i set up my service with sprint, i didn't have any credit, so i got a spending limit on my account. now that i have credit, they removed it. so, no fee charged.

 

[LikeLinus]

Good luck canceling your contract without an ETF when it's a raise in the regulatory charge. The contract stipulates that you can cancel without an ETF IF AND ONLY IF it is a material change to the contract on the behalf of the carrier and will severely affect your service. A 40-cent change is often not considered a material change and you will be shot down A LOT.

Not saying you can't do it, but it's a lot of hoops you have to jump through. I did it before when they changed their PC card data plan from unlimited to 5GB a month, but i didn't port the number out so I didn't know how.

I suggest doing it via their online customer chat (did this in June 2008). That way you don't have to be constantly holding the phone like an idiot and you can formulate your arguments better. In addition, at the end of it you have the option of having the transcript of your chat session sent to you via email.

Make sure you tell them to change the contract extension date to no contract or to get a credit for the ETF so you have time to port out. If you don't tell them you're porting out they'll cancel the account right away.

Also after you check your account status online I would also call in and confirm it.

http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/139861

I called Sprint and was told that if I cancelled right now, I would be charged an ETF because the change does not go into effect until Jan 10th. The account manager told me to call back after the change takes effect and I would be able to cancel my service without an ETF and port my number. The manager I talked to seemed aware of it and didn't act like it was any problem.

 

[RollWave]

I was told this same thing verbatim.

 

[Cuda1447]

Likelinus, to be honest that sounds like some bullshit. (About calling after Jan. 10th) I think he is just telling you what you want to hear. Honestly, I doubt you will be able to cancel without an ETF as a change in Gov. reg fee's is not a change to the contract, its like a change in taxes. Different, but similar.

Also, in the OP you made it sound like you were canceling BECAUSE of this, not because you wanted out and this gave you a free out.

 

[RollWave]

Go check slickdeals. This isnt BS. There is a LOT of info on this topic.

 

[Cuda1447]

A lot of info regarding being able to change due to regulatory fee's changing, Roll?

 

[shortylickens]

A couple months ago I had Sprint for 3 days and cancelled them because I wasnt impressed. I kept getting bills from them for months afterwards. I called them a dozen times to get everything straightened out. They ended up fucking me for a couple hundred bucks.

If you decide to dump them, GET WRITTEN CONFIRMATION OF THE CANCELLATION! Or you will get screwed, and a lawyer will end up costing more than the phone bill.

 

[dbk]

SlickDeals Thread

 

[Nik]

Most of the time, you simply call the company you want to port the number TO and they take care of making the request and setting everything up on the back end. They don't take care of closing your account or ETF or whatever.

 

[rudeguy]

I didn't read this thread because I hate reading mis-information.

The company you are switching to handles the port. Just start up your new service and let them know that you want to keep your same number. Sprint will more than likely charge you an ETF but dispute that later. DON'T TELL SPRINT YOU ARE PORTING OUT.

I have done thousands of ports...3 or 4 today alone. There is a host of FCC laws that in place to make ports go smoothly but they only do if you let the system work. Yes, you may have to deal with Sprint's billing later about the ETF.

 

[Gunslinger08]

We called Sprint today and got it taken care of. Called back afterward to confirm with another CSR. Contract was zeroed out, so we could port without an ETF. Already changed providers.

 

[rudeguy]

glad it worked out for you!

 

[RollWave]

A lot of info regarding being able to change due to regulatory fee's changing, Roll?

Yeah. I believe so. I remember a lengthy thread over there about the change in sprint plan and the ability to get out of your contract starting that 1/10/10 date. It is "hot deal" (and is in that forum heading) since people can get off contract without paying back the discount given on their phone purchase.

 

[LikeLinus]

Likelinus, to be honest that sounds like some bullshit. (About calling after Jan. 10th) I think he is just telling you what you want to hear. Honestly, I doubt you will be able to cancel without an ETF as a change in Gov. reg fee's is not a change to the contract, its like a change in taxes. Different, but similar.

Also, in the OP you made it sound like you were canceling BECAUSE of this, not because you wanted out and this gave you a free out.

You may want to read this

http://www.phonenews.com/sprint-phonenews.com-team-up-to-help-etf-out-go-smoothly-9864/

It's not bullshit.

 

[eits]

whoa whoa... you're getting bent out of shape over $0.40??? pffft...

 

[LikeLinus]

whoa whoa... you're getting bent out of shape over $0.40??? pffft...

lol, you're clueless. It gives us a reason to break our contract with Sprint because it's a change in our plan. That way we don't have to pay the $175 termination fee.

This allows me to move my family over to Verizon. Right now we have individual SERO plans, but with my corporate discount I can get a Verizon 2100 plan for what we pay Sprint and have better service and Droid phones!

 

[dandruff]

i used the 0.20 cents as leverage to get $20 credit for 24 months + 25% corp discount + accenture deal for 2x moments for 29.99 ea - better than SERO ... atleast for 24months ...

 

[eits]

yeah, i used that to bring my bill down $20/mo for two years. pretty damn nice. i only pay $60/mo now, just like when i did with the sero plan... except i can use my palm pre.