It's a letter we've seen before. Someone overpays on a bill and the company takes its time to get back to you.
It's funny, when you are a little late on a bill, some companies are quick to put their legal team in action.
So when Spc. Jeff Cannizzaro called us, it was another one of those cases.
He had tried for months to get his 48 bucks from Sprint. I mean, the guy was a little busy fighting for his country in Iraq to take a second out and deal with this bill. But it was annoying to his wife here at home.
But I have to give Sprint credit. Once we got involved, they got on this quickly. They wouldn't give us all of the information they had on Spc. Cannizzaro's account, but the Sprint folks did rush out a check in Olympic 100-meter style to straighten everything out. Full story.
If you have a problem like this, feel free to drop us a line at newstips@king5.com.
8 Comments
Erin Skelton said:
Jesse,
I just want to say "Thank you!" for helping this soldier and his wife. I went through the exact same scenario when my husband deployed to Iraq. I tried for 12 months to get them to turn off his cell phone due to him being deployed. I received the same answer...they needed to speak to my husband to cancel the account. I even faxed them a copy of my Power of Attorney to no avail. I am happy to say that while we did not ever get resolution with Sprint, we are enjoying Verizon Wireless and have been since my husband's return in 2006. I can't believe that Sprint continues in this bad form towards our soldiers. You taking this on is incredible! Thank you for your support of what our husbands do!
Sincerely,
Erin Skelton
Brian said:
Jesse,
Why are you blowing this out of proportion it was only $48 don't you have something more important to report on oh I forgot your a investigative reporter in Seattle
Andy said:
In my opinion, Sprint is THE most incompetent company in the United States interms of customer service. It is not a suprise to me that this happened to this soldier and his family.
The straw that broke MY back was when my partner wanted to send a picture to a friend through his phone. He didn't have the picture service, and the phone asked him if he'd like to subscribe the roughly $6 monthly fee. He said yes, thinking that the price was reasonable for what he wanted to do. But when he got the bill he had been charged about $150 for the SINGLE picture that he sent. I called to ask why and they said it was because he didn't have INTERNET service, so he got charged per byte of information. I explained about the $6 question and the "Customer Service" representative said "well OBVIOUSLY you must have known that you'd need both services to send this picture". I was treated like an idiot because I didn't know that I needed it. This is a seriously screwed up company.
I became so frustrated over time with their deceptive and unfair billing practices that I paid two cancellation fees (don't recall the exact amount...somewhere around $200 each) so that I could move on with my life instead of having the monthly stress of fighting the bill.
It's important to note that this was not a SINGLE bad experience, but a SERIES of repetitive inadequacies. I have since switched to AT&T and have been very happy with the bill, the signal and their service.
Thanks Jesse for helping this guy out. And by the way, to "Brian"....Thanks for contributing your valuable comments to this blog (sarcasm).
Melissa said:
Funny.....I guess it wasn't just us. My husband is in Iraq and also had his phone put on military hold. They told him go on-line and pay your bill, no problem. Well, the problem is we start getting back bills talking about going to collections. I went to the Sprint store and they tell me Oh, I don't think you can pay on-line with military hold. What do you mean you don't think? How do they not know? I just payed in the store, but what a pain for a hold service that is supposed to a help to our soldiers.
TJ said:
o.k. Thanks for what u did i have been charged a few timew by sprint when i should not haved. Right now they have charged me for sprint radio they are charging me 5.95 a month plus tax although they can not find that i ever subscribed to this I have been charged for at least two months they say they can't do anything for it is a three month subscription then maybe. sprint needs help. They also raise prices during your contract that u can't get out of unless u want to pay $200.00
RH said:
SPRINT did the same thing and provided the WORST customer service I have ever encountered. We are happier with Verizon, but even they gave us trouble on our last deployment! The truth is, very few companies are sincere or understanding and honorable in their dealings with Soldiers and their families.
Michele said:
Thank you Jesse and King5. I get soooo tired of hearing about companies not treating their customers fairly. I chose not to frequent/shop/use those businesses.
I am sorry to read that Sprint finally did something about this account AFTER a television reporter contacted them. How long would the 'check be in the mail' if that hadn't happened?? How many other people/families are in the same situtation with this/and other companies??
On the flip side, there are many other businesses that treat their customers fairly. All customers. These are the businesses that receive my patronage.
Small note to 'Brian': it isn't the $48. It is the principle of the matter. Duh!!
Kathy Munson said:
It is a wonderful thing that you did for him.
This past month I have been trying to get money from Sprint. I paid a friends bill because she was having a problem getting it paid.This was about a year ago. Sprint kept my information and over this 4th of July holiday billed me for her bill again.
She called and paid the bill from her account. I called numerous times and they refused to return my money. In fact I recieved a message from them today that they had paid her current bill with it and I would get no refund. I never authorized this. Isn't that blatent stealing?
They told me the first time I called that it was a mistake and they would investigate and return my money. They also told my friend more than once that they would return it soon. This went on for a month. I have no ties to this account at all.
Can they do this?? Oh, and I incurred several check and ATM fees because I was spending money without realizing they took it. The bank won't give me back the return item fees unless Sprint puts the money back in my account.
Thanks again for helping him.
Sprint should be embarrassed. They have taken alot of people and I hope the words out that they're crooks.
Jesse,
I just want to say "Thank you!" for helping this soldier and his wife. I went through the exact same scenario when my husband deployed to Iraq. I tried for 12 months to get them to turn off his cell phone due to him being deployed. I received the same answer...they needed to speak to my husband to cancel the account. I even faxed them a copy of my Power of Attorney to no avail. I am happy to say that while we did not ever get resolution with Sprint, we are enjoying Verizon Wireless and have been since my husband's return in 2006. I can't believe that Sprint continues in this bad form towards our soldiers. You taking this on is incredible! Thank you for your support of what our husbands do!
Sincerely,
Erin Skelton
Jesse,
Why are you blowing this out of proportion it was only $48 don't you have something more important to report on oh I forgot your a investigative reporter in Seattle
In my opinion, Sprint is THE most incompetent company in the United States interms of customer service. It is not a suprise to me that this happened to this soldier and his family.
The straw that broke MY back was when my partner wanted to send a picture to a friend through his phone. He didn't have the picture service, and the phone asked him if he'd like to subscribe the roughly $6 monthly fee. He said yes, thinking that the price was reasonable for what he wanted to do. But when he got the bill he had been charged about $150 for the SINGLE picture that he sent. I called to ask why and they said it was because he didn't have INTERNET service, so he got charged per byte of information. I explained about the $6 question and the "Customer Service" representative said "well OBVIOUSLY you must have known that you'd need both services to send this picture". I was treated like an idiot because I didn't know that I needed it. This is a seriously screwed up company.
I became so frustrated over time with their deceptive and unfair billing practices that I paid two cancellation fees (don't recall the exact amount...somewhere around $200 each) so that I could move on with my life instead of having the monthly stress of fighting the bill.
It's important to note that this was not a SINGLE bad experience, but a SERIES of repetitive inadequacies. I have since switched to AT&T and have been very happy with the bill, the signal and their service.
Thanks Jesse for helping this guy out. And by the way, to "Brian"....Thanks for contributing your valuable comments to this blog (sarcasm).
Funny.....I guess it wasn't just us. My husband is in Iraq and also had his phone put on military hold. They told him go on-line and pay your bill, no problem. Well, the problem is we start getting back bills talking about going to collections. I went to the Sprint store and they tell me Oh, I don't think you can pay on-line with military hold. What do you mean you don't think? How do they not know? I just payed in the store, but what a pain for a hold service that is supposed to a help to our soldiers.
o.k. Thanks for what u did i have been charged a few timew by sprint when i should not haved. Right now they have charged me for sprint radio they are charging me 5.95 a month plus tax although they can not find that i ever subscribed to this I have been charged for at least two months they say they can't do anything for it is a three month subscription then maybe. sprint needs help. They also raise prices during your contract that u can't get out of unless u want to pay $200.00
SPRINT did the same thing and provided the WORST customer service I have ever encountered. We are happier with Verizon, but even they gave us trouble on our last deployment! The truth is, very few companies are sincere or understanding and honorable in their dealings with Soldiers and their families.
Thank you Jesse and King5. I get soooo tired of hearing about companies not treating their customers fairly. I chose not to frequent/shop/use those businesses.
I am sorry to read that Sprint finally did something about this account AFTER a television reporter contacted them. How long would the 'check be in the mail' if that hadn't happened?? How many other people/families are in the same situtation with this/and other companies??
On the flip side, there are many other businesses that treat their customers fairly. All customers. These are the businesses that receive my patronage.
Small note to 'Brian': it isn't the $48. It is the principle of the matter. Duh!!
It is a wonderful thing that you did for him.
This past month I have been trying to get money from Sprint. I paid a friends bill because she was having a problem getting it paid.This was about a year ago. Sprint kept my information and over this 4th of July holiday billed me for her bill again.
She called and paid the bill from her account. I called numerous times and they refused to return my money. In fact I recieved a message from them today that they had paid her current bill with it and I would get no refund. I never authorized this. Isn't that blatent stealing?
They told me the first time I called that it was a mistake and they would investigate and return my money. They also told my friend more than once that they would return it soon. This went on for a month. I have no ties to this account at all.
Can they do this?? Oh, and I incurred several check and ATM fees because I was spending money without realizing they took it. The bank won't give me back the return item fees unless Sprint puts the money back in my account.
Thanks again for helping him.
Sprint should be embarrassed. They have taken alot of people and I hope the words out that they're crooks.