hello everyone,
I was wondering if there is a way I can get out of my sprint contract. It does not expire until 2010. I have 2 contract one with sprint and one with nextel. I want to keep the nextel and swap the sprint back over to nextel. Is there a way I can get out of my contract early. The phone I have keeps shutting itself off, doesn't hold a charge. Plus the plans are much higher with sprint as oppose to nextel. If someone could help me get out of my contract without paying the early termination fee I would appreciate it.

Okay, I found this website a few months too late. Is there anything I can do now to get out of my contract. I, like a lot of people above, have very little if any service in my home. Their rates are ridiculous. There are other plans out there that are better.

okay i want to cancel my sprint account because i have this old ass phone that doesnt work inside my house but my mom has a centro that works fine inside and i dont understand that

and sprint was charging me a while ago for online usage when i wasnt if they do it again how can i use it against them and also is there any other loop holes i could use

OK here is the deal. It is to late now to disoute the charges because their terms of service clearly states you have 30 days. However, there is another way you can get out of this contract but it takes patience and persistence.

If you have had a lot of problems with Nextel / Sprint then call in everytime you have a problem, wait to hold time and tell them what you are having. They keep records of all the calls and they are detailed.

If you don't do any text messaging or web surfing on your phone then call them and tell them you want all text messaing and web access blocked on your account making it impossible for you to do this on your phone. I noticed they were charging me for things I wasn't doing (text messaging and web browsing), the charges weren't much but still, it wasn't me. I had them block it after disputing the charges with them multiple times. After they were blocked, the charges still showed up the next month. I disputed again, also using the "new charges" dispute shown above. This has happened with Nextel multiple times on my account. They charge you very small fees thinking you won't notice so you won't call. Well when they charge these fees to all their customers it adds up to millions every month for them.

Anyway, after calling them everytime they messed up and complaining all the time. I then switched my approach and started telling them I was going to start filing complaints with the better business bureau if they didn't let me out of my contract because they were clearly violating my contract terms. They didn't believe me and blew me off everytime. So I filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs, one for each phone line I have (I have 2). I filed a complaint everyday. I then sent a Nextel customer service rep an email as one last ditch effort. I explained all the problems I was having and how they are violating my contract terms. I told her I have allready filed multiple complaints with the Better Business Bureau and I intend to keep filing them until something is done. I received an email back 2 days later saying that I could cancel my contract without an early termination fee. It works, try it out!

I switched networks not knowing about the hell i would have to go threw with sprint to get rid of my EFT i talked to Sprint an told them about the no signal call lost on the katana and they didnt care they said thats not grounds for them to let me off the EFT I live in a apartment and the signal was the worst ive ever had on a cell and I called them many times about the horrible service what should i do

Just a followup.

Two weeks after my 4th call I noticed a $400 dollar ETF fee on my final bill. Just to note.. everytime I've called Sprint, they've always said don't worry the ETF will not be there.

I've called them the 5th time, and they said don't worry, it will be removed.... I'm selling the phones on eBay, and if the final bill is not resolved, then any new user of the phone will not be able to activate those phones... even if the numbers have been ported away.

I want to pay the final bill, but can't until the ETF issue is resolved. The Sprint CSR said they can't remove ETF charges because only Sprint CSR supervisors can remove charges over $100 from a bill.

I'll followup in a few days.

I have horrible service in my new apartmnet complex I moved into. I complained to Sprint- they told me according to their map I was in a area that had good service. I know its not a problem with my phone- just sprint. My brothers T-MOBILE works fine and my boyfriends Sprint doesnt work there either. The customer support lady was pretty nice- she even made an apointment to call me while I was at the house to fix things (even though I know it wouldnt help) and of course the calls were dropped because of failed signal.

Should I try and cancel on the grounds of bad service or should I attempt the adverse charges tactic even though its way over the 30-day cancelation period.

To the person that posted "i want a better deal", Boost has plans that may help you. I canceled my Nextel plan last month and got the Boost premium $60 plan. It includes 600 daytime minutes, free nights and weekends, and unlimited direct connect (walkie talkie). You can add unlimited text messaging and unlimited internet for $10 more.

OK SO, I CALLED SPRINT AND WENT THRU THESE STEPS, BUT IM LIKE 60 DAYS PASSED MY 30 DAY PERIOD! LOL... SO THEY EXPLAINED ALL THE CHARGES AND THE TIME PERIOD AND THAT THE CHARGES WERE ABOUT THE SAME JUST WORDED A LITTLE DIFFERENT (ALL BULLCRAP!) BUT, I ASKED IF THERE WAS ANYTHING THAT THEY COULD DO BECAUSE IT DOESNT SEEM FAIR, I HAVE ONLINE BILLING AND OBVIOUSLY DIDNT GET TO LOOK THIS BEFORE THE CANCELLATION PERIOD. EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDNT CANCEL THE LINE FOR ME, I GOT THEM TO DISABLE THE PHONE AND TO PUT ME ON A PLAN FOR $10 A MONTH. I THOUGHT THAT WAS A SUFFICIENT DEAL BEING AS THOUGH ITS MY SECOND LINE AND IM PAYING FOR IT FOR MY EX GIRLFRIEND. LOL.....

Does anyone knows a way of me getting my bill lower???
Nextel sucks! But If go to another phone provider good-bye walkie talkie, and i need it to talk to Mexico.
Maybe there is a way of saying them something or an excuse of some sort....
Please if anyone has a nice excuse for which they can offer me a nice deal let me know...
Thanks...

I just now managed to cancel my account without the early termination fee, and I was well over my 30 day mark.

I simply kept calling back saying the same thing, "I noticed adverse material changes on my bill, an administrative and regulatory charge. According to my initial contract, I am able to cancel my service without an early termination fee."

Some said I was over my 30 days, others hung up, but I was persistent and kept calling back. Eventually a young man was trying to offer me several different plans in order to keep my service. I was persistent and said "no thank you, I would just like to cancel due to the changes on my bill" and sure enough, I was able to cancel without receiving the termination fee! I don't know if I got lucky and he overlooked my 30 day mark, but it worked!

What i meant to say on that first line was it was quite obvious that the people I finally got through to who did not hang up on me or did not try telling me the systems were down were not going to let this work, and I spent at least 40 hours in the past 45 days on the phone with these scammers just trying to cancel, paying the $200 or not so I am not going to take a chance of wasting another 40 hours to cancel my cell contract.

They blatantly lied to me. I caught them on it and even got them to admit it. Still, no luck.

I could take them to court, but it probably would not work.

This did not work for me, it was quite obvious that

First, I have been trying to cancel since the middle of January. Everytime I call, I either get hung up on which happens a lot, or "we're sorry but our systems are down." I was ready to pay the $200 to cancel if I had to as well and ended up doing so.

Tonight for the first time in about 45 days I finally was able to get through to them when their systems were suddenly magically working. They say I did not qualify as my chance to waive the fee has expired. Yes, this is true... it expired on the 31st of January, but I have been trying to call for 45 days now and they were unable to do the job. They even had a record of me calling on January 31st, which shows how much of a scam these guys really are!

I ask to speak to a manager. The guy proceeds to tell me that my bill in January was lower than my bill before it. My bill before it had about 10 411 calls, but proceeds to give me the price I was paying BEFORE the new fees were added, which came to $67 and some change. Then he tells me "but your bill in January was $63 which was the lowest that it has been." My bill in January was just cents short of $70 and I tell him this, and got him to confirm this. He then has the audacity/pure stupidity to tell me "but yes sir, but your bill was still the smallest it has ever been in January so this is not an adverse charge."

At this point I proceeded to give him a math lesson, and demanded that my past month should be free since their systems have been down for 45 days. I really think I should be able to sue these guys for at least a month's backpay and maybe some extra money for the large number of hours I spent just trying to cancel, but it is probably not worth my time. I ended up paying the fee so I wouldn't have to spend another 40 hours trying to get through to someone who could cancel my account.

If you are looking at carriers, pick anyone over Sprint/Nextel.

And I think the math question required to post here would be a little to difficult for the guys over at Sprint/Nextel.

I was very sceptical of this but after reading so many positive quotes I thought I'd give it a try. I called twice and the 2nd time I spoke to a very bitchy gal who was very snippy in her comments. I stayed calm and told her about being "materially adverse affected" and their own contract gave me this loophole. She put me on hold for about 15 minutes and finally a very nice supervisor came on and practically begged me to stay with Sprint with all sorts of offers. Simply state "no thanks" each time and then she agreed to cancel every line I had with Sprint (I had 5) without any early termination fees. I asked for her to put this in writing and she said on my next & final bill if the fees were not waived to call her personally. She gave me her ID# so I could verify this. I was blown away at how well this works and I encourage all to do this and get out of the behemoth Sprint God awful service and contracts..... I am so glad I found this site!!!!

The sprint people say that due to changes in billing system they cannot access my information from 19th till 21st Feb. So, i should call them on 22nd. Will they be able to cancel my contract if i want to in this period?

It worked! Just did it last night. Guy offered me unlimited text for $8 more. Just told them I was moving to a family plan on another carrier. Peace out!

Well, jus got off the phone with nextel..tried to cancel my account...i couldnt! The lady said..we can cancel it..only if the material changes affected ur bill..and my bill actually went down because of it..i called many times and they kept sayin the same thing..so i just gave up n told them to cancel it anyways..but ill have to pay the fee!! Im so mad :(

To do this correctly: (If you want your numbers ported)

1. Call Sprint at 888 567-5528.
2. Tell them that you've noticed an MATERIAL ADVERSE change in the Terms and Conditions on your last billing statement.
3. Tell them that you do NOT want your number(s) cancelled, you are going to PORT them first.
4. Now, get new service at AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Cingular, whatever...
5. Tell your new provider about the numbers you wish to PORT to them.
6. Once your new phones can accept INCOMMING calls -- proves that port was successfull -- now call Sprint again.
7. Do step #2
8. Tell them that you NOW want to cancel service with Sprint and that the ETF is to be waived.

Of course, it is now Feb 18th.... which means if you Feb billing date was before this, you are SOL!

Cancelled Sprint by calling the number, told the guy I found this website and that the new charges are material adverse to my original contract, and that I wanted to cancel because of that. No problems!

(Before this guy, which is named Jamie - ID # JXG6624 if you want to ask for him! I called twice and emailed once, all of those people didn't budge.)

THANKS EVERYONE!

How many of you are NEXTEL costomers that this actually worked? I want out in the worse way, but I haven't seen to much success from Nextel customers.

just cancelled sprint w/o ETF!...took me 2 calls. 1st last lady wouldn't budge, saying i was past my 30 days from jan 1st...45mins of BS...but the next 1 i made sure i had facts of their wrongings. so 2nd lady, 10mins n won. she said i was past the 30days of the last bill...by 4 days. then i told her the bill statement of december did not n still does not mention i had 30 days...she viewed it n said i was correct! sadly tho i lost my numbers...owell lol the funny part is i told the 1st lady "i'll keep calling back til sum1 cancels w/no ETF, she then said "no 1 will grant u the no ETF, its not how we (every provider) works", i told her "yeah we'll see" lol

I just called the 888-567-5528 number on Friday, Feb 15th, 2008 afternoon around 4:30pm. My call was immediately picked up by a young-sounding gentleman. I simply told him that I read an article on the internet that said Sprint rates were raised and I was asking him to confirm. He basically said that yes, it was true, and surprisingly asked if I wished to cancel my contract without early termination fees.

He said it in such a matter-of-fact way that I think that corporate is simply given up on argueing and now are allowing people to cancel if they want. Eventually the 30 day billing cycle will pass and people won't have a cheap way of getting out of Sprint.

My wife and I wanted to get iPhones (the new 16GB's are out) and this was the only thing holding us back till June.

I'm going to call back and actually cancel. I'm not sure if I can press my luck and get the numbers transferred to AT&T but we will see.

I called Sprint and they gave me the run around for hours on end. The costumer representatives were extremely rude and were unable to understand my situation. They told me lies and one rep even hung up on me. The supervisor I spoke with was the worse out of all of them. She insisted they ended this rule on Jan 31, and everything I was saying did not matter. I collected my cool and called back one last time. I called, asked for her name, ID number, and asked if I could record her. I clearly stated Sprint's changes were MATERIAL ADVERSE to my contract. I kept it simple and refused any other compensation she was willing to offer. After 10 minutes of her looking over my bills she stated I was within my 30 day limit and I could end without an ETF. As long as you're within your 30 days, don't take no for an answer. I'm so happy...the only stipulation is I have to send my phone back and I cannot keep my number. Which is fine, because my red razor is a piece of crap.

I've Read On A Few Different Web Sites That If You Are Constantlly Calling Customer Service Because Your Issue(s) Are Not Resolved To Your Satisfaction Then Sprint Will Terminate Your Contract Themselves, Which In Turn Since You Did Not Cancel Your Contract View Cannot Charge You For Canceling Your Contract Early :). So If You Really Want Out Then Call As Often As Possible For Whatever Reason(s), And Make Sure You Do It Multiple Times Per Day. Eventually You Will Recieve A Termination Letter From Then Saying That Your Service Is Being Canceled Because View Are Obviouslly Unable To Resolve Your Issues And Maybe You Will Have Better Luck With Another Service Provider. (This Is Not The Exact Words In Letter). I Believe One Me The Sites I Read About This Was BBC News On Opera Mini, It Said That View Terminated Tons Of Contracts In This Manner, So I Figured Its Worth A Try.

You have to be persistent and stick to the story above. You might get transferred several times, but just stick to the story. One

I attempted to leave the Sprint service on the grounds listed on this site. I was unaware of this information until after I had paid my bills with these charges. Since I had paid the bill, the Sprint representative said I accepted the charges and that I was unable to cancel my contract without an early termination fee. Is there any way I can get around the fact that I have already paid my bill with the added charges? Any help with this is greatly appreciated.

I have only been with sprint for like three months but I am extremely dissatisfied and tried this today - The first person I spoke to canceled my service with no etf's on either lines and no argument.

You guys are awesome......

Wellll i found out about this "loop hole" today... called them... got a nice CSR.... i asked him over 5 times... are you sure i will not be billed.. and he assured me that i wouldnt be... so the cancellation was successful and we'll see how it really goes when the the bill comes

after being on hold for almost an hour they finally cancelled me w/o to etf...and i just get the bill and they charged me! they will def. be getting a call tomorrow...and for all you ppl...be sure you get your partial months money back...u pay for your service in advance so therefore you paid for 30 days of servic but only recieve a partial amount depending on when you cancell...so you should be gegtting money back...they wont give it to u unless u ask though...their shady like that

I tried this method yesterday, disputing the .95 cents charges. You can still dispute them if their on your last bill! you have 30 days from your last bill! I noticed them on my Jan 14th bill, even though I paid, I called yesterday (Feb 8th) and talked to the 1st rep, she read me the contract and tried to tell me it was my state taxes and that everyone had to pay taxes, she kindly reimburse the fees but told me that they will be on my next bill- hung up wit her and called back. This time I got a guy, I pulled out my contract and READ it to him and told him that the fees aren't my STATE TAXES, they are SPRINT FEES that they chose to charge to their customers! and I told him in my contract I only agree to specific surcharges and I went on to read them out.... he must have pissed his pants because it was completely silence on the phone! I just wanted to dispute them to see where it got me, I really didn't want to switch to another provider. So in the end he offered to credit 150 bucks to my account and thats when I stopped fussing and the tone of my voice soften....So I asked him did I have to pay anything this month and he told me no, he'll put the credit on my account right now so in the end I was happy because I really didn't want to switch, he was happy because he got me to stop fussing and we both laughed and he thanked me for challenging him. Either way I got money out the deal. I suggest any sprint customer to try it, even if you dont want to switch, try it anyway to see what you can get! its the least they can do !

What am I not saying correctly? I have posted twice here already venting my frustrations with trying to cancel my contract with NEXTEL. I have read every script posted here...what to say, what not to say. Still I am left hanging in the noose of my Nextel contract. How is it that they will not honor their Terms & Conditions because I have a NEXTEL account? The fee was previously 'Federal Programs Cost Recovery' and is now two NEW ees 'Administrative' and 'Regulatory'. Dispite having the CSRs pull up both Dec and Jan bills, and showing them the 'Material Changes'...they will NOT terminate my contract without charging me the Early Termination Fee(s)...I have two lines. They keep saying that my total went down, so it does not apply to me. I debate that the Federal fee was dropped and that Sprint imposed the two new fees on my contract. The Supervisor said I could terminate now, they would charge me the fees, and I would have to contact them and dispute the charges. I AM NOT THAT STUPID! The Supervisor then stated I should get my lawyer involved if I felt that strongly about the .85 fees! How rude! I didn't even mention anything about lawyers! It's a real shame...I have been with Nextel since 2004. During that time I have been a loyal, honest, paying customer...with these conversations with Nextel, they will forever be tarnished in my eyes.

By the way, my contract expires May 2008...not soon enough!

I have been with Sprint for years, but they are pissing me off. Early December I got on a shared plan and therefore signed a 2 year agreement. Since then they still do not have my plan right (I have in documentation I am suppose to have unlimited text and each month I still get hundreds of dollors of texts) and I have to call them and waste time for them to correct it. I am really to get away from Sprint and get w/another provider. My question is, can I cancel my bill based on the 2 changes in surcharges even if I just signed a new agreement the first week of December 07? PLEASE HELP ME...I NEED TO GET AWAY FROM SPRINT!

Are the new fees 'taxes'? I posted earlier "Won't let me cancel-I have NEXTEL (not Sprint)". I am still persistent with no avail. The last conversation, the Nextel Customer Care CSR told me that I had to pay those admin and regulatory fees because they are taxes imposed on Sprint/Nextel and the company in turn, charges me. But under the GENERAL TERMS of the Terms and Conditions, it states that 'Sprint Surcharges are NOT taxes or gov't regulated fees'. I argued this with the CSR and he said that I have to pay these fees! And to take up this argument with the Federal government who is imposing these fees.

I feel I have put myself in a bad situation. My account now shows that I have talked to about 8 or more CSRs/Supervisors. When they pull up my account, there is a long silence as they read the notes of previous conversations.

Any advice?

I posted below. I know it was long winded, LOL. My question was should I mention other reasons why I am not happy with their service, or just stick to this only? The other reasons are written below...

Another question(s). I plan on recording the conversation(of coarse I will let them know that they are being recorded). Do you think this will help me, by making them aware that their actions are being recorded? How can they deny me my rights by their own contract? How can they get away with this on other people?

One thing I wanted to mention is to be sure to get a follow up email. They agreed to send me one, and did not. I called the next and got a very helpful person to review the noted on my account from the previous day. She did see that I had canceled 25 lines, and they issued me an email stating that fact to me that day.

The reason behind this is they said they would not charge me for the month of February for these phones or ETF's for them, but these would not show up until February 23rd (my next billing date). I wanted this email to add some sort of confirmation to their verbal agreements.

Also, for the final 13 lines that I had remaining, we have spoken with Verizon and they gave us a great deal. I signed the agreement to port the 13 lines today, we get all new equipment, a lot of great new features, and I'll still be under $800/month as opposed to Nextel at over $3000/month before I started all of this. Good luck, if you think you're getting the run around, hang up...calm down, wait ten minutes and call back. You'll get someone new that has no idea what's going on.

Jay Compton
Birmingham, AL

It worked for me! I'm so thankful that I stumbled upon this site.
I called and told them that the charges breached my account and that I refused to accept them. The woman said she had a hard time believing I would cancel due to a $.95 increase in my bill and that there are often times other reasons for canceling. I told her no, and that the charge increase was the sole reason. She did not seem happy! But she said she would honor the agreement and promptly let me out of my contract. Total call time: 6.5 minutes!

Question: Is there any way I can retain or get back my cell phone number that was canceled on the account or is it a goner?

I contacted spritn last night to cancel my contract early termination fee. I reached a womand and was immediately transferred to a supervisor as soon as she found out what I was calling about. He then went on to tell me that I was not correct in saying that I had 30 days from the posting date of the new surcharges and that I infact had 30 days from Jan 1, 2008. Well, as we all know this is true, yet I could not find any evidence on Sprints information that says when you have until to waive the fee. So, a long story short, the guy essentially told me that I was only contacting him b/c this was a free way to get out of my contract and that I was incorrect in my information and that he was not going to give me an upgrade in my plan just b/c I threatened to cancel my contract. Needless to say he was an a**. So, I emailed the ecare services from Sprint and almost immediately got a reply that said not only did I have 30 days from the date it posted on my bill, but that Sprint would actually give me an extra 2 days if I needed it for my convenience!!! So, my point is, don't let them give you the run around. They will sure try and the guy I spoke with on the phone was practically yelling at me before I told him there was no sense in that and that I would simply call again to speak to someone else. Good luck and I hope you don't have the same troubles I did!

I am so glad that I GOOGLED 'how to get out of contract nextel sprint". I had no idea about this! This is my situation: I have had crappy service since day one of my new contract. I have been a customer for over 5 years and once Sprint took over, it has been down hill since. My latest situation was my phone broke. I have insurance, so I took it in to have it fixed or replace in 1 hour as the contract stated. They didn't have any parts or phones to give me. I am very patient, to patient. It has been almost 4 weeks without a phone that I am paying for.... I finally called them yesterday and they patched me over to the insurance company, long story short, the lady treated me like dirt, called me a liar, and hung up on me. They would not insure the original phone that I had insured and bought, because I put my sim card in a phone that I don't even have or ever had(an i305). All that I have ever had was an i88s and a i860(the insured one). She said they would only replace this i305! I have never had a i305!!!! I put the sim card from my i860 into my i88s because they would not give me a phone or repair the one that I had, that is the only other phone that my sim card has been in..... Any way, I can't believe that they can treat their customers the way that they do! That in itself should be enough for me to get out to the contract with out the cancellation fee. They broke the contract, am I wrong?

I just can't remember that when I changed my contract 6months ago, if I went to Sprint. All of my bills say Sprint!?!?

I am so glad that I found this, I really hope that it works. I just checked my bill with the charges on it, and it was my Jan 24th bill. So I have til Feb 23rd, right?

Should I use the other ammo along with, or just stick to the Regulatory Charges/ Administrative Charges issue?

I contacted NEXTEL today to see what I could do about getting dropped without the ETF. I got the run-around from a few CSR's and finally got in touch with one who was somewhat willing to cooperate.

After explaining my case, she (as well as her supervisor whom I spoke with later) stated that there was a 30-day period, effective Jan 1., which gave users the opportunity to opt out of service without the termination fee. I clearly stated that as far as I was aware, the 30-day period began once the charges showed up on your bill, not from when the new fees become effective. Both people informed me that I was incorrect, and would not drop my service without me paying the $200 fee.

Anyone care to shed some light on this?

They did, however, offer to give me a better plan for less money as well as nights & weekends at 7 instead of 9...but I'm ready to use my iPhone!

Okay, here is the story. I canceled several lines the middle of last week. Two families worth to be exact. The process went really smooth because I was very rehearsed. The first cancellation with on without a hitch. Number porting and everything was not a problem. The second was smooth sailing for 95% of the process until they told me I could not port the numbers. I argued with them, quoting a section of their terms and conditions and being very persistent, but the rep assured me that if we tried porting the numbers that we would be charged the ETF for each line ported. So we opted to cancel the contract without ETFs and just ditch the numbers. A small price (in our book) to be released from our contracts. Fast forward to today and we find a cancellation bill worth around $600 in the mail. I will be calling Sprint as soon as I am off of work. I have the rep number and information about the phone call that I will present as evidence, in fact the phones were turned off that night because we told them we did not want to port. Any ammunition or suggestions will be appreciated. I will report as soon as I get off the phone with Sprint.

how do i erase the bill histoy analysis in my sprint account online

I posted on 25 Jan "I called Nextel today and"... well I called back on 1 Feb 08 and was again told that my phones were nextel and were not affected by the change. After 15 minutes of discussion I asked her to pull up my Jan bill. I asked her if the new charges were on all 3 lines and she said "yes"; I then explained that constituted a material change in the terms and agreements of the original contract and that according to my contract I could now cancle my service without the penalty of the ETF. After a short silence she asked to place me on hold. After 10 minutes she came back with a confirmation number. I asked her when I could port my numbers and she said anytime before the 26 of Feb. So if you stick with it and do not get off of the phone until they give in you'll win this battle. Good luck to all.

I want to understand how or what do I have to do to keep my number. If I cancel do I lose my number?

I have been on the phone with Nextel for HOURS!!! I went through the whole script that was provided which got me into some heated arguments. (They were very quick to get in defensive mode) Here is were it got me: Because I have NEXTEL and my NET BILL went down $.85, I am NOT able to terminate my contract. Despite my pleading that my ORIGINAL CONTRACT was 'adversely changed' by Sprint/Nextel, and reading them THEIR Terms and Agreements...they will not let me terminate. Basically...I have NEXTEL...I am NOT allowed to terminate without receiving ETFs!!! HELP!!!

PS they gave me the Corporate Number (703-433-4000) but they are closed until Monday.

Just in case anyone is wondering.. you're able to do this from 30 days after the billing date on the first bill you see the new charges.

Mine was dated Jan 3, so I had until tomorrow to do it.. I called directly to the cancellation dept at 888 567-5528. I was surprised that after 1 ring I was actually talking to a human. I asked to cancel.

A lady named Jackie asked me why, I said "I noticed material changes to my account that I do not agree with, two fees, specifically"

She asked which fees, I said the administrative and regulatory fees. She put me on hold and came back saying that if i'd like, I could get a monthly recurring credit of $3 to make up for the changes, I said no thanks.

She then asked if there was another reason for canceling, I said "No, not really. Aside from these changes to the contract, i'm happy with Sprint" (which is actually true).

She asked if I would be going to another carrier, i said "Well im sure I will, I mean, i'm getting rid of my only phone here. I like sprint but I understand from reading my contract that I only have 30 days after a material change to cancel without an early termination fee, so I have to do it now"

She said that what she would do was leave my account active but mark on there that when I do decide to cancel, the ETF should be waived, that way I could port it to another carrier.

I said id just like to cancel now, and I'll shop around for one this weekend. She said that they would match any offer I found if I would only stay with Sprint. I asked to be put on a SERO plan.

She said that SERO could only be done with the website with new lines, but asked which plan I was interested in. I said the $30 plan which includes 500min and unlimited text and data. She asked if I would rather have a free phone, I said no.

She put me on hold and came back about 5 min later, and said she would give me the $30 plan with unlimited text and data, with 7pm off peak starting time, AND a new phone of my choice if I would stay with sprint.

I agreed and my HTC Mogul should be here by Wednesday.

My company is very grateful for this knowledge. Since this was such an ordeal, I do want to elaborate a little. We had a manager in our company a couple of years ago that decided almost everyone needed a Nextel cell phone, so he bought them and signed three year contracts (on behalf of the company). Two years later, with cutbacks involved, our company has roughly one-third of the employees we had at that time. We have tried for the past several months to talk with Sprint/Nextel and explain our situation to them, to no avail. It was my understanding that they had dropped lines for us, but they had simply placed them in a "suspended restricted" category. This allows them to charge you a minimal charge each month with the phones being turned off, but it does not suspend the months on your contract. You must still, at some point, place the lines back active to fulfill the contract.

I was talking with their customer service two days ago to inform them that I was still not happy paying over $2000 a month for phones we did not use, and they responded with typical comebacks that I have read from each of you on here. As I was talking to them, I typed into Google, "How do I cancel a Sprint contract?". That is when I found your site. I hungup with her, and decided to look over your site. I spent a couple of hours printing all of the documents you recommend and familiarizing myself with the process. Then I made the call... I did everything as it was written and they kept denying me the ability to cancel these lines without an ETF (Early Termination Fee) which is $200/line for Sprint. This would add up to $5000 for me, so that was not an option. After she saw I was determined, she placed me on hold for 18 minutes, then came back and said there was nothing she could do that these were Federal charges. I then told her I was recording this conversation (Alabama is a single-notification state, so only one party needs to know they are being recorded...I already knew, but I thought it was polite to inform her.) That did not faze her. She still would not cancel the lines...This next part is odd. I then mentioned to her, that Sprint/Nextel's change was "MATERIAL ADVERSE" to my contract...She got quiet for two seconds and asked me the numbers of the lines I wanted to cancel...Those two words were all she was waiting for me to say. Without specifically stating that phrase, they do not have to let you out of your contract. They understand that this is a loophole, and they will lose very few customers to this because of the 30 day window they impose. Needless to say, I was absolutely amazed.

Two days ago I started with 38 phone lines, and today I have 13. This is a true testament to the people of this website. Thank you for doing a great job and looking out for the individuals.

Jay Compton
Birmingham, AL

Be persistent that you do not agree to the change of terms of the contract. I told the agent I was recording him and he got nervous, but still gave me sooo much run around that you would not even believe it. First he tried to transfer me to another department, then said I was trying to cancel for other reasons other than change of terms, then offered free services, then offered free phones, then asked me if I had my bill because I had to read it to him because not everyone has the same fee changes, then said my rate was not going up but a few cents--acknowledging the fee change. I asked his managers name and his name and the spelling of both of their names and asked if he understood that he was being recorded at the beginning of the call. At first he said he did not have to acknowledge that he was being recorded (and I told him I did not care if he acknowledged it or not) and kept on talking. But in the end he caved in. I was very firm.

They trapped me when roaming fees increased because when I called to cancel they stated that they had added free roaming to my contract without me knowing it. (???) So I gave up. Not this time.

I highly recommend you record and state over and over again you disagree with the new terms and tell them you are sharing the recording with FCC and BBB and State attorney general if they do not comply with your request. They are unbelievably slippery.