My Sprint Saga

I have a dispute with Sprint that has gone on for almost a full year. The dispute is about $1,688.66 in charges that were incorrectly applied to my Sprint account. In the past 48 hours, I have spent almost four hours on the phone with various Sprint representatives and departments, and, despite a wealth of new information, I am not sure if I am any closer to getting these charges reversed. So, to document this for posterity, I am blogging my experiences with Sprint "customer service"

My First Email to Ecare
After months of fruitless calls to customer care and fraud, I looked on a Sprint user forum and found email addresses for Sprint E-Care (ecare1@cc.sprintpcs.com, ecare2@cc.sprintpcs.com, ecare3@cc.sprintpcs.com, and ecare@cc.sprintpcs.com). I sent an email on November 21st, 2007 to all of the ecare email addresses explaining the incorrect charges and asking for assistance. At that time, all that I knew was that two charges of $844.33 where made to my account in February and then again in March. These were for two Blackberry's that were purchased on December 21st at a Sprint store in Houston, TX (Store 1521, 4719 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77027 713-963-8834). I purchased a Samsung phone on that date at that store, but I definitely did not purchase the Blackberry's (I have never purchased a Blackberry, period). I sent the email thinking that it would simply disappear into the Internet ether and that I would have to continue working the Sprint customer service representatives via more phone calls to their call center. Here's the text of my email:

To Whom It May Concern

I am writing this to express my grave concern about my Sprint account
that contains numbers 832-326-2765 and 832-368-7577. Fraudulent
charges were made on my account on December 21, 2006 (last year). Two
separate purchases were placed on my account that were $844.33 each
(for a total of $1688.66). I never authorized these charges nor have
I ever purchased or received equipment from Sprint for any products
that cost that much money. I have spent several hours on hold and
being transferred to try and resolve this issue. I have also worked
with the Fraud department and was assured on several occasions that
the charges would be removed from my account. However, nothing was
ever resolved.

The last communication I received from the Fraud Department was that
no fraud occurred (November 2007) (you all have recently taken a
different position on my account). During the course of this dispute,
my line and the line used by my wife has been disconnected on multiple
occasions since my bill was always wrong and I could not know exactly
what to pay. My wife is 9 months pregnant, and I have grown very
concerned that this issue may affect her ability to call for help in
the event of an emergency. I have contacted a third party in efforts
to help resolve this matter, and I am considering leveraging my
contacts in the media. I do not want to escalate this situation
further; however, I would like to receive a fair and prompt response
from Sprint.

These are the questions that I have posed to the Fraud Department, but
I never received an answer:

- Why were the two charges of $844.33 charged to my Sprint account?
Who made these charges on my account? Are not equipment purchases
charged to some form of payment like cash or credit cards and not to
an account?

- I was told by Customer Service that one charge of $844.33 was
refunded to the credit card used in the purchase. So, how can you all
place these charges on my Sprint account and at the same time say that
you refunded money to a credit card used in the purchase? This is a
contradiction.

I did not make any of these purchases, and no one was able to tell me
what credit card was given the refund. I did not purchase these items
and if a refund was given to a credit card, it was not my credit card;
I never saw any such refund. It seems as though whoever purchased this
equipment received a credit without having to return the equipment, so
they illegally used my account to purchase two items for $844.33 and
it seems as though you all also refunded this person $844.33. I ask
that you immediately remove these charges from my account (refunds to
a credit card I do not own are not helpful). I really need the money
that I paid for my service to be restored as soon as possible, because
as stated, my wife is 9 months pregnant. Please let me know if you
require any documentation to support any statements made in this
inquiry.

Regards,

Anjuan Simmons

The First Response from E-Care
To my surprise, I received a reply to my email on November 22nd, 2007 from a Business E-Care representative named Angelina R. (humorously, her email signature says, "Where our customers come first!"). The text of the email:

Dear Anjuan Simmons,

Thank you for contacting Sprint. I understand your concern regarding the high charges on the account.

I have throughly checked all the notes on the account and would like to inform you that the charges on the account are absolutely correct.

I want to inform you that our Technical department specialist have done research on your account and they have clearly mentioned on the notes that the charges are correct.

I would like to share with you that this issue needs a verbal interaction.

Please do not worry, I have arranged a call back for you.

Call Back:
********
I have forwarded the request of call back to our call back team and you will get the call back within 24 to 48 hours on the phone number 832-326-2765.

Let me assure you that our specialist will assist you in a best possible manner.

Thank you for contacting us. Have a great day.

Angelina R.
Business E-Care
Sprint
"Where our customers come first!"

Notice that she didn't answer any of my questions. I waited two days, but I never received a call back.

My Second Email to Ecare
I was upset that I never received the callback promised by Angelina R. So, I sent another blast email to the E-Care email addresses on November 25th, 2007 stating:

To Whom it May Concern,

Angelina R on November 22^nd, 2007 at 3:26 AM stated that I would receive a call back in response to my complaint within 24 to 48 hours to discuss this urgent matter. Despite her statements, I have not received a call back. This is yet another example of the horrible customer service that I have received from Sprint. It is obvious that she did not read my original email in its entirety because she did not address any of the factual information that I presented. I did not make these purchases; I did not purchase any items that cost 844.33. As detailed in my e-mail sent on November 21^st, 2007 at 11:17 pm I believe it is clear and apparent that I did not make these purchases.

Anjuan Simmons

The Second Email from E-Care
I was again surprised to receive a reply on November 26th, 2007:

Dear Anjuan Simmons,

Thank you for writing back to us.

I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced due to the fraud charges.

I understand that you did not purchase the handsets and account had been charged $844.33 twice. I request you to call us at 1-888-788-4727 and one of our representatives will transfer you to fraudulent department as we do not handle this concern from eCare.

I once again apologize for the inconvenience that you have faced.

Thank you for contacting us. Have a great day.

Daniel K.
E-Care
Sprint
"Where our customers come first!"

Again, note that that none of the questions I asked in my first email were answered. Furthermore, I had spent almost a year working with customer service and the Fraud department, and I was not interested in talking to them again. However, I had to resign myself to more time spent on the phone with Sprint.

The Call from The Escalation Department
On Wednesday, November 28th at 5:15 PM I received a call from Michael of the Sprint Escalation Department. I was at work, but I moved to a conference room to take the call because I had never been directly called by Sprint about this matter. I shared the information in my first email with Michael, and he began by saying that he reviewed the notes on my account (and there were a LOT of notes), and it seemed that I made the Blackberry purchases. I was frustrated, but I asked him to trace the numbers tied to the Blackberry's. He did so and then put me on hold for about 15 minutes. He came back and stated that he had determined that the two lines used by the Blackberry's were not on my account. One line is owned by A. Faulkner (account number REDACTED) and the other was owned by S. Singleton (account number REDACTED). I was ecstatic at this point because this was completely new information! I was also upset that no one from Sprint ever shared this information with me. I told Michael that this clearly demonstrated that the $844.33 charges were incorrectly applied to my account because how could my Sprint account be charged for two phones that belonged to the Sprint accounts of other customers? Michael continued his investigations and told me that on February 26th, 2007 someone (I assumed Faulkner or Singleton) called Sprint to dispute a charge on their credit card. The amount of the charge? $844.33. Sprint, for some reason, charged my Sprint account $844.33 and refunded the credit card. I saw this increase on my Sprint bill and began what would become many rounds of telephone calls with Customer Service and the Sprint Fraud Department. On March 8th, someone (again, I assumed Faulkner or Singleton) called to dispute a charge of $844.33 to their credit card and Sprint again charged my Sprint account and applied the amount to the credit card.

At this point, even Michael had to agree that something had gone very wrong with the administration of my account. I asked him to write detailed notes about what he had just shared with me, and he put me on hold for about 20 minutes. He then told me that he made the notes, and I asked him to read them back to me. I was satisfied that he had accurately captured what he had told me, and he then suggested that I contact the Sprint Fraud Department. I told Michael that I was skeptical that they could help because I had spent many hours on the phone with them, and they never came up with the information about Faulkner and Singleton that he had discovered. I asked him if he could reverse the charges, and he said that he could not. He assured me that the notes in my account would be sufficient for the Fraud Department to track the Visa card that was credited from my account as well as the Sprint accounts of Faulkner and Singleton. He gave me the case number (REDACTED) he opened and his ID (REDACTED). I reluctantly hung up after thanking Michael for sharing this wealth of information with me.
Total time on the phone with Michael: 1 hour, 12 minutes, 13 seconds.

My Call to The Fraud Department
I dialed the number to the Fraud Department, and I became immediately concerned when I heard the voice of the representative who picked up the phone. I did not get her name because she was talking so fast. She asked why I was calling, and I explained that there were detailed notes on my account that were made a few minutes ago that would describe my situation. She said (speaking very rapidly), "Well, you have to tell me why you're calling". I asked her to read the notes that she sees to me, and she put me on hold for 20 minutes! She came back saying that she reviewed the notes and that no fraud occurred! I shared with her the information Michael told me, I asked her to explain what she would call $1,688.66 incorrectly charged to my account? She said it was "just a mistake", and that I would have to contact Customer Service. I asked her to make detailed notes on my account because I had already spent many months with Customer Service. She put me on hold for another 20 minutes. She came back and stated that she made the notes. I asked her to read them to me so that I could understand what she wrote. She said, "Basically, the equipment was . . ." I interrupted and asked what she meant by the equipment. She complained that I interrupted her, but I explained that I needed to understand what she wrote so that I could understand what customer service would see. She began reading her note again, and I stopped her to ask for a clarification, and I was abruptly transferred! The next thing I heard was a customer service representative who identified himself as Benjamin. I asked Benjamin to review the notes on my account, and I again shared the information Michael told me. Benjamin suggested that I contact the Fraud Department! I complained that I was just transferred from Fraud, and he said that i could go through the Misapplied Payment Department. He said their number was 1-866-751-8040. I asked him to repeat the number several times, and I asked if the Department was still closed (it was almost 8 PM). He said he thought the department was open. I reluctantly hung up again.
Total time on the phone with Fraud and Benjamin: 46 minutes, 7 seconds.

My Call to the Misapplied Payment Department
I dialed the number given by Benjamin (1-866-751-8040), and it was a fax number.

My Call to Customer Service
I dialed Sprint Customer Service, and I was transferred to a representative named Clarrisse. I asked to be transerred to the Misapplied Payment Department, and Clarisse paused. She said she would look at the notes on my account, and I was on hold for ten minutes. When she came back, I explained the story from the beginning, and she said she would transfer me to Finance. I asked if this was the same of the Misapplied Payment Department, but she didn't answer. I am transferred to Sonya in Finance, and, after sharing my story, I am told I need a "billing specialist". I am transferred to a woman named Cindy, and I asked her if she was a billing specialist. She laughed, and I asked her to review the notes on my account. I am on hold for 20 minutes, and she stated that there were a lot of notes. Cindy said that she couldn't see a case number, but, fortunately, Michael gave me the case number. I gave it to her, and she stated that she was in Canada and it was getting too late to do anything. She assured me that one of her supervisors (Alisha or Robert) would contact me in four hours.
Total time on the phone with Customer Service and Finance: 48 minutes, 12 seconds.

My Second Call to Customer Service
I never received a call from Alisha or Robert or any Sprint representative. The next day (Thursday, November 29th) while driving to the airport I called Sprint Customer Service. I was transferred to a representative, and I went through the whole issue. Suddenly, someone else broke into the line and identified herself as a coach. My situation was too complex for the person she was training so she would handle it. She put me on hold for 20 minutes, and she came back stating that her supervisor would review and call me back. I recounted my lack of luck getting call backs from Sprint, and she gave me her name (Angela Davis), her call center (Charlotte, North Carolina), and the name of her supervisor (Diane Ryszanski). She said I would get a call back later that night with an update.
Total time on the phone during second call with Customer Service: 33 minutes, 6 seconds.

The Call from Customer Service
Angela did call me back about an hour later. She said she was still researching my case, but she wanted to call me back because she knew I was waiting. She said I could expect a call tomorrow.

It is 11:22 PM on Friday, November 30th, and I have not received a call from Sprint.