Why The Hell Am I Getting Charged $4.99 for Having A Spending Limit??

Well this is a short and quick answer.  Have you ever heard of the saying “a few rotten apples spoil the bunch” or however that saying goes?  Well anyway, lots of Sprint customers that have spending limit accounts have been abusing the payment arrangement system so much Sprint decided to tack this fee on everyone with a spending limit to better police this.

Now only the strong will survive, either you will do better with making your payments or you’ll…. well you can fill in the blank here.

The ONLY way this fee can be waived though is if you enroll in the automatic bill payment system provided on Sprint.com

I’ll speak more on this charge later, but right now this is all I can say… for now.

CONSULTED AND I’M DONE

“Why Can’t Ya’ll Just Put The Phone I Purchase On My Next Bill”

“Hey Sprint Man… I tried to buy a phone and I just wanted them to put it on my next bill… but they said I had to purchase it up front, but my friend had his billed to him… why couldn’t they do that for me??”

Well sir, if you have a spending limit account with Sprint you can’t have a phone billed to you because the price of the phone itself (regardless if you are eligible for money off towards an upgrade) is so high that it will automatically take you over your account spending limit in our system and shut your phone off.

So actually Sprint is doing you a favor by not billing you the phone.  If you had the phone billed to you anyway and it took you over the account spending limit, you would have to pay money up front to get your phone on regardless so it’s kind of like you are paying for the phone upfront anyway.

So that’s what it is.


CONSULTED AND I’M DONE

How Do I Get Rid of My Spending Limit!!??

“Ok Mr. Sprint Boy, what do I have to do to get rid of my Sprint account spending limit??”


Answer:
It’s quite simple… all you have to do is make 14 perfect payments in a row and “ta da”, no more spending limit.  What does that mean?  What are “perfect payments”?  That means you pay your bill in full when it’s due and it can’t be a minute late after the bill’s due date (that gives you 20 days to pay it after you receive it in the mail).  Also “no payment arrangements”.  If you ask for a payment arrangement in any month, although it will keep your phone from being suspended it will still break your perfect record. 

If you can do that, you don’t deserve to be on a spending limit any longer.

Also depending on the situation, if you break your perfect record you have to start all over.

Did you find this information useful?  Let me know.

TheSprintMan@yahoo.com

CONSULTED AND I’M DONE

"Why The Hell Do I Have A Spending Limit??"

“Aye Mr. Sprint!!!  Why the hell do I have a %$^&ing spending limit!!!???  I didn’t ask for this $%^&, I don’t want this… I didn’t sign up for this so why the hell do I have a spending limit???”

The Answer:  
Want to know why you have a spending limit??  It’s because… you… HAVE BAD CREDIT!  When you start your service with Sprint, they have to run your credit and your credit history determines how large or how small your spending limit will be, or if you have one at all.  It will also determine how many lines you are eligible for on your account.

…and that is why you have a spending limit account.

Consulted and I’m Done

What Gets Me Over My Sprint Spending Limit??

“What Gets Me Over My Spending Limit???”


“Dear Mr. Sprint Guy, my spending limit is 150, and my bill right now is only $60.00, but my phone is turned off because they said I went over my spending limit, how can I be over my spending limit when my total due right now is only $60.00??”

The Answer:
Ok, well… having a large overall balance isn’t the only thing that will get you over the spending limit.  Pending charges are other things that get you over the spending limit.

Pending charges are charges that will appear on your next bill, they are charges that are generating and racking up during the real time.

For example, lets say that your spending limit is 150, and your unpaid $100.00 bill has already come out, and you received it in paper form.  Now lets say while you haven’t paid your bill, during the billing cycle that you currently are in you go over your minutes.  You are charged .45 cents a minute and you racked up $75 worth of usage in overage, but sense the billing cycle isn’t over with yet, these charges are “pending” and will be on your NEXT statement.  Those pending charges are added on with the $100.00 and takes you over the account spending and causes interruption in service.  Once that happens, you should make a payment to get yourself under the spending limit so that you can continue to make outgoing calls.

What are some examples of charges that could be pending that could get you over the spending limit?

*  Ringtones
*  Downloads (screen savers, games, etc.)
*  411 Calls
*  Overage in the minutes.
*  Overage in the kilobyte usage (the internet).
*  Things you’ve purchased and will be billed for it later.
*  Text Messages
and I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of them right now.

From my experience dealing with customers, the most common thing that gets users over their account spending limit are overage in minutes and downloads.

Have any other questions just let me know.  TheSprintMan@yahoo.com

Consulted and I’m Done

"I'm Not Over My Spending Limit, Why Ya'll Shut My Phone Off???"

This is a question that keeps popping up a lot mostly with customers that haven’t been with Sprint longer than a few months.  Going over your spending limit isn’t the only thing that will shut your phone off, if your bill is also delinquent (AKA “being pass due") your phone will be shut off as well.

Now although we are supposed to tell you that there is no “grace period” after your bill due date, in all honesty your phone wont be turned off the next day after the bill due date either.  The system will give you some time to get it together and make a payment or at least call us to set up a payment arrangement so you wont be turned off before you are able to pay.

So in summary even though this was a short entry, being over your account spending limit isn’t the only thing that turns your phone off… being ridiculously late will also cause interruption in service as well.

Also just to let you know, WE don’t turn your phone off… YOU DO when you don’t make a payment!

Consulted and I’m Done

Foreigners

“Mr. Sprint Man, every time I call I always get some damn foreigner or someone that can’t speak good enough American [Edit: “can’t speak English well enough…”], are there ways I can call in and only speak with an American rep?”

The Answer:  Believe it or not, questions like this are common (well common for my inbox at least).  I just want to let you all know, for the ones that keep asking this question that there is no special cue to speak to an operator that doesn’t work for an outsourcing company that’s overseas.  When you dial the 1-800 number or Star 2 from your hand set it routes the call wherever it likes and once it lands on a rep, that’s who you have to speak to… and you can’t beat the system by telling that rep (English speaking or not) to transfer your call to a specific location or “to somebody that speaks English!” because when that rep transfers they have no control over where the call lands either. 

However if you “habla espanol” (pardon me if I’m saying this wrong) we can send you to a Spanish speaking operator.




Keep them coming folks, I will even answer the crazy questions! 
TheSprintMan@yahoo.com

CONSULTED AND I’M DONE

"Can I Change My Bill Due Date??"

“Hey Mr. Sprint Man, I’m on disability and I get paid once a month… but my Sprint bill is always due on the 29th and I get my check on the 3rd of each month, I called once to tell them [Sprint] to have my bill due on the 3rd of each month but they never changed it, can it be changed??”

The Answer:  Yes you can change your Sprint bill due date.  Get in touch with our Customer Care department and they can change it, however your bill has to be CURRENT in order for us to change the bill’s due date.  That means, you can’t have any past due balance on your account and if you only have one balance it cannot be a day late when you call us in to change it.  Now the rep you spoke with might’ve thought they knew what they were doing when they tried to make the change, but they didn’t.  The computer system will not change your billing cycle if you have a delinquent balance.

Did you find this information useful?

If you have anymore questions concerning thi e-mail me at TheSprintMan@yahoo.com

Consulted and I’m Done

Understanding Your Billing Cycle

 

“Why am I getting billed for this date on that date??”

“If my billing cycle starts on this date, then doesn’t that mean my bill should be due on that date??”

“My bill ain’t due until the end of my billing cycle!!!!” 

(wrong)

Questions like these and many other questions similar to these tell me that a lot of you don’t understand your billing cycle.  Let me break this down for you all quick and painlessly…

What’s The Difference Between The Bill Date and Bill Due Date?

- Your bill date is NOT your bill due date!  Your bill date is the date your bill comes out on… your bill DUE DATE is always 20 days after your bill date.  For example if your bill dates are always on the 4th of each month then your bill will be due on the 24th.  Your bill date is when your bill posts.

- Let me repeat, your bill due date is NOT the last day in your billing cycle.

When does your minutes start over? 

-  At the beginning of your billing cycle.

Am I Billed In Advance?

-  That’s a tricky one, if you have pro-rated charges you…. well let me explain that in another post, I don’t want to confuse anyone… but this is how it works, whatever you use in March isn’t due until April, etc. understand?

If you have any other questions concerning your billing cycle e-mail me at TheSprintMan@yahoo.com and I will iron out the details for you. 

Consulted and I’m Done

"I Already Returned My Phone, When Do I Receive Credit???"

Sprint didn’t give you a credit for a phone that you returned?

Is the price of the phone still on your bill and it’s effecting your current balance?

This is a question that is frequently asked, and Sprint doesn’t just volunteer this information until you call one of our representatives (like me) and curse us out about it.  Now I want to say unfortunately there isn’t anything a Sprint representative can do about this answer I’m about to give you, but it takes up to 2 billing cycles from the date the phone is received at one of our warehouses for your credit to hit the account. *sigh* what can you do besides wait right?

Like I said earlier, there isn’t much any of us representatives can do to speed up the process, however what we can do is give you a payment arrangement regardless of your payment history (unless your account is sold to a collection agency) that way your phone at least wont be interrupted for the lingering balance until this problem is resolved.  *shrugs shoulders* what can we do huh?

Any other questions or comments just e-mail me at TheSprintMan@yahoo.com

Consulted and I’m Done

The Sprint Man Introduction

The Sprint Man Introduction

Hi my name is…… well… “The Sprint Man“. I am currently an employee for Sprint (and by the time you are reading this hopefully I’m still employed) at one of their call center locations. I am a customer care, and finance rep that has been White Glove trained as well (so that means I do 3 jobs for the price of one). *sighs* In this economy companies will try and get all they can out of their employees, I’m just thankful to still have a job (at this point). I’ve been working there for 2 years now.


One day while I was getting cursed out by some incompetent arrogant hard head…. *pauses and thinks*, excuse me, I meant to say “being debated” by one of our “valued customers” about their bill, I came up with the idea of writing this blog. In this blog I plan to create more awareness and educate Sprint customers about frequently asked questions, resolve common issues, and provide you all with valuable information concerning your phone, sprint bill, account, service package, billing cycle, and other topics that continuously come up while dealing with Sprint customers and their issues. This way when you all call in the future we should have less fluff talk about how much you are tired of X,Y, and Z, or how you thought “it was like that”, when the truth of the matter it’s really “like this”, and then we can get straight to business.


I will also let you all, the customers know what’s really going on as an insider for Sprint, while tactfully wording each thing I say so that I can avoid a lawsuit from the actual Sprint, and for anyone else that maybe working for Sprint and is reading this, this isn’t a disgruntled employee giving away trade secrets, in fact this blog should actually make a smoother connection between the consumers and the company, and maybe boost and generate more sales. Also, for you, the readers, although I may not be dishing on my employer for the sake of your amusement, don’t expect me to “lie for” or “dance around certain issues” just for the company either. Expect me to tell it like it is, how it really is, first hand. My head set is off, and my AVP (or supervisor) isn’t watching over my shoulder, and no one is monitoring or recording this for quality assurance! I am going to “keep it real” with you all 100% in this blog.


Also you will see plenty of helpful links, and banners on this page… feel free to check out the affiliated websites and links to information on new devices and phone upgrades. I will be updating this page frequently so keep checking back for more updates and if you have a question that you need answered right now on the spot and I haven’t touched on your specific issue yet, please e-mail me at TheSprintMan@yahoo.com

Consulted and I’m Done.
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