Yeah, I know that everyone already knows this, but the cell phone companies rip people off with impunity. My dispute is with Sprint and their third party retailer, S Wireless NW, Inc.
I had been thinking about getting a mobile wireless hot spot for several months, I finally decided on Sprint because they had 4G in our area and no broadband caps. I went to our local Sprint store, and on speaking with their sales person as well as their regional manager, I settled on a MiFi.
I'm a heavy broadband user. I wanted this service to supplement my wired broadband service when it goes down. Because of my work as a software engineer, uninterrupted connectivity is vital for me. I download Linux distros, at about 0.6G a pop, several times a month. And then there are those OS/X updates that weigh in at 1.4G. Unlimited 4G service was the primary selling point that attracted me to Sprint.
My first two weeks with the service were very good. It performed exactly as it was sold to me. The trouble began when I stumbled a this stealth announcement from Sprint. It tells me that a mere two weeks after I started service, they were eliminating the very feature that convinced me to buy their service.
I went to the store that sold me the service, and they assured me that it wouldn't apply to me, as I would be grandfathered in. I didn't trust that declaration and called Sprint customer service. They confirmed that I would indeed be limited by the bandwidth caps in their new terms of service. I returned to the store and they called customer service and got the same confirmation that I did.
I decided to cancel my service. Unfortunately, I was 24 hours beyond the fourteen day no questions asked return policy. Sprint would not allow me to return the device or cancel the service without charging me the early termination penalty.
At the store, they're saying that they never should have sold me an unlimited plan, because such plans don't exist. That is in direct contradiction with what both the original sales person and his regional manager said at the time of the sale. Ironically, on looking at the Sprint Web site about my usage, it confirms that I have unlimited service.
So I'm stuck with a two year contract for a service that I don't want and does not meet my needs.
The reseller, S Wireless NW, says their hands are tied, this is Sprint's problem. Sprint seems to only care that they pulled in another sucker with a "bait and switch". It is my intent to write to the Oregon Attorney General, as well as the Better Business Bureau. I will refrain from picketing the store front.
So what can I do? I feel that Sprint, in collusion with S Wireless NW, has ripped me off. I strongly encourage everyone to avoid both companies. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a shareholder of an unethical company.