You are right. I just got off the phone with Sprint and verified exactly what you said. You can cancel your contract within the last 30 days and will not get charged an ETF.
Whoever I talked to at sprint a month or so ago obviously had no idea about this.
Thanks for the heads up!!! You just shaved a month off my wait time for an iPhone
TRUST ME ON THIS, WAIT UNTIL THE CONTRACT IS OVER.
My wife and I were with sprint for well over 5 years. During that time we were repeatedly screwed over by Sprint. To give you an idea of what things were like with them I'll give you an abbreviated version of 2007-2008 with them.
Feb 07: For valentines day my wife gets me the (product) RED Razr.
March: An early termination fee shows up on our bill, attached to my phone #. My wife spends 5 hours on the phone with sprint trying to sort this out. During this time she is hung up on 3 times. After hang up # 3 we head to the sprint store. After waiting for over an hour for the store manager to get off the phone with his girlfriend we explain the situation. The response? "we don't handle customer service problems at this location. You will have to go to our ofer store at..." We end up at the other store 15 minutes before closing. We spend the next 15 minutes waiting for someone to help us, only to be told "I'm sorry, but we are closing you will have to come ba-" which is about the point I started yelling. The words that flew out of my mouth were along the lines of "**** you! We have been dealing with this ****** up company all day, and we are both staying here until this ******* bull**** is straightened out!". At this point one of the completely untrained employees picked up the phone and called the police. My wife leaves. Some of the employees leave. I'm left in the store argueing with the manager and the assistant manager. They decided to try to physically force me out of the store right as the police officer pulls up in front of the store. Catching a glimpse of his arrival out of the corner of my eye I hit the floor. The officer comes in and draws his gun on the employees! A brief discussion occurs where the officer asks Thier side of the story and then asks mine. I explain my day to him and at the end he says "sounds like sprint allright." The employees of the store insist that tresspassing charges be filed. The officer explains to them that is an option, but I can press charges of assult. He also asks them to explain why they didn't simply try to help me in the first place, to which they gave some sorry excuse about being busy, bla bla bla.
A few days later: with a copy of the police report in hand we get Sprint's legal department on the phone. A few hours later they call back asking what our plans are. After another lengthy conversation we finally get the charge to our account reversed. Or so we thought...
May: the charge reappears on our account. Another three hour call later we get it reversed again.
June: our monthly rate for 1000 shared minutes, no data, no text, has somehow hit $150 per month before taxes and fees. A three hour call ensues with no resolution. The next day I file a formal complaint with the FCC.
August: We get a call from sprint regarding the FCC complaint. After over an hour of getting nowhere we give up, noticing the sprint representative that we will be taking things further with the FCC.
The next day: I call the FCC. They inform me that sprint had let them know that the "issue was resolved peacefully with the customer over a month ago."!
At this point I give up. I decide to save up some money so I can cover the ETFs.
Late January: I talk to a sprint rep who is actually friendly. He informs me that I am at 11 months and I will pay the "second year" rate on the ETF. Great! Time to switch! AT&T here I come!
February 2008: The final bill comes from sprint, in the amount of $1,300! Aparently I signed up for three lines even though my wife and I each only had one phone. That's right, ETFs for three lines, first year rate.
Trust me, wait until your contract is over.
