How to Remove $10 Premium Data add-on charge

[neurolizer]

I recently had a bricked phone that I believe had something to do with the VC update mentioned in these forums. I tried many of the recommended solutions, but wasn't successful with any of them. So I took my phone to the store and they ordered me a replacement phone, which I was able to pick up a few days later. I activated the replacement over the phone with a rep. Never did they mention to me that there would be a new $10/month premium data charge on my line when I activated the phone. A couple weeks later my bill was posted to my account and I noticed the new charges. I googled the issue and it didn't look like anyone was successful in getting it removed, but they also charged me an upgrade fee that I knew should and could be remove, so I started up a chat with a rep. After a lot of repetition and persistence, they removed the fee and premium data charges from both of my lines (the other one I never mentioned because it was replaced as result of the previous one being eaten by a dog). Have fun reading the conversation that follows and hopefully it will be useful to some of you =)

10:11:28 AM : Me: Initial Question/Comment: Unexpected charges on bill

10:11:33 AM : Agent has joined this session!

10:11:33 AM : Connected with Agent.

10:11:33 AM : Thank you for contacting . My name is Agent.

10:11:43 AM : Agent: I am happy to help you. Please hold a moment while I access your account.

10:12:28 AM : Agent: While I access your account information, can you please provide more details about why you?re chatting with us today?

10:15:15 AM : Me: On my most recent bill, there is a Premium Data add-on charge ($10 each) on two of the lines and one Device Upgrade Activation Fee ($19.68). I was never notified that my bill would be changing or have any extra fees applied while I was changing the phones around on my account in the past month.

10:15:28 AM : Agent: Thank you for details.

10:17:38 AM : Agent: Please allow me a few moments so that I can check this for you.

10:19:39 AM : Agent: I can see that you have activated two phone in last bill cycle. The both phones are smart phone that required the $10 premium data pack for activation.

10:23:06 AM : Me: gave me an identical replacement phone because their OTA update broke my previous one. Also, when I was activating the phone, the rep never mentioned that there would be a new $10 fee. I would not have activated the phone if I had known this fee would be applied.

10:24:04 AM : Agent: I understand your frustration and apologize for the inconvenience.

10:24:54 AM : Agent: As per your have activated the smart phone, the $10 premium data pack charge is mandatory.

10:26:24 AM : Me: Actually I'd like to discuss the Device Upgrade Activation Fee ($19.68) first. We can get back to the premium data charge after we solve the other issue.

10:27:04 AM : Agent: Ok.

10:27:54 AM : Me: What is the fee for?

10:29:29 AM : Agent: Whenever a handset is upgraded or activated on the account, a handset upgrade fee is charged. As you have upgraded the handset on the account, a charge of $18.00 has been billed. And you have charge with the service tex $19.68.

10:30:42 AM : Me: I don't believe that I ever did upgrade a device on my account. What is the definition of upgrade, and which number/device was upgraded and from what?

10:34:09 AM : Agent: Let me tell you in detail.

10:38:01 AM : Agent: I can see that you visited the store and replaced the handset.

10:42:01 AM : Me: 's OTA update broke my phone so they gave me an identical replacement. An identical phone is not an upgrade and I will not pay a fee to for the problem that they caused me with their OTA update.

10:42:56 AM : Agent: I understand your frustration and apologize for the inconvenience. Please give me a moment while I research your issue.

10:45:17 AM : Agent: Thank you for waiting.

10:46:07 AM : Agent: Since you were promised that the upgrade fee will not be billed, I have applied a credit of $18.00 plus the applicable taxes. This credit will appear on the next invoice.

10:47:17 AM : Agent: The total amount including the tax is $19.68.

10:48:24 AM : Me: I would appreciate that.

10:49:07 AM : Me: Can you send me some sort of confirmation email so that I will have proof that this will happen?

10:49:53 AM : Agent: The updated balance due on your account after applied the credit is $158.81.

10:50:18 AM : Agent: You can check this credit status on your online account after 4 hours.

10:52:23 AM : Agent: A notification has been send to your email address which you have registered on your account as a communication method.

10:53:35 AM : Me: Thank you, I will let you know when I receive the email.

10:53:54 AM : Me: Now we can get back to the premium data charge.

10:54:43 AM : Agent: The premium data charges is a mandatory charges for the smart phones.

10:56:03 AM : Me: I now understand that when activating a new phone the premium data charge is required, however I don't believe I should have to pay the charge for this particular activation because 's OTA update is what broke my phone and caused me to have to activate an identical phone.

10:56:59 AM : Agent: I am sorry, I can not remove these charges from your account.

11:01:52 AM : Me: I don't find that acceptable. I will have no problem with the charge when I activate a phone for a reason other than because broke my previous one, but in this particular case, it was who broke my phone and I will not accept the charge as a result of activating a replacement phone. Can you please provide me with a way to directly contact someone who can remove the premium charges.

11:03:11 AM : Agent: The only way is that you will change the phone.

11:03:40 AM : Agent: If you don't want to pay this charges in future so you have to change your phone.

11:04:34 AM : Agent: As you are using the Smartphone, Smartphones require a $10 Premium Data Add-on plan.

11:05:02 AM : Me: I would like to give me back my previous phone which they broke and I provided them in exchange for a replacement.

11:08:26 AM : Me: I had a smartphone before the premium data charge was implemented, so the only way I would have to pay the premium data charge is if I changed my plan or activated a phone. I did activate an identical replacement phone, but only because broke my previous phone. I will not accept this charge as a result of breaking my phone.

11:08:31 AM : Agent: It is a system automatically applies charges for $10 premium data pack. We are not able to remove these charges.

11:08:57 AM : Agent: It is effective from 1-1-2011

11:10:12 AM : Agent: I am sorry, It is effective from 1/30/11.

11:10:33 AM : Me: That's what I thought =P

11:12:11 AM : Me: I understand that you personally can't remove the fee, but I know that someone can. So I would like you to provide me with a way to directly contact someone who can remove the premium data charge.

11:14:47 AM : Agent: I am sorry.

11:15:52 AM : Agent: I mean that starts charges $10 premium data pack for all smart phone. It starts form 1/30/11.

11:16:27 AM : Agent: Before this the $10 premium data pack is not require for activation the smart phone.

11:18:27 AM : Agent: I have not received a response from you so I will be disconnecting this chat. If you require additional assistance, please visit .com. Thank you for your business.

11:18:34 AM : Me: No.

11:18:58 AM : Me: Your statements were not related to my previous statement. I was waiting for a reponse to my statement.

11:21:32 AM : Agent: I am sorry, this charge is mandatory and can not be remove from anyone.

11:22:22 AM : Agent: If you do not want to pay for this charge so you need to change your phone.

11:23:25 AM : Agent: If it is possible for me, I would like to help you regarding this.

11:23:43 AM : Agent: I hope you can understand my limitation.

11:24:03 AM : Agent: I can not break the company rules.

11:24:20 AM : Me: I would like to change back to my previous phone that I provided in exchange for an identical replacement since they broke the previous one. Please send me back my revious phone and activate it how it was before I took it to the store.

11:24:39 AM : Agent: As per the company policy this is a mandatory charge for all the smartphones.

11:26:25 AM : Me: I want my previous phone put back the way it was before broke it so I can continue using it without the premium data charge.

11:26:58 AM : Agent: May I know your previous phone model?

11:28:06 AM : Me: It was an identical phone, LS670.

11:31:13 AM : Agent: I can see that provided LG optimus LS670 phone is also a smartphone. If you will activate LG optimus LS670 phone so you will also have to add this $10 premium data pack for activation.

11:35:45 AM : Agent: I know your time is valuable and I would like to assist you in resolving any question you have today. Would you like to continue chatting with me today?

11:35:54 AM : Me: What is the number for 's customer loyalty program?

11:40:51 AM : Agent: If you want to speak with our Support Team, you can speak with this team at 888-211-4727. I understand that the new phone (which is an upgrade) was received as a replacement due to the issue of the old phone. Is that right? If so, I can speak with my Supervisor for a possible alternative to resolve this issue.

11:42:14 AM : Me: That is correct. The issue with the old phone being that it was broken by an OTA update that sent to my phone. Please speak with your supervisor to see if there is an alternative way to resolve this issue.

11:42:51 AM : Agent: Please allow me a few moments.

11:44:56 AM : Me: Ok, I need to run to the restroom really fast, so please allow me a few minutes also. I will let you know when I return.

11:45:37 AM : Agent: No problem.

11:47:02 AM : Me: I am back.

11:49:54 AM : Agent: Thank you. I have discussed the case with my Supervisor. With the upgrade phone, the $10.00 Premium Pack is required. But considering that the original claim was a replacement for the issue with the old phone (as a replacement claims), we are providing an one-time exception for your account and replacing the $10.00 Premium Packs with $0.00 Premium Packs.

11:50:49 AM : Me: That is wonderful news =)

11:50:49 AM : Agent: Both the lines will have this $0.00 Premium packs.

11:51:44 AM : Agent: With these changes, a credit of $14.00 against the previous Premium packs is also applied on the account and it will reflect on your next bill.

11:52:04 AM : Agent: Credit against the upgrade fee is also applied on the account.

11:52:15 AM : Agent: My goal is to ensure the issues that prompted you to chat today are fully resolved. Did I address all the reasons for your chat today?

11:53:45 AM : Me: When those changes go into effect, my issues will have been resolved. Thank you very much for your assistance today.

11:55:06 AM : Agent: It is effective from immediate affect. The changes are already updated on the account.

11:55:21 AM : Agent: It?s been my pleasure to serve you. You?ll receive an email transcript of our chat after the session ends.

You have the option to complete a short survey at the end of this chat. I appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback because the survey results help measure my performance. Please don't hesitate to chat again for assistance at .com.

Please click Exit and Complete Survey.

11:57:15 AM : Agent: It was nice to chat with you.

11:57:23 AM : Agent: Please click Exit and Complete Survey

11:58:01 AM : Me: I see that the changes are in effect on my account now. My issues have been resolved. Have a wonderful day!

11:58:38 AM : Session Ended

 

[pcubed]

So the problem is that you had a $10 premium data charge added on top of your current plan after you got the replacement phone? What plan are you using now?

I'm not fully aware of the charges/plans that Sprint has now, since I'm on the SERO plan. I know that I needed to pay a $10 fee to upgrade to SERO premium in order to use smart phones. I'm guessing yours is similar to mine?

 

[CarrieK]

I don't have the fee except for the EVO, and I understood that going in. It will not be applied to the rest of my lines until contract renewal time. I read Sprint's policy online and it said that replacement phones would not have the fee added, so you should never have been charged the fee to begin with. I'm glad they resolved it for you and also impressed with how professionally you conducted yourself. I can't help but wonder, though, if part of the reason for the smartphone fee is because they know there are people out there like us who mess around with rooting our phones and brick them, costing them and us extra money...

 

[neurolizer]

So the problem is that you had a $10 premium data charge added on top of your current plan after you got the replacement phone? What plan are you using now?

I'm not fully aware of the charges/plans that Sprint has now, since I'm on the SERO plan. I know that I needed to pay a $10 fee to upgrade to SERO premium in order to use smart phones. I'm guessing yours is similar to mine?

I have the Everything Data Share 1500 with three lines*. It is my understanding that as of 1/30/11 every smartphone that is activated will have the $10/month premium data charge. If you truly upgraded your phone (and not just got a replacement) then I doubt you will be able to remove the charge.

* Speaking of only three lines on a family plan, does anyone know how to get them to let me have 5 lines total on the plan before I have had service with them for at least a year? They tell me the 3 line limit is due to me not having enough credit history when I started the plan and there isn't anything that can be done to allow me to have more than 3 lines on my family plan until after I have had service with them for at least 12 months.

 

[neurolizer]

I don't have the fee except for the EVO, and I understood that going in. It will not be applied to the rest of my lines until contract renewal time. I read Sprint's policy online and it said that replacement phones would not have the fee added, so you should never have been charged the fee to begin with. I'm glad they resolved it for you and also impressed with how professionally you conducted yourself. I can't help but wonder, though, if part of the reason for the smartphone fee is because they know there are people out there like us who mess around with rooting our phones and brick them, costing them and us extra money...

In case I have any problems in the future, can you provide a link to the policy you mention and what section it refers to replacement activations not being subject to the addition of the $10 premium data charge?

 

[CarrieK]

In case I have any problems in the future, can you provide a link to the policy you mention and what section it refers to replacement activations not being subject to the addition of the $10 premium data charge?

I will get you the link when I get to work. There is a section on their site where they put a q & a about their policies that are taking effect. I rwad it a few weeks ago after someone on the Android Forums site put up a link. A Sprint rep posts answers to questions and comments customers have. I saved the link in case somethig ever came up.

 

[CarrieK]

Here is the link:

Sprint Community: Announcements: Sprint makes Premium Data changes

I hope this helps

 

[hamagc]

So the problem is that you had a $10 premium data charge added on top of your current plan after you got the replacement phone? What plan are you using now?

I'm not fully aware of the charges/plans that Sprint has now, since I'm on the SERO plan. I know that I needed to pay a $10 fee to upgrade to SERO premium in order to use smart phones. I'm guessing yours is similar to mine?

Since we have sero (sero premium if you have a smart phone) we do not have to worry about premium
Data. Sero premium covers it.

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

 

[pcubed]

Since we have sero (sero premium if you have a smart phone) we do not have to worry about premium
Data. Sero premium covers it.

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

Unless we want to have a 4G phone, that is.

But I'm starting to think that this premium data fee that so many people think is silly really does have some weight to it. I've noticed I've been using a lot more data after I got a capable smart phone, but then again, I'm not sure how much it costs Sprint to support the extra usage.

 

[sfhub]

I googled the issue and it didn't look like anyone was successful in getting it removed, but they also charged me an upgrade fee that I knew should and could be remove, so I started up a chat with a rep. After a lot of repetition and persistence, they removed the fee and premium data charges from both of my lines (the other one I never mentioned because it was replaced as result of the previous one being eaten by a dog). Have fun reading the conversation that follows and hopefully it will be useful to some of you =)

Sorry to see you got that huge runaround.

Anyway, with Sprint reps you have to use the proper "keywords" or they will be stuck on a script.

TEP (sprint's warranty and insurance program) phone replacements are exempt from adding the $10 fee if you didn't have the $10 fee before.

Possibly if you threw out that this replacement is the equivalent of a TEP replacement and kept saying TEP over and over, the rep would have figured out what to do quicker.

The Sprint store should not have told you they were replacing your damaged phone, then use your phone upgrade to do the replacement. They should either have told you they can't replace it, done a straight out manager overriden TEP-equivalent warranty replacement, or told you that they were using your upgrade to replace your phone (and the ramifications)

Since they did the replacement as a phone upgrade, now besides the refund of the upgrade fee, you need to make sure they didn't change your contract renewal dates, and also make sure they change your upgrade eligibility dates back to what they used to be.

 

[rodmartir]

Unless you pay your bills on time for a few months you can, I got them to give me 6 lines