I’ve worked in customer service, I know it’s not an easy job. But I also know how to speak up and take a stand and do whatever I have to do to not let a customer service rep walk all over me. I know they are following a script and are probably instructed to do whatever they have to do so that the company never looks bad, but sometimes, someone messes up big time, and customer service has to admit it.

“Slamming”–adding unauthorized services to a customer’s cell phone plan without permission.

Sprint paid the state of Florida $2.4 Million dollars to settle slamming charges in 2004. Unwanted LONG DISTANCE charges, to be specific.

I have a Sprint PCS phone, I paid for 450 “Anytime” minutes and 300 minutes of texting. Imagine my shock when I got a bill today that showed a balance of $125.00. I looked more closely, and what did I see? The Sprint PRO Pack Data plan, $30 a month. The Mobile Location Service (??), $15 a month. Sprint Family Locator (??) $9.99 a month, the MEXICO CROSS BORDER INTERNATIONAL PLAN, $5.00 a month, the International Long Distance Plan, $4.00 a month, and Roadside Rescue, $4.00 a month.

I got on the phone with Sprint Customer Service. I told the woman on the phone that the charges were unauthorized. She began removing them. It took THIRTY FOUR MINUTES. Then she gets back on the line and tells me that the charges won’t come off the bill until next month, and that my balance due is $125.00. I said to her um, NO. NO NO NO. I did NOT authorize any charges, and I am NOT paying for them, and that I’ve had nothing but problems with Sprint since I switched from AT&T, and that she needed to transfer me to someone who could remove the charges, immediately.

I was on hold for another five minutes. While I was holding, Chris and I were talking about how I had called and made a payment on my account on August 18th, and how interestingly, that was the same day that all these extra charges were added to my plan. Chris said that’s called slamming, having unauthorized charges added to your account. Quite the coincidence, huh?

When the next woman came on the line, I took a deep breath and explained the whole story. I used the word “slamming”. And this woman, Lorraine, said to me “Ma’am, I am so sorry that this happened to you. We have the ID number of the customer service agent who added the charges to your account. It is grounds for termination from our company. She will be taken care of. All of the fraudulent charges will be removed from your account immediately.”

WELL THEN.

I didn’t intend to get anyone fired, but I wasn’t going to just give in, either. Life is too short not to stand up for what you know is right.