Sprint Sucks. Really. Can I Sue Them?

This took place in the state of New York.

Someone fraudulently opened an account with Sprint in my name. I am still receiving bills for this account even though I caught onto it in July and had it closed, the same month it was opened. The way I found out was I got a bill, (my cell phone is with Sprint as well so at first I thought it was for my account), saw a number I never heard of for an account number that had my name on it but wasn't the same as my cell account, called it, and got the voicemail of some stranger. I then called Sprint, and there began hell

When I called today and asked how the account was opened, as well as requesting any documentation relating to the phone line, the woman in the fraud department at Sprint told me
"I have been advised I cannot send you any records regarding this account"
and said they have no idea how the account was opened.

I know this isn't an issue of them doubting my identity, because they did disclose some information regarding the account and they also discussed with me previous calls I had made.

I am very suspicious they are somehow culpable since they're withholding the records. This account may soon go to collections. I have spent numerous hours dealing with this and other problems with my account created by Sprint. My identity may have been stolen, but I don't know because they won't tell me how the account was opened. If my credit is damaged as a result of this, I will be very, very unhappy. I understand that if this is ID theft the person who committed it would be held responsible, but the lack of disclosure is vastly impeding my ability to research this myself and/or file a complaint.

I have called on this numerous times since July, and they always danced around the idea of sending me paperwork. Obviously asking flat out did not work. I also do not buy that they do not know how the account was opened.

I would like to sue them, to recoup costs such as having my credit monitored on a monthly basis, anticipated damage to my credit, time spent, as well as for punitive damages- this simply is not acceptable business practice and I feel they have screwed me. I cannot believe that this all happened in my name and they won't let me know what went on or how it happened, it disgusts me.

Do I have a case here? If I file, what amount could I ask for? I have no idea how much this may cost me in the long run in terms of credit damage. I have disputed the charges since the initial July call, but they have not been dropped.

I just wanted to add one thing: I have read online after doing some research about fraud packets commonly used by Sprint. Strangely, I was never sent one nor was it even mentioned to me on the phone. The account was closed without, to the best of my knowledge, any real investigation being done other than them calling the number associated with the new account and doing whatever it was they put me on hold for 25 minutes for, and I never signed anything. Is this just me, or does this seem strange as well?

Thank you very much in advance for any help/advice you can give.

It's been a week.. so...
bump.

Sorry, if I'm not allowed to bump my own post, just let me know.

ErynSMA said:

I would like to sue them, to recoup costs such as having my credit monitored on a monthly basis

Click to expand...

You won't get that

anticipated damage to my credit

Click to expand...

you can't sue for something that MIGHT happen

time spent

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Time spent on what?

You cant sue sprint because someone else stole your id. This sort of thing happens to alot of people and unless you can find the person who did it then there really is nothing you can do. and evn though sprint cant send out records to you dosnt mean they will not investigate th issue. But if your really worried about the crdit I would suggest you pay the amount due and if the person is ever caught get them for restitution

Sorry it took so long to respond.

When I called a few weeks ago, it was far from the first time. I have logs of every time I've called (who I've spoken with, how long I've been on the phone for, what was said), and I've spent over 18 hours on the phone with Sprint over this. Most of it was on hold, and many times it was because they would tell me they could get me information, transfer me to another dept., put me on hold, and then transfer me again. Five times I got the "callback" line at the end of it, where they said they'd call me back in a short period of time (from 2 minutes to an hour, depending on which time it was). The only time they ever actually did call me back about any issue was on something unrelated that happened last week.

My biggest concern is that on the last call about this, immediately prior to the woman advising me that she couldn't disclose the records, she said they had no clue how the account was opened. Yet when I checked my paper records more thoroughly over the past weekend, I saw that the opening of this account corresponds with the exact date I called Sprint and provided them with personal information in order to have myself put on as an additional account holder. So it could be a simple error, but I am unsure.

I have flagged myself with the credit bureaus and paid for the credit monitoring, but I'm miffed. I got another bill last week, and I can't afford to pay for something that's not my fault (I have some medical issues that have tightened my budget in the last few months). They told me the account was closed, but I'm still getting these bills every month without fail.

It's also much harder for me to investigate this at all myself if I can't even try to prove how the hell someone got a hold of my information.

I guess I'm mostly fed up with bad customer service being the norm. Spending almost 19 hours before getting a flat answer on whether or not I can get paper records is b.s.

I also do still very much suspect that an employee was somehow responsible, but I can't prove a damn thing at this point. Does the person still have my info? Was it their fault, or are they just using normal procedure to make this a pain? I'm not sure, but I can say this much, they have certainly lost my business.

At the very least though, is there any way to supeona the records? I really want to know what's going on and how this happened. Having lifelong damage to my credit is NOT an appealing factor. Also, would I still be able to file a police report? I did not think to do this initially, but it seems like it may be a good idea now.

Thanks again.

ErynSMA said:

I saw that the opening of this account corresponds with the exact date I called Sprint and provided them with personal information in order to have myself put on as an additional account holder.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by that...but it seems to me that an account holder IS responsible for the account.

I apologize, allow me to clarify:

this phone was in my ex-boyfriends name. The initial call in July, the day the fradulant account was opened, was a conference call between me and my ex with Sprint (he's in GA, I'm in NY) to have the phone put into my name. This SHOULD have gone into effect on that date, but still to this day has not; it was one of the other issues I have had with the company. I have also called on this as well, and gotten the same response I got when asking for paperwork for the fradulant line ("we will call back in x minutes"). When I have insisted on staying on the line while they do what they need to do, recheck credit etc, they have hung up on me.

But all that aside, I would like to make it very clear the account opened in my name on that date was NOT my number, nor my exes, nor anyone we knew. Sprint DID determine it was a fraudulant line; again though, they never directly said how it was opened, and in fact seemed unsure.

I hate to make such a hassle over this; I am really not the type to complain or even think about legal action, but I really feel at my wit's end with dealing with this company. I have a great plan, but it's not worth it when I'm having this level of problems with the coperation itself.

So could I try to supeona records on how the account was opened, or not?

If you're still fighting this, call their executive resolution center.

703-433-4401.

Good luck!