UPDATE: California court ruled that it is unlawful for Sprint to charge early termination fees and ruled they must pay back the fees they charged in the past. GOOGLE it and you will find lots of info on it. It should be illegal. We should have a choice and if the customer service stinks we can leave and that way these companies would go back to the way it should be where they treat people like customers, NOT prisoners.
If you are considering Centennial wireless as your carrier or if you are experiencing problems please read this. We need to work together to take companies like this down and get them to run an honorable business or close down. Businesses should not be allowed to operate dishonestly and unfairly no matter what kind of contract they think they have us under. It is unprofessional and unacceptable.
I started using Centennial wireless as my carrier over 9 years ago. I learned early on to start asking questions because they are not going to volunteer any information that gives them an advantage of you not knowing. The "trusted blue shirt advisor" is a joke. The customer service is terrible. I have gone into the Beaumont, Texas location several times and had to wait, with my infant, for long periods of time with lots of people in line and one to two customer service reps available and they usually can't do much of anything except "put in a request" or "put in a service order" etc. I have been overcharged more then once with nothing I can do about it because I have no proof other then my knowledge that I didn't call someone 31 times in a row minute after minute consecutively to be charged extra minutes on my bill. So, mistakes happens and life goes on but lies and deception are NOT acceptable.
I think we need to have them sign a contract with our contract to make them stick to the service they promise which is totally a joke. Once they have you under contract they really DON'T care, they think they have you under their control. People, don't fall for it. We have laws to protect us and this contract stuff isn't in blood. If they are not keeping their part then the contract is null and void. Let us fight this fight with integrity but fight we should. This company needs to have a class action suit filed against it. I am personally bringing mine to court if Centennial doesn't step up and take responsibility for their actions. I really don't even care about winning or losing, they cannot hurt my credit enough for it to be an issue, it is about what is right and a company should not be allowed to get away with the kind of lies they do, PERIOD!
Years ago I asked my rep about all the surcharges we were paying. I was told they were a federal/government mandated charges and all phone companies charge them. So, stupid me trust my company. Lots of time goes by and I ask again this time asking for details about each of the three charges. They give me a long spill and let me know they are all Federally mandated or required fees. I again believe them. Then when talking to my sister about her phone bill for the same number of minutes and phones I wonder why hers is so much less then mine? We go over it and she tells me she doesn't have those kind of fees. Only a small amount not near the percentage of mine. Hmm... I call again. This time calling and asking for a supervisor. They again inform me what I have always been told... Same garbage... These are required BY LAW this time. They make it sound even better. My husband keeps telling me to get another carrier but I keep telling him they all have these kind of fees because that is what we have to pay due to government charges. I did try and call one of the carries but they told me they couldn't tell me what the fees were because they vary by state so I never could verify the cost difference. I cannot tell you how many times exactly I asked about these fees but it was at least 5 times over the years, probably more.
Finally this weekend a friend comes down from upstate. They are telling us about their Sprint plans and how good they are. My husband gets me to call them and I ask them about their fees. They tell me it is Sprint's charges to recoup some of the Federal line charges they have to pay the government and that they are not mandatory but part of Sprint's fees they choose to charge. This info is even on their brochures. They were upfront and honest about these fees and not trying to lie to just get you to sign up. I am so angry at Centennial I call them again acting like I don't know that these charges are not law and ask about the fees and surcharges. They again tell me the same lies. EVEN when I come and ask "Are these Federally mandated charges required by law" and they state YES! They don't bother telling me the truth. I call again the next day another rep tells me the same info, I even got the names of the reps. I call my local office the next business day and ask for the district guy whose name is Robert or Bob Patterson. Of course, he is in a meeting, which is always the case when I call. So, I ask for the next to him as far as management. They go to get her and find out she is "in a meeting" HHMMM, how convenient.
I then go on to explain my issue and the rep then tells me to look on the back of the billing page which states what these charges are. EVERY time I have called they have never pointed that out, NEVER. Only this time when I let him know I knew the truth. They could have pointed that out years ago, or whenever thy decided to finally disclose that on the bills which I know wasn't always there over the years. They could have told me that when I called instead of making up lies. I really don't care if it is on the bills. The truth is they will out and out lie to you if they think you don't know. It is a fact. I told him what I was doing and how I was going to handle it.in COURT! I did give him the info that if they wanted to call and deal with this as an honorable company should I would not bring it to small claims, but they would have to start telling the truth to the customers. I am sick of companies thinking they have you in a corner if you sign your name, well what about thier agreement! They need to keep thier word! I have not heard back and don't think I will but I will do all I can to fight this injustice. It is not right and a company needs to act responsibly!
So, I call the retentions department to ask them to cut off my phones and let them know that I am switching. They of course inform me that two of my lines have contracts, I of course let them know I don't care. They then go on to inform me (this is rep LYNN CC88 by the way) that I have to give them 30 days notice and will be billed for another month. YEAH right. She tells me that is in the contract. I tell her they don't inform anyone of that when you are signing and she informs me it is not their place to read it to you. BUT, they don't give you a chance to read it when I last signed for those on their little screen. I had to read it later. It wasn't in front of me and they are not idiots. They know we don't have time to sit there and read all the tiny legal stuff so we aren't going to bother, we are going to trust them to tell us the details. This is unknown by MOST Centennial customers. My friend who WAS with them for 11 years until today was told that and let them know they can jump in the lake in a nice way to put it. IT is their responsibility to let you know that when you sign up so you can be aware of that. OH, and by the way, you need to know that Centennial is the ONLY company who pulls this one. They take 2 minutes to turn on your phone and 30 days to turn it off! HHMM, try not paying your bill and see how fast they can turn it off. She also told me that the fees were mandated until I let her know I knew the truth and at that time she came up with reading it on your bill and told me I was trying to put words in her mouth when she stated it without me saying anything! It was such a joke!
There is nothing about this company that represents any type of service. It is ridiculous that these cell phone companies think they don't have to stand by anything they tell you or even consider treating you like a customer. To them we are prisoners and that is what they treat you like. I refuse to pay the last bill and I refuse to pay the 2 contract amounts. They refused to keep their part of the bargain, I refuse mine. They broke theirs first so it made mine null and void! They will lie if you call them, they will not give you any kind of "blue shirt advisor promises" they advertise and they will rip you off!
Here is a partial list of fees that NO other carries charge you for which Centennial adds to your bill as an option which none of the other companies do to this degree:
Caller ID, Voice Mail, Detailed billing (all the other companies think this is a joke), Call waiting, Ridiculous Texting and Web charges, and the extra month of paying even when your phone is cut off or ported AND the list goes on!
Please use wisdom. If you decide to start fighting for your rights keep logs of names and employee numbers, times, dates, and all info you can. Record conversations. I have the lies recorded but I really cannot be sure if I can use them in court of not yet. We will find out, but it couldn't hurt to try. If you have friends or know of names of past employees you can possibly have them as witnesses in court, at or against their will. There are many angles you can come from. Keep it clean and legal. You don't need loopholes, just truth.
I am not lawsuit happy at all. I just believe companies should have to keep their word as we should keep ours but it can't be a one way street. If you need any help or more info I am willing to help out. I have gone to court against two companies in the past, one a smaller local company and one was First USA bank, I won both cases on my own without a lawyer. Don't fear. You have truth on your side and that is what matters. The web has huge amounts of info on how to handle a small claims suit and it is only around $20-$25 in most states. All companies also have to disclose any legal info like presidents of companies and addresses to send legal work to etc. I was told today that Centennial's president is Phil Mayberry and there is much more info on this company you can get for whatever you need legally, just do the homework.
I have a lot more that has gone on in the years but I tried to condense it for sake of reading time. If you have any witnesses that were with you when you asked questions or were lied to that is really helpful. I have two times where I had a person with me who isn't a family member, and they witnessed what was told to me and one was lied to too. Keep that in mind. There are lots of complaints about Centennial and how many more that people don't take time to voice like this?
The unhappy X-custome
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