Sprint Loses Early Termination Fee Battle, Too
Verizon recently settled a class-action ETF case, and a California judge last week ordered Sprint to pay $18.25 million to customers who claim the company's ETFs are illegal and far more than the actual costs associated with a mobile provider losing a customer.
Sprint must also stop trying to collect $54.75 million from customers who have refused to pay their ETFs, according to a ruling from the Alameda County Superior Court.
Sprint ETFs were charged on a per-phone basis, however, so somebody with a $100/month family plan with four phone numbers on the account would end up paying $700 in ETFs.
In 2007, Sprint started offering pro-rated ETFs so customers nearing the end of their contract who decided to cancel service would not incur the full ETF.
Verizon introduced pro-rated ETFs in 2006. T-Mobile followed suit in 2007, and AT&T implemented the same policy in May 2008.
