Sprint facing yet another fine, this one involving extra charges for lower-credit consumers

Sprint may be a large corporation with decades of experience in the business market, but that does not mean everything works like a well-oiled machine. The carrier has recently been hit with several actions that can be traced to sloppy attention to detail or, as the cynic may contend, an intentional effort to cut corners. The latest hit comes from the Federal Trade Commission which has proposed $2.95 million in civil penalties related to failure to give proper notices when customers were charged extra due to low credit scores. This comes in the same week that Sprint lost an appeal in the state of New York regarding a $300 million fine for not collecting taxes.

According to FTC consumer protection bureau director Jessica Rich,

“Sprint failed to give many consumers required information about why they were placed in a more costly program, and when they did, the notice often came too late for consumers to choose another mobile carrier.”

The FTC alleges that consumers who had low credit scores were charged an extra $7.99 per month fee in addition to their regular charges. In the cases where Sprint eventually got around to notifying customers that they would have to pay the extra fee, the notice was often provided too late for consumers to cancel their service without incurring a fee.

Despite this and other recent issues, Sprint issued a statement claiming “Sprint puts its customers first and is always working to provide clear and necessary information to customers.” The company says they made changes in July as part of efforts to resolve this matter.

A court still has to approve the proposed settlement.

source: Re/code

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