On July 1st, Sprint changed it's Terms of Service for their customers. Here's a list of the changes:

1. Sprint removed the right to a lawyer during arbitration.

Sprint’s new contract terms state (emphasis mine): “Instead of suing in court, you and Sprint agree to

arbitrate all Disputes (as defined below) on an individual, non-representative, basis.” In the old contract,

this section stated: “We each agree to arbitrate all Disputes between us, on an individual basis, not on a

class-wide or consolidated basis.”

The addition of the word “non-representative” seems to imply that you are not allowed to have a lawyer

represent you during arbitration with Sprint. In other words, by agreeing to the new terms, you effectively

waive your right in the future to an attorney.

2. Sprint can now disconnect phone calls at whim.

Sprint added this sentence to the new contract: “Call time for a single call may be subject to a maximum

duration and may be automatically terminated if the maximum duration is exceeded.” This sentence didn’t

exist anywhere, in any form, in the previous terms. In effect, it allows Sprint to terminate any call it wants,

purely at its whim, and cite the excuse that it exceeded a “maximum duration” that Sprint doesn’t define

anywhere else in the contract. This seems incompatible with the “unlimited” plans that Sprint advertises

so heavily – if you signed up for service that was advertised as unlimited, and Sprint can now disconnect

calls at its whim, this seems like a good reason to leave without paying an ETF.

3. Sprint can now change your rate plan to whatever it wants.

Sprint also added another new sentence in the new contract, which (again) doesn’t appear anywhere in

the old one: “If you lose your eligibility for a particular rate plan or if a particular rate plan is no longer

supported or available, we may change your rate plan to one for which you qualify.”

This in effect gives Sprint the right to change pricing, with absolutely no grandfathering clause. At any

time, for any reason, Sprint can decide that you are no longer eligible for a particular rate plan.

Alternately, it can decide to simply no longer support unlimited data. Since Sprint has taken away the

option to grandfather your existing rate plan, this seems to be as good a reason as any to cancel without

an ETF. (On a side note, could this be Sprint preparing to finally do away with unlimited data on

smartphones?)

4. Sprint can call you anywhere, at any time, using auto-dialers.

Finally, Sprint added an entirely new paragraph called, “Contacting You Regarding Billing and

Collections.”

The most concerning portion of this new section is that you are agreeing to be contacted by “automatic

telephone dialing systems” and “pre-recorded or artificial voice messages.” You are also agreeing to be

contacted at absolutely any address, phone number, or email address you have ever provided to Sprint in

the past – ever.

For customers, such as myself, that have contacted Sprint to dispute this, have been getting denied a waive of the Early Termination Fee. Here is an excerpt from the newest Sprint Terms of Service (available to view at http://shop2.sprint.com/en/legal/legal_terms_privacy_popup.shtml?ECID=vanity:termsandconditions#3):

Under "Our Right To Change The Agreement & Your Related Rights":

If a change we make to the Agreement is material and has a material adverse effect on Services under your Term Commitment, you may terminate each line of Service materially adversely affected without incurring an Early Termination Fee only if: (a) call us within 30 days after the effective date of the change; (b) you specifically advise us that you wish to cancel Services because of a material change to the Agreement that we have made; and (c) we fail to negate the change after you notify us of your objection to it. If you do not notify us and cancel Service within 30 days of the change, an Early Termination Fee will apply if you terminate Services before the end of any applicable Term Commitment.

Sprint has gone against it's very own Terms of Service, and will not allow anyone to seek an ETF-free termination, despite their own rhetoric saying so. This is a violation of our rights as consumers!