Jessy Edwards  |  May 7, 2021

Category: Cellphones

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Sprint Phone Lease Plans Trap Customers in Endless Contracts, Class Action lawsuit Alleges

Sprint is tricking customers into phone lease agreements that see them trapped into paying much more than their devices are worth, a new nationwide class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiffs Teresa Gutierrez and Michael Camou filed the complaint against Sprint Corporation in a California federal court Thursday, alleging the telco company has committed fraud and violated state consumer protection laws with its Flex Lease Agreement program.

The program claims it offers customers options to get phones at a supposedly low monthly cost, the class action alleges, through monthly payments and the ability to cancel the contracts after a set time period. 

In reality, consumers end up paying significantly more than the value of the device due to Sprint’s ongoing monthly charges after the lease terms end, the claim contends.

In some cases, consumers have been forced to make additional payments at the end of the initial lease term in order to own their devices, or are even unable to cancel the program after the termination of the lease period despite trying to do so.

“Without a realistically available option to own their Devices or cancel their leases, customers are left paying to lease their Devices indefinitely,” the class action states. 

Gutierrez said she leased two 64GB iPhone 8s through Sprint’s Flex Lease program in 2017. 

For 18 months, she paid $36.76 per month for each device for a total payment of $661.68 for each phone. The class action says she understood that after she made 18 monthly payments, the payments would represent the value of the iPhones, and that she would own both of them outright. 

However, when she contacted Sprint, it told her she had to pay an extra lump sum of $199.87, or six monthly payments of $33.31 per month on top of the lease amount. Not wanting to pay more than the value of the phone, she continued making just the monthly lease payments.

“As a result of Sprint’s unconscionable Flex Lease program, Plaintiff Gutierrez has been harmed and suffered damages, including, but not limited to overpayments for Device leases, excessive purchase prices for Devices, termination fees, and inconvenience,” the class action states.

Camou had a similar experience, leasing a Samsung Galaxy S10E through Sprint’s Flex Lease program in 2019. Over 18 months, he paid $33.52 monthly for a total payment of $603.36 for the phone. However, when he finished paying the installments, Sprint allegedly said he couldn’t own the phone until he completed an additional nine monthly payments of $20.84, or $187.56 total. 

The class action also alleges customers were not told when they were nearing the ends of their plans, leaving them to continue making monthly payments indefinitely. It says customers who tried to cancel their contracts by returning their phones found their efforts intentionally frustrated by confusing website links, odd emails, promised call backs that never came, and long wait times on chats. 

Some people also allegedly had their devices refused for return, even if they had minimal wear, or were told that they were ineligible for the buyout option.

The consumers are looking to represent anyone who purchased or leased one or more devices under the Sprint Flex Lease Program, plus a California subclass. The class action is suing under California’s Unfair Competition Law California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and is seeking recovery for common law fraud, conversion and unjust enrichment.

Gutierrez and Samou are seeking certification of the Class, damages, interest, fees, an injunction and a jury trial.

Meanwhile, a $7.6 million settlement agreement has been proposed to resolve a case filed by several retail workers against Sprint, alleging it may have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act in addition to other worker protection laws.

What do you think of Sprint’s phone lease contracts? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Alison M. Bernal of Nye, Stirling, Hale & Miller, LLP and Joseph G. Sauder, Lori G. Kier and Davina C. Okonkwo of Sauder Schelkopf LLC.

The Sprint Phone Lease Class Action Lawsuit is Teresa Gutierrez and Michael Camou, et al., v. Sprint Corporation, Case No. 2:21-cv-03865, in the U.S. District Court Central District of California.

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1,268 thoughts onSprint Phone Lease Plans Trap Customers in Endless Contracts, Class Action Alleges

  1. Julie says:

    I got my S9 thru Sprint in 2017 on the flex lease plan. 2023 October I just realized I an still being charged for this phone!!! Sprint owes me big time!! Tmobile whom bought them put just removed the payment for the phone. She said it. Was paid for years ago. What can I do for Sprint to repay me??

  2. Erin says:

    It’s obvious that this contract is predatory and designed to be intentionally unclear. On what planet would someone choose to make payments on a phone in perpetuity? I’m grateful that I’m “only” out $320, but Sprint (T-Mobile) needs to pay for this.

  3. Nike says:

    Our 2 phones are already paid off. God knows maybe over a 1 year. But they still charge us 40$ for month to month lease even it’s been paid off!

  4. Jessica Bellus says:

    We were with sprint for a few years and this happened to us too. I spent so many hours on the phone with sprint representatives trying to figure out why the expenses for our phone service kept increasing, just to be given the run around. Finally, we just cut our losses, paid $1,000s of excess fees so we could switch our plans without it affecting our credit.

    1. Marty McFly says:

      I just got off the phone with T-Mobile customer service over the sprint lease plan for iPhones. I was on the phone for about three hours. They overcharge me around 600. She offered me $50 compensation. And then when I refused, she put me on hold a few times. She wasn’t being rude. She was being respectful, but I can tell she was giving me the runaround. So I asked her once she informed me that I was going to get a call back from T-Mobile’s back office, I asked her if she’s going to email this to her higher-ups, that I would like a copy of that email. For documentation and some proof that we had this conversation and this is where the conversation left off. She said that she couldn’t do that. So I asked her for a reference number. Like when you call Apple support, they give you a reference number. She said she didn’t know what I was talking about. She kept repeating what we had discussed as if that is good enough. I stayed on the phone for about 40 minutes asking her for this reference number finally she did give me one. She told me that the back office will call me back within 72 hours and here’s a reference number. I don’t know if it’s a scam. I don’t know if the number is real or not but I will find out in a couple of days. . This is so frustrating!

      1. ***** says:

        As formal employee they let people in New York payoff there phone and sumtime waive off the contract

  5. Fawn Duggar says:

    Before covid shutdown in March 2020 joined sprint 5 phone lines and $0 free phone or $10 monthly discount for 1 phone. I was paying for insurance coverage for the phones, in 2020 one phone stolen, one broken and a Cracked back screen. The cost to get a phone any other the phones fixed had very high upfront cost with the phone insurance. It was cheaper to buy a new phone then to get it fixed. To remove phone insurance cost takes about 4 customers service calls and several months before being removed. 1 line still had insurance protection fees 2years after being removed. Phone stolen in 2020 27 months after being stolen still have forever lease. 2 phone on the forever lease a year after the phones so outdated could not work on service. On forever lease. I and along with professional in person customers service from two different stores I tried to end the March 2020-jume 2022 service. Moved to different company. Now sprint/t-mobile charges me for $1216.43 . Charging me for phone line service that inactive not used, and the equipment cost for phones I got March 2020, and forever lease and the after charge costs to buy off the phones. I have spent days and days, phone calls over 4 hours, told so many lies. Customers service has learned that if I hand up first, then everything I did doesn’t count and lose the call record. So customers service can put you on 1 hour waiting time, or if your telling them that you want to send service and moving to another provider 3 hours on customers service and they keep piping that they could upgrade the phones regardless how many times I stated that I don’t want to be a customer and changing my phone service provider, t-mobile customer service piping that they can upgrade the phone enough times, spectrum customers service provider hand up the phone for me as I have broken down crying in a public place. Since I hung up a 3 hour call, in future calls I am constantly informed that I should have done this or done that , in which I had done several times, or my favorite why don’t you access your account. When my iPhone was ran over, I have tried for 8 months to get into account, tried to get physical stores customers service and although my email address is active, they send bills, the email to recover password to the account, not in inbox, spam, or blocked, never shows up. When the first collection agency sent me charges was $634. Tried to fight it. Now they want $1216,48 from sprint. I understand concepts that leave phone service might have some balance but it’s something that should be fight about. But big business mow over people who can’t afford or know how. I never agreed to forever lease phones and several times tried to pay off phones lost, stolen or broken a year to 2 years old.

  6. Jodi G says:

    Has anything started with this? I commented months ago. I have contacted the FCC due to how serious my issues are. They have sent to T-Mobile / sprint to contact me. That says a lot. So curious what this is all about? Asking for comments but no making contact with anyone? Makes no sense.

  7. Leslie West says:

    I called Sprint to purchase a new samsung for my husband so he could have more GB. The representative stated he was due for free upgrade so there would be no charge for the new samsung.
    She then informed my I was due for free i-phone 13pro upgrade. I informed her I did not need new i-phone but she kept insisting I might as well get the i-phone 13pro upgrade since it was free. She said I would be receiving a gold i-phone 13 pro for free because my line was eligible for free upgrade. She then informed me and my husband that he could receive a black i-phone 13pro upgrade instead of the black sumsung. He has never had a i-phone and was initially hesitant about going from android to i-phone but agreed due to facetime feature.
    We paid shipping fees with promise both cells would be mailed out in couple of days. In meantime, Sprint had sent boxes and labels to mail our current cells to them. I called Sprint stating we had not received either cell phone yet so I could not mailed our current cell phone until we received new cells and had service center transfer our data. They said they should arrive any day. We waited several weeks more, no cell phones. I called Sprint back at which time they informed me the gold i-phone 13 pro was on back order but the black i-phone was in mail. A week later my husband received a cell phone however not the black i-phone 13 pro as reported and promised but a black Samsung. WE called Sprint again informed them wrong black cell mailed to us. They told us to go to UPS mail back (at our expense), they would send black i-phone 13 pro upon receipt. I received my gold i-phone 13 pro a week later and we waited for black i-phone so we could have data transferred. The black i-phone never came. It was at this time I realized Sprint had been charging us monthly since June 2022 for two new cell phones. Again, I called Sprint, they said mistake send the gold i-phone back. The order would have to be reprocessed. Even with receipts that both cells had been returned to Sprint vis UPS and Sprint confirmed cells were received and at their ware house, they said we still had to pay monthly for both cell phones (not in our possession and never used). In September they said they were going to credit monthly fees we were charged since June for my husband’s cell. They said although they saw the (my) returned gold i-phone pro 13 at their warehouse, we still had to pay monthly fee until recorded in their computer system? They said they would then send our (free due to upgrade) new cell phones to us but they had to redo order. We paid shipping again. It is now November 28, 2022, still no cell phones even after paying shipping again. I called Sprint today asked where cell phones would be delivered? I was informed again today by customer service rep, then supervisor the orders were cancelled again by Sprint because they emailed contractual agreement again via email which I did not sign. Again, the contractual agreement states we pay for “Device: Galaxy S22 5G 128G BLK KIT
    Duration: 24 mo. Payment: $33.34/mo. and Device: IPHONE 13 PRO GOLD 128GB KIT
    Duration: 24 mo. Payment: $41.67/mo. Sprint keeps insisting I have to sign agreement, but cell phones will be free, “credit on acct for both cells every month” . I informed them again today as I had last four conversations over several months, once I sign agreement, I will billed every month “stuck paying for two cell phones. Sprint supervisor just informed me the email agreement is automatically generated so I have to sign to get our cells phones (which are supposed to be free upgrades). If I sign then they say I owe the amounts, Sprint will interrupt our service if we do not pay. I AM NOT SIGNING!
    In fact, We still have not been credited for the monthly charges (since June 2022) for original cell phones we returned unused in original packaging not original chipping charges. I have spent probably 7-8 hours total since June. I just requested copy of all phone, email correspondence and billing since June 2022.
    I am getting an attorney as me and my husband are both seniors. This is clearly senior financial abuse.

    1. Jodi G says:

      This is so bad! I have exact but maybe worse, I read all you wrote and feel so bad and makes me sick to read. I can relate. I have contacted them 4 times a month since mid July and nothing & it’s almost 2023. I have some helpful details and I’m so curious about some things you said. Too hard to write though here and I rarely come to this site but I cannot deal anymore. No one should go through this. I took myself off auto pay and wrote to the FCC they have taken action and waiting now for escalation contact with sprint / tmobil to contact me. Please go to FCC and fill out complaint / not post a comment it’s called submit a complaint. Good luck. This is all not ethical, horrific.

    2. Jodi G says:

      I wrote this to someone but can’t type anymore so copying / pasting for you. It’s just a little more detail. I hope you / all these people do this, Escalate to all you can.

      Submit complaint form on the FCC website. It’s not Legal action it’s for them to contact T-Mobile who then has 30 days to write what the outcome was and contact you to hopefully resolve. I have it worse, it’s something I’ve never dealt with, since July and non stop just non ethical all over & lies and no accountability so that’s what I did. Also call their escalation department. I’ve left 3 messages this week. They are direct people. Google escalation Exec leadership and email those email address regardless of their title.

  8. Jamie Burmester says:

    I’ve been with Sprint for 22 years and am embarrassed and appalled by the way they have robbed me with this Flex Lease crookery! I’ve been overcharged AT LEAST $600 and have been getting the runaround FOR MONTHS!! I know all the words to the horrible sings they play when they put you on hold forever by heart! I want in on this class action lawsuit too…What do I have to do?!?

    1. Sarah M says:

      Sue them on your own. If you join this class action lawsuit, you MAYBonly get a few dollars back, probably less. Gather your bank statements and file your own case!

    2. Jodi G says:

      Submit complaint form on the FCC website. It’s not Legal action it’s for them to contact T-Mobile who then has 30 days to write what the outcome was and contact you to hopefully resolve. I have it worse, it’s something I’ve never dealt with, since July and non stop just non ethical all over & lies and no accountability so that’s what I did. Also call their escalation department. I’ve left 3 messages this week. They are direct people. Google escalation Exec leadership and email those email address regardless of their title.

  9. Alix flores says:

    I have had the same exact issues, they are trying to rip me off by over $1500 please help as ive had a spinal injury and this is really affecting me with my health i really need help please contact me.

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