Bob Sullivan, writing at MSNBC.com’s The Red Tape Chronicles, FCC: Sprint Can Be Judge And Jury:
If you’re wondering why mobile phone carriers get away with imposing blatantly unfair policies, there’s a simple reason: No one stops them.
If the carriers were to be stopped, the Federal Communications Commission would be doing the stopping. But when a carrier is accused of misbehaving, the FCC has a simple procedure for adjudicating the claim: It simply asks the cell phone company if it’s guilty. When the answer is “no,” the case is closed.
Sullivan recounts his experiences related to canceling his Sprint mobile service after his contract was finished, and his attempts to have his final month of service pro-rated based on his cancellation date. This, of course, results in the customer often paying for service that not only won’t be used, but can’t be used. Bottom line: shit out of luck:
If you want to know why U.S. companies seem to run rough-shod over consumers on a regular basis, now you do: federal regulators hold the door open for them. The inconvenient truth of this tale is that the FCC seems to simply do whatever the telecommunication firm tells it to do — in this case, close my case.
