Do we know for sure whose name was on the cell phone contract, his, hers, or both? If it was only in his name, when did she ever agree to a termination fee or any other part of the contract? If it was only in his name, the laws also vary by state on what she is obligated to. I am also widowed, and my late wife had a cell phone with Sprint. It was only in her name and I had never signed a single piece of paper, and she had a government-employee calling plan that I would not be eligible for anyway. Despite all that, Sprint also wanted an early termination fee from me to turn off her phone. They also denied I sent them a copy of the death certificate (I sent it registered mail), and would not acknowledge they received any of the 2,000 faxed copies I later sent them. Do you feel I should have paid them the early termination fee, or was I a dick for also getting the local press involved to resolve it?

My late wife had a Sprint phone in her name, with a government-employee rate plan that I would not have qualified for even if I wanted to be a customer. After she passed away I called Sprint to have them turn off her phone, and they wanted a $150 early termination fee to do so!

Sprint asked me to fax a copy of the death certificate to them, and when she continued to receive bills they always claimed they did not receive it, and asked me to resend the certificate so they "could take care of the bill". After sending it to them 5-6 times in the month, they were charging taxes on the early cancellation fee and were sending it to a collection agency.

At that point I set my computer to fax them the death certificate daily, and included my email address so they could acknowledge receiving it. Another month and another collection notice went by. I then set my computer to fax them hundreds of copies during business hours, again with a way to acknowledge receiving my fax. Three months and around 3,000 faxes later the bills stopped, but they have never to this day acknowledged receiving any paperwork from me.

Think I will ever use Sprint again? I also contacted a local news station for a Consumer Help segment they run weekly, but never heard from them to try and get it on the news.