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Possible cell phone fee waiver pleases vet

A recently discharged Army sergeant praises a Senate committee plan to waive cell phone cancellation fees for deployed service members, saying he could have avoided a lot of time and trouble if the policy had been in effect during his deployment to Iraq.

Last week, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved a change in the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act that would allow anyone deployed outside the U.S. for 90 days or more to cancel a cell phone contract without penalty.

The change is included in S 1315, the Veterans’ Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007, which the Senate expects to take up later this month.

In order for the plan to take effect, the House would have to pass a similar bill and then work out a compromise veterans’ benefits bill. This could take until fall.

Demond Edwards, 32, a former supply sergeant with the 4th Infantry Division who separated from the Army on May 29 after seven years of service, said he had cell phone problems before, during and after a deployment to Iraq in 2005.

Before deploying, he contacted his cell phone company, Sprint PCS, to ask that his service be “put on hold.” He thought that meant he would not have to pay while he was away and that when he returned his contract would pick up where he left off.

“The customer service rep stated that it would be taken care of, and everything would be fine,” Edwards said.

Everything was not fine when he returned.

“When I got back from Iraq, my service had been cancelled,” he said.

He said he was told that if he wanted a cell phone, he would have to start a new account.

He decided to change companies, but when he tried to sign up for another service, T-Mobile, in April while home in Tampa, Fla., on terminal leave, he was told he’d have to pay a $200 deposit to get a phone, because credit records showed he still owed money to Sprint PCS.

When he called Sprint, he found that his account had been turned over to a collection agency while he was in Iraq after he didn’t respond to several e-mails.

He had owed a balance when he froze the account, something he didn’t recall at the time and the company didn’t mention when he put the account on hold.

“They said that since they tried to contact me in the desert via e-mail, they were not responsible for giving me my money back,” Edwards said.

He considered fighting the charge but was already on terminal leave, without easy access to military legal services, and didn’t see the point of hiring an attorney to help him because the legal fees likely would have outstripped the debt.

Because he was seeking a job in law enforcement in Tampa, Edwards said he was “concerned about my credit.”

Adding what he described as a final insult, the collection agency tacked on a surcharge for using a credit card.

The pending Senate legislation “could have saved me $216, and would have made life a lot easier,” Edwards said. “I really hope it becomes law, because deployed service members don’t need extra problems ... when they come back from deployment.”

A Sprint spokeswoman, Nancy Schwartz, said the company “regrets he went through this. It’s unfortunate.”

Major credit reporting agencies have been contacted by Sprint to remove “any stain on his credit record,” she said.

Sprint has had a program since 2003 that allows deployed service members to suspend service, she said.

“Instead of having to disconnect their wireless service due to deployment, military personnel are able to temporarily suspend their account for 24 months and keep their phone number,” she said.

There is no monthly charge, she said, but no minutes accrue.

To suspend an account, military customers can go into a Sprint store or call customer service, Schwartz said.

A copy of their military orders and military ID are required, Schwartz said. Those suspending their cell phone contract over the phone must fax a copy of their orders and military ID to the company.

“The customer is required to have his or her account up-to-date in order to be switched to the military plan,” she said.

That could be where Edwards’ problems originated.

Schwartz said Sprint’s records show that Edwards was told he had an unpaid balance when he asked to put his contract on military hold.

To prevent such problems, Schwartz said troops should take care to ensure that all their accounts — not just their cell phones — are squared away before deploying.