 sd70mac666
join:2003-06-05
Saint Albans, VT | I love it Bill the dead. Only 2 things in life you can't escape from Death and Taxes.
What moron dreamed up Bill the dead? | |
|
 | 
Fatal Vector
join:2005-11-26 | Re: I love it "What moron dreamed up Bill the dead?"
The one who was tasked with dreaming up ways to increase revenue streams. | |
|
| | 
Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Austin, TX
clubs:
 ·VoicePulse
| Re: I love it This is a little different than the AOL case. He isn't just trying to stop future billing, he's trying to cancel the contract - without paying the early termination fee. Now granted, being dead certainly ends your obligation, but I can't fault Sprint for wanting SOME sort of proof the guy is actually dead, and not just some joker using it as an excuse to get out of a contract. (it has happened)
--
AMD X2 4800+ @2700Mhz/ MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum SLI/ 4x 1024Mb Corsair XMS PC4000/ WD 74Gb Raptor/ PNY 7800GTs SLI/ Antec 550 True Control/Custom water cooler | |
|
| | 
snipper_cr
join:2002-01-22
Wheaton, IL
clubs: | If dead people can vote in Chicago, they certainly can be billed by their cell phone company anywhere!
--
Serenity Day - June 23rd 2006. You Can't Stop the Signal | |
|
| 
Phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Jacksonville, FL
| said by sd70mac666  :Bill the dead. Only 2 things in life you can't escape from Death and Taxes. What moron dreamed up Bill the dead? The same moron who decided the only way to cancel it was to provide the death certificate. What I don't get is, unless the brother is "power of attorney" then, technically, he's not obligated to pay anything, he only needs to make sure he's not using the service, because he would become responsible if the estate of the deceased was awarded to him...
--
SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
|
| 
Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL
clubs: | When I worked for AT&T Wireless our policy was, if the user claimed the person was dead we canceled the account with no ETF. This was to avoid exactly what Sprint is doing. | |
|
| | sageb0
join:2002-01-16
Surrey, BC | Re: I love it i still have to pay for my dead friend's cable bill. | |
|
| bobny1
join:2004-09-10
Bronx, NY
| Just be careful If you call to cancel your service after you die. Calling from the other side is considered a long distance call(extra charges may apply). They may also have a place to send you the bill.."Unless you talk to Boss..  " | |
|
| | dentman42
join:2001-10-02
Columbus, OH
| Re: I love it said by bobny1 :Just be careful If you call to cancel your service after you die. Calling from the other side is considered a long distance call(extra charges may apply). They may also have a place to send you the bill.."Unless you talk to Boss.. " You forgot about roaming charges... | |
|
| | | |
captokita
Premium
join:2005-02-22
Calabash, NC | crazy How crazy is that? Guess they figure the dead can't complain about erroneous charges can they? How much of this is going on do you think?
We have dead people voting, so why not dead people paying for Sprint? (/sarcasm) | |
|
fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
edit:
January 18th, @09:53AM
| ....so? What's the big deal? In two months, about..., the service will stop anyway for non-payment, right? The guys dead. What are they going to do? Put it on his credit report? Dig him up and deny him eternal rest?
If they are giving the guy a really hard time canceling the service, fine! I'd use the heck out of that phone for two months until it either hits the high usage limits, or it's shut off for non-payment.
but sprint is in their rights to verify the guy is actually dead. If the dead brother is married, the wife has FULL authority to turn it off without a death cert.
NEXT!
--
"Wipe out the national deficit over night... Tax the stupid!" - about 50 gMail invites available. PM if you'd like one. | |
|
| AtlGuy
join:2000-10-17
Marietta, GA
edit:
January 18th, @10:08AM
| Re: ....so? I've never been in the situation, but couldn't Sprint sue his estate for payment owed?
Not that I think it would get to that point, but that was something that crossed my mind. | |
|
| | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20 | Re: ....so? They don't really sue the living... so I doubt they'd sue the dead. | |
|
| | | 
RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
| Re: ....so? said by fiberguy :They don't really sue the living... so I doubt they'd sue the dead. Said by someone who has never administered an estate.
If you want to be in probate forever, with collection agencies harassing you even more than they do the living, don't pay the estate's debts. Sprint may very well not sue, but the agencies they sell the debt to certainly do.
Cable companies do the same thing, by the way, usually with far less supporting evidence than a contract or lease.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.
Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus! | |
|
| | | | |
| | | | | |
| | 
n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY | Death doesn't necessarily cancel your debts. It becomes the responsbility of your estate to pay off the oustanding bills.
--
I support the right to keep and arm bears. | |
|
| | | 
FiL
Premium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD | Re: ....so? exactly. You basically move your debt from your lifeless corpse over to one thats still got some life in it...shame. Moeny, money, money...collect off of pain, Its the American Way.... | |
|
| | | | Plldwnyrpnts
join:2003-04-19
Chicago, IL
| Re: ....so? Exactly! My favorite part of all of this is the family members that get something when they go to probate will have to pay taxes on what they receive. Talk about the biggest American scam ever. Is that called the "Gift Tax"?
I wonder if it would just be easier to put someone's name on your property so when you die, that other person becomes the sole owner. This way taxes are avoided. Anyone?? | |
|
| | | | | Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA
| Re: ....so? It's called the estate tax, and generally you only pay if the estate net worth is X million dollars. Recently they were trying to bump it to 10, and I'm not sure if they pushed that through. Some of the richest people in the world back this tax, and list it as a debt owed to the society that allowed them to be prosperous. It's hard to argue that people who did nothing but be related to someone who worked hard for a lot of money should only be entitled to half of it. boo hoo.
Large amounts of inherited wealth generally do more harm than good, especially in the extremes. | |
|
| | | | | | Plldwnyrpnts
join:2003-04-19
Chicago, IL
| Re: ....so? said by Ahrenl :It's called the estate tax, and generally you only pay if the estate net worth is X million dollars. Recently they were trying to bump it to 10, and I'm not sure if they pushed that through. Some of the richest people in the world back this tax, and list it as a debt owed to the society that allowed them to be prosperous. It's hard to argue that people who did nothing but be related to someone who worked hard for a lot of money should only be entitled to half of it. boo hoo. Large amounts of inherited wealth generally do more harm than good, especially in the extremes. It's complete and utter bullshit! There is no way in hell, just because I didn't earn it, the government should be allowed to take half of it. Explain to me WHY the government is entitled to it. They sure as hell didn't work hard for it.
Fortunately I don't/won't have this problem as me and my family are BROKE! And the rich and the politicians are the ones that are setting this crap up, so it's basically for themselves. But at the same time, think about how many people this has kept from joining that elite group of wealthy snobs. Maybe that's the whole point to that tax (sneaks in conspiracy theory.) | |
|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | 04875776
Rollin' up my dog ends
Premium
join:2006-11-14
Chicago, IL | Re: ....so? This year, the estate tax rate is 45% of the amount above $2 million. Doubt away, but it doesn't make the rate lower. | |
|
| | | | | | | Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA
| said by Plldwnyrpnts :said by Ahrenl :It's called the estate tax, and generally you only pay if the estate net worth is X million dollars. Recently they were trying to bump it to 10, and I'm not sure if they pushed that through. Some of the richest people in the world back this tax, and list it as a debt owed to the society that allowed them to be prosperous. It's hard to argue that people who did nothing but be related to someone who worked hard for a lot of money should only be entitled to half of it. boo hoo. Large amounts of inherited wealth generally do more harm than good, especially in the extremes. It's complete and utter bullshit! There is no way in hell, just because I didn't earn it, the government should be allowed to take half of it. Explain to me WHY the government is entitled to it. They sure as hell didn't work hard for it. Fortunately I don't/won't have this problem as me and my family are BROKE! And the rich and the politicians are the ones that are setting this crap up, so it's basically for themselves. But at the same time, think about how many people this has kept from joining that elite group of wealthy snobs. Maybe that's the whole point to that tax (sneaks in conspiracy theory.) The government is the people's stewart who provided the environment that enabled the accumulation of the large amount of wealth. I'd say the environment did a heck of a lot more to earn it than you did. I do think all tax programs with exemption limits should be inflation adjusted, and that 2m is too low. Also there should be an exemption if say 70% or more of the value is due to a small (under 50m) business or single real estate holding.
That being said, people who are rich generally have gotten there by being talented, some of which is genetic, and is probably passed down through procreation. Therefore passing on large piles of wealth to survivors who haven't had the chance to contribute their potential to societies talent pool diminishes society by removing their incentive to do so. That's why the estate tax, properly implemented, should remain.
Most people will make between 1-2 million in their ENTIRE LIFETIME. If you can't be happy with being handed 5m+ when you could have gotten 10m+ then we have no common frame of reference with which to continue this conversation. | |
|
| | | | |
RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Those family members (estate beneficiaries) do not pay taxes on what they receive. It has already been taxed at the estate level. The rate is 45% of the estate's net worth over $2,000,000 for last year (TY2006) through tax year 2008. The exemption amount is $3.5 million in TY2009 and in 2010 it is phased out entirely, assuming that Congress does not change its mind before then.
You would me amazed how easy it is to hit $2 million...
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.
Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus! | |
|
| | | | | | 
MooJohn
join:2005-12-18
Milledgeville, GA
·Windstream
| Re: ....so? What shocks me the most is not that you're taxed after the first 2 million but they think almost half the estate is a fair tax rate!!!!
Someone who's running a successful business (or farm, or medical practice, etc.) dies and leaves their holdings to family. HALF of it is gone from the start since most people's attitude is "they have millions; they won't miss some of it." I can't think of any business that can continue to run successfully after being chopped in half thanks to the death tax. If this same tax was levied on all estates, imagine the uproar!
The people that earned these millions paid taxes (in the highest bracket, I might add) when they were earned. Why should it be taxed again when it is left to family?
--
John M - Cranky network guy | |
|
| | | | | | |
RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: ....so? The purpose was to pare down the Rockefellers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, Carnegies and other so-called "robber baron" families at the turn of the 20th century and made some sense back then. Today it's just a huge tax honeypot which attracts every type of politician. Ayn Rand was right.
Speaking from personal experience, that tax check was the largest I've ever written. Well into six figures. It was more painful than a root canal.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.
Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus! | |
|
| | | | | |
| | | mlundin
join:2001-03-27
Mishawaka, IN | I think the relatives are only liable up to the limit of the estates net worth... meaning if I die and owe $10,000, but only have $5,000 worth of crap to pass on to my relatives, they can't be held liable for the remaining $5,000. I win. | |
|
|
| 
N3OGH
They both suck, we're so screwed
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: I would have just called back.. said by Rob :..On a lighter note, when asked why he was cancelling, he could always say "I was feeling a little dead when using your service".... Or you could say it was the "dead spots" where the phone didn't work.
Like a coffin....
--
Never ask what sort of a computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If not, why embarrass him? -Tom Clancy | |
|
| 
cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
 ·Verizon FIOS
| said by Rob :I would have called back and pretended to be my dead brother and cancel the account. I know, it's not nice, but I'm sure it worked. "Thank you for calling Sprint Customer Service. How may I help you?
"Uh, yeah. I'd like to cancel my account."
"I'm sorry to hear that sir. Can I get your account information?"
[gives account information]
"I'm sorry sir. This account has been flagged that you are dead. Is there someone else from your estate that I can talk to?"
--
Go Colts | |
|
| | 
Rob
In Deo speramus
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
 ·Comcast
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: I would have just called back.. said by cdru :said by Rob :I would have called back and pretended to be my dead brother and cancel the account. I know, it's not nice, but I'm sure it worked. "Thank you for calling Sprint Customer Service. How may I help you? "Uh, yeah. I'd like to cancel my account." "I'm sorry to hear that sir. Can I get your account information?" [gives account information] "I'm sorry sir. This account has been flagged that you are dead. Is there someone else from your estate that I can talk to?" haha.
--
YourIP.US - It's Your IP .. and more!
rr.cx - Personal Site.. coming soon. | |
|
|
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Lindenhurst, NY
| It makes sense to not cancel unless death citificate Why are you bashing the companies who ask for a death cirtificate to cancel the account.
I think they are right in this. If they didnt ask for a death cirtificate what would stop people from getting their contracts canceled just by having somebody call in for them and state they are dead.
The article has very little info. From what the article states the guy did not send in a death certificate so why would sprint cancel the account.
This article is very misinformed and should not be in the news. sprint did nothing wrong. | |
|
|
See 13 replies to this post |
|
gh4456
Premium,VIP
join:2004-04-07
Beverly Hills, CA
| This has to deal with a contract The reason any cell phone company would ask for a death certificate is due to the contract the deceased entered into. If it were that easy to break a cell phone contract, a lot of people would abuse that and the contract would be worthless. This is true for most contracts. To equate this with AOL is misguided, as AOL usually doesn't have any sort of contract.
Consumerist even points back to another story stating to get a lot of death certificates and specifically mentions cell phone companies as ones who would need it. Not sure why Sprint is being singled out here. | |
|
| |
|
RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: This has to deal with a contract Precisely. Get about 20 or 30. You would be amazed how many you'll need.
This entire story is off the hinges, as are most of the kids posting their comments here. There is nothing wrong with Sprint wanting a death cert. to end a contract.
--
Toolmaster of La Grange.
Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus! | |
|
|
borked
Cheese With That Whine?
Premium
join:2003-08-10
Kalamazoo, MI
| Wouldn't cancel 2nd account My partner and I was on a Sprint shared minute plan. When she died they refused to cancel the 2nd phone as we were still under a contract. As soon as that contract expires I will be getting another carrier. So they got an extra 10 bucks a month for 12 months, they will be losing $60+ a month forever after that point.
--
It is much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem.
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) | |
|
viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL
·Bright House
| The person is lazy It's not about money, it's about a contract. Anyone can call up and say they are dead and get out of a contract. If it just takes a death certificate to cancel a contract, then why are people making a big deal.
Sounds like the person is lazy and don't want to take the extra time to get a death certificate. | |
|
|
See 8 replies to this post |
|
captnhook
join:2001-02-20
NY | Early Termination I'm fairly certain what Sprint was simply after in this particular case was to collect it's "early termination penalty" fee  | |
|
| 
TinyTimmie
| Re: Early Termination Have you considered sending in the death notice from the local news paper? Many companies will accept this instead of a death cert. Send them the whole page.... | |
|
|
| russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA | Re: total bs They can't put a lien on your house for your parents bill. In fact, they can't put a lien on your house at all unless they actually sue; only municipal utilities in some areas have that power, certainly not the long distance company. | |
|
| 
rrz103
RichardZ
Premium
join:2003-09-16
Canton, MI | That just doesn't sound right. Someone's just having fun posting B.S.
--
RichardZ @ »richardz.com | |
|
| mackintire
join:2004-03-26
Pittsburgh, PA | Gee...This isn t complicated, hire a lawyer and tell him he can have 80% of the winnings as his payment. Sue them for suffering and harassment for $50k+ court costs. The amount of money is not extreme and its an almost guaranteed win. | |
|
| | ric b
join:2006-03-23
Saint Louis, MO
| Re: total bs no, not really, because in effect they are suing a company that has endless amounts of money compared to the average citizen.
How many times have you heard of a company going to court after someone sued for (say $50,000) but spent $100,000 to defend against that sort of suit? (You get the general idea, don't you?) | |
|
N3OGH
They both suck, we're so screwed
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon Online DSL
| Learn a very important lesson from this, folks All talk of Sprint aside, everyone should learn an important lesson from this.
Make sure you and your loved ones have both a will and a durable power of attorney on file.
When my mother fell ill in 2000, she all ready had the durable power of attorney set up. The second she invoked it, I could sign may name to anything that required her signature marking it POA, followed by her name. As long as I had the executed POA, I had the legal authority to do anything she could with her estate, accounts, etc.
After she passed and the will was probated, I could do anything she could have done before she died. Close accounts, endorse checks, transfer the deed to the house, titles to cars, etc. And the short certificates that come with a probated will are a LOT cheaper than actual death certificates.
I had some disputes with a few companies (cell phone service being one of them). I simply informed them that I was the executor of the estate, and I was requesting the account be suspended due to death. A 1 paragraph letter and a photocopy of the short certificate was enough..
Look after the people that are stuck mopping up the remnants of your life after you pass, take the time to have a will on file....
--
Never ask what sort of a computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If not, why embarrass him? -Tom Clancy | |
|
| 
Trinijoy
Premium
join:2005-09-12
Brick, NJ | Re: Learn a very important lesson from this, folks "For the love of money is the root of all sort of injurious things."
1 Timothy 6:10
'Nuff said. | |
|
| 
Xantos
join:2006-12-11 | Took the words right out of my mouth, The process is not that expensive either. | |
|
| 
Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
·Embarq
| Sorry to hear about your mom. I'm in the same boat (executor with POA on her will) but I'm not sure how durable. I'll check into that pronto. Your point about the DCs is a good one: when my maternal grandmother passed on, everyone and their cousin wanted an actual DC and not a photocopy. I think they were $10 a pop.
I finally stepped in and told a few companies they were more than welcome to a "real copy" if they'd pony up the ten bucks for one. They all backed off that request. Some institutions, retirement accounts, banks, etc, must have an actual DC, so plan on getting at least three to five of them to start you off. Morbid topic, I realize, but that's life (death?).
--
.sig currently unavailable. Try again later. | |
|
| |
N3OGH
They both suck, we're so screwed
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Learn a very important lesson from this, folks I appreciate your sympathies, it was 6 years ago last December.
The power of attorney is very important if the grantor becomes immobile and can't get out of the house. I was able to conduct all my mother's business during the final months of her life. It took a lot of burden off her in her final years.
Some people are very reluctant to authorize any kind of POA due to the tremendous power it gives the authorized party. Once invoked, the authorized party could literally sell the house the grantor lives in without telling them, take out loans in their name, etc. Fortunately, my mother knew she could trust me.
Just having a will that names an executor makes a big difference. the POA is for when the person is still alive...
--
Never ask what sort of a computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If not, why embarrass him? -Tom Clancy | |
|
jtel
join:2005-06-28
Bristol, RI
·Cox HSI
| Social Security Death Index I'm sure Sprint makes use of this on a regular basis to avoid fraud. I can't see any reason not to send a copy of the death certificate if a relatives intention is to leave no loose ends but either way the SSDI would show the persons SS# when it was updated. If the account was still considered open etc I would think the Sprint fraud dept. would start investigating why there is an open account in a dead persons name. | |
|
| 
linflas
join:1999-08-18
Manassas, VA
| Re: Social Security Death Index What Sprint or any company should do when presented with a situation like this is to at least flag the account so that once the death certificate is provided the estate is not charged for service after the date of death. The estate should not be penalized just because the bureaucratic process of obtaining death certificates takes 8-10 weeks. When the death certificate is provided the estate can pay for services used up until the notice was given to the company and everyone would be satisfied and the company would not look like they are trying to squeeze a couple extra dollars out of the estate. | |
|
maartena
Super Grover
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
| It gets worse.... I had a similar issue a couple of years ago. My father-inlaw passed away, and the phone bills and most other bills were placed in his name. My mother-inlaw never really thought about changing that until about a year after he died.
In the mean time, we had ordered her a DSL line for Internet. The DSL line was purchased in her name, on top of the phoneline still in his name. This worked fine for about 6 months (it was purchased about 6 months after he passed away) until we wanted to change the name on the PHONE connection from his name to hers.
This is what they told us in a nutshell:
- You cannot change the name of a phone account with DSL attached to it on a different name, even if you want to change the name of the phone account to the exact same name the DSL account is on.
- The only way to do this, is to DISCONNECT the DSL line alltogether, THEN change the name on the phone bill, and THEN re-apply for DSL. She would basically be without internet (because she gave up het dial-up account already) for about 3 weeks or whatever time they need to setup a DSL account.
- We would have to PAY $175 to do this because we got a year-contract on the DSL and got our free modem, and we would be breaking the contract if we were to disconnect the DSL line at 6 months. The fact that we would immediatly re-apply and continue to use the same modem did not help.
- Off course on top of all that we would have to fax over a death certificate, but that wasn't really the problem.
There was absolutely no way around this. We ended up waiting another 6 months to get around the $175 early termination fee, then disconnected her DSL, did the name change, and then signed up her DSL again. They only thing they COULD do for us, is temporarily move her account to a dialup account (It was Earthlink DSL through SBC, now ATT) so she would not lose her e-mail address.
Ironically enough the disconnection en reconnection went fairly well. It took about 4 weeks of downtime and about 2 weeks in a package shows up with..... a brand new modem! So, now we had a brand new DSL modem that was not even a year old, and a even brander newer modem that just arrived....
Talk about a waste of time, money and resources. We were told to keep the old modem and use it as a paperweight for her desk. Literary. And of course they made her sign up for another year contract with DSL because she disconnected and signed up again....
Cable bill, Electricity bill, Water bill, Gas bill.... all no problem, just fax over a death certificate copy and we had it all changed in no time.
But changing over the phone line and DSL.... was a HUGE nightmare.
--
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -
Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father. | |
|
MattE
Obama '08
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC | Sprint billing .... I canceled my contract with Sprint and I still get a bill, like clockwork, every month for .00.
Someone needs to overhaul their billing system
--
Use the OS tool for the job. | |
|
| 
operagost
join:1999-08-02
Phoenixville, PA | Re: Sprint billing .... I would send them a check for 0.00. A human will have to look at it and this will be sure to get their attention. | |
|
| | |
Billing The Dead
·
some companies aren't so bad
