I went to a Sprint store at 4757 E Silver Springs Blvd in Ocala, FL 34470 to sign up for services.  The situation I wanted and was told I would be getting is that I would get a total of 4 phones by paying $190 cash for the 1st phone, get 3 more phones for free, pay the $60 activation fee for 2 lines and $64.50 per month for 4 lines.

First problem, when I came to sign up I was told by the sales guy I couldn’t get 4 lines until I was a customer for 1 year.

Next, I was told that I couldn’t pay $190 up front and then get the other 3 phones for free. The only option was to pay up to $140, then have the rest financed over 2 years. He stated that upon initially signing up for the “buy 1 phone and get 3 more free deal” I would be charged $8 per month for each phone until the “promotional deal” was processed and it could take a few months.

So being told that I could buy 1 phone for $190 cash, then get up to 6 more phones for free was false.

I then pressed him for paperwork which would state I would be getting the phones for free and the $8 per month charge would go away. He stated there was no paperwork which stated that, so I then decided to abort the signup process and told him to delete all of my information.

I thought that was the end of it but then a few weeks later I got a letter in the mail from Sprint indicating a credit check had been ran on me without my knowledge.

I was outraged because at no time did the sales guy or anyone I spoke with at this Sprint store indicate a credit check would be necessary for me to get the buy one phone for $190 and get 3 more free deal. I didn’t want any credit. I wanted to pay cash for everything and only wanted what I was told I could get.

I spoke with 3 different people at this store and have a email from one of them and in the email, there is no mention of a credit check being needed for me to get the buy one phone for $190 and get 3 more free deal.

The sales guy used a iPad for the sign-up process where I couldn’t see anything except him telling me to “sign here” and “sign here” while not property advising me of what I was signing and I was not able to see what I was signing was.  The sales guy said nothing would be final and the agreements I signed would not be valid until I made a payment, never mentioning that he had ran a credit check.

I have a friend who works for AT&T Wireless who was there with me and witnessed everything who will attest that no one told me they would be running a credit check.

It is my position that Sprint’s employees had a duty to make it abundantly clear that they would be doing a credit check on me to get the buy 1 phone for $190 and 3 more free deal.  All three (3) employees I spoke with at this store failed to do so.

It is also my position that this employee and Sprint engaged in “Bate and Switch tactics” by not allowing me pay $190 cash and not giving me the 3 phones for free as I was initially told and trying to trick me into signing up for a credit / finance deal I didn’t want.

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