Canceling Sprint, now affiliated with T-Mobile, for yourself or a deceased loved one can be a reasonably straightforward process. When you’re looking to cancel your contract or service agreement with Sprint, there are some pieces of information that you’ll need to have on hand to complete your cancellation.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- How to Cancel Your Own Sprint Service
- How to Cancel a Deceased Loved One’s Sprint Service
- Canceling Sprint Service: FAQs
If you’re unsure of what you’ll need, keep reading to find out how to cancel and what you’ll need to provide to get it done.
How to Cancel Your Own Sprint Service
Canceling a service agreement with any cell phone service provider is a bit more detailed than hitting the “cancel” button. Like most agencies, they have a customer retention group seeking to either try to retain you as a client or help terminate your service. Here’s what you should expect when contacting them via telephone.
Step 1: Sign up with another carrier first
When you sign up with another carrier, you can retain your current phone number. You will have to declare that you wish to retain your current number, but all the work is done on their end to “port the number” over to your new provider.
Once they start the transfer on their end, you have begun to cancel your service with Sprint—it’s that easy. But don’t wait to port the number over. If you wait until after you’ve canceled with Sprint, there’s a good chance you’ve lost that number.
Step 2: Find your password for your Sprint account
Make sure you have your password handy to access your account online. There may also be a PIN that you may need to have handy to gain access to your account over the phone. One thing that’s super handy about technology is how your devices can be programmed to remember all of your passwords. Unfortunately, recovering all of those passwords can be a big pain if you lose them when transferring your service to another carrier.
If this is a concern, then creating an account with a password manager is a good idea—and it’ll save you loads of time later.
Step 3: Backup your data
If you’ve ever lost your phone, you know how heartbreaking it is to lose your photos and precious voicemails. To be sure this doesn’t happen, back up your data into a cloud account such as iCloud, Dropbox, and Google Drive. You can also backup your phone on your computer as well.
Step 4: Call them
When canceling something as crucial as your cell phone service, you will need to give them a call. If you’re visiting a store to cancel your service, you will be required to show your ID. Typically, when you call to discuss your account with Sprint, you must provide passwords or other security information. Expect that here as well.
How long does the process take?
In all, the process should be relatively quick and painless. But you might get hung up on some sticky parts if there’s a lease on your phone or if you need to settle payment for a device.
How to Cancel a Deceased Loved One’s Sprint Service
Sprint has made the process of canceling a deceased loved one’s service relatively simple and similar to canceling your own account. And while connecting with a representative at a branch location is one way to manage the account, it’s not the only one. Take a look.
Step 1: Make paper photocopies or PDF scans of essential documents
When canceling accounts under the name of a deceased loved one, you may want to have multiple copies of specific documents handy such as a death certificate. Sprint, in particular, will accept scanned copies of any of the following records printed with the decedents’ name, such as the following:
- Death certificate
- Funeral cards/programs
- Newspaper/obituary notice
- Attorney documents
Step 2: Manage their digital assets
If you have the deceased loved one’s phone, make sure to back up or copy any digital assets such as photos and voicemails you’d like to retain. Once the service has been canceled, these things may not be recoverable. A representative can walk you through the steps needed to secure vital information if you need assistance.
Make sure you are able to manage your loved one’s digital afterlife too. As executor of the will, it’s your responsibility to tidy up all aspects of the estate. If they had a password manager, it can make it easier to delete or cancel the necessary accounts to prevent any issues down the road.
Step 3: Gather the following information
When preparing to cancel their account, you’ll need to gather the following personal data before contacting Sprint. This can include specific information like the above mentioned such as:
- Your loved one’s name and phone number
- The last four digits of their Social Security Number
- The death certificate, which includes the date of their death
- If their account was business-related, make a copy of the business registration.
Step 4: Connect with Sprint
Not everyone may have the time to visit a branch location, so Sprint also suggests placing a phone call to their family assistance center. There’s a direct line listed on their website, or you can wait to be transferred from their general customer service line.
During the call, you’ll be asked to provide Sprint with any documentation they’ll need to complete the request. You can send that via email, fax, or physical mail. Regarding a deceased loved one’s account, you can also cancel it without liability. This means that the liabilities of the decedent’s account will be waived. You can also cancel their phone lines with the same consideration.
That said, you’ll need to return any devices if there’s a lease or a balance on them unless you’d prefer to pay off the remaining balance and retain them.
What about canceling the service online?
Given the amount of information needed to cancel your loved one’s account, you’ll need to call or connect with a representative in-person.
Canceling Sprint Service: FAQs
Sprint’s website (now T-Mobile) does not have a designated area for all the relevant FAQs you need to know when canceling service with them. That being said, here are some of the questions and answers you may have regarding the process.
Can you cancel Sprint at any time?
The quick answer is yes, but there’s a little more to it than that. Since most contracts are a thing of the past, there should be little standing in your way of canceling your service. However, you’ll still need to rectify any unpaid balances.
Does Sprint charge a fee to cancel your service?
That depends. When looking into the archives, there was information regarding Early Termination Fees (ETFs). While this isn’t standard practice for carriers anymore, Sprint listed its ETFs at $20/month for each month left on the contract. The minimum charge was said to be $100, and the maximum was said to be no more than $350.
Otherwise, the only ‘fees’ are just regular charges due to your current billing cycle.
What else happens when you cancel your Sprint service?
If the phone purchased is under a lease, you will be required to return the phone. In addition to that, if you haven’t signed up with another carrier already, you can lose your phone number. Other standard things apply when transferring your phone to another carrier, such as backing up your data to retain valuable photos, applications, and voicemails. Lastly, coverage areas change from carrier to carrier, so you may experience some changes.
Planning to Leave Sprint?
There’s always a process to go through when canceling accounts with companies, especially considering all of the data we keep on our phones. If you’re about to start your end-of-life planning, add this to your to-do list. Taking care of your digital data can make things a lot easier on your loved ones when they’re grieving.
Sources:
- Huseman, Hayato. “How to cancel Sprint.” Android Central, 17 June 2020, www.androidcentral.com/how-cancel-sprint