[psychicreader80]

Welcome to the Sprint Nextel ETF Settlement website.

Please note: do not call or write to Sprint Nextel, their attorneys or the Court regarding this settlement

What is this settlement about?

A proposed national settlement has been reached in a class action proceeding alleging that Sprint, Nextel and/or Sprint Nextel's use of a flat-rate early termination fee (ETF) in its customer wireless agreement violate the Federal Communications Act and consumer protection laws of the states and of the United States. Sprint Nextel denies any liability or wrongdoing but has agreed to settle under the terms of the Settlement Agreement. A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available by clicking on Settlement Agreement. The capitalized terms used here have the meanings as in the Settlement Agreement.

How do I know if I am part of the Class?

On December 8, 2008, the Court preliminarily approved the Settlement Agreement and has conditionally certified a class (the Settlement Class), consisting of:

All Persons in the United States who are or were parties to a personal fixed-term subscriber agreement for a Sprint Nextel Wireless Service Account for personal or mixed business/personal use, whether on the Sprint CDMA network or Nextel iDEN network, or both, excluding accounts for which the responsible party for the Wireless Service Account is a business, corporation or a governmental entity, entered into between July 1, 1999 and December 31, 2008 and whose claims relate in any way to an Early Termination Fee or use of an Early Termination Fee in a fixed-term subscriber agreement, and/or use or propriety of a fixed-term subscriber agreement whether the term was for the initial fixed-term subscriber agreement or subsequent extensions or renewals to the fixed-term subscriber agreement for whatever reason and/or who were charged by or paid an Early Termination Fee to Sprint Nextel, excluding only the Ayyad Class Claims and Persons whose right to sue Sprint Nextel as a Settlement Class Member is otherwise barred by a prior settlement agreement and/or prior final adjudication on the merits. The Settlement Class includes Persons who were subject to an ETF, whether or not they paid any portion of the ETF either to Sprint Nextel or to any outside collection agency or at all, and includes persons who are prosecuting excluded claims to the extent such persons have claims other than those expressly excluded. Also excluded from the Class are members of the judiciary, Defendants, any entity in which they have a controlling interest, and their officers and directors, and the members of their immediate families are excluded.

Please click on the Long Form Notice for additional information. A copy of the Preliminary Approval Order may be obtained by clicking here .

What are the terms of the proposed settlement?

Sprint Nextel has agreed to pay $14 million into a Common Fund. Sprint Nextel will also provide up to $3.5 million in Non-Cash Benefits. The Common Fund shall be distributed to Claimants after deduction of attorney's fees, incentive awards, and costs of notice and administration of the settlement. Under the settlement, Settlement Class Members submitting an Approved Claim will receive a choice of benefits, including either a full or pro rata distribution based upon a number of factors that are set forth in four (4) categories. Some of the factors are whether an ETF was paid, only charged and when the service agreement was terminated.

What do I need to do to participate in this settlement?

Please read the Long Form Notice by clicking here. In summary you may:

Submit A Claim Form:

If you wish to participate in the settlement you may complete an electronic claim form by on clicking the menu to the left or receive a hard copy claim form in the mail by calling 1-800-916-6940 . Please refer to the Long Form Notice and the Settlement Agreement to determine if you qualify for a benefit and the amount of any such benefit.

Exclude Yourself From The Settlement:

You may exclude yourself from the Class and any benefits received by the Class by submitting a written Request For Exclusion to Sprint ETF Settlement Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 6002, Larkspur, CA 94977-6002 by February 13, 2009.

Object To The Settlement:

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on March 5, 2009 to consider whether to approve the Settlement and the application for attorneys' fees and expenses. On or before February 6, 2009, you or your counsel, may file a written objection with the Court, objecting to all or part of the Settlement, together with a statement of your reasons, at the above Court address with a copy to Class Counsel at Carella, Byrne, Bain, Gilfillan, Cecchi, Stewart & Olstein, Attn: Sprint ETF Settlement, 5 Becker Farm Road, Roseland, New Jersey 07068, and you or your counsel may appear at the Final Approval Hearing.

For additional information, including the settlement documents, you can contact the Claims Administrator via e-mail at claims@sprintetfsettlement.com or by calling 1-800-916-6940.

What do I do after I file my claim?

There will be a summary page at the end of the claim filing process that you can print and save for your reference. For a reminder of important dates, please see below. New information will be posted on this website when available; please check back here regularly for updates. You can also contact the Claims Administrator by e-mail or phone using the information above.

Important Dates:

Deadline to file a Request for Exclusion: February 13, 2009
Deadline to file an Objection: February 6, 2009
Final Approval Hearing: March 5, 2009
Deadline to file a Claim Form: May 4, 2009. (This date may change, please check this website for my updates). Except for those persons claiming a benefit under Category IV, in which case the deadline to file a Claim Form seeking a Category IV benefit shall be January 1, 2011.

Please remember to not call or write to Sprint Nextel, their attorneys or the Court regarding this settlement.

[Note: All documents are in the .PDF format. To view the documents you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click on the icon on the left to download the Acrobat Reader.]




http://www.sprintetfsettlement.com/php/home.php

[MR. H]

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~so in all what does this mean no more etf's from sprint.... I hope so.

[curve247]

sounds like a hoax to me. Personal opinion.

[mserica513]

I can't see how this would apply only to
Sprint and not other carriers. All carriers have an eft

~via 8350i curve plus ptt~

[trigga15]

this is not true that sprint will not have etf fee waived to all customers from now on its a class action settlement between some customers and sprint and only applys to some

[psychicreader80]

This is true as u can see that many of us have signed up and we do qualify. Don't hate because u are misinformed.

[FreekinSweet]

from what I've heard if you have been charged an etf fee in this time frame you are eligible for a refund not sure if it's 30 or 60 bucks per line like wise if you haven't paid the etf yet i believe they will deduct something like 90 bucks or so as for their new etf policy it will be on a pro rated basis 200 fee up to the first 5 months then goes down for every month there after until you reach the minimum etf of 50 bucks
this is definitly the way to go and most carriers have

[travellerr]

I have a different situation. My husband passed away February 2007. March 2007 I notified Sprint and they changed my plan to a single user instead of a family plan user. At that time, I was not made aware that the terms of the contract would backdate to March 2007. I have been with Sprint over 10 years now.
Anyway, in January 2009 I went to disconnect my service from Sprint and was told the contract did not expire until March 2009. Also, at this time, they told me that the expiration date was March 2009, which was news to me. Because I was dissatisfied with my service and my Sprint phone had recently quit, I changed to AT&T in January. I did not know I was doing something called "porting out". In fact, I didn't even know the term existed as no one ever told me about it until now.
So, since I "ported out" to AT&T, Sprint stopped my service and now they're charging me $200.00 ETF because I did this. I even told the representative from Sprint that I would make my monthly payments until the contract time expired but they said that I still had to pay the ETF of $200.00 because I "ported out" to AT&T..
Is there any recourse anyone can think of? I'd appreciate any help I can get. Thanks.