I am pretty irritated at the Sprint PCS folks. I want you guys to tell me if I am being ridiculous here (I do want your advice on how to handle this).

I was out at dinner with my mom last night. During an otherwise nice evening out, I got a call on my cell phone from Sprint. They were calling me because they had not yet received payment for their June bill, which was due last Weds (which, by my count, made it 3 business days late). I told him, truthfully, that I mailed out the check a few days ago. Honestly, I don't remember which day, but it went out with my last stack of bills.

The guy on the other end of the phone informs me that:
a) he needs a payment over the phone in order to take me out of their 'system'. If I don't do this, I will receive a call every day from them until they get the check.

b) I need to pay him in order to get taken out of "collections".

c) They cut off service something like 2-3 weeks after a bill is past due.

Since the check was in the mail, I made a credit card payment for this month's bill.

Now, I've had them for a year. I've never paid them late. I really didn't appreciate getting an obnoxious phone call because the mail was slow, or lost, or even if it had been totally my fault and I had misplaced the bill.

Am I being ridiculous here? I realize the bill was a couple days late. It seems to me that they were a bit out of line, and it really left a sour taste in my mouth.

So, I am trying to figure out what to do about this, and I'd love yer advice. Should I just go along, and maybe try to set up some automatic payment system with them so it doesn't happen again? Cancel their service (I am out of the contract, so there is no penalty) and find a better provider (and if so, who do you recommend)? Other thoughts?

Thanks,
Brad
...who values friendly customer service more and more every day...