7 On Your Side assists woman charged by Sprint for 'free gift'

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- It's always nice to get a free gift with a purchase, and that's just what a San Francisco woman received -- or thought she did.

It turned into a frustrating experience. San Francisco resident Donna Hayes was offered a couple of freebies along with her smartphone upgrade, extras she never would have purchased herself.

This was great until Hayes found out that the items weren't free at all.

She couldn't pass up the deal Sprint offered to upgrade to an iPhone 5S, free with a new contract.

"That sounded like a good idea, so I went down to the Sprint store on Bryant Street," Hayes said.

There, she got an even better deal. "They said, 'Oh, by the way, you get as part of the deal a really snazzy cover and you get a screen guard,'" she said.

The sales people told Hayes she could choose an iPhone case with a built-in charger.

"And they brought it out in five or six different colors and they kept on saying, 'This is part of the deal,'" she said.

She chose a gold case and Sprint threw in a screen guard. "And I don't use screen guards usually but OK, I have a free screen guard. That's great," Hayes said.

A month later, she got her Sprint bill. The bill had an odd charge of $11.68 for "equipment installment."

Hayes then called Sprint. "And they told me, 'Oh yes, you signed up for an installment plan to buy the cover and the case,'" she said.

She was stunned. Sprint was actually charging her $139 for the accessories and claimed she had agreed to pay installments of $11.68 per month.

"I said, 'But that was supposed to be free, it was part of the deal.' They said, 'No, you signed this.'" Hayes said.

She kept telling Sprint she never signed anything and Sprint disagreed.

"They said, 'That's just too bad, you signed a contract and you're going to have to pay it,'" she said.

Finally a manager told her the Sprint contract doesn't require her signature, just a store receipt. Sure enough, in tiny abbreviated words on the receipt, it said "installment agreement."

Now Hayes was even more upset. "I have never, ever seen anything like this," she said.

Then to top it off, Hayes said she didn't want the accessories if she had to pay for them. Sprint said it was too late and it was past the 14-day return period.

"They sold me this stuff and they knew I wasn't going to get my bill for another month. So by the time I became aware of it, it was too late to return it," Hayes said.

Hayes contacted 7 On Your Side. We asked Sprint if she was deliberately misled.

Sprint looked into the matter and said:

"We have been in contact with Ms. Hayes and have apologized for her experience. This never should have happened. We have investigated to determine the root cause of the problem and are working with the store and service personnel to prevent a similar occurrence."

Sprint is also cancelling those charges and says she can keep the gifts, really for free this time.

"I felt stupid that I got taken like this but if I can warn other people, that will be a reward," Hayes said.

7 On Your Side would like to thank Sprint for straightening this out and hopefully preventing any more misunderstandings.

This shows how important it is to check your receipt before you leave a store. Make sure nothing was added without your OK.

Remember, just like a free lunch, there is rarely such a thing as a free gift.