Darrell and I had something similar happen to us a few years back. What started as a new cell phone for Darrell to take on the road and call home at night with, turned into a nightmare for us. The cell phone did not work as promised, and within 5 days we returned the phone, paid the few minutes used (mostly to find out the cell phone would not call home from another state), and went out and bought a cell phone that did work. For the next 2 years, our original bill of $19 (which we had paid) ballooned into over $600+. Every time we'd get it straightened up with VoiceStream, within 2 months we'd be handed over to another collection agency....straighten the mess out with VoiceStream again....and within 2 months we'd be getting calls from collection agencies again (with a higher bill)!

I finally got so frustrated that I called the local TV news "Investigative Reporter" - you know this person, they do 2 minute news stories on scams, rip-offs, hopeless customer problems (like ours) and if Ginsu Knives really work
Our local Investigative Reporter in Denver actually had an entire staff that worked for him and the young man that I spoke with had the problem permanently solved within 6 hours! A week later we received an apology letter from the Vice President of VoiceStream. We have never heard from VoiceStream again (although I have the receipts and letter filed away, just in case).

The funny thing is - our story never even made it onto the news!
If you have such a reporter, give them a call or email him/her. Sounds like just the "rip-off news" story the TV news might want to air!

Good luck and let us know what happens.