IT'S DONE: So I've wrestled with the phone companies today and actually came out ahead! Sprint zeroed out all of the erroneous charges and I'm left with a small monthly bill to pay that less than 1/4 of what they claimed I owe them. Ditto AT&T who finally agreed that my wife did indeed cancel her account and return her phone (tip: faxing them the receipt seemed to grease the wheels; tip two: AT&T Wireless is practically two companies, the old "digital" company and the new "GSM" company, with separate billing and accounting services.) That left good old Verizon, whom I promptly cut the cord to. I bit the bullet and signed up with IDT for their $40 all you can eat plan. Yay me!