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Following AT&T & Verizon, Sprint Streamlines Phone Discounts
Premier Program Will Have Its Wings Clipped April 1

First Verizon eliminated their New Every Two discount, then AT&T eliminated their new handset discounts as well. Now the always-humbly-named Boy Genius Report notes Sprint will be significantly tweaking their handset discount policies as well. Currently, any user with an individual line costing more than $70 per month, or a family plan line costing more than $100 per month is eligible to upgrade to a new handset at a subsidized price after just twelve months. After April 1, that's changing -- and you'll need to spend $90 on an individual plan or $170 on a family plan or have been a customer for ten years to get the same benefits:

quote:
On April Fools’ Day, the Premier program will be divided in to two levels: gold and silver. Users will automatically qualify for Premier’s gold level if they have been a wireless customer with Sprint for over 10 years or have an individual monthly plan that retails for $89.99 or more before any applied discounts — $169.99 before discounts for family lines. All other Sprint customers will be given silver level Premier status. Gold members will get all the benefits current Premier members receive: 25% off the purchase of 2 or more accessories, customer news letters, "just because" perks, first to buy offers, and the ability to upgrade a device after 12 months of service. Silver members will enjoy all the same benefits… with the exception of the early upgrade option.
While it's nice that some carriers at least reward customer loyalty (something quite lacking in this sector), it's still part of a larger trend where customers are getting less but paying more. This news comes on the heels of Sprint expanding their "$10 because we can fee" to a significant majority of their users and AT&T raising rates on a wide variety of services.

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Justin024
join:2010-08-11
Atlanta, GA

Justin024

Member

Extra lines?

I'm on a family plan thats 1500 mins & unlimited data for $129. With four lines, that equals to $169.97 ($19.99/per line). Anyone know if that would qualify?

Also when you include insurance and that horribl $10 premium data charge does that count as well?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Extra lines?

said by Justin024:

I'm on a family plan thats 1500 mins & unlimited data for $129. With four lines, that equals to $169.97 ($19.99/per line). Anyone know if that would qualify?

Also when you include insurance and that horribl $10 premium data charge does that count as well?

You will have to ask Sprint.
ualdayan
join:2004-07-17
Antioch, TN

ualdayan

Member

Re: Extra lines?

Actually, no he don't qualify. They make it clear in the source link that it's based on BASE package pricing, without any add-ons. (otherwise that extra $10 per phone that will make your typical 4 phone family plan go up by 25% would knock everybody up to early upgrade status again). That means you might be paying $210 a month, but if you're base package is $129.99 for 1500 minutes before any add-ons then you won't get any early upgrades.

At a minimum you must have one of these two plans:
Family - must have 3000 minute package, $169.99 base price
Individual - must have 900 minute pacakge, $89.99 base price
ualdayan

ualdayan

Member

Re: Extra lines?

Is there any way to edit posts here? I had a couple of typos I'd like to fix.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Extra lines?

said by ualdayan:

Is there any way to edit posts here? I had a couple of typos I'd like to fix.

See the "EDIT" button at bottom right corner of your post?
ualdayan
join:2004-07-17
Antioch, TN

ualdayan

Member

Re: Extra lines?

It's not there. On the forums it appears, but here on the front page posts it just says: permalink date reply qreply. No edit button.
Penny3000
join:2003-11-24
Oak Ridge, TN

Penny3000

Member

Re: Extra lines?

If you submitted it anonymous, you can't edit.
If you are logged in you can edit.

fdafadf34234
@thvilledigital.net

fdafadf34234 to Justin024

Anon

to Justin024
Yes, you qualify.

This is not that big of deal at all.

DaSneaky1D
what's up
MVM
join:2001-03-29
The Lou

DaSneaky1D to Justin024

MVM

to Justin024
The group of people that this is going to impact are those that bought the Palm Pre back in 2009 and were "upgraded" to being a Premier customer.

For those users that spend a significant amount of money each month, or have been with Sprint for a decade, nothing will change.

roxies_mama
@buckeyecom.net

roxies_mama to Justin024

Anon

to Justin024
any discounts are based on what you pay per month for your voice package. so when you look at your billing, you should see a break-down of charges, as long as your voice package is in that range you qualify, if not....well then you don't qualify. i use to work cust. service for VZW
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner

Premium Member

Prepaid is looking better every day

Cell carriers are turning into the telcos of the 90s; fee for this, fee for that.

So much for competition benefiting the consumer.
Ammler
Premium Member
join:2005-04-19
Pittsburgh, PA

1 recommendation

Ammler

Premium Member

Re: Prepaid is looking better every day

What do you expect, as some of these Cell carriers ARE the Telcos of the 90's.
glinc
join:2009-04-07
New York, NY

glinc to tired_runner

Member

to tired_runner
Too bad prepaid just doesn't work with family plans or if you need about 5 lines for your family.

scott2020
join:2008-07-20
MO

scott2020 to tired_runner

Member

to tired_runner
Virgin Mobile $25 a month for "unlimited" text, data, and 300 minutes with no contract. You just have to suck it up and buy the phone. We have used them for 6 months and has been great. It is Sprint's network and I have no complaints. PagePlus cellular resells Verizon and for low usage voice, we pay $10 every 4 months to keep it active and around 10 cents per minute to use.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Prepaid is looking better every day

do you just have to get a sprint compatible phone to use virgin mobile?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Prepaid is looking better every day

said by ArrayList:

do you just have to get a sprint compatible phone to use virgin mobile?

You can only use phone sold thru Virgin Mobile.

»www.virginmobileusa.com/ ··· lans.jsp

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Prepaid is looking better every day

thats a big no thanks.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2 to tired_runner

Premium Member

to tired_runner
said by tired_runner:

Cell carriers are turning into the telcos of the 90s; fee for this, fee for that.

So much for competition benefiting the consumer.

So, they cut back on some of the "extra perks" that are not part of any base rate (ie: a few extra incentive programs) and you're saying "fee for this, fee for that" and something about lack of competition? I don't follow the logic.

Your sold on the base services.. anything that you're paying nothing for and they offer as a perk above and beyond, is just that.. it's a perk. You're not buying the perk.

Airlines & credit cards change mile awards all the time. Rental car agencies change status levels, and hotels change frequent lodging programs all the time. That doesn't impact what the cost of services are. It's a perk.

People way too often confuse a perk program with an entitlement program.

sherman06810
join:2000-10-15
Danbury, CT

1 recommendation

sherman06810

Member

We can't have it all...

While no one is in favor of a price increase, the cost of a handset is expensive. Many have railed against long-term contracts but still want a low handset price. In this sector, unfortunately, you can't have both. If people are upset about long term contracts, then please buy your phone without one.

jhboricua

join:2000-06-06
Minneapolis, MN

2 recommendations

jhboricua

Re: We can't have it all...

The problem is not the cost of the handset not being low. The problem is that buying your own handset in full is not a viable alternative in the US, only in Europe. Here, in 99% of the cases, there's no interoperability between carriers so you can't bring your phone from one carrier to another and also you still pay the same amount for service as the subsidized phones, so wheres the advantage to the consumer?

Sure, I don't have to deal with a contract but that's completely negated by the fact that I can only use my phone with Sprint. There's no real competition like in Europe.

SteelerRaw
@timet.com

SteelerRaw

Anon

Re: We can't have it all...

said by jhboricua:

Here, in 99% of the cases, there's no interoperability between carriers so you can't bring your phone from one carrier to another and also you still pay the same amount for service as the subsidized phones, so wheres the advantage to the consumer?

Interoperability issues *should* fall by the wayside when CDMA and GSM (and iDEN) networks all become LTE networks. Granted, we're probably looking beyond 2020 for all legacy networks to be phased out, but there is some hope for the future.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: We can't have it all...

said by SteelerRaw :

said by jhboricua:

Here, in 99% of the cases, there's no interoperability between carriers so you can't bring your phone from one carrier to another and also you still pay the same amount for service as the subsidized phones, so wheres the advantage to the consumer?

Interoperability issues *should* fall by the wayside when CDMA and GSM (and iDEN) networks all become LTE networks. Granted, we're probably looking beyond 2020 for all legacy networks to be phased out, but there is some hope for the future.

You would think LTE would standardize everything. But the wireless carriers are still going to implement LTE on various frequencies and there is no guarantee that one specific phone will be able to access all the frequencies LTE is implemented on. Non portability of phones may exist on LTE just like AT&T and T-Mobile devices still aren't interoperable on GSM.

SteelerRaw
@timet.com

SteelerRaw

Anon

Re: We can't have it all...

said by FFH5:

You would think LTE would standardize everything. But the wireless carriers are still going to implement LTE on various frequencies and there is no guarantee that one specific phone will be able to access all the frequencies LTE is implemented on. Non portability of phones may exist on LTE just like AT&T and T-Mobile devices still aren't interoperable on GSM.

Actually for GSM they should be interoperable. That's how you see T-Mobile users with iPhones for example. AFAIK every handset that T-Mobile and AT&T currently sells has both 850MHz and 1900MHz capability so they're interoperable in that regard.

The problem comes with 3GSM, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, whatever...In that at&t is using their cellular and PCS spectrum while T-Mobile uses their AWS spectrum, so yes, in that regard you're correct that it causes a problem.

However, with the rapid advances being made in mobile technology, it's not incomprehensible to imagine a phone that has a radio capable of utilizing most or even all the various frequency bands that LTE will be deployed on.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: We can't have it all...

said by SteelerRaw :

The problem comes with 3GSM, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, whatever...In that at&t is using their cellular and PCS spectrum while T-Mobile uses their AWS spectrum, so yes, in that regard you're correct that it causes a problem.

However, with the rapid advances being made in mobile technology, it's not incomprehensible to imagine a phone that has a radio capable of utilizing most or even all the various frequency bands that LTE will be deployed on.

It is possible, I agree. But it is in the best financial interests of the cell carriers to make sure they are NOT interoperable. And that is how I would bet it happens.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2 to jhboricua

Premium Member

to jhboricua
said by jhboricua:

... and also you still pay the same amount for service as the subsidized phones, so wheres the advantage to the consumer?

... where is the advantage? How about not having to shell out the money up front for a phone? And for those that are cash strapped or those that don't have short term credit options (ie: credit cards) this is what allows them into the post-paid world (which is risky) for cellular service. I see a huge advantage.

Its not really a subsidized phone really.. it's a financed phone. Say the phone is $429 for a smart phone. The "you pay" price is $149 and then you take into account the $350 ETF that you'd pay if you bailed on day 16. Seems pretty fair to me. You're getting the phone and paying a small finance charge over 2 years. Better than the 23.9% interest rate most people these days pay on their credit card.

Sure, I don't have to deal with a contract but that's completely negated by the fact that I can only use my phone with Sprint. There's no real competition like in Europe.

Making comparisons to Europe may be fine and all, but this isn't Europe.. this is the US. And I'll thank the deal lord that we're not Europe in many ways.
TheRogueX
join:2003-03-26
Springfield, MO

TheRogueX

Member

Re: We can't have it all...

You're right, this is the US. Home of the unprotected consumer. As opposed to Europe, where businesses are required to do things in ways that are beneficial to the consumer. You know, consumer protections.

Here in the US, it's like businesses have decided that, since people *have* to have their services then they just *have* to take what they're given, even though what they're given is a pile of horse crap. Instead of treating their customers like, oh, I don't know, THE VERY REASON THEY HAVE MONEY, they instead treat their customers like dirt, practically punishing them for the right to use their products or services.

I'm sorry, but that's not how this works. We live in a totally screwed-up, backwards system and it needs to be changed. Unfortunately, the only peaceful way we can change it (the government) is pretty much owned by the corporations, and they're damn well not going to let things change.

jhboricua

join:2000-06-06
Minneapolis, MN

jhboricua to fiberguy2

to fiberguy2
said by fiberguy2:

said by jhboricua:

... and also you still pay the same amount for service as the subsidized phones, so wheres the advantage to the consumer?

... where is the advantage? How about not having to shell out the money up front for a phone? And for those that are cash strapped or those that don't have short term credit options (ie: credit cards) this is what allows them into the post-paid world (which is risky) for cellular service. I see a huge advantage.

Except my statement, before you selectively quoted it and morphed it into something else, was directly addressing the futility in paying for a cell phone in the US in full. So my point stands, there is no advantage for the consumer in buying the phone for full to avoid a contract.
said by fiberguy2:

Its not really a subsidized phone really.. it's a financed phone. Say the phone is $429 for a smart phone. The "you pay" price is $149 and then you take into account the $350 ETF that you'd pay if you bailed on day 16. Seems pretty fair to me. You're getting the phone and paying a small finance charge over 2 years. Better than the 23.9% interest rate most people these days pay on their credit card.

It's subsidized. The carriers call it subsidized every time the subject of contracts comes up. Lay down the PR pipe.
said by fiberguy2:

Making comparisons to Europe may be fine and all, but this isn't Europe.. this is the US. And I'll thank the deal lord that we're not Europe in many ways.

The point still stands. They got it right and carriers there have to compete on service, unlike here. If you want to let your nationalistic views take over reason that's your choice.

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

1 recommendation

jmn1207 to sherman06810

Premium Member

to sherman06810
said by sherman06810:

While no one is in favor of a price increase, the cost of a handset is expensive. Many have railed against long-term contracts but still want a low handset price. In this sector, unfortunately, you can't have both. If people are upset about long term contracts, then please buy your phone without one.

Before choosing to buy a phone without a contract, consider the total cost and convenience of the subsidized phone with a prorated ETF. Just upgrade your phone whenever you want and pay the ETF if you are still in a contract. Oftentimes it would be cheaper than buying the phone outright, especially with the prorated ETFs, unless you only kept the device for a few months.

Look at Sprint's ETF chart.

»shop.sprint.com/en/servi ··· nity:etf

I paid $200 for my HTC EVO at Best Buy with a 24 month contract. After 1 year, with 12 months left, I would have to pay an additional $120 to get out early. Total cost is $320. You might find a slightly lower price on eBay, but not at the product's launch date, and there is a bit of a risk and hassle that some people don't want to mess with from online auctions.

sherman06810
join:2000-10-15
Danbury, CT

sherman06810

Member

Re: We can't have it all...

That's a great point. VZW spoiled me because the upfront cost on my Palm Pre Plus was $0 and they threw in the 5GB Mobile Hotspot for free. I'm in a 2-year contract now.
said by »www.verizonwireless.com/ ··· nt.shtml :
If your contract term results from your purchase of an Advanced Device after November 14, 2009, your early termination fee will be $350 minus $10 for each full month of your contract term that you complete.


So if I opted out of my phone after 12 months, VZW would charge me $230. I suppose if I combine that with the ~$200 cost of a new, 2-year contract device I'm still under the $500-$600 a non-contract phone costs.


jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Re: We can't have it all...

You can also sell the old phone, or use Gazelle and get about $60 for it if you just wanted to get rid of it for some quick money.

Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

Thaler to jmn1207

Premium Member

to jmn1207
No offense, but ETF's aren't really a problem at all for people who don't intend to hop to the latest-and-greatest at the drop of a hat. We upgraded 4 lines over the last two months to the LG Optimus S and it's way more smartphone to last 2 years. $50 for a well-built Android 2.2 phone is a hard price to beat.

Though, if I could actually see using the 4G speeds (and price were no object), I would've gone with the EVO. It's a bitching sweet device in the here-and-now, but living on the cutting edge costs money.
TheRogueX
join:2003-03-26
Springfield, MO

TheRogueX

Member

Re: We can't have it all...

I was sad. Best Buy had the HTC Incredible for $0 during Christmas season. But not the EVO. Sigh.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

I'll Go Ahead and Start

Let me go ahead and start the collusion thread to get it out of the way.

••••

AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

AVD

Premium Member

shit

I don't qualify for a new phone until April something. I have 10 years, was going to go for a fancy Android. 8(

•••••••••

biro32
@comcast.net

biro32

Anon

#%$(#(%!

This makes me hate all the phone companies more, THIS WHAT GREED GETS US!!! Corps screwing the consumer, and the FCC has no control! Anyone on here who believes any of the "Free market" SH*T move to another planet, All the crap the Republicans feed us is astonishing, propaganda about Healthcare and The internet, this is what ruined our COUNTRY!!
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

Re: #%$(#(%!

You don't own any guns, do ya?

Geminimind
Premium Member
join:2003-12-20
Sacramento, CA

Geminimind to biro32

Premium Member

to biro32
Just don't upgrade!

cob_
1310nm Of Goodness
Premium Member
join:2003-07-08
Tulsa, OK

cob_

Premium Member

Thanks, Sprint!

I would also like to thank Sprint for refusing to drop the 4G data charge on my account, regardless of the fact that 4G is not available in my area.

Twaddle
@sbcglobal.net

Twaddle

Anon

Re: Thanks, Sprint!

Its not 4G capability that you are paying for according to Sprint. You're paying 10.00 dollars a month/per 4G capable phone to enjoy the "rich Data Experience" what ever that is. Very clever of them to describe this 10.00 fee in such subjective terminology that it can be anything to anyone but bottom line whether you have an EVO 4G or not you're enjoying their Rich data experience thus they collect 10.00 from you. Don't ask them to define in objective terms what this "Rich data experience " is- that is the mystery behind the curtain!

Geminimind
Premium Member
join:2003-12-20
Sacramento, CA

Geminimind

Premium Member

no need to upgrade

Now I just will not upgrade. Once my contract is up there will be no need to renew.

Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

Thaler

Premium Member

Very Motivational

Well, all the recent price hikes from Sprint has made us actually look at our billing arrangements, and we've actually made adjustments to our plans. While we did a bit of initial spending (picked up 3x LG Optimus S es @ ~$50 each after rebate), our family bill has been trimmed down from $426 to $342 after tax. My father even has a smartphone & data plan for the first time!

Yeah, the price might be high...but that's not bad considering that the price covers 6 lines (+ full insurance on every line) - even covering my mom who puts an average 2000+ minutes a month on her phone alone (1000 or so anytime minutes, the rest are N&W and mobile-to-mobile). So, yeah. Sprint, while needless price hikes suck, you do offer the cheaper deal compared to Verizon or other offerings in my area. They didn't get the additional $10/month per line they were looking for (even lost some revenue stream too), but they picked up a slew of eager mobile data surfers.

Oh, and we still qualify for the new Premier status, so...big whoop. Cheaper service, more features, and no loss in benefits. We'll still be sticking w/ Sprint.

Koil
Premium Member
join:2002-09-10
Irmo, SC

Koil

Premium Member

Why 2 levels?

Why do they need gold and silver if there are just 2 tiers? Normal and premier makes more sense. Gold and silver makes it seem like there are more options up or down the service scale.

Noah Vail
Oh God please no.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-10
SouthAmerica

Noah Vail

Premium Member

I'm Celebrating the New Sprint Changes

My response to all of Sprint's change-o-round was to put hundreds of gigs of music/audio books/video, behind my home IIS 7 server - today.

I just drove home listening to an audio book @ 50MB/chapter; via my Sprint Touch Pro.
This particular series is 23GB.
Sprint's policy changes are just the ticket to offset the cost of maintaining my new usage habits.

Pay More/Get More is a variant of 'Get what You Pay for'.

NV
Nesse
join:2009-06-12
Naperville, IL

Nesse

Member

Does this really surprise anyone?

Lets be honest... Sprints "Premier" Program, at one point required you to spend $60 a month or 130 for Family Plans and be a customer for 6 months. Id venture to bet a fair amount of their customers fell into this. Anyone with a Data Everything Plan, would qualify for a 12 month upgrade.

I dont know if they are making this change because VZW or ATT made changes, or if its because of some of the more active members of the Sprint Forums would commonly complain about how it was unfair that new customers with Sprint would qualify for "Premier" after only 6 months. Plenty of those complaining had 10+ years with Sprint. It could be nothing more than Sprint throwing some of its more vocal community members a bone. Well, that and an excuse to stop bleeding money from 12m upgrades.

Or maybe its because Sprints getting its own iPhone and they dont want to be subsidizing those prices every year. (sorry, I couldnt resist starting yet another iPhone rumor)

Toropop
join:2001-11-11
Vancouver, WA

Toropop

Member

Hmm...

I wonder if this, and the $10/month hike for "3G/4G" speeds, would constitute a change in the terms of service. If so, I would LOVE to be able to bail on Sprint finally.

Feedback?

motoracer
join:2003-09-15
united state

1 recommendation

motoracer

Member

AG Complaint

I have a complaint to my AG because the 12 month upgrade was a selling tactic used by my salesman. If you take the perk away after you sell it, you can bet your butt I'm going to make a fuss. I urge others to complain to your AG too. Strength in numbers.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

prepaid is good, contracts bad

You can get a decent unlimited prepaid service between $35 (Boost Mobile w/ shrinkage plan) to $50 (tmobile, net10, straight talk=$45)....

The problem... very low featured handsets. Your solution is if you want a full featured portable computer.. you will have to go with an android tablet or ipod touch... the cell companies want to grab you for at least twice the price ($2400-$2700 vs $1200) of prepaid service for the same kinds of access. A big upsell is the wireless broadband internet that the full featured phones can make use of.. but they aren't exactly doing you a favor with caps & overages as part of your contract. AT&T, Verizon, Tmobile & Sprint all to some degree either cap/throttle your bandwidth-- in some cases charge overages.

You have no idea just how much money wireless carriers are raking in for these plans.. $2400 for a 2 year contract. $50-$600+ for handsets per customer/line. That adds up pretty quickly to hundreds of millions of revenue per year. Even the smallest carrier probably has at least 6 million subscribers--some accounts have multiple lines so let's say 9 million lines X $2700 per line=

KA CHING!!!!!!
BTW, overages, late fees, surcharges are gravy!

On the lowest cost prepaid tracfone:
$15 for a tracfone (double minute phone) at a discount store
$19.99 per card with 60(becomes 120 minutes) w/ 90 days service

Assuming you rebuy a new phone every year because the quality isn't all that great:

$15 + $79.96= $94.96
You need/want more than 40 minutes per month (rolled over) but less than 500 minutes.. you can buy additional time on higher minute cards, which might add another $200 to your yearly cost at most. $300 a year cell phone service.. that leaves alot of cash left over to buy a full featured tablet computer.. Having/carrying two devices isn't so bad when you consider the $2k savings and the only convenience you generally lack is having wireless broadband wherever you go instead of wifi hotspots. You could upgrade to an unlimited prepaid phone which could give you more of those features but you'll pay about HALF what a full-fledged 2 year commitment will be to a cell carrier (about $1200 between service and the handset).

I've heard all the arguments from the cell carrier's perspective.. so I dont' want hear those. This is about saving the end user/subscriber money.. not making cell companies & investors happy. THE BIG SECRET THE CELL PHONE CARRIER'S DONT' WANT YOU TO KNOW IS THAT OVER HALF THEIR POST PAID CONTRACT CUSTOMERS WOULD BE BETTER SERVED BY EITHER OF THE TWO LESS COSTLY OPTIONS IN PRE-PAID SERVICE. I don't get paid to up sell or down sell you anything... it's your choice I'm just going to tell you what the wireles carriers don't want you to hear-- that you have options & choices which are in your better interest.

killabee44
Premium Member
join:2004-05-08
Hollywood, FL

killabee44

Premium Member

Re: prepaid is good, contracts bad

I hear you, but for us heavy data users, prepaid sounds like it will be an expensive/throttled option. I need decent speeds and unlimited data.
dagg
join:2001-03-25
Galt, CA

dagg

Member

no reason to stay with sprint any longer

well, its apparently time for me to strike out and look for greener cellular pastures.

i already have no service where i live and since i work from home, 80%+ of my time im forced to use an airrave.
it took a full year of calls to even get an airrave that actually worked and the total amount they spent on calls and salaries while talking to me more than doubled the cost of just sending me an airrave that actually worked...which they finally admitted was where the problem was all along...
and speaking of airrave, since i spend all my time at home and on the airrave which uses MY internet connection for calls and data....why exactly do i have to spend an extra $10 to access MY data anyway?
add to this the fact that their customer service and support have been sliding downhill for the last year and i really see no reason as to why i should stick around.
ronespiritu
join:2004-02-27
Anaheim, CA

ronespiritu

Member

premier customer

I have been with nextel then sprint for over 12 years. I am already a premier member. the only good thing about being one is you can pay your bill every 6 weeks if you want to. let me explain, lets say I want to slip my monthly payment by a week or two I can call and tell them I want an extension and they give me the " of course no problem, you have been a valued customer for over 10 years". thats pretty much the only "perk" of being a premier member. the one year renewal is bogus you only get 75$ credit at one year instead of the 150$ at two years so thats pointless. as for the 25% discount on accessories you cant use it online and they never have the accessories you want in the store so you cant use it there either. why not quit you ask....too many lines (5) and not everyone hates the service besides the unlimited plan is pretty good even if you cant get 3g and 4g everywhere. lets just say not a good selling point.

daBrain
@bellsouth.net

daBrain

Anon

My Suggestion

I'm ok with Sprint changing/downgrading their "upgrade" allowances. That's because I finally came to my senses and ditched ditched Sprint altogether. My Pre is now an awesome wifi device, my prepay minutes are dirt-cheap, and my Post-Traumatic Sprint Disorder (after each communication with Sprint) has all but disappeared.