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Consumer Reports Article

Steven58

Steven58

Former Heavyweight Champion of Android Forums
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In the January issue of CR, Sprint has come up to the #2 spot for Cellphone service. It's just under Verizon and is a recommended carrier, now. They said the growth has been remarkable considering where they were in the past years. They were in the bottom of the barrel.

I'm very unhappy with Verizon discontinuing their NE2 benefit. In fact, over the past years, they took away my VIP discounts for accessories and the like. Now they take this away and there's no more 1 year upgrade with 2 year pricing.

It seems to be as if the incentives for staying with Verizon are dwindling. I've been a customer of theirs for 10 years. 10 YEARS!! This is how they reward me. (Steven shakes his head). :rolleyes:
 
I could see myself switching to Sprint. I have been with Verizon for 5 years. I have never had any major issues with them(unlike AT&T), but Sprint does seem like more and more of a viable option. I almost went with Sprint this summer for the EVO, but Verizon offered to up my NE2 a couple of months if I stayed with them.
 
I sent an email into my vzw PR contact. I doubt I'll hear back.. I have a call into a sprint store. They seem to want my business. I'm spending upwards of 300 per month with vzw. Sprint is claiming to be able to save me approx 100 per month. I have three data plans and a feature phone. That's a lot of shekels every month.
 
Steven58 said:
I sent an email into my vzw PR contact. I doubt I'll hear back.. I have a call into a sprint store. They seem to want my business. I'm spending upwards of 300 per month with vzw. Sprint is claiming to be able to save me approx 100 per month. I have three data plans and a feature phone. That's a lot of shekels every month.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but you are looking at a few hundred in ETFs though, right?
I have not been paying much attention to Sprint lately. Do they have any worthwhile phones? It seems like everything there is dated... that EVO shift is just a D2.
 
I would love to switch to sprint if they had some better phones. The EVO isn't something that really interests me because it is already long in the tooth.
 
Didn't Sprint just increase their fees? I have VRZ so didn't totally pay attention but believe new phones/contracts are going up by $10?? That may not make it too much cheaper.
 
I currently have Sprint. 5 lines with "Everything except landline calls" UNLIMITED. 1 line - Evo4G, 3 lines - Windows Smartphones, 1 line - Dumbphone. After it is all said and done, I pay $213/mo also to include insurance on my Evo. It will increase $10/line in the future if/when we upgrade/swap esn on the 4 lines that I am currently not being charged for the "Premium Data". So far will still be the cheapest for what we get unless another carrier gets smart and lowers their prices to compete.

P.S. The Evo so far is the most powerful phone I have ever held in my hand.

P.S.S. I still hate Sprint for their high phone prices, price increases and horrible customer no-service but it's the best bang for the buck.
 
The way I see it, if Verizon doesn't shoot themselves in the foot by eliminating the NE2 and annual upgrade discounts, the other carriers will follow suit.

Just like when Verizon started forcing dataplans on smartphones.
 
Taylored said:
Yeah, but you are looking at a few hundred in ETFs though, right?
I have not been paying much attention to Sprint lately. Do they have any worthwhile phones? It seems like everything there is dated... that EVO shift is just a D2.
Click to expand...

the evo shift is a G2 not a D2
 
pool_shark said:
The way I see it, if Verizon doesn't shoot themselves in the foot by eliminating the NE2 and annual upgrade discounts, the other carriers will follow suit.

Just like when Verizon started forcing dataplans on smartphones.
Click to expand...
Sprint's already trending that way... First the price increase for 3G data, followed up by the change to their Premier program.

Where Sprint really screwed the pooch was their treatment of current customers that would have been otherwise eligible for an annual upgrade but have now retroactively had their date pushed out one more year. It's interesting to read the posts in the Sprint forums by folks who were enticed to sign a two year contract due to the touted annual upgrades only to have the rug pulled from underneath them by Overland Park. As bummed as people were/are about VZW eliminating annual upgrades and NE2 discounts, at least they still let you use that last one if you have it pending.
 
Hrethgir said:
So you're saying that HTC and Motorola are the same thing? Evo and G2 are HTC, D2 is Motorola.
Click to expand...
No, in my original statement i was just saying that the Evo Shift is comparable to the D2... and kind of lame, imo.
as for Moto VS HTC; you will get no argument from me that HTC > Moto.
 
Steven58 said:
I'm very unhappy with Verizon discontinuing their NE2 benefit. In fact, over the past years, they took away my VIP discounts for accessories and the like. Now they take this away and there's no more 1 year upgrade with 2 year pricing.
Click to expand...

I agree. Although I never used my annual upgrades (ahem.. because I didn't know they HAD them...) I loved my NE2 discount. Verizon had these as things to keep their customers around. Now they're out the window. I really hope they bring in some new promotions to make up for those they got rid of.
 
Yeah I'm really racking my brain wondering what the hell they're thinking. They'd better have some alternative plan in place, because if they think people are going to start paying $550 bucks for a smartphone when they walk in the door, they're off their medicine.

If even one single carrier keeps a subsidized phone plan in place, that's where everyone will go, I don't care who it is.
 
Outlaw71 said:
Yeah I'm really racking my brain wondering what the hell they're thinking. They'd better have some alternative plan in place, because if they think people are going to start paying $550 bucks for a smartphone when they walk in the door, they're off their medicine.
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They are still subsidizing phone upgrades, they just aren't offering NE2 anymore.
 
gvillager said:
They are still subsidizing phone upgrades, they just aren't offering NE2 anymore.
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So what does this mean? That anytime I want a new device I just go down there and get a new, subsidized phone for $200 bucks and extend my contract for another year or two? Hell if that's the case then this is a GREAT move by Verizon!!!
 
Outlaw71 said:
So what does this mean? That anytime I want a new device I just go down there and get a new, subsidized phone for $200 bucks and extend my contract for another year or two? Hell if that's the case then this is a GREAT move by Verizon!!!
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Yeah, you can do that every 20 months with a 2 year contract or every 10 months on a 1 year contract.
 
gvillager said:
Yeah, you can do that every 20 months with a 2 year contract or every 10 months on a 1 year contract.
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That seems crazy, what incentive would anyone have now to sign a two year contract with that sort of offer? I mean you'd think Verizon would want to steer as many people as they could into the 2 year contract for obvious reasons. But if you get rerwarded twice as often to sign a 1 year deal...

Am I missing something here?
 
Outlaw71 said:
That seems crazy, what incentive would anyone have now to sign a two year contract with that sort of offer? I mean you'd think Verizon would want to steer as many people as they could into the 2 year contract for obvious reasons. But if you get rerwarded twice as often to sign a 1 year deal...

Am I missing something here?
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It's more or less what all carriers are doing. Except most (If I am not mistaken), just make you wait until your full contract is up in order to get the subsidized price.

The difference between 1 year and 2 year contracts is the subsidized price is about $70 difference, with the 2 year contract being cheaper.
 
O k a y....

Somehow, this doesn't exactly sound much different to me than their NE2 program. What are the differences, just that now you can upgrade after 10/20 months instead of 12/24?

If that's the case then why are so many people crying over this? It sounds as if it got better, not worse. Are they just not aware of the new plan ya think? Because I can't see how anyone would be pissed off about getting to upgrade sooner than before!
 
Outlaw71 said:
O k a y....

Somehow, this doesn't exactly sound much different to me than their NE2 program. What are the differences, just that now you can upgrade after 10/20 months instead of 12/24?

If that's the case then why are so many people crying over this? It sounds as if it got better, not worse. Are they just not aware of the new plan ya think? Because I can't see how anyone would be pissed off about getting to upgrade sooner than before!
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NE2 gave you a credit towards a new phone (With signed contract). That's really the only difference.

I'm not sure why so many people are really crying over it either. Especially, since you own them by the balls when your contract is up. You can negotiate all kinds of things without the ETF hanging over your head.
 
PSkeptic said:
NE2 gave you a credit towards a new phone (With signed contract). That's really the only difference.

I'm not sure why so many people are really crying over it either. Especially, since you own them by the balls when your contract is up. You can negotiate all kinds of things without the ETF hanging over your head.
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Ok well 'credit', 'subsidized'.... is there a difference? When I used one of the upgrade 'credits' on my account to get my X it cost me $199. Now they're saying that after 10 months in a 1 year contract or 20 months in a 2 year contract I can upgrade to a 'subsidized' phone for around that same price... right (I have no idea, just going by the info in this thread)?

So what is the difference? A rose by any other name smells just as sweet, doesn't it?
 
Outlaw71 said:
Ok well 'credit', 'subsidized'.... is there a difference? When I used one of the upgrade 'credits' on my account to get my X it cost me $199. Now they're saying that after 10 months in a 1 year contract or 20 months in a 2 year contract I can upgrade to a 'subsidized' phone for around that same price... right (I have no idea, just going by the info in this thread)?

So what is the difference? A rose by any other name is still a rose, isn't it?
Click to expand...

Well, the subsidized price is the price with a contract (ie $129 w/ 1 year contract, $75 with 2 year, $599 with no contract). NE2 gave you another credit on top of the subsidized price.

So, more or less, NE2 being gone, you just don't get the credit, and instead of a new phone at year 1 in a 2 year contract, you have to wait for 20 months.

Not a huge deal for me (I use my phone until it's worn out, which is usually at 20 months or so). I just lose the credit (Which was something like $30 or so).
 
For example, I'll take the price of the Droid X in the store that I work in. The 1 year contract price is $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. The two year contract price is $129.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. If you are eligible for NE2 (you were already in a 2 year contract, you are the main line on the account and you have kept your phone for the full two years of your contract) you are eligible for an extra credit towards the phone. You have to sign a two year contract and the phone would be $79.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Now they no longer offer that extra $30-$50 (depending on what you qualify for) credit for the phones. The phone prices are still subsidized after 10 months on a 1 year contract or 20 months on a 2 year contract, but now those who were in a 2 year contract are no longer able to get an extra $30-$50 off. Because of them getting rid of the annual upgrade, customers who signed a 2 year contract are no longer able to upgrade after only 1 year.

From what I understand, they are now on par with what the rest of the companies. The NE2 and annual upgrades were something special VZW was doing that was actually really cool, and now it's gone =(
 
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