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Sprint Forces you into new Plan

J

justsomeguy

Lurker
So I have a service plan with Sprint and I have been with them for about 8 years. The plan I have is Awesome it was a custom built plan from an account manager I have Everything on my plan all the data you could want yadda yadda yadda. So I
 
Where have you been for like 2 years? Sprints been doing this for a while and your chances of success are so close to zero that we need some advanced calculus to figure it out to any exact measurement.

Also by the way...paragraphs they work.
 
A year and a half ago is when I got my Plan with the moto q. A year ago I got the HTC Touch Pro. I never had this issue with any other phone. That is where I have been.
 
Neither of those phones required Everything plans and there is still a number that don't. However sadly more and more phone are starting to require them. Go to sprints website and pull up the list of phones. In the description of the phones that require special plans there is a link that says "About plans for this phone". Here is the link for Hero/Moment.

Some important things to know about Android
 
I know that the Q and Touch Pro do not need an everything plan but here is my issue. The Hero does not use a different data pack, no different towers, and not a different company. Nothing is Different at all other then sprint wants to push people into the same plan for more money. I mean I have the exact same Vision aka data pack from them so why Force me into something I don't want?


I understand it from a business point of view more money = win.

From the customer that knows there is no difference = Fail
 
I am not arguing that with you; it sucks to a certain extent. However there probably some differences you are not being told about. One is Any Mobile, Any Time (free calls to and from any cellphone in the US regardless of provider). You also get GPS Navigation for free, Sprint TV, NFL Mobile and NASCAR. Personally I could care less about TV and Sports but Any Mobile and Sprint Nav (normally 9.99) is fantastic. Are those extra features worth the extra price you will pay - that's entirely up to you.

I willing switched up from two SERO plans to the 1500 min family plan (129.99) and "technically" my price more then doubled (well I actually do have a 25% corp discount and a $20 a month retentions discount - so after taxes and fees I pay about $92 a month for the 1500 min plan and TEP on each line). The extra money a month was worth not having to worry about my wife going over her minuets - she basically has unlimited now since everyone she calls has a cellphone.

I know it sucks for you but Sprints not going to budge. I've read a few posts about people actually pulling off purchasing the phone from sprint when they are not on a required plan - but when it comes time to activate Sprint catches them. It doesn't even seem that the reps have any capability to change this - the computer system is set up to prevent it. Even if you try to ESN swap online it's a no go. Right now you are thinking "sucks I have to pay so much more" but guess what.....

I personally would like to leave Sprint because of coverage issues - but I would be paying a lot more to go anywhere else at this point. Verizon wants nearly $200 a month for a comparable plan for the Motorola Droid. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place!
 
I beliieve the issue is: you're buying a new smartphone and entering into a new contract for 2 years (? I assume?) If this is correct, new contracts do not support older plans. Likely, is it not possible for the reps to access your custom plan when setting up your new phone, because of the minimum requirement plan, as well as there are no more custom plans. PLUS we are all taking it up the ass with these new standards of opperation when it comes to policy and requirements for the new breed of smartphones.
 
GODMODE said:
I beliieve the issue is: you're buying a new smartphone and entering into a new contract for 2 years (? I assume?) If this is correct, new contracts do not support older plans. Likely, is it not possible for the reps to access your custom plan when setting up your new phone, because of the minimum requirement plan, as well as there are no more custom plans. PLUS we are all taking it up the ass with these new standards of opperation when it comes to policy and requirements for the new breed of smartphones.
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That's not entirely true. There are many dumb phones and smartphones the OP could buy, while even renewing his contract for the discount but still keeping his plan. However the Hero is just not one of those phones.
 
Well Guys I am going to keep pushing and see how far I can get who knows maybe Ill get the phone I want and keep the plan I have. Only time will tell I will keep you all informed as to my progress or lack there of.
 
Sorry, but I doubt you will get anywhere, but wasting several hours on the phone. Normally I'm all for trying, but Sprint has changed a few things recently and they know that their plans are still way cheaper than the other big networks, so they will not budge on this one. Dan Hesse doesn't care if he loses customers, either. But, the Android devices may require a special data code be added to allow certain data features to work properly which may not attach to the older plans that you have (such as syncing for 'push' email to function).
 
kennyidaho said:
That's not entirely true. There are many dumb phones and smartphones the OP could buy, while even renewing his contract for the discount but still keeping his plan. However the Hero is just not one of those phones.
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Did you read my entire post:

"Likely, is it not possible for the reps to access your custom plan when setting up your new phone, because of the minimum requirement plan, as well as there are no more custom plans."

Since he was speaking of THE HERO, we have to assume this is what we are all referring to in reference to the issue at hand.

Thank you.
 
justsomeguy said:
So I have a service plan with Sprint and I have been with them for about 8 years. The plan I have is Awesome it was a custom built plan from an account manager I have Everything on my plan all the data you could want yadda yadda yadda. So I
Click to expand...
 
I have to disagree with you IOWA. I think a lot of Sprints customer loss comes from area's Sprint has neglected. It's nice that Sprint is always first - first EVDO, first EVDO Rev A, now first 4G - somebody is always got to be first. However there are still large areas served by Sprint that have not seen a single one of those "firsts".

Take my area for example:

About a year after Sprint launched it's "first" 3G network, Verizon already had EVDO coverage in my area. Sprint then gets to gloat about the first 3G Rev. A network - months later Verizon has Rev. A in my area - time will tell with 4G but I am sensing a pattern. What does the NOW network provide in my area? You guessed it 1xRTT.

Sadly all these first just show that Sprint treats it's network and customers as short term investments. Be first to the market in hopes of driving up subscribers but fail to maintain the network until the next first. In the two years I've had Sprint our local network has basically went to garbage. We now miss calls left and right because the phone never rings. Out going calls fail fairly often, and an increasingly growing number of dropped calls.

On Wednesday my two Droids from Verizon will arrive. Yeah I am not happy about paying $50 extra a month, I would rather keep my Hero, I would rather not pay Sprint $400 bucks in ETF's. However I can't afford to keep Sprint either. Last week while trying to arrange a family outing my family tried calling us multiple times - our phones never rang. That got me thinking: how many customers have I lost because my phone hasn't rang and they decided not to leave a voicemail?
 
IOWA said:
Not going to work. Everyone is raving about Sprints recent subscriber losses, but what people DONT know is the majority of them, are from people who didn't want to pay for their service, (i.e. SERO plans etc) and ended up going somewhere else thinking they were giving Sprint the shaft. Ironically, they end up paying a different carrier even more for the same or less service. Fact is, the new computer system, Ensemble, is built so reps just cannot change around things like they used to. People were abusing the system, and now that has been fixed. Sprint still has the best prices on the market, and if you want to use a smartphone, you need to pay to play. Sprint needs to make money too, and they need money to keep up their infrastructure. They aren't like ATT and just give million dollar bonus's to CEO's and CFO's rather than dump the money back into the company. Sprint's network has always been the best, they were the first all digital, first to 3G, and now first to 4G. You want a smart phone, it's pay to play. Either that, or go to Verizon and pay 25% more per month.
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You can't really believe that. I have always paid my bill early, I have NEVER had a SERO plan. My plan was stock Sprint amd list price. The reason I am leaving is the attitude of Sprint. I am tired of outdated phones. I am tired of roaming data. I'm tired of hearing about the wonderful 4G that I will never see. I am willing to pay for quality. If a quality product costs more, so be it.
 
Stormin said:
You can't really believe that. I have always paid my bill early, I have NEVER had a SERO plan. My plan was stock Sprint amd list price. The reason I am leaving is the attitude of Sprint. I am tired of outdated phones. I am tired of roaming data. I'm tired of hearing about the wonderful 4G that I will never see. I am willing to pay for quality. If a quality product costs more, so be it.
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Oh boy don't tell me your one of THOSE. How are sprints phones outdated? Really? Bc they don't have ten android hansets and 14 blackberries? Really? You sound like a crybaby to me, and name any phone verizon has and sprint has a comparable one.

As for network issues, no network is perfect. If you feel verizon works better for you in your area so be it.I personally have had no problems, so sprint works for me. I've even seen it where us cellular has the best coverage in some areas.if sprint doesn't cover your area well then you need to get what works for you!

And as for subscriber losses.... most of them are from legacy nextel users... and I do beleieve the merger was a bad idea. Oh well!
 
Outdated phones? the hero, moment and palm pre have been innovative in their own right. the only downside to the bb is the lack of wifi, but the tour was the same as the 9500.
The hero with sense ui was the hottest phone for about 2 months.
The moment was tied up for the most powerful android phone (sadly, the OS is a bit buggy and was 1.5 :-( )
Verizon came out with the Droid just shortly after the Samsung Droid. Tmobile recently came out with the Nexus One.
AT&T has yet to come out with anything asides the iPhone.
It's the evolution of technology. What's kewl today is old news tomorrow.
this year will be the year of the snapdragon processor and the only way phones out do each other will be in features and the networks.
Sprint Features: Sprint TV, NFL, NASCAR, and Turn by Turn GPS (on non android phone too), unlimited cellphone calls.
Everyone else: You have to pay for these features if they even offer them.

Reception: Every network has reception issues in some areas. Where I live I had issues with T-Mo and their 3G network.

Solution: Check coverage in your area and don't choose your provider just cause of a phone.
this is something i read about a lot here. "XX Provider sucks." then you read their previous comments and they admit that xx provider has always had issues in that area.
 
IOWA said:
Oh boy don't tell me your one of THOSE. How are sprints phones outdated? Really? Bc they don't have ten android hansets and 14 blackberries? Really? You sound like a crybaby to me, and name any phone verizon has and sprint has a comparable one.

As for network issues, no network is perfect. If you feel verizon works better for you in your area so be it.I personally have had no problems, so sprint works for me. I've even seen it where us cellular has the best coverage in some areas.if sprint doesn't cover your area well then you need to get what works for you!

And as for subscriber losses.... most of them are from legacy nextel users... and I do beleieve the merger was a bad idea. Oh well!
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http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/07/30/sprint-loses-more-customers-can-it-ever-stop-the-bleeding/
Sprint, which has bled millions and millions of customers over the past two years, has managed to offset that blow in the past few quarters by signing up record customer numbers to its Boost Mobile prepaid unit, which shook the industry up at the start of the year with a $50 per month unlimited everything wireless plan.
But that's not stopping more valuable contract customers from continuing to leave in droves. Even with the mid-June release of the Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) Pre smartphone -- widely credited with being the first true competitor to the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone -- Sprint didn't highlight that launch this week in reporting its quarterly results. This is no surprise, since the device launched at the very end of the quarter. Still -- can Palm help save all the customer defections from Sprint to larger competitors like AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless -- each of which added over one million subscribers in their respective recent quarters?
Sprint's loss for the quarter was $384 million, or 13 cents a share, as sales fell 10%. Sprint lost 991,000 contract subscribers, but gained 777,000 prepaid lines from its Boost Mobile unit -- which equals an overall customer loss total of 257,000 customers. But the larger question remains: how much more valuable were the contract customers it lost over the prepaid customers it gained? Try this: contract customers spent an average of $56 per month in the quarter, while prepaid customers averaged $34. That's the whopper.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9881857-7.html
For several quarters Sprint has been plagued by massive customer defections. And on Thursday it reported it had lost 683,000 customers in the fourth quarter. Company executives said Sprint Nextel will likely lose another 1.2 million post-paid customers in the first quarter of 2008. Post-paid customers are customers who pay a monthly bill. And they are often considered highly coveted in the wireless market.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/industry/2008-01-18-sprint-jobs_N.htm
Sprint said it lost 683,000 "post-paid," or subscription customers, and 202,000 prepaid customers during the quarter, which is traditionally the strongest for cellphone carriers.
Last year, Sprint lost 1.2 million customers. "It's going to be worse in 2008," predicted UBS analyst John Hodulik.
Sprint's "churn"
 
I know a lot of the issue has been due to the way Sprint treats/treated their customers. However, as of last year many people have started to talk about Sprint's good customer service (CS).
T-Mo makes you pay $25 for internet access if you get a smart phone. that's up from $10 two years ago.
The thing is that sprint is not the only company that does this. AT&T did the same thing and so does Verizon. People complaining about their Network has played second fiddle due to the success of the iPhone.
The thing about Sprint is that in their old system people would get a ridiculous discount based on the way CS manipulated the system. though good for the customer, it is bad for the company because it stops profits from affecting the expansion of the infrastructure.
You have to see what's the cheapest for you.
Go to Cell Phone Plans, Credit Cards & CD Rates...Save Money on BillShrink input your info and it tells you how many calls you make to which provider, who you call most and how many of them are mobile calls.
You said Sprint sucked in your area...well don't get them again. T-Mo has excellent plans and can at times be the cheapest.
 
just wanted to add that the bb 8530 does have wifi and if this phone is available for your plan OP, I say go with it...it is an excellent phone, my coworker has it and I'm sincerely impressed. If I could save $50 per month I would chose it as well as the palm pre (obv I like to have wifi).
 
Palm Pre and Pixi, Samsung Instinct (all 3 versions) and Moment, BB 8530 (new Curve), and HTC Hero will *ALL REQUIRE* an Everything Data or Simply Everything plan (unless you're wanting to go into one of the Business Essentials plans, but they generally end up being more expensive unless you have 6 lines). There is no way around it, the system simply will not allow it to be activated. If we try, we get a pop-up message that says "Such and such plan" is not compatible with this phone, and when we try to search for one, those are the ONLY plans that show up. Period. No amount of complaining will get this changed, it is set in the system. If you want the "cool new phone" because you just "have to have one", you pay more for the plan. End of discussion. I don't mean to sound rude, but I'd rather you not waste your time and our time calling 15 different agents and complaining about it. Just because you got a great deal on that Honda 3 years ago doesn't mean you're going to keep the same payments when you trade up to the Porsche, even though they use the same gas and drive on the same roads.
 
justsomeguy said:
Well Guys I am going to keep pushing and see how far I can get who knows maybe Ill get the phone I want and keep the plan I have. Only time will tell I will keep you all informed as to my progress or lack there of.
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Well, there is no way around it just like everyone else is saying, youre just gonna waste hours of your time.
 
Just some input to some of you here from a Sprint Customer Care representative. Especially if your on a SERO plan, or a plan you just don't wanna lose.

Now, before you go into this guns a blazing keep this in mind; if you haven't been with Sprint more then two years, then you might as well just leave, or suck it up. In there eyes, you are still a new customer, and "should" be stuck in contract, and not eligible for a new phone anyways.

Now, if you have been with them longer here is what you can TRY to do. Call Customer Care, and immediately state you would like to cancel. You will then be transfered to "Account Services". There, they will try and "Car Salesman" you out of not canceling. Now explain the situation. Explain how your plan you had prior, which already included Unlimited Data should not be changed just because you would like a new phone.

They will then argue that the Everything Data plans include the Any mobile, Anytime feature and thus the increase in price should be understandable. But then, you combat with that you should not be forced to pay for a feature you did not want in the first place just to purchase a phone.

I hope from here you understand the way things will be going. Eventually, they will offer you a monthly reoccurring credit. Let me rephrase, hopefully. From what I've seen so far, the average has been $20 off a month to help off set the new plan. Now, if your a SERO user on the SERO F&F 500, and you bitch about paying $49.99 for the Everything Data 450 then you should just stop now. Otherwise that is a very good deal.

Keep in mind, this is all if everything goes according to plan. None the less though, Account Services will offer you something to retain service. It's up to you to push, and try, and try, to get the best offer you can.
 
This *MAY* work, but coming from a former Account Services rep, there are only certain offers available for certain accounts. Your account has to meet certain pre-determined qualifications (which I have no idea what they are any longer), and the system shows the agent what they can offer you. Please don't go in with a "well, my friend got such-and-such, I want that" type attitude. You may be a 1 year customer on a low cost plan, while your "friend" has been with Sprint for 10+ years and has 10 lines of service. Granted, there are some agents that will do things they are not supposed to just to get you to not cancel, but personally, it's not worth me getting fired over. And callking repeatedly to get an agent that will break the rules for you is not a good idea, either, as they can see how often you call and what other agents have offered you. When I saw a situation where a "rule" actually needed to be "modified" as an exception (and those were few and far between), I was perfectly happy to ask my supervisor what else could be done, but every single time that was for a very polite customer who had an honest problem, not someone just out to get something for nothing. And believe me, they can tell the difference.
 
I am with Verizon and I love it, but my family are on sprint. My sister today wanted to get a Hero today so I went with her. Only to find out that they wanted to raise the bill about 40 bucks. I just dont understand why they make this like this. My mom and dad both have horribly old phones and dont want anything newer, but now they have internet even though they will never use it.

I cannot tell you how frustrated I was after talking to the sprint rep. Finally I talked to someone that helped out, they ended up giving me 15 dollars off for two years. This works out about how much it would have been. The only thing that confuses me is why do they require everyone to have the data plan. I am with verizon and my wife and I pay a lot less then my family.
 
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