What is Sprint doing!?

NickJames

NickJames

Supreme [H]ardness
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Messages
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http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/sprint-changing-return-policy-tomorrow-nixing-premier-program-a/

-Doubled up upgrade fee to $36 (Can not be waived)
-Raised ETF to $350 from $200
-Return period cut to 14 days
-No more annual upgrades for premiere
-No more no risk trial for Sprint which means you can't test out Sprints service and then cancel with no cost.
-No more early upgrades
-Extra administrative charge of $1.50 per line


So far it's bad news all around. Sprints "Strategy Update" conference in October sounds like it's going to drop a bombshell on the customers in the form of more bad news. Why have you forsaken us! Stop trying to break yourselves for the sake of the Iphone! WE MADE YOU!
 
T-Mobile has been making some unpopular changes with their services lately too.

Sprint says they are doing this to be more inline with their competitors. But why is that their goal? They are far far behind AT&T and Verizon, which is about to become a duopoly and will leave Sprint in far last place. I would think Sprint should be striving to keep perks that make them better than AT&T/Verizon.

I've been with T-Mobile for 10 years. I always felt they were the best choice for me because their customer service was so great, they'd often do things they really didn't have to just to keep me as a happy customer and they had nice prices and perks. But some of those nice prices and perks vanishing over the summer (though not affecting me) and the looming AT&T acquisition, I was planning to switch to Sprint this fall.

Now that Sprint is also cutting away their perks and wanting to be just like Verizon and AT&T, I am having a hard time understanding why I'd want to switch to Sprint now. At least with Verizon and AT&T I know I'll have a better phone selection.
 
Yeah, I've been wondering the exact same thing, OP. A lot of people are blaming the iPhone coming to Sprint and it very well may be. Apple has a retarded fan base and I wouldn't doubt that if they forced people into 5 year contracts while still paying $300 for the subsidized phone and $50+/month 1 GB capped data plan, that most of their followers would pay that and go into debt for it (which a lot of people already do from what I've seen).

But I don't understand why they have to penalize everyone else for that. They could easily just have specific plans for iPhones so all the Apple tards still have to pay that premium while having a separate/cheaper smartphone data plan for every other smartphone. This just seems like the most logical way to capitalize on the iPhone without raping everyone else that just want a somewhat affordable smartphone and plan.

But at the rate their going, I wouldn't be surprised to see their unlimited data plan disappear by Q1 2012. I hope I'm wrong, but I remember Hesse saying himself that "nothing lasts forever" when questioned about it.
 
NickJames said:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/sprint-changing-return-policy-tomorrow-nixing-premier-program-a/

-Doubled up upgrade fee to $36 (Can not be waived)
-Raised ETF to $350 from $200
-Return period cut to 14 days
-No more annual upgrades for premiere
-No more no risk trial for Sprint which means you can't test out Sprints service and then cancel with no cost.
-No more early upgrades
-Extra administrative charge of $1.50 per line


So far it's bad news all around. Sprints "Strategy Update" conference in October sounds like it's going to drop a bombshell on the customers in the form of more bad news. Why have you forsaken us! Stop trying to break yourselves for the sake of the Iphone!
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Man, that's bad news for the future of this industry. My biggest worry is that the big 4 start mirroring each others prices/plans to the extent there's virtually no difference between them. Competition is great for the video card industry but the same rules don't seem to apply to cell phone companies.
NickJames said:
WE MADE YOU!
Click to expand...
Maximum Overdrive. Worst Stephen King movie ever. :p
 
I don't like your post T4rd. Sorry but Apple makes a great product. Reliable, never crashes or slows down, makes calls when you want it, doesn't lock up, has stable apps, and great battery life. And works when you want it. My company has been using a mix of Android, Windows, IOS devices from different providers, and the Apples are the most reliable phones we have in use with some 3G phones still being used today while we have had to replace the Android models at least every 1-2 years.

So we are now requesting all the users get iphone from the provider that has them, and with Sprint getting them and possibly T-Mobile, this makes it even better.

People are fanboys of different things, but when a device just works well, then it will have a strong group supporting it like the iphone. So don't call them names because: 1) either you don't like the iphone or never owned one. 2) Or you really don't know what you are talking about.

Thanks.
 
Did those advantages give them customers? No. they still lost 101,000 contract customers and have lost money for something like eight quarters straight. Something has to give and they can't keep doing things that will potentially cause them to lose money.
 
They are all upping prices and dropping services. Can't go without a phone so they have us over a barrel.
 
This is why I use a prepaid service here in Atlanta called MetroPCS...$60 a month straight up no contract, no hidden fees, UNLIMITED EVERYTHING, all on a 4G LTE network.

Yes you heard right...$60 a month for unlimited 4G, calls, texts, internet.

Damn AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile...all greedy corporate fucks! I mean really, I can't even get unlimited 4G on Verizon only 10GB a month and that with unlimited everything else is like $160 a month! SIMPLY RIDICULOUS.

As networks and customer base gets bigger things should be getting cheaper, not more expensive.

Its time like this when I wish our government would get their heads out of their asses, remove the corporate hands from the pockets and do something about this shit! Because there's NO reason for this other than pure greed.

That's it I'm done.
 
vw-tx said:
I don't like your post T4rd. Sorry but Apple makes a great product. Reliable, never crashes or slows down, makes calls when you want it, doesn't lock up, has stable apps, and great battery life. And works when you want it. My company has been using a mix of Android, Windows, IOS devices from different providers, and the Apples are the most reliable phones we have in use with some 3G phones still being used today while we have had to replace the Android models at least every 1-2 years.

So we are now requesting all the users get iphone from the provider that has them, and with Sprint getting them and possibly T-Mobile, this makes it even better.

People are fanboys of different things, but when a device just works well, then it will have a strong group supporting it like the iphone. So don't call them names because: 1) either you don't like the iphone or never owned one. 2) Or you really don't know what you are talking about.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I didn't once insinuate that Apple didn't make a great product, I know they do, which is why they're so successful on their mobile platforms in the first place. But you can't deny that most of their user base just blindly buys their products either because they're 1) so used to it because they were early adopters of it when Apple didn't really have any competition or 2) they're extremely popular and when they see everyone else have one they have to have it too (it does have a nice initial wow factor if you've never seen a smartphone before). I'll bet that over half of the iOS users haven't even given any other platform a chance, but I don't blame them; if it isn't broke, then don't fix it. Plus they're extremely simple and reliable devices and that alone is why a lot of people prefer them over other platforms too. Which is why I say let the mainstream crowd pay a premium for those features while letting people who want the same functionality without all the glamor/simplicity on other devices pay less.

JoeUser said:
This is why I use a prepaid service here in Atlanta called MetroPCS...$60 a month straight up no contract, no hidden fees, UNLIMITED EVERYTHING, all on a 4G LTE network.

Yes you heard right...$60 a month for unlimited 4G, calls, texts, internet.

Damn AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile...all greedy corporate fucks! I mean really, I can't even get unlimited 4G on Verizon only 10GB a month and that with unlimited everything else is like $160 a month! SIMPLY RIDICULOUS.

As networks and customer base gets bigger things should be getting cheaper, not more expensive.

Its time like this when I wish our government would get their heads out of their asses, remove the corporate hands from the pockets and do something about this shit! Because there's NO reason for this other than pure greed.

That's it I'm done.
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People are willing to pay a premium for high end phones though, which MetroPCS has nothing that remotely compares to the major carriers high end phones. Their 4G phones have 3.5"/3.3" HVGA displays, lol. It seems as though their carrier is CDMA too, so you can't (easily) bring any phone you want to their carrier. If you could somehow flash one of Verizon's/Sprint's top tier phones to their network, then that would be the best way to go.
 
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JoeUser said:
This is why I use a prepaid service here in Atlanta called MetroPCS...$60 a month straight up no contract, no hidden fees, UNLIMITED EVERYTHING, all on a 4G LTE network.

Yes you heard right...$60 a month for unlimited 4G, calls, texts, internet.

Damn AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile...all greedy corporate fucks! I mean really, I can't even get unlimited 4G on Verizon only 10GB a month and that with unlimited everything else is like $160 a month! SIMPLY RIDICULOUS.

As networks and customer base gets bigger things should be getting cheaper, not more expensive.

Its time like this when I wish our government would get their heads out of their asses, remove the corporate hands from the pockets and do something about this shit! Because there's NO reason for this other than pure greed.

That's it I'm done.
Click to expand...

But you neglect to note that the LTE is no faster than the competitions 3G service. Or that there's some areas where they charge you for roaming.
 
JoeUser said:
This is why I use a prepaid service here in Atlanta called MetroPCS...$60 a month straight up no contract, no hidden fees, UNLIMITED EVERYTHING, all on a 4G LTE network.

Yes you heard right...$60 a month for unlimited 4G, calls, texts, internet.

Damn AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile...all greedy corporate fucks! I mean really, I can't even get unlimited 4G on Verizon only 10GB a month and that with unlimited everything else is like $160 a month! SIMPLY RIDICULOUS.

As networks and customer base gets bigger things should be getting cheaper, not more expensive.

Its time like this when I wish our government would get their heads out of their asses, remove the corporate hands from the pockets and do something about this shit! Because there's NO reason for this other than pure greed.

That's it I'm done.
Click to expand...
I'd be all over Metro if they had better phones.
 
They're getting the iPhone. They don't have to have a competitive advantage anymore.

Having said that, they STILL have unlimited data plans and in most cases are still cheaper than their competitors. There's also talk of them rolling out a new 3g band in EVDO Rev B which is supposed to see CDMA 3g speeds of upto 9mbps down and 2mbps up without ever hopping on 4G.

As long as they keep getting awesome phones and keep the unlimited data, I don't really see a reason to switch. Plus I was just able to cancel all my contracts with them and reset my upgrades while going month-to-month. So, not a big deal to me.
 
T4rd said:
People are willing to pay a premium for high end phones though, which MetroPCS has nothing that remotely compares to the major carriers high end phones. Their 4G phones have 3.5"/3.3" HVGA displays, lol. It seems as though their carrier is CDMA too, so you can't (easily) bring any phone you want to their carrier. If you could somehow flash one of Verizon's/Sprint's top tier phones to their network, then that would be the best way to go.
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You can get Verizon and Sprint phones flashed to MetroPCS...either through them or third party...using a EVO 3D right now with everything working perfectly...is that high-end enough for you? :-p
 
JoeUser said:
You can get Verizon and Sprint phones flashed to MetroPCS...either through them or third party...using a EVO 3D right now with everything working perfectly...is that high-end enough for you? :-p
Click to expand...

Not when it's stuck on 3G :p. But I still wouldn't want an Evo 3D if it did. I would rather have the Bionic or the Epic 4G touch. Also, you can get hit with roaming charges if you travel. They're not even available anywhere near me anyways. I typed in every zip code I know in KY and it's a no-go.
 
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JoeUser said:
You can get Verizon and Sprint phones flashed to MetroPCS...either through them or third party...using a EVO 3D right now with everything working perfectly...is that high-end enough for you? :-p
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I didn't know that... but I like it. My Verizon contract is up in December. I plan to buy the Nexus Prime at full price. Metro might be getting a new customer soon. :)
 
Say thanks to Apple for these changes :mad: Seems like when carriers are about to get the iPhone they make drastic changes, and the iPhone5 is due on Sprint next month.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
I didn't know that... but I like it. My Verizon contract is up in December. I plan to buy the Nexus Prime at full price. Metro might be getting a new customer soon. :)
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Pay to have someone do it for you. Because they only do basic phone service. You are on your own to try to get anything else to work. And again, as I mentioned before, it's no faster than 3 megs.
 
We actually have many users that switched from Android phones like the EVO 4G, and others to a iphone 4 and are more satisfied with it. The iphone 4 is the best phone for most people out there. It is easy to use vs any Android phone.

And you are right. The mainstream buys a Lexus for a reason over other brands.

T4rd said:
I didn't once insinuate that Apple didn't make a great product, I know they do, which is why they're so successful on their mobile platforms in the first place. But you can't deny that most of their user base just blindly buys their products either because they're 1) so used to it because they were early adopters of it when Apple didn't really have any competition or 2) they're extremely popular and when they see everyone else have one they have to have it too (it does have a nice initial wow factor if you've never seen a smartphone before). I'll bet that over half of the iOS users haven't even given any other platform a chance, but I don't blame them; if it isn't broke, then don't fix it. Plus they're extremely simple and reliable devices and that alone is why a lot of people prefer them over other platforms too. Which is why I say let the mainstream crowd pay a premium for those features while letting people who want the same functionality without all the glamor/simplicity on other devices pay less.



People are willing to pay a premium for high end phones though, which MetroPCS has nothing that remotely compares to the major carriers high end phones. Their 4G phones have 3.5"/3.3" HVGA displays, lol. It seems as though their carrier is CDMA too, so you can't (easily) bring any phone you want to their carrier. If you could somehow flash one of Verizon's/Sprint's top tier phones to their network, then that would be the best way to go.
Click to expand...
 
I'm in a rock and a hard place on this one. I have the Evo. Got it in June '10. They raised their administrative fee's which according to SlickDeals, people have been able to get out of the ETFs or whatever. I am looking to switch to the iPhone 5 (yes, Android -> iOS) and am happy with my service on Sprint.

Do I really want to complain to Sprint, port my number out, then port it back in when the iPhone comes? Not sure if it's really worth that headache. I would rather put my money elsewhere (like more computer parts).
 
I've been with Sprint for 14 years and had never used my early upgrade... ever...
 
the biggest competitive advantage for sprint is cheaper plans and unlimited 4g. Those are the gold standards, those are the components that must never be discarded. All the other stuff is gravy, and frankly gravy I don't give a crap about, you want a new phone every year? then every OTHER year, get the discounted contract price, and the odd years, pay full price. Cost you too much? then stop being so fickle about demanding new phone hardware with ever increasing hardware costs each year.
 
CHANG3D said:
I've been with Sprint for 14 years and had never used my early upgrade... ever...
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been with sprint for 9 years and we all use our early upgrade every year up until last year when they switched us to silver. i'm extremely disappointed that i was about to get my yearly upgrade again last year and now i wont :(. Not sure why people say sprint doesnt have good phones they had the evo 4g and that was great when it came up same with the evo 3d and the first to have the GS2. Read on androidcentral that recently contract renewals are stating somewhere that they can throttle your data so i guess they're going the t-mobile route.
 
onedestinazn2 said:
been with sprint for 9 years and we all use our early upgrade every year up until last year when they switched us to silver. i'm extremely disappointed that i was about to get my yearly upgrade again last year and now i wont :(. Not sure why people say sprint doesnt have good phones they had the evo 4g and that was great when it came up same with the evo 3d and the first to have the GS2. Read on androidcentral that recently contract renewals are stating somewhere that they can throttle your data so i guess they're going the t-mobile route.
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I just didn't see that the Evo was that much of an upgrade from my HTC Hero... Yeah, I know... You can disagree with me and I probably won't disagree with you! I was going to get the HTC Evo 3D and then I found out about the poor 2D picture quality and battery life, and I also found out that Samsung had fixed or patched or whatever their flaws from before. So I waited for the Samsung Galaxy SII. And now that it's 4.5" and too big for me, I'm waiting to see the Nexus Prime.

My Hero is sitting on the edge though.

P.S. I have a various selection of mobile and tablet stock development devices without cellular service. So if I needed more power to run certain apps, something is only a table away. One of those devices is an Evo, so my hands-on time with an Evo isn't lacking.
 
onedestinazn2 said:
been with sprint for 9 years and we all use our early upgrade every year up until last year when they switched us to silver. i'm extremely disappointed that i was about to get my yearly upgrade again last year and now i wont :(. Not sure why people say sprint doesnt have good phones they had the evo 4g and that was great when it came up same with the evo 3d and the first to have the GS2. Read on androidcentral that recently contract renewals are stating somewhere that they can throttle your data so i guess they're going the t-mobile route.
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I think you guys were costing them too much money. A brand new 500-600 dollar phone every year is a big cut into the ~1k ish service cost people actually pay them. Spread over 2 years is much more lucrative. I am not mad at carriers for shifting more of the cost of these ever more advanced phones onto those who want to buy them.


So long as sprint stays with unlimited 4g, even with some throttling for heavy usage, I'll stick with them. What's the alternative?

verizon? bend over and forfeit your wallet, and STILL not get unlimited.

at&t, ditto.

tmobile? hspa+ with less bandwidth to support non throttled data usage.
 
vw-tx said:
I don't like your post T4rd. Sorry but Apple makes a great product. Reliable, never crashes or slows down, makes calls when you want it, doesn't lock up, has stable apps, and great battery life. And works when you want it.
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If my iPhone experience was like that I wouldn't be on Android now :rolleyes:
 
My biggest gripe with the nexus one was the hardware issues. Its been 4 times my lock/power button has broken on me now. It's been out of warranty and I had to pay for a an unlock app that lets me wake my phone through the volume buttons. Maybe it was a bad idea getting the earliest andriod 2.0 phones but the experience was horrible the last year and a half.

Its gonna be a sprint-apple product next due to t-mobile probably getting acquired by ATT and losing my unlimited data access. At least with an iPhone I can go to a local Apple Store and switch and replace my phone for the next 3 years (with applecare) instead of waiting 3 weeks without a phone for a replacement (and only 1yr warranty).
 
It's almost as if they want me to switch to Verizon. My contract is up, I get zero service at home without the Airave femtocell, I get 1 bar of slow ass 4G at my work which translates to a 2.0-1.6 Mbps down and a whooping 1.0-.63 up.

Verizon has 4G LTE at my home and work.

Now can I stomach the price difference and have to worry about possibily going over on my data.
 
Blown 89 said:
If my iPhone experience was like that I wouldn't be on Android now :rolleyes:
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All four of my apple mobile/tablet devices crashed (or had an app that crashed) on day one out of the box. So I dunno all this thing about how Apple things don't crash... And don't even get me starting on my MacBook that I got for college (sure, that was 2002, but it sucked ass)...
 
tybert7 said:
the biggest competitive advantage for sprint is cheaper plans and unlimited 4g. Those are the gold standards, those are the components that must never be discarded. All the other stuff is gravy, and frankly gravy I don't give a crap about, you want a new phone every year? then every OTHER year, get the discounted contract price, and the odd years, pay full price. Cost you too much? then stop being so fickle about demanding new phone hardware with ever increasing hardware costs each year.
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EXACTLY! I switched to Sprint last year, from AT&T, because every carrier but AT&T had several high end Android phones and AT&T just had the Moto Backflip or whatever it was. After AT&T started capping data, throttling uploads and threatening people who use a lot of data on unlimited plans I was glad I left, I had several horrible CS experiences even before I left.

I recently upgraded from the EVO 4G to the EVO 3D because after the first adjustment to the Premier plans Sprint gave anyone who complained a free upgrade, wouldn't surprise me if they do it again. I also got a free femtocell (don't even have to pay monthly for it). Am I bummed about the recent changes? Sure. Am I gonna start thinking about bailing over it? Nah.

I'd rather they take away any or all of these perks than raise the base plan pricing or cap/throttle data. As long as it's cheaper AND unlimited they're still the best choice for me. Phone selection has been great on Sprint over the last two years, better than AT&T imo... TP2, Hero EVO 4G, Epic, EVO 3D, Photon, SGS2, plenty of great choices. Hell, if they had to do some of what they've done to cater to Apple, maybe it's for the best. It'll attract more costumers which hopefully means they can continue improving their network.

Now, if they ever start raising prices to the point where it approaches AT&T/VZW and/or they put in a data cap that's too restrictive (i.e. 2GB), THEN I'll be gone in an instant for a larger/faster network, simple as that.
 
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Btw, $60 on a pre-paid plan with crap phones or a smaller carrier sounds like a ripoff, $50 would be acceptable. I actually pay $63 on Sprint before tax/insurance (but including the $10 premium data fee), thanks to a 23% student discount (also available on the other big three but it's usually 10-15%).
 
Impulse said:
I'd rather they take away any or all of these perks than raise the base plan pricing or cap/throttle data. As long as it's cheaper AND unlimited they're still the best choice for me. Phone selection has been great on Sprint over the last two years, better than AT&T imo... TP2, Hero EVO 4G, Epic, EVO 3D, Photon, SGS2, plenty of great choices. Hell, if they had to do some of what they've done to cater to Apple, maybe it's for the best. It'll attract more costumers which hopefully means they can continue improving their network.

Now, if they ever start raising prices to the point where it approaches AT&T/VZW and/or they put in a data cap that's too restrictive (i.e. 2GB), THEN I'll be gone in an instant for a larger/faster network, simple as that.
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They have recently added a $1.50 "administrative fee" per line... I've been with sprint for 8 years but that may end next month.
 
thelead said:
They have recently added a $1.50 "administrative fee" per line... I've been with sprint for 8 years but that may end next month.
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They didn't add $1.50, they only raised the fee by $0.50. Point to note that they also made changes to the arbitration clause in the terms and conditions forcing you to use JAMS instead of choosing your own third-party. (JAMS is extremely anti-consumer and always tends to go in favor of the phone companies)
 
T4rd said:
Incoherent gloating about obscure phone services FTW! :confused:
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My sprint plan left over from Radioshack

Plan = 20$/mo unlimited everything (Minutes/Data/Messages/TV)
20$ in free downloads
+10$ for 4G on my Evo
+7$ for TEP

40$ a month for every last thing sprint offers on its phone (Except tether, but phone is rooted)

In a nutshell, these price hikes n stuff dont affect me.. Only downside, I have to pay for my phones out of pocket.. But thanks to Craigslist even new phones are dirt cheap
 
CHANG3D said:
All four of my apple mobile/tablet devices crashed (or had an app that crashed) on day one out of the box. So I dunno all this thing about how Apple things don't crash... And don't even get me starting on my MacBook that I got for college (sure, that was 2002, but it sucked ass)...
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How did you use a MacBook in 2002 when they weren't released until 2006?
 
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