Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (
More info?)
Røbert M. wrote:
> Here I am in an area served by SouthwestBell. Sprint has decided not to
> try and cover my geographic area, I couldn't get Sprint as a local
> landline phone company no matter how much I might want to, (and with
> their prices I don't).
>
> Doesn't stop their brilliant marketing campaign.
>
> Last week I get a phone call from a Boiler room promoting "Sprint
> Complete Sense Unlimited", and then this week I get a letter from the
> "Sprint Customer Service Team". Such a TOTAL waste of time, money and
> effort trying to sell to a customer who is ineligible.
>
> What an amateur operation.
Did you ever think it might be cheaper to mail out a certain percentage
of cheap bulk rate mail to a general area then it is to go through maps,
streets, and various locations within a zip code, area code, or town to
weed out the mailing list of the ones that are ineligble. Same holds
true with the phone calls although they cost more then mail. Another
benefit although not a direct "sale", is name recognition and the
potential for you to remember the company if you move, the service does
come to your area in the future, or talking to someone that may be in a
coverage area.
I have been getting junk mail from Verizon about DSL for years and they
are still the same 7-10 miles away from having service in my area and no
chance in hell of building a CO closer to my location any time soon.
When they finally do come around if ever, I will already be familiar
with the price and the packages they offer. I also have suggested to
others that have it in their area to look into it if they are spooked
out by the higher cable internet fees. Not quite as dumb or amature as
you may think.
You can show some numbers, quote some bulk mailing prices and argue the
population they are targetting and claim no one in your county/city/zip
code etc. can get it and your uncle got one 10 miles away and blah blah
blah but none of us really know much they spent or saved by not
filtering the list and what the overall goal or scope of the advertising
campaign really was.
Getting off topic here..
In the late 90's, I lived in a military subdivision that had a REALLY
old phone system. The only long distance service I could possibly get
was contracted to AT&T by the military, even the 10-10's did not work.
I used to cash checks that MCI and other carriers would send in the mail
to switch my service (IE by signing and depositing this check you agree
to be switch to MCI etc..). The checks would clear and I still had
AT&T. I did the same thing at least 5 times with multiple carriers.
One time, AT&T called and offered to "take me back" for a ~$50 credit
which I gladly accepted.
/JustThe.net/ 
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