Upgrade Program???

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

I have been with SprintPCS using same phone for about 4 years. I am
ready for a new phone. I am thinking of changing carriers and getting a
new phone that way.

I contacted SprintPCS and asked about leaving. They told me I was
elgible for a $150 "credit" on a new phone if I purchase a new phone
and sign a new 2 year agreement?

Question: how is this any better than going to the SprintPCS web site,
buying a phone and signing up for a new 2 year agreement to get that
$150 "instant savings". Did the CS tell me the wrong thing...do I have
to sign a new agreement?

Am I missing something? Does SprintPCS have some other sweeter deal to
retain current customers? I have been relatively happy with them, but
if this is the best they can do, I may jump ship.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

So the only advantages of doing the "PSC hand set upgrade" are :
- you get to keep your phone number
- you don't have to pay the activation fee

I think everything else is the same as going to a SprintPCS store and
just signing a new contract. Is this true?

(BTW I currently have a 450 anytime/2550 n&w shared min. family plan
with 4 phones with nights 8PM-7AM. I have only gone over the 450 min a
few times during the last 4 years)

I have been talking to some other carriers. I have found that some
stores can offer you better deals than other ones, even though they are
the same carrier. Does this happen with SprintPCS stores too?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

<frank.wilder@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1122041139.628165.246350@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> I have been with SprintPCS using same phone for about 4 years. I am
> ready for a new phone. I am thinking of changing carriers and getting a
> new phone that way.
>
> I contacted SprintPCS and asked about leaving. They told me I was
> elgible for a $150 "credit" on a new phone if I purchase a new phone
> and sign a new 2 year agreement?
>
> Question: how is this any better than going to the SprintPCS web site,
> buying a phone and signing up for a new 2 year agreement to get that
> $150 "instant savings". Did the CS tell me the wrong thing...do I have
> to sign a new agreement?

No, the rep told you the same deal that's offered on the website.
http/pcshandsetupgrade.sprint.com/

Now, if you just want to commit to a one year agreement, you can get a $75
credit off the price of your new phone.

>
> Am I missing something? Does SprintPCS have some other sweeter deal to
> retain current customers? I have been relatively happy with them, but
> if this is the best they can do, I may jump ship.
>
> Thanks

Well, it all depends on what plan you are on now. What plan do you have now?

Bob

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

frank.wilder@gmail.com wrote:
> I have been with SprintPCS using same phone for about 4 years. I am
> ready for a new phone. I am thinking of changing carriers and getting a
> new phone that way.
>
> I contacted SprintPCS and asked about leaving. They told me I was
> elgible for a $150 "credit" on a new phone if I purchase a new phone
> and sign a new 2 year agreement?
>
> Question: how is this any better than going to the SprintPCS web site,
> buying a phone and signing up for a new 2 year agreement to get that
> $150 "instant savings". Did the CS tell me the wrong thing...do I have
> to sign a new agreement?
>
> Am I missing something? Does SprintPCS have some other sweeter deal to
> retain current customers? I have been relatively happy with them, but
> if this is the best they can do, I may jump ship.

The handset upgrade deals for existing customers are not all that
different for the different carriers. So, unless you want to "jump ship"
every two years, the answer is no, you're not missing anything.

--
John Richards

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

>What carriers are offering better deals at their stores, than from their
>website or by calling CS?

I have been to two local immix wireless stores in my town. They were
both offering the same plan, but one store "said" they would offer a
better deal on the phone and they would wave the activation fee.

Frank

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

<frank.wilder@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1122055791.017176.202510@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> So the only advantages of doing the "PSC hand set upgrade" are :
> - you get to keep your phone number
> - you don't have to pay the activation fee
>
> I think everything else is the same as going to a SprintPCS store and
> just signing a new contract. Is this true?
>
> (BTW I currently have a 450 anytime/2550 n&w shared min. family plan
> with 4 phones with nights 8PM-7AM. I have only gone over the 450 min a
> few times during the last 4 years)

What price are you paying, and what additional options are on your account?

>
> I have been talking to some other carriers. I have found that some
> stores can offer you better deals than other ones, even though they are
> the same carrier. Does this happen with SprintPCS stores too?
>
> Thanks

No, it shouldn't. The only source at SPCS that can offer different plan
prices is the retention department through Executive Services.

What carriers are offering better deals at their stores, than from their
website or by calling CS?

Bob

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Frank,
Why don't you send an email to SprintPCS ecare?
You did not mention how much you are paying for the 450 minutes
including the 4 lines and any other extras you are getting.
Send sprint an email (they are pretty fast in responding), tell them
that you have been a customer for 4 years. You can probably get the
handsets with $150 credit each (I am not sure if it is going to be
instant rebate or mail-in since you were under the previous upgrade
program) but you would have to sign a 2 year agreement.

If you could let us know your current cost of your plan etc. we may be
able to tell you if you could get a better plan/deal.
Being a loyal customer for 4 years gets you loyalty %discount, signing
for 2 years gets you Free Nts and Wkends at 7pm plus you will get pcs to
pcs free. But the current Family F&F plan is $70 for the first 2 lines
and $10 per additional add-on. Which means you will be paying $90 for
your 4 lines but you get 800 minutes.

Be polite when you write to ecare. They may give you a very good plan.
Plus everything will be in writing.
Good luck.

frank.wilder@gmail.com wrote:
> So the only advantages of doing the "PSC hand set upgrade" are :
> - you get to keep your phone number
> - you don't have to pay the activation fee
>
> I think everything else is the same as going to a SprintPCS store and
> just signing a new contract. Is this true?
>
> (BTW I currently have a 450 anytime/2550 n&w shared min. family plan
> with 4 phones with nights 8PM-7AM. I have only gone over the 450 min a
> few times during the last 4 years)
>
> I have been talking to some other carriers. I have found that some
> stores can offer you better deals than other ones, even though they are
> the same carrier. Does this happen with SprintPCS stores too?
>
> Thanks
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

In article <1122055791.017176.202510@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
frank.wilder@gmail.com writes:
> So the only advantages of doing the "PSC hand set upgrade" are :
> - you get to keep your phone number

Go to a new carrier and you get to keep your number, too.

> - you don't have to pay the activation fee

Relatively minor, no?

>
> I think everything else is the same as going to a SprintPCS store and
> just signing a new contract. Is this true?
[snip]

Looks that way, doesn't it. As I just noted in another thread: To
me, sometimes SPCS doesn't make a lot of sense. They'll risk losing
a long-term customer over a handset discount they'd give a new
customer. This is what comes of letting bean-counters run the show.

Don't get me wrong: I basically still like SPCS. And I want to stay
with them. But if either my or my wife's phones dies before I'm
eligible for a handset discount, I'll probably jump ship. *shrug*

--
Jim Seymour | "There is no expedient to which a man will not
jseymour@LinxNet.com | go to avoid the labor of thinking."
http/jimsun.LinxNet.com | - Thomas A. Edison

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

In article <1122055791.017176.202510@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
frank.wilder@gmail.com wrote:
> So the only advantages of doing the "PSC hand set upgrade" are :
> - you get to keep your phone number
> - you don't have to pay the activation fee

You also keep your current plan. If you went in and just started over,
you'd be limited to the plans they now offer.

For example, I'm on a Free & Clear plan with two lines. Normally,
unless you use pretty much the same amount of minutes each month, the
Fair & Flexible plans are better, but I use *waY* under even their
smallest plan, and that puts me in the one place where the F&C is as
good or better than F&F. The nearest F&F plan to mine would give me 300
more minutes for $5 less (but since I have never used even 10% of my
minutes, the minutes don't matter to me), but sharing Vision now costs
$5/month more than it did when I signed up, so it's a wash. I would go
ahead and switch, even though I don't need the minutes (might as well be
covered in case I ever have an unusual month and do need to talk a lot,
after all).

However, and I can't be sure because of the confusing pricing, I *think*
they've split out some things that were included in my $10/month
unlimited Vision plan and made them separate add-ons, and so to match my
existing Vision plan with the current offerings would cost a lot more.

--
--Tim Smith

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

In article <11e4hje25mjg479@corp.supernews.com>,
jseymour@LinxNet.com (Jim Seymour) wrote:

> In article <1122055791.017176.202510@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> frank.wilder@gmail.com writes:
> > So the only advantages of doing the "PSC hand set upgrade" are :
> > - you get to keep your phone number
>
> Go to a new carrier and you get to keep your number, too.
>

How well does that work out? I recall when number portability was first
mandated, there were a lot of glitches. Has that been smoothed out? If
you switch carriers, how long does it take for your number to be moved?

--
--Tim Smith

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Tim Smith wrote:

> How well does that work out? I recall when number portability was first
> mandated, there were a lot of glitches. Has that been smoothed out? If
> you switch carriers, how long does it take for your number to be moved?

Not long at all.

I ported from Verizon to an existing Sprint PCS account about thirteen
months ago. The port was processed by Verizon within four hours (which I
understand is supposed to be pretty typical) and the only reason it wasn't
complete by then was that Verizon had my most recent address on file, and
Sprint, for some reason, gave them the address where we lived when we first
moved here (the account information must exactly match, or the port will fail).

I called Sprint and corrected that problem and they sent over the porting
request again, and my number moved to Sprint by the next business day.

Just in the past week, we switched to T-Mobile so we wouldn't get hit with
tons of overages calling Sarah's mother who had just activated a new line
with TM. (My wife spends a lot of time on the cell phone calling her mom.)

We ordered two new phones and a Family Time shared-minute calling plan
through inPhonic. Credit approval took about thirty minutes, and although
inPhonic's disclaimer said the port might take 5-7 days, our phone numbers
were ringing through to our T-Mobile phones within 24 hours. This latest
port was done completely over the Web.

All of the carriers use the same clearinghouse to process ports, except AT&T
Wireless... but now that ATTWS is part of Cingular, I'm assuming that that
is no longer an issue.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http/JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http/SteveSobol.com/
E: sjsobol@JustThe.net Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

In article <11e4hje25mjg479@corp.supernews.com>,
jseymour@LinxNet.com (Jim Seymour) wrote:
> Looks that way, doesn't it. As I just noted in another thread: To
> me, sometimes SPCS doesn't make a lot of sense. They'll risk losing
> a long-term customer over a handset discount they'd give a new
> customer. This is what comes of letting bean-counters run the show.

That works out fine as long as the bean-counters are running the show at
the other carriers, too. Sure, Sprint loses some customers that way,
but they will also be gaining some customers that are leaving other
carriers for the same reason. I think the carriers like it this way.

Consider: suppose you are at Sprint, and I was at, say, Cingular (I'm at
Sprint, too, actually). If we both get annoyed over handset discounts,
and switch, me to Sprint and you to Cingular, both carriers have won:

1. We've each paid activation fees that we would not have paid if we'd
renewed at our old carriers,

and

2. We are each now on current plans, instead of legacy plans.

Since carriers usually seem to let you change you plan without too much
hassle, when they introduce new plans that are better than their old
plans, people can switch. However, when the new plans aren't as good
(from the customer's point of view), the customer can stay on the old
plan. My guess is that this means that they all have lots of customers
on plans that are better (for the customer) than the current plans. So,
if they can swap out a legacy customer for a new customer, they are
happy.

So, from the carrier's point of view, in the hypothetical swap above,
all that has happened is that they've each collected an extra activation
fee, and converted a legacy plan to a current plan. They've both come
out ahead.

--
--Tim Smith

 

[NoLife]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Tim Smith wrote:

> So, from the carrier's point of view, in the hypothetical swap above,
> all that has happened is that they've each collected an extra activation
> fee, and converted a legacy plan to a current plan. They've both come
> out ahead.
>

Interesting theory.

I came about the same thing when my contract expired. I wanted a forth
phone added to my account and wanted to replace my 3 existing phones.
Somehow they were trying to tell me that it was better to just get a new
4 phone plan. It actually did sound better until I wrote EVERYTHING
down and compared. It came down to perks from my old plan that made the
difference that the CSR's failed to point out like currently, my second
phone is free, Vision per phone is free and unlimited messaging per
phone is free. I'd actually pay about $40 more a month if I remember
correctly with the new plan AND be on a two year contract on all four
phones. I asked about simply adding a forth phone to my existing
account and was told that was not possible because my plan was too old.
I went to a Sprint PCS store that same day and was able to add a forth
phone to my existing account. I took the new phone discount which put
that ONE phone on a two year agreement but that was it. I actually
bought some better used phones later from a friends friend to replace 2
of my other three old phones.
I have been carrier shopping as well and every sales person from all
carriers are really good at telling you cost and minutes included for a
bare bones plan as stated on the glaring 24x36 inch posters on the walls
and doors but it gets really twisted and vague when you start talking
about the extras like messaging, internet access, roaming, pictures, etc..
Odd that they want to do business that way and you really have to keep
on your toes to prevent getting burned.