Coming from T-Mobile, does Sprint also offer...

[HoldFastHope]

Now, I knew that Sprint's customer service is known to be lackluster and leaves a lot to be desired but after calling them regarding questions about the Evo and their plans, i'm re-thinking my switch to Sprint. They couldn't really answer my questions and after they didn't answer my questions clearly, the rep asks "So, we got a promotion going on" (a promo on something i was clearly not interested in). This question felt like it was asked just to change the subject which irritated me a bit. Coming from T-mobile, i'm used to some pretty great customer service and im hoping this "service" is better than what I got on that one phone call. Anyways, my point for this post is to get the info I was asking for from current Sprint customers and employees.

1) Does Sprint offer 1 year contracts? T-Mobile has let me do 1 year contracts from day one and i've been with them for over 7 years.

1a) If they do let you do 1 year contracts, what would the price be for the Evo? Or what is the discount usually for 1 year contracts?

2) Do they offer any installment plans for the price of the phone? Again, T-Mobile lets you pay off the phone in 4 installments without any fees or interest in case you do not want to pay for the full price up front.

Also, I asked about the $10 "premium" charge and he just gave me the corporate rebuttals, one making no sense to me, exampling the Evo being an HD TV. I just kinda chuckled but I knew if I pressed him more, he wouldn't be able to do anything for me regarding the fee.

 

[DocPeanut]

1 and 1a). I'm pretty sure Sprint will allow you to do a 1 year contract, but the price is $75 off MSRP. No Mail In Rebate is available.....again, I'm not positive, but 97% sure.

2). There is no installment plan, you can definitely put the cost of the phone on your bill but the full amount is due the following month.

Everyone with an EVO has to pay the $10 fee, no getting around it.

As far as customer service calls, whenever I call I always ask to speak to the supervisor, I find I get resolution a lot faster going that route.

 

[fonefanatic]

I have only been with Sprint for a year so I do not have all the answers to your questions. However I can tell you what I do know:

1) Yes they offer 1 year contracts from what I understand. Not sure what price will be with 1 year contract though
2)I think they will allow you to add the phone to your bill ONLY if you buy from a Sprint store though

the $10 premium charge is for unlimited data regardless if you are on 4g or 3g

The best part is you can try Sprint for 30 days and if you dont like it you pay nothing

 

[LABLE]

No Sprint doesnt offer any 1yr contracts. But when you become a premier customer you get to upgrade your phone in 12months.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

Funny about the HD TV rebuttal he gave considering Dan Hesse made the point, "It's like we're throwing in the HD channels for free" hinting at free 4G, which was a lie. That is my biggest issue with the Evo. The price is just right... if it didn't end up costing you $240 more over the course of a new contract. Having said that, coming from pretty much any other carrier, $79 a month for unlimited everything and a pretty good deal on minutes (especially when all cell phone calls are thrown in), it looks like a steal.

 

[BigRick10]

No Sprint doesnt offer any 1yr contracts. But when you become a premier customer you get to upgrade your phone in 12months.

Wrong. Sprint does offer 1yr contracts

 

[HoldFastHope]

I spoke to 2 different reps because I was disconnected with the first one. The first one told me only current customers can do 1 year contracts but would only get $75 off a new phone, not new customers tho. The second rep told me you couldn't do it at all but when I told her that the other rep told me you could do a 1 year contract only if you were a current customer, she retracted her answer agreeing with the other rep. So needless to say, I didn't know what to believe.

Thanks for all of the responses about my questions tho. Bummer about no installment plan because if there was a plan like that where I could pay off the phone in payments, i'd pull the trigger on a 1 year and pay $375 on the installment plan. But since there is no such thing at Sprint, i've gotta rethink what I would rather do. I'm not too comfortable with 2 year plans. I've had my G1 a little over a year and signed up for a one year contract but paid a bit more for it in 4 installments. Thank goodness I did that because if I hadn't I wouldn't be able to leave tmobile at this time. It's amazing how much Android has improved their UI and hardware in a single year. This is why I love 1 year plans.

I echo all of the feelings against the $10 monthly charge. To me personally, just because the Evo is thus far one of the best, if not the best Android phone to date, it doesn't justify the "premium" charge especially when most of the users will not have 4G. It wouldn't really bother me if I had 4G in my area but I do not. But regardless I know there's nothing we can do about it but perhaps Sprint smartens up and changes the premium charge at or a bit after the release of the Evo.

 

[BigRick10]

I spoke to 2 different reps because I was disconnected with the first one. The first one told me only current customers can do 1 year contracts but would only get $75 off a new phone, not new customers tho. The second rep told me you couldn't do it at all but when I told her that the other rep told me you could do a 1 year contract only if you were a current customer, she retracted her answer agreeing with the other rep. So needless to say, I didn't know what to believe.

Thanks for all of the responses about my questions tho. Bummer about no installment plan because if there was a plan like that where I could pay off the phone in payments, i'd pull the trigger on a 1 year and pay $375 on the installment plan. But since there is no such thing at Sprint, i've gotta rethink what I would rather do. I'm not too comfortable with 2 year plans. I've had my G1 a little over a year and signed up for a one year contract but paid a bit more for it in 4 installments. Thank goodness I did that because if I hadn't I wouldn't be able to leave tmobile at this time. It's amazing how much Android has improved their UI and hardware in a single year. This is why I love 1 year plans.

I echo all of the feelings against the $10 monthly charge. To me personally, just because the Evo is thus far one of the best, if not the best Android phone to date, it doesn't justify the "premium" charge especially when most of the users will not have 4G. It wouldn't really bother me if I had 4G in my area but I do not. But regardless I know there's nothing we can do about it but perhaps Sprint smartens up and changes the premium charge at or a bit after the release of the Evo.

Yeah only current customers can re-new for a 1yr contract

Rumor is all Evo customers will become premiere customers after 90 days and will be able to upgrade yearly. Nothing has been confirmed though.

 

[HoldFastHope]

So, all new customers HAVE to get on a 2 year contract?

About being a premiere customer, you can upgrade yearly but what if you don't upgrade one year, the 2 years pass and you're out of contract, can you then upgrade to a single year? It's kinda sneaky of Sprint because even if you're able to upgrade to one year after a year on your contract, essentially you'll still be under for 2 years on contract. I can see the benefit for the consumer but hopefully contracts can be done yearly (1 year contracts) after you're a customer with Sprint.

 

[bodu]

I've only needed to call Sprint customer service once... and it definitely was a hassle. But the actual cell service itself is solid couldn't be more satisfied.


(And in Sprint's defense, their customer service is still 10x better than Dell or Citi Bank.... which doesn't say much though)

 

[maduhbee#AC]

In the end, Sprint wants you as a customer, just as everyone else. So they'll get you to do the 2 year contract, with the crazy discount. With the yearly upgrade, you will be renewing your contract again for another 2 years! However, people who are satisfied with Sprint (as I am, and have been) this is no problem for me. I'm on the Simply everything plan, and I can't find anywhere else that'll offer me unlimited usage on data/text/voice/everything for 99 with a decent phone selection.

Anyways, regarding the monthly installments, just put it on a credit card, and pay it off in 4 months. That's kind of the same thing isn't it? Check to see if you can get 0% interest for 6 months with your card company.

 

[Andrew Ruffolo]

I've only needed to call Sprint customer service once... and it definitely was a hassle. But the actual cell service itself is solid couldn't be more satisfied.


(And in Sprint's defense, their customer service is still 10x better than Dell or Citi Bank.... which doesn't say much though)

I called too many times to count with the Pre... but it was a pre hardware issue thing. Since I've switched to the Hero, not a single call needed. I didn't even have to call them for my MSL as there is a way to get it with an app in the market (alogcat).

 

[tntsniper#CB]

I've been with every Major Carrier and I can say T-Mobile has the best Customer service possible. Not to down Sprint, but Sprint does have some terrible CSR's. Some are amazing and some are terrible. Its a hit or miss. I've been with sprint for 9 years and its always been this way (I've had other carriers for my work, etc). I can say one thing though, Sprint is pretty good at giving its current customer's perks.

 

[Owleyes]

Sprint customer service has impoved by miles compared to the last few years, but it is certainly hit or miss as was said. The best advice I can give you is to skip the CSR's on the phone and go to a store.

I manage a RadioShack and we have very good reps that we deal with for our customers. They are more helpful and WAYYY more knowledgable than your average *2 rep.

 

[jam4775]

I guess I don't understand why people would rather pay more upfront for the phone just to be off contract... Look at it this way, you still come out ahead with a 2yr contract even if you terminate your contract early and if you do stay with them the full 2 yrs you just paid way more for the phone off contract:

Off contract price = $449

2yr contract price = $199 + $200ETF = $399

and your ETF could be even less than this depending on how long you've been in your contract, check out the link Early Termination Fee

 

[heberman]

Yeah only current customers can re-new for a 1yr contract

Rumor is all Evo customers will become premiere customers after 90 days and will be able to upgrade yearly. Nothing has been confirmed though.

It's not a rumor. If you are on a qualifying plan (which the Evo plans qualify) then you are a premium customer and can upgrade ever year if you resign a new 2-year contract. That's why all of the Pre users (including me) are switching over now with full discounts - the Pre was released last June.

 

[franky_402]

^^^^^^^^ exactly. With sprint you get the luxury of a fully discounted price but u get a full upgrade after twelve months so you basically only have a 1 year contract. And like another poster said the etf lowers each month so it really is cheaper. Im sure if you get sprint you shouldnt want to change as thier plans are just unbeatable. Even tho evo users will have to pay another 10 bucks your still saving crazy amounts of money to what iphone users are paying. I have service everywhere i go. Now to be fair i have had a few times where i got a dropped call supposedly due to faded signal but this could also be blamed on the pre (its known to have weaker service than other sprint phones) All in all i love sprint and probably will never leave. Back when i was on nextel i almost jumped to get the iphone once i realized how much my cousin was paying and the contant dropped calls i called up customer service, switched to a pre and have been loving sprint since. I have a %20 discount off every month as well as a 20 dollar credit each month due to them changing the TOS back in january. My bill for the everything data 450 with insurance and taxes comes out to 49 bucks a month, couldnt be happier and i cant wait to get my EVO. Probably not untill a few weeks tho as i gotta scrape up some cash

 

[Gmaxxx]

HoldFastHope, I know exactly where you're coming from. I have also been with T-Mo for 7 years and really love their customer service. I have heard a few bad things about Sprint but Im sure Sprint customers switching to T-Mo have heard bad things about T-mo's cust. care. I think the best thing to do would be try it out for the 30 days they offer and see if you like it. That is what I am going to do as well. I think that 30 day offer is really great and gives us enough time to figure out if we will like it.

 

[masbirdies]

I had 6 phones on Tmobile for years....

Their CS SUCKED! Their service in my area....SUCKED MORE! (Central Florida). Sprint has been a big breath of fresh air for me. Been with them since 2004 and have 7 lines.

Yeah, I get a less than stellar c/s rep ONCE IN AWHILE. However, that's pretty rare. Their Account Retention team is top shelf. It's called something else but if I ever get an answer I don't like from C/S, I asked them to transfer me to account retention and those folks always come through.

Tmobile has called me back several times in attempts to bring me back. THey've thrown the kitchen sink at me. I'm still at Sprint!