Jumping from VZW to Sprint in the coming months. What to expect?

[anon(94115)]

I know right now that the coverage for LTE is nonexistent and that the 3G network is not all that great. Along those same lines, I am in Harrisburg, PA and there are numerous reports that the rollout is going well here and that LTE is moving along at a decent clip. I will deal with the network issues for 6 months to save money over VZW.

My question is more Sprint related itself. How are they as far as customer service? If I had a problem with my VZW phone, 9 times out of 10, if they couldnt fix it they would send me a replacement. Is it the same with Sprint? What about billing issues? Never had any with VZW and want to keep that trend going.

How about phones? What is coming on the Horizon (think black Friday). I know the SGS3 is there but how about others? Are they getting the Note 2? I am not a big fan of the LG Nexus or the Evo lines, but how about the new HTC DNA (DLX).

Any kind of insights you all can off I will be happy to hear.

 

[Darth Mo]

Sprint's customer service is very good and will generally accommodate you with any issues. Some people bump heads, but that's generally for things out of a CS rep's control such as coverage issues or contract negotiations.

Sprint doesn't try to repair broken phones at a store, at least for the higher-end ones. If it looks like a software issue, they'll try resetting it. But if it's just physically not working correctly for seemingly no reason, they do a check for water and shock damage, and if all is good and get your a refurb. Those are usually available the next day, second day if you go to a store late in the evening.

Sprint will get the Galaxy Note 2, just not right away. As for the HTC DNA, I don't know, but in general, Sprint doesn't get versions of the Droid line that launch on VZW because it has the Evo line.

 

[jean15paul]

I second almost everything Darth Mo said...

In my experience Sprint customer service is really good.

I've seen Sprint do minor hardware repairs at the store, but usually they order a replacement ... which is almost always a refurb. I really don't like the refurb thing, and sometimes you get bad ones. But they also have a policy that if you get 3 bad replacements in a row, you can complain and get a new phone off the shelf. I had that happen with my Evo 3D, and managed to get a free GNex.

Sprint is generally pretty competitive on phones. They have the GS3 and EvoLTE (which is basically a OneX) ... and I guess I should mention the Galaxy Nexus. They are already confirmed to be getting the Note 2 and the LG Optimus G. Hopefully we'll hear something about the LG Nexus 4 soon. There's also the new Moto Photon Q, but IMO it's not quite up there with the others. I'd be surprised if they got the new HTC DNA.

 

[anon(94115)]

thanks for the insights.

I am cool with the refurb replacements. Maybe it is me but i have always had good luck with them. More than once i got new replacements as well so whatever on that point. I never thought of the EVO being a One X. Maybe i will have to get over the way i think of the EVO name (not sure where I got the bad taste).

What is their return policy? Is it the usual 14 days? I would like to give the Note a try, but the 5.5 might be too big for me. Then again i said that about the 4.8 of the SGS3 and love it.

Thanks again guys/girls

 

[kg4icg]

By the way, Shentel is responsible for Sprints network from Harrisonburg, Va up to Harrisburg, Pa and currently have LTE activated in some parts of Harrisburg and expanding quite well.

Sensorly.com. and select Sprints LTE and scroll over to your neck of the woods to see it's current deployment.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mitri360]

I'm not far from you, i live in lock haven, pa. No chance of network vision coming anytime before the end. In order for me to get even half functional data outside of the Clearwire Wimax area here (which i swear is 10ft) i have to roam to vzw. Regularly you get 2g speeds from that which in thus area are more reliable than sprint 3g but by digging a bit i found a way to get vzw 3g speeds. So now I'm getting the best of both worlds. Lower bill, decent service. Only downside to roaming is nothing is unlimited s they say. Have them read the fine print.

I say all that to say this. Sprint offers the lowest plan with potentially the best service. Just takes a bit of tweaking.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

 

[cgardnervt]

I'm not far from you, i live in lock haven, pa. No chance of network vision coming anytime before the end. In order for me to get even half functional data outside of the Clearwire Wimax area here (which i swear is 10ft) i have to roam to vzw. Regularly you get 2g speeds from that which in thus area are more reliable than sprint 3g but by digging a bit i found a way to get vzw 3g speeds. So now I'm getting the best of both worlds. Lower bill, decent service. Only downside to roaming is nothing is unlimited s they say. Have them read the fine print.

I say all that to say this. Sprint offers the lowest plan with potentially the best service. Just takes a bit of tweaking.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

Just a warning...If you roam 100% of the time Sprint will cut you lose and you will no longer have service with them. While I'm glad your getting Verizon 3G speeds just be warned its happen to many users! But ride it out as long as you can!

 

[PolynesianMedic]

Sprint has gotten the Note 2 already. I was just on their site and it is there and available.

 

[Mitri360]

Just a warning...If you roam 100% of the time Sprint will cut you lose and you will no longer have service with them. While I'm glad your getting Verizon 3G speeds just be warned its happen to many users! But ride it out as long as you can!

O i know. I differently did my research on it. there's a decent mix in there. Most of my usage is still on sprint but for those moments when its horrid its a fallback

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

 

[gollum18]

Its by far worlds better than Verizon in terms to customer service, if your nice they might even tell you how to get discounts to your account. Trust me I know from experience.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[gollum18]

O i know. I differently did my research on it. there's a decent mix in there. Most of my usage is still on sprint but for those moments when its horrid its a fallback

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Android Central Forums

Actually its only if you roam over 300mb a month AND they send you a warning first, everything else sprint doesn't care... even if you root your phone.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Murphy5111]

Good luck. I did the same thing a year ago and just came back to vzw. There are dozens of places where I would get no data with sprint and get 4 bars of LTE with Verizon. Be careful if you plan on traveling. When I first got sprint is wasn't traveling but once I started to I realized just how bad their service was. Voice was always fine. But my phone would routinely fight with trying to find a sprint signal and roaming. While this would go on, I couldn't access data. It was such a pain that I paid the etf and came back to vzw.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[lololovestech]

I tried Sprint for about 6 months and I really wanted to love it. I had nothing but nightmare experiences with customer service. My phone was unusable. I couldn't keep a connection to data for more than 30 secs at a time (wimax or 3G). It was partly due to Sprint's poor excuse for a network - which has been in transition for months making it even worse - and partly due to my phone. I had a Sammy phone, which notoriously have bad radios. Before upgrading to ICS the phone worked better (but, that also was before network vision started so who knows). The phone also would NOT roam on Verizon. (Yes, it was set to roam data & voice.) So, I had NO data signal ever. Just voice. Sometimes.

I must have called customer service @ least 10 times and visited the store in person 4 times. They would not service my phone or test it (I had to call customer service while @ the store to force the tech @ the store to test my phone since he refused). If you go to the sprint Samsung galaxy s2 4G touch forum you will see how many problems that phone has. Sprint denied the problems for a long time. Needless to say they wouldn't give me a refurbished phone - I was even willing to downgrade just to have something that worked. Sprint also promised me various credits on my bill that never posted until I had the issue escalated.

I had no choice but to go back to Verizon.

They do have a competitive phone selection however. My advice - do not get a Sammy phone with them. My friend has a sprint iPhone and thinks the customer service is just fine.

Sent from my XT907 using Android Central Forums

 

[johnmcd348]

I've been with Sprint for about 6-9 years now. Not really sure when I actually got moved over from Nextel, but, I've been with the company combined for at least 15 years. I've had very good luck with them and it's gotten even better after they moved most of their CS back Stateside and away from India. Back then, the CS was horrible. Now, they are very focused on the customer. I myself, have been getting near weekly phone calls from one of the assigned Secretaries from Dan Hesse's office about an ongoing Tower issue in my area. their towers in my area are leased from American Tower Corp. and it seems ATC is very slow in making repairs for their client. But I get calls from Tech Support out of Kansas and from Hesse's office nearly on alternating weeks. They have sent me extra equipment to assist in my home area to keep my calls coming. I have even had the Refurb issues in the past with other phones with no big deal. I don't ever get the insurance, but when I take it in with a problem, I pay $35 and get a refurb. After I had 4 or so Refurbs go bad on me They moved me up to the next newer phone.

I really can't complain about them from a CS stand point. My only complaint about them is that I am a Windows Phone user at this time and their support for that platform has been horrible at best. I'm currently looking at making the Droid switch, I'm just taking my time doing it.

 

[anon(94115)]

Thank you all again for the replies. Someone showed me a website and apparently I already have lte coverage. It is weak, but encouraging.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[EndlessDissent]

Thank you all again for the replies. Someone showed me a website and apparently I already have lte coverage. It is weak, but encouraging.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

LTE coverage is pretty weak everywhere, but it's getting a lot better very quickly, and it's going to keep getting better. I know that most of Chicagoland is seeing LTE now, whereas it was only in a few isolated patches just a month ago and wasn't even within the city. Other markets are seeing similar progress. Hopefully, that's even more encouraging for you.

 

[anon(94115)]

Well I jumped off today and coverage has been good. Got LTE everywhere I traveled with the exception of my house... Lol. Not a big deal since I can just use wifi.

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis

 

[Slender Troll]

I second almost everything Darth Mo said...

In my experience Sprint customer service is really good.

I've seen Sprint do minor hardware repairs at the store, but usually they order a replacement ... which is almost always a refurb. I really don't like the refurb thing, and sometimes you get bad ones. But they also have a policy that if you get 3 bad replacements in a row, you can complain and get a new phone off the shelf. I had that happen with my Evo 3D, and managed to get a free GNex.

Sprint is generally pretty competitive on phones. They have the GS3 and EvoLTE (which is basically a OneX) ... and I guess I should mention the Galaxy Nexus. They are already confirmed to be getting the Note 2 and the LG Optimus G. Hopefully we'll hear something about the LG Nexus 4 soon. There's also the new Moto Photon Q, but IMO it's not quite up there with the others. I'd be surprised if they got the new HTC DNA.

I would avoid the Q because of what Moto did with the Atrix, Electrify, and the original Photon 4G.

Motorola Photon 4G

 

[anon(94115)]

What was that? The wife is considering it since it is the only slider (I think) that they have..

 

[ph37rd]

Besides the whole 4G WiMax/LTE issue and their poor 3G speeds, the biggest problem you'll encounter with Sprint that you normally don't see with Verizon is building penetration. I know my local Target has to take their Sprint phones up to Starbucks in the front of the store and sit near a window to activate the Sprint phones. Other than building penetration and speed, service is pretty reasonable.