Ok a reason why I don't like Sprint right now.

[atomicdog21]

They won't let me re up two months early, even though they sold me a POS BB curve 8330 last year ( on a one yr contract) that was obsolete when I bought it, they told me on May 11th they didn't have info when the EVO 4G was coming out, and even though I told them I didn't want to move my whole contract up (I'd stay in contract the 26 months instead) they said it is impossible to do anything. How many guesses that it is possible and they just don't want to?
I'm ready for the flames, because I signed the contract and it is my responsability to know what's what, but how hard would it be for Sprint to make a customer service decision that keeps a two line paying customer happy at no risk of their own? That's why I don't like Sprint right now.

 

[rudolph7]

Head to the Shack or BB and talk to them. I had like 4 months left until my renew and the guy at RS got them to let my go ahead and do it. The sales people have more pull then the avg joe or jane like us. And I have been with sprint for almost 8 years. One reason why I hate the fact that the sprint premier program only makes you be with them 6 months now. When before it was 5 years, when I got mine I was like cool. I get upgrade every year and get discounts and stuff. Then my friend joined and 6 months later he got the email saying welcome to the club. I was pissed as hell.

 

[gabbott]

When before it was 5 years, when I got mine I was like cool. I get upgrade every year and get discounts and stuff. Then my friend joined and 6 months later he got the email saying welcome to the club. I was pissed as hell.

Because by your friend getting it, it changed how your premier upgrade now worked?

It isn't like some all exclusive club that'll get you more women or anything like that.

 

[atomicdog21]

Head to the Shack or BB and talk to them. I had like 4 months left until my renew and the guy at RS got them to let my go ahead and do it. The sales people have more pull then the avg joe or jane like us. And I have been with sprint for almost 8 years. One reason why I hate the fact that the sprint premier program only makes you be with them 6 months now. When before it was 5 years, when I got mine I was like cool. I get upgrade every year and get discounts and stuff. Then my friend joined and 6 months later he got the email saying welcome to the club. I was pissed as hell.

Thank you for the info. The lady at Sprint CS (who was very polite and straightforward to her credit) told me it could NOT be done. Too bad. She seemed nice enough, now I'm going to go see if she's a liar lol.

On a side note, I have mixed feelings about the premier program as well, but I was on my wife's US cellular share plan for two years (ugh) so I've only bee na sprint customer about a total of 8-9 years, and not consecutively. I will say I respect and appreciate that they take care of two key groups: those loyal and those spendy.

 

[Rigmaster]

No carrier is going to consistently let people out of contracts early, and they make that clear by having ETFs. They're booking financials showing contract subscribers as revenue/income they expect. And as a consumer if they didn't hold people to this, then you'd see a lot more pre-paid plans which I don't think would be good for the industry or consumers as a whole.

I see changes in perks programs as only positives. If someone else comes along later and gets something that they let me have access to earlier than I thought from my original contract/agreement, I always wish they'd have done it sooner but don't regret that something/someone else brought about the change.

I'm switching to Sprint soon, but I don't envy the people who have been long-time customers on some of the ridiculously low-price legacy plans they've been allowed to maintain. I'm glad they've stuck with Sprint so long or else I believe Sprint wouldn't exist and be a good bang-for-buck wireless option. The 2 biggest have demonstrated (and I've been with one them since '91) that they're only going to get more expensive and charge as much as buyers will tolerate whenever they can. Sprint can't compete with them on some levels, so I'm glad they set a reasonable practice of offering value that's noticeably better without becoming just another regional or defunct carrier.

 

[atomicdog21]

Alright so here's the update I have: after going to Radioshack, the Sprint store and even going to their direct retentions line, the answer I got was that early contract extensions went away about a year and a half ago, because Sprint was essentially giving away phones left and right and the system was open to abuse. No one budged, and as much as I wish they had, I am impressed by their firm stance. With the last guy I freely admitted at the end that I had no intention of switching from Sprint. They have the best prices by a mile, provide coverage second to only verizon, and have the phone of the year coming out in June. I can wait until August 1st for that. I am a little dissapointed that I couldn't just get the phone two months early and do a 26 month contract, and I do think that there are too many walls up there, but I respect their need to run a business, and in all honesty they will have a loyal customer enjoying their phones for years to come.
Also, I love the Sprint premier program, even though there is only one "real" perk as far as I see, that being the 1 year upgrade.