Sprint changing upgrade plans ?

[Kedar]

Here's some stuff floating around. Seems semi-confirmed.
Premier Upgrade Changes 04/01/11 - SprintUsers.com

More info on this XDA thread:
Premier Upgrade Change? - xda-developers

I heard on SprintUsers that there is going to be a change in upgrade eligibility effective April. How 100% certain it is I don't know, but Duffman an Advanced Sprint Tech posted about it yesterday. Another user inquired on it and received an emailed response. So it's looking kinda legit. Linkage: http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216413

It appears you have to meet a certain plan price point to qualify for "Gold" status to be eligible to a 12 month upgrade. Silver and everyone else is only eligible to the full upgrade every 22 months. These price points are before the cost of Add a lines, Insurance, taxes, Premium Data etc. So the Base plan price is what counts, from what I understand.

The question at hand is if it will reset your upgrade date come 04/01/11. So if you were due a 12mo upgrade on 04/01/11 has it now been pushed out to 04/01/2012? Or will they be like Verizon and make it effective upon your next upgrade?

Anyone else heard anything or have any "insider" information. I can see this being true with the pending Feb 7 announcement they have planned. Verizon changed their policy and then announced the iphone almost immediately after that. Sprint might be following suit.

From the email that dbldwn02 received:

Dear --------,

Thank you for contacting Sprint. I understand your concern regarding the Sprint Premier Program policy change.
Effective April 01, 2011, Sprint Premier Program is being updated to offer two levels of benefits, Sprint Premier Gold and Sprint Premier Silver, based on customer's MRC and tenure.

Sprint Premier Gold :

Sprint Premier Gold customers receive all the current benefits of Premier, including annual upgrades on 1 line per qualifying plan (or 10+ years service). All other lines on a Premier account currently are upgrade eligible every 22 months under Sprint's New for You Program.
To be Sprint Premier Gold, customers must have at least 6 months tenure and meet the following qualifications:

• Individual plans with a 3 month average MRC of at least $89.99 or

• Shared plans with a 3 month average MRC of at least $169.99 or
• Tenure of 10+ years with Sprint Wireless
• Good standing.

Sprint Premier Silver :

Sprint Premier Silver customers receive all the current benefits of Premier, except the annual upgrade. These customers will qualify for a
$75 upgrade every 12 months or $150 upgrade at 22 months under the standard New for You upgrade program.

To be Sprint Premier Silver, customers must have at least 6 months tenure and meet the following qualifications:

• Individual plans with a 3 month average MRC $69.99-$89.98 or
• Shared plans with a 3 month average MRC $99.99 -$169.98
• Good standing.

After April 01, 2011, your account will become the Sprint Premier Silver account and the handset upgrade eligibilty of your account will be reset as per the new Sprint Premier Program policy. I apologize for the inconvenience you have faced due to this.

Thank you again for contacting Sprint.
Sincerely,
Sprint

Sorry if I double post... looked around and didn't see anything.

_________________

My take: A bit of a disappointment by Sprint. Hopefully I have been with them for 10+ years... or I pay enough. I don't know yet. It's a bit confusing.

Seems like they're taking Verizon's route (and recently ATT).

 

[lornaevo]

Yes sprint is changing the rules on us.

 

[verwon]

I just called and asked them myself. My son is eligible for his upgrade and I wanted to make sure that wouldn't change. She checked and said he will remain eligible, even after the changes go into effect.


Sent from my eVo

 

[Lord Vader]

Typical.

 

[Bigfire]

Unfortunately it appears the carriers are banding together to hike their prices, knowing they'll all make more, than if just one raises prices. This will hugely modify the way we buy devices and of course, hurt manufacturers since there won't b as fervent a demand for the next great device.

 

[PapaNoHair#AC]

I received a reply from Sprint informing me that indeed I was a Silver, not a Gold. That combined with another announcement that it appears all Sprint customers will be paying the $10 extra (that are not now).

 

[splmonster]

I just called and asked them myself. My son is eligible for his upgrade and I wanted to make sure that wouldn't change. She checked and said he will remain eligible, even after the changes go into effect.


Sent from my eVo

According to every employee I have spoken to, it will not remain your upgrade. It will be pushed back. This has been confirmed by numerous employees on the Sprint forums. However Sprint still will offer the yearly upgrade, the only thing that is changing is which Premier you get with what you plans you have. The discounts on the Silver will be smaller but you will still receive a yearly upgrade, which nobody else will have. If you remain a Gold member nothing changes.

 

[OrangeGTP]

it was already posted in the forums...but was moved....

http://forum.androidcentral.com/sprint/54837-changes-sprint-premier-program.html

 

[boggs3010#AC]

After a go around with Sprint, all I am saying my upgrade was changed to 03/01/11 I had serious recent issue's and this was their way to make amends. And their going to look into why my account does not reflect my actual length of time. I offered to email bills from 1999.

 

[verwon]

According to every employee I have spoken to, it will not remain your upgrade. It will be pushed back. This has been confirmed by numerous employees on the Sprint forums. However Sprint still will offer the yearly upgrade, the only thing that is changing is which Premier you get with what you plans you have. The discounts on the Silver will be smaller but you will still receive a yearly upgrade, which nobody else will have. If you remain a Gold member nothing changes.

She said it depends on when and how you became eligible for upgrade. If it was actually earned, then you keep it. However, you won't if it was just given through premier status.

My son has never used his upgrade in over 2 years, so he would be eligible under the new criteria, anyway and therefore won't lose his.

Sent from my eVo

 

[derek5l]

What defines "good standing "?

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[Triple Threat]

"good standing" = no late payments, no hotlines(account delinquent enough to shut it off) on your account, and not calling into CS on a daily basis.