Sprint Silver

[JuniorWWT]

So I just got my Sprint Premier Silver letter in the mail today. I guess I'm no longer entitled to the 1 year upgrade. Is this a change of service terms? Can I bail out of my contract without penalty? This was one of Sprint's perks that made me stay with them.

 

[NxTech3]

no, because it doesnt directly impact your contract or monthly recurring fee

 

[eldub1]

So I just got my Sprint Premier Silver letter in the mail today. I guess I'm no longer entitled to the 1 year upgrade. Is this a change of service terms? Can I bail out of my contract without penalty? This was one of Sprint's perks that made me stay with them.

If I were in the jury. That would. make a valid point.

 

[RUSH]

So I just got my Sprint Premier Silver letter in the mail today. I guess I'm no longer entitled to the 1 year upgrade. Is this a change of service terms? Can I bail out of my contract without penalty? This was one of Sprint's perks that made me stay with them.

Nope, unless you're planning on paying the early termination fee. You can always go to a higher data plan to get back those perks.

 

[splmonster]

In the fine print of "Sprint Premier" claimed these were perks and could be subject to change at any time. By no means is them changing the Premier system a breach in contract. They were perks and nothing else, and they legally listed it within the fine print that it could change.

 

[anon(45526)]

I've been reclassified as silver, too. I know I'm getting gray hair at my young age of 32, but this has gone a little far....ha ha! On a serious note, less perks probably means more defections for a more reliable signal. I love my Evo, but now it seems like a reliable signal is more important than saving a few bucks a month.

 

[drjb74]

I am on the gold level, as I have been with Sprint for over ten years. That being said, from a marketing perspective, I think it would have been a better move to leave the premier setup as is, and then move the "gold" level to higher level. This would encourage people not only to stay with Sprint, but to stay longer or buy higher priced plans to move up again.

I like Sprint, but I think this was a mistake on their part. I agree with Redsoxfan in that there will be people who leave for this reason. If I was moved down to the silver level, it would not be a dealbreaker for me, but I can understand why people would change carriers.

 

[Mikey47]

I am on the gold level, as I have been with Sprint for over ten years. That being said, from a marketing perspective, I think it would have been a better move to leave the premier setup as is, and then move the "gold" level to higher level. This would encourage people not only to stay with Sprint, but to stay longer or buy higher priced plans to move up again.

I like Sprint, but I think this was a mistake on their part. I agree with Redsoxfan in that there will be people who leave for this reason. If I was moved down to the silver level, it would not be a dealbreaker for me, but I can understand why people would change carriers.

I agree, I think the Gold level should receive a yearly upgrade opportunity on every line on the account and silver it should just be on primary line.

One of the things I don't understand is that if you want to upgrade after 22 months you get $150 + the mail-in (or instant) rebate, yet if you wanted to upgrade after a year you just get the $75 credit with NO mail in rebate.

Why not make silver be upgrade after 1 year is the $75 + mail in rebate? This would mean that it would only cost you an additional $75 buck to upgrade yearly instead of the extra $175 that it is right now?

Let's be honest, Sprint makes their money (or is it they lose less money ;-) ) on their plans not on selling hardware.

 

[illwood]

Let's be honest, Sprint makes their money (or is it they lose less money ;-) ) on their plans not on selling hardware.

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure the Sprint business model for what they give you towards an upgrade is pretty much like the Gillette razor company.

Gillette loses money on the "handles" for your razors. What they charge for the new Mach3 or whatever is less than what it costs them to produce it. However, they make their money on the disposable cartridges.

Likewise, I'm sure Sprint loses money on new phones and their rebates, but they make it on the plans. They are probably trying to minimize their losses while keeping their long-time customers content.

 

[drjb74]

Likewise, I'm sure Sprint loses money on new phones and their rebates, but they make it on the plans. They are probably trying to minimize their losses while keeping their long-time customers content.

Yeah, but the problem is that people are changing carriers a lot more often now, jumping ship for the newest and greatest phones. Sprint always seems to be slightly behind in that department.

One of the pros of Sprint is the cost, and in turn the "Premier" program. The original intention had to be to reward customers for their loyalty. The upgrade at 22 months is no different than any other customer. Why stay with Sprint if the perks are the same for every customer?

Making the premier program more exclusive will encourage people to stay with Sprint and buy larger plans, but only if the benefits outweigh the costs. I think they are moving in the wrong direction with this one.

Just my opinion...

 

[sasha]

This whole thing just sucks why change anything? I've had Sprint for 7 years, I've bought I don't even know how many phones some I've even bought without my upgrade. I have a family share plan of 1500 minutes not to mention I'm spending 4 extra dollars a month on a stupid Airave just so I can have reception in my apartment. So for them to drop me down into the silver category and cut the best part of the perks out is a freaking insult in my opinion!

 

[Mikey47]

Yeah, I'm lucky. My 10 year anniversary falls almost exactly one year from the last time I upgraded .... therefore I never really lose my annual upgrade even though I will be Sprint Premier Silver for almost a year.

But, I think those people who just joined thinking they were going to have yearly upgrades have a long time to wait to hit that 10 year mark. :-(

 

[BigRick10]

Or they can upgrade to a 89.99 plan for single lines or 169.99 family shared line and get gold lol

 

[hopefulfarm]

I got my letter too. I can't believe the $$ you have to spend to be Gold! I'm fortunate, I am Gold even tho I don't spend the monthly $$ to be considered for it, since I've been with Sprint over a decade now.

 

[FatalErrorz]

I just got my letter, too. Too late; snatched my Evo up on Feb 1.

 

[JuniorWWT]

Yea, I'm a little pissed. Been with Sprint since 2003. Thought about leaving for the Iphone when it first came out, but chose to stick with Sprint. Thought about leaving for the original Droid, but didnt. I remained faithful to sprint. And then Sprint sent me a b!tch slap. Atrix is looking pretty sick. And good luck to Sprint on getting that early termination fee too. I'll just send them back that pos Moment that sold to my wife as payment.

 

[Unibrow]

Yea, I'm a little pissed. Been with Sprint since 2003. Thought about leaving for the Iphone when it first came out, but chose to stick with Sprint. Thought about leaving for the original Droid, but didnt. I remained faithful to sprint. And then Sprint sent me a b!tch slap. Atrix is looking pretty sick. And good luck to Sprint on getting that early termination fee too. I'll just send them back that pos Moment that sold to my wife as payment.

just becareful about that, the ETF is not a lot on Sprint and it WILL effect your credit score. You're better off paying the ETF and selling the phone on ebay

 

[Mikey47]

Or they can upgrade to a 89.99 plan for single lines or 169.99 family shared line and get gold lol

Yeah, spend an extra $240 (for single) or $480 (for family) just to get an extra $150 towards a new phone? I can't believe that Sprint thinks that people might do that. I know I don't believe it

Honestly, I think they just screwed up originally and set the bar to low...

 

[Rhody]

Yeah, spend an extra $240 (for single) or $480 (for family) just to get an extra $150 towards a new phone? I can't believe that Sprint thinks that people might do that. I know I don't believe it

Honestly, I think they just screwed up originally and set the bar to low...

No, I think this was the plan all along. They were bleeding customers. They used the Sprint Premiere benefits combined with the flagship phones to get people into 2-year contracts until they hit a target number of post-paid customers, then changed the benefits. They had to get people onto contracts because they were getting killed by AT&T and Verizon. It is a business after all.

 

[Mikey47]

No, I think this was the plan all along. They were bleeding customers. They used the Sprint Premiere benefits combined with the flagship phones to get people into 2-year contracts until they hit a target number of post-paid customers, then changed the benefits. They had to get people onto contracts because they were getting killed by AT&T and Verizon. It is a business after all.

Well, I just can't believe that. I know we all like to bash on Sprint for their business decisions (because it's just so-darn-easy!), but I can't believe any company would say:

"If we offer these 'incentives' we will get X number of customers and will lock them in for two years. Once we reach X number of customers we will then change these 'incentives' ticking off every single one of the X customers we acquired and the remainder of our customer base that has been faithful to us for anywhere between 2 and 8 years already. Of those X customers we gained, Y% of those will bail when their two years is up, but we can then just offer another incentive."