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43 responses to “Instinct Requires Sprint $99 Unlimited Plan?”

  1. jonathan

    all PDA’s from sprint require an everything plan because there is no attachable for the text/connect plan… power pack is also available with attachable but the price of the internet plus power pack plan does come close to the everything plan so in a way sprint is trying to protect the consumer by getting the everything plan unless u have a family plan then its powerpack family…

    lowest individual plan for powerpack is 39.99 plus internet
    lowest everything plan is 79.99 which has everything u can do on your phone

  2. Jeff Peoples

    Why wouldn’t Sprint just allow any plan, then exclude calls to Voicemail from your invoice? That would seem to make more sense and one would think would be easy to implement. If they’re going to match ATT’s Visual Voicemail, they’ll need to do much better than forcing users to get an unlimited plan.

  3. Humberto Saabedra

    “It has nothing to do with the minutes and thus it does not necessarily require the adoption of the $99.99 Simply Everything plan. To debunk your juvenile thinking and rationale even further, think about this. EVERY MAJOR CARRIER in the US includes free calling to your own voicemail to check your own voicemail (check the fineprint), no post-paid carrier charges customers to check their own voicemail.”

    Thisa is patently false. Sprint deducts anytime minutes from the service plan to check voicemail, it is not considered a mobile to mobile call and hasn’t been for a good four years since the days of Fair and Flexible and Free and Clear America service plans.

    Before you go off and criticize us, why not bone up on your employer’s new policies before doing so. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon all have the same practices regarding calls to voicemail counted as a standard phonecall.

  4. C Gutta

    Everything plans start lower than $99. It doesn’t requires Simply Everything, just and Everything Plan. They are different.

  5. nunya

    @Humberto Saabedra

    um sprint still charges to check voicemail… you should read the fine print.
    (direct from the brochure)
    Mobile-toMobile: only available for calls directly between sprint phones….

    if you are calling your own voicemail its not between phones

  6. Storino03

    Yeah, I can verify that calling your own voicemails deducts from your minute plan each month and has since I got Sprint back in 2000.

  7. Humberto Saabedra

    The reason I stated Fair and Flexible and Free+Clear America was because of a longstanding bug in the system where calling your voicemail box would not deduct from your plan minutes, but the issue was eventually fixed.

    Of course Sprint policy had always denoted calling voice mail as a standard call where airtime would be deducted as normal, but I thought I would clarify the confusion.

    In regards to the whole requirement with the $99 Everything Plan, we can only go by what our readers tell us.

    We simply went with what we were given and thanks to the comments we can correct the article and end the speculation now that we know Simply Everything has been expanded to three plans with two minute buckets and a flat rate unlimited option.

    Of course, this still doesn’t resolve whether or not Sprint plans to include the frequent calls to voicemail in the Everything plans in order to tout its Visual Voicemail capability on the device. This is why we speculated that the Instinct would require the $99 Everything plan to begin with.

  8. Sonic Fan

    Since any of the Everything plans will work with the Instinct, the “key features” must be data related. Why wouldn’t Sprint just require you have a data pack? I know users on other forums are speculating this is a way to get people off of Sero and Retention plans, but why would Sprint risk the negative publicity for what is probably less then 1% of there user base. On one hand Sprint’s gloating about there improved customer service and policies, yet at the same time they’re forcing you to sign up for a $70 plan for an iClone. Typical Sprint.

  9. Sonic Fan

    Oh, and I’m not hating on the Instinct, I think it’s an awesome device, and Sprint’s first killer app since… um… well it’s been awile. It’s just that it doesn’t make sense for Sprint to further fragment there userbase, especially with there current financial shape, and reputation.

  10. ned watkins

    perhaps simplifying the billing, support and related issues is worth exploring for Sprint? So many of the forums are full of complaints about billing errors, support issues, etc. and this seems like a genius way to resolve those issues in one clean shot.

    For anyone with an unlimited plan, you should be able to agree what an awesome feeling it is to never worry about how much you talk, MMS, or surf. Not to mention the way cool Telenav app on the Instinct is included as part of the $$$…

  11. eazy
  12. Humberto Saabedra

    Those links only mention the fact that Sprint licensed a patent from a recognized patent litigator in order to avoid a potential suit such as the one Apple find themselves in regarding Visual Voicemail functionality.

    It does not actually specify any information on whether the calls to voicemail for the functionality to actually work will be included on the Everything plans, or if they will continue to deduct minutes from the service plan.

  13. Don Louie

    I read that either the 450, 900 or u/l plans are required, my thinking is if that is the case why can’t people with family plans that have comparable data packs buy the phone and keep the same plan?

  14. Christopher Bernadel

    What about the users who are on a family plan which has a spending limit of $300 this plan has unlimited text, web, mobile to mobile night beginning at 7pm! What will happen to these users who want to get the instinct?

  15. Mike

    To Jonathan…you have no idea what your talking about. I have the motorola Q and its a PDA phone ( in case you were unaware). I dont have your so called ” everything plan” and i still have access to all my features on the phone. You dont need an “everything plan” for PDA’s..youre an idiot. Just thought i’d let you know. Oh and by the way… it’s not called a “power package” its a vision package. Your a tool.. get your facts straight before you make yourself look dumber than you are.

  16. Susie

    I was waiting to upgrade and I wanted to get the Instinct phone but after reading all the comments I am confused! Do I need to get this plan? Can anyone give me some advice on what I should do. Thanks

  17. Shontonio

    I think the fact that you have to be on an everything plan is great, here’s why. If they don’t customer will buy these phones jump on the internet and then get outrageous data bills and complain they didn’t know. By having this sprint does something great, cx won’t receive data charges, or text charges because its included, also m2m and nights @ 7pm, there are multiple everything plans, three to be exact, 69.99 for 450 minutes, 89.99 for 900 minutes and 99.99 for unlimited. they all comes with unlimited internet, text, sprint music, sprint tv, and gps navigation. all the features that will highlight the instinct.

  18. Dee

    Do you expect there will be some sort of family plan? I know I’d love to have one, as well as my 16 year old son. Would you have to pay then $140.00 or $200.00 depending on which plan you choose, one for each phone. (I’m not completely savvy on the workings of this and am having a hard time wrapping my brain around this). Thanks for your help.

  19. A

    So does anyone know what this phone is going to retail for with 2-yr contract, it keeps saying under $300 so $299 – $150? lol

  20. Oscar

    I frequently visit these sites to get valuable information and input from persons as yourselves that have these phones and what to share your experiences. While I use the same or worse vocabulary, as everyone else, I do not really care for anyone insulting anyone. And I do not paricularly embraze English Tudors commenting on errors. Please leave the insults out of these pages and limit to your person experience and ASSISTANCE.
    No one really cares about your anger managment issues, stick to the point.

  21. sarah

    When I first saw the Instict i was extremly excited because for once Sprint came out with a phone that I actually liked. Ive been with Sprint over 4 years now and when I learned i would have to get one of the everything plans the idea of getting the phone went completely down the drain. The phone I have now “MotoQ” is a semi decent phone nothing to the Instict but at least I can afford to pay for it each month. I would rather pay $700 for the Instict on the same plan i have now, than pay $300-$400 for the phone than pay another $100 each month. It’s insane.

  22. Timothy

    I agree with Sarah entirely.
    I would pay up to a $1000usd for a quality phone that I liked…but I will not be sold services I either dont want or dont need.

    Sprint created this phone in order to “create” customers who want it……and if you want the phone… you must have the service….whether you need it or not.

    Its my money. My choice.

  23. Tonya

    I just called a Sprint store to inquire about this phone. I will be using this phone for work and they told me it would not sync the calendar or contacts. Does anyone know if this is true? And why?

  24. zach

    i really dont believe this talk of having to pick a certain plan honestly if sprint is smart than they wont do that because there biggest competitor is the apple iphone and iphone is doing the best they can to hold on with sprint and there deals so that iphone will overide sprint on popularity the iphone to me is the same exact thing although im alot more attached to getting the instict not the iphone.

  25. david

    I called sprint sales bought an instinct to upgrade. My phone came in and NO one at sprint can activate it for me. I have a SERO plan and they are telling me I have to change to an everything plan. I have full data only thing I don’t have is unlimited minutes which I don’t need. Yet when they try to activate it, the system keeps telling them my plan in not compatible with the phone. I am hoping someone can shed some light on how I can activate this phone and keep my current phone plan.

  26. Hans

    SPRINT will not let you get your phone activated without upgrading out of the SERO plan. SPRINT SUCKS. I have a SERO plan and basically, they’ve blocked anyone with a SERO plan from getting the Instinct to work with their plan. You’re just going to have to wait until they decide to let us SERO plan users activate phones like this in the future.

  27. Jaye

    Hans and David, I am also on a retention plan that I don’t intend to do away with. I was on-line chatting with a rep and continued to ask her why do I have to change. I have a phone that has most of the features and I have a data plan in the vision pkg and the current phone I have, I dont even use it to the fullest extent. She finally told me that I didn’t have to change even though when I started to inquire about it and the statements of having to switch to another plan, she was adamant about me not being able to use the phone. I don’t know what good it will do, but I have a copy of the transcript and it was sent to my email, so I when I do decide to go check out the phone, BAM, I will present this to them and see what they have to say! I dont need VM to sent to me in SMS format, I dont really need the GPS, I have an independent one. I just like the phone.

    Maybe she got frustrated with me and just said whatever to appease me. So if that was the case, then she lied! Why should I have to pay double in price to get unlimited when I have 1300 peak and 3000 nights and wkends that I consider unlimited (since I never go over those amts)? She couldnt ans that question!

  28. James

    I am also on a retention plan with unlimited vision. The sprint rep lied to me and said I can use the phone with my plan to get the sale. I called to get it activated and it didn’t work. Now they tell me its not downward compatible. This is just a business ploy. Sprint sucks. But the retention price is good. They wont tell me either which phones will work with my plan that are new

  29. H

    This is utter ********. No where, and no one told me I had to change my plan in order to use the Instinct. I bought it online because it was cheaper than buying through Sprint, and now I’m being told that I have to change my SERO plan. Why would I want to pay $59.99 for a plan with 500 minutes when I’m paying $49.99 for a plan with 1250 minutes. Everything else in the plan is the same; unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited nights and weekends, nights starting at 7PM, no roaming, unlimited text, unlimited data. This is garbage, and some bait and switch ploy. I intend to send my letter to the BBB illustrating Sprint’s bad practices. They sent me a message telling me I was eligible to upgrade, and after I purchase the phone, they now tell me I have to switch plans. I have one message for Sprint. GFY.

  30. Jaye

    H, I feel the same. Needless to say, I haven’t switched. So I see they are still on their kick of trying to lure us out of our great deals that was offered to us to stay to begin with. If this is the case, I guess I will never have the Instinct. I never followed up to see if I could get it and keep my current plan with the emailed transcript. I wanted a blackberry also, but still not willing to give up my plan to take a plan with less anytime mins and over twice the price. I got a newsletter a couple of months ago and it had a contact email of one of the upper people, I think I will email him and see what he says.

    James, I think that any of the phones that are the regular, everyday phones that have always been for on their site, like the centro, samsung 500s, lg. All the ones that dont have super perks and features can be used with the plan you currently have. Guess I will have the simply phones, since I dont want nor intend to give up my plan that I have had for years.

    Good luck, I hope that someone can find a way around this and inform us.

  31. Rachel

    I am also upset with Sprint, whoever needs to send a letter to BBB and wants support I am willing to do it, maybe we can all bring a class action lawsuit or something? anybody interested? There is no way this could be happening to so many people. I also ordered a phone with a sales consultant over the phone and can’t activate it with my original plan. They know what they are doing and their representatives couldn’t careless F@CK sprint! I had to give some of their reps a piece of my mind.

  32. Jaye

    So I see that Sprint isn’t backing down and still forcing its customers to change to a plan they thing is fabulous and what is best for their company when they report their annual report. They attempt to tell us what is good about the newer plans but yet it involves and increase of paying out for the customer. I still have my phone that I got last year and at this time intend to keep it (stay with the phones that is compatible to my plan) as long as “my plan” works with it. I can get another phone and probably will eventually but it will be one that I don’t have to change plans. So I guess I will NEVER have the most up to date, tech savvy phone they have to offer!

  33. Megan

    So can you have the instinct with a standard plan?

  34. John

    I just had the same experience. Twice I chatted with different sprint reps. I asked them specifically if the Instinct would work with my existing plan. The one said she looked at my plan and said i was ok. The second simply asked if I had data with my plan. I said yes, she said I shouldn’t have a problem. Guess what, i bought the phone online and just tried to activate it. Sprint said no way, need to upgrade plans!?!?!? WTF for sure.

  35. Patrik

    I have the Sprint Instinct, and the phone told me that I have an update about 3 weeks ago. So I, download the update and all I have is ads for Ebay, Wiki, Range Rover, ect. It sucks because I pay 99.99 month for my plan. I should not get ads. The update says nothing about ads? I called Sprint about this issue today and they said there is nothing they can do about the ads. Wow, great customer service. I’m very very disappointed:( and upset about there marketing on are phones. It makes me sick. I am thinking about getting rid of Sprint now. Don’t do the last update for your phone( Beware) If you have the same issue please write about on blogs and call Sprint about this issue if you fill the same.
    Thank you
    Patrick

  36. kaite

    So i cnt get a instinct on family messaging plan? If so that is f**k!n Bu!!sh!t!

  37. Daniel

    Sprint still hasnt budged with there Palm,Blackberry and all smartphone plan requirments so if youre on a sprint eployee referral fair and flexible plan which already includes “unlimited data” as myself you wont be able to upgrade to a decent phone, the remaning egible phone choices are becoming slim. The cheapest way to upgrade is still double the price and 50 less minutes then the SERO plan. Only differnce besides that is GPS and the plan name. Its hard to believe what they’re doing is even legal.

  38. Larry

    I have had basically the same experience with Sprint. I was talking to the about the Instinct and was informed that I would have up upgrade my plan to the “everything data”. This in itself is going to raise my cell phone bill about $40.00 a month. I have been with Sprint since they came here in 1997, and they are indifferent to my request to leave my plan as it is. I think this a total BS line because I have had an HTC Touch Diamond since early 2009 on my current plan (not Everything Data) and it works fine, with the exception of my Sprint GPS and if I use it, it costs me $2.99 a day. This is total crap. I told them I am prepared to let my contacts expire and move on to a different carrier.

  39. Larry

    Correction…………

    Let my contracts expire and move on to a different carrier.

  40. Larry

    I tried talking to a Sprint rep this evening about changing my plan. I am currently on the Free and Clear 750 with unlimited Vision package, which covers all of my internet time on my HTC Touch Diamond. I attempted to upgrade my wifes phone to an Instinct and they told me that I would have to change my plan to the Unlimited Data for $129.99. After taxes and fees this will raise my bill approximately $35.00-40.00 a month. I have been with Sprint since 1997 and after reading all I have read here, they are just trying to clear out all of the SERO plans. I guess they don’t give a damn about long time customers, and thats too bad. Letting my plans run out and moving to AT@T for an Iphone. It does more than the Instict anyhow. Good bye Sprint……………..

  41. Kimberly

    I feel just as the poster did above – Sprint really doesn’t care about keeping their long time customers and the Boost Mobile unlimited plan shows just that. Two plans on the same network offering the same options, but Boost requires no contract and is half the price of Sprint and with the same type of phone options. Why stay with Sprint and spend more than $110 a month when you can save more money and not deal with a contract? Seems like another bad move on the part of Sprint’s president in an effort to attract new customers rather than keep old ones. Feel the same and want to let him know how unfair this is, please email him as I have done – http://sites.google.com/site/sprintcustomersunite/