During a webcast this afternoon, Sprint and Palm confirmed that the forthcoming Palm Pre will require the Everything plan lineup for purchase and activation in the vein of the Samsung Instinct.
This means that the phone will be limited to the 450 minute ($69.99), 900 minute ($89.99) or unlimited plans ($99.99) along with the Everything Family plans at 1500 minutes ($129.99), 3000 minutes ($169.99) or unlimited ($189.99).
Business customers will be able to pool their minutes together using 5 different plans. No mention was made of other plan types such as SERO, its successor plan lineup or other more obscure plan types such as Third Party or Advantage Club.
The reasoning behind the requirement was the same reasoning given for the Instinct, that is, the company did not want people buying voice only plans and end up surprised by potential data usage charges. In the same call, availability was once again reiterated for the first half of this year, though no specific availability information was given.
@Jose
“If you don’t like Sprint then there’s the door. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya!”…yeah real smart thinking…really. It’s pretty much the attitude that a out of work people/business’s had that I can think of in very recent memory:
1. Circuit City…..yeaaaaaaah…most customers just ended up going across the street to Best Buy
2. Opie and Anthony (yeah, totally different realm than electronics, and but I love the bbboys, but they always said…”If you don’t like us, turn the radio dial”…and yeah..now they are canned from FM completely. I’m not talking about the latest format switch in NYC, but I’m talking about Philly…Buffalo…and Boston).
Like I said…word of mouth matters…it’s not a matter of working for Sprint corporate to realize this. And yeah…I work in a SUCCESSFUL corporate environment in Big Pharma…and that’s clearly not a winning attitude.
As stated before, it’s all a matter of preference. If you dont like the service, go to another provider that suits you. Problem solved……..
Yeah, you guys that are saying “if you don’t like it go somewhere else” , your right we can do that. The bad thing is hundreds of people are doing that everyday. At this point sprint doesnt have the luxury to let customers do that. You people that say that obviously dont own a business and that mentality is probably the reason why so many businesses are closing. The only cell phone company that could probably do this is verizon, and their not. So lets just hope sprint isnt taking advice from Idiots who have the mentality of “dont like it then leave”. Companies that are lasting in this economy are the ones who put the customer first and keep in mind that most americans arent rich like some of you i guess.
::CONFUSED:: So i see a few people saying that they will switch to Verizon if Sprint makes you do aan everything plan. Im looking at Sprint and Verizon’s plans cuz AT&ingular sucks in the Midwest. If i pick one of Verizon’s PDA/Smartphone Nationwide Email & Messaging plan for 450 mins its 99.99 a month no gps or tv. Sprint’s 450 everything plan with nights at 7 not 9 is 69.99 Did I miss 1st grade math to not realize Sprint is cheaper?
@someguy
In the United States we have two system Choices, GSM by AT&T expensive, T Mobile affordable,or CDMA by Verizon expensive and Sprint affordable.That is the beauty of our country, choices for all budgets. Bentley or Chrysler 300M ?
I just found out that some people have the instinct on a sero plan. Hopefully some of us will be able to convince sprint to let us have the pre on a sero plan. Plus guys, this is just a rumor. A phone like the pre would put sprint on the map again when it comes to competition with verizon and att. Maybe they will let anyone with a data plan use it just like they let anyone use the
Diamond and the HTC Pro. I guess none of us can really say anything till the pre is actually released. All these back and forth comments are good to learn from one another but really don’t mean jack until the pre is released and then we will know the exact details of everything. Till then, I will just wait in peace and hope. Peace!
@someguy
It’s not just about price…but about customer service, and frankly cell phone service in general.
I think a lot of you want SERO, which is now SE Plus, to stick around and translate to all future phones and I admit when the Instinct was rumored to have this restriction it angered me but not because of SERO. I had an old Free And Clear Fam plan with a text add on and 3 data packs (Ultimate, Nav and Basic) with two of my phones being able to do all that the Everything plans do but after careful evaluation the savings won out plus I was infatuated with the Instinct. You SERO holders need to be happy with the savings had over even the regular plans and decide on another phone, change plans (Everything or SE Plus) or leave and pay way more elsewhere for a less expansive 3g network on GSM or neutered devices on vzw
Don Louie, the concern is that Sprint is going to use SERO to force people off all future phones. If they can do it with Instinct, and then Pre, why not Touch Pro2 and Touch Diamond2? Why not all smartphones?
One can argue that Sprint has the right to do that… and they do… but it certainly doesn’t make Sprint’s most savvy customers any more loyal. In fact, it does quite the opposite. It’s that word-of-mouth feedback that is the number one reason why Sprint is hemorrhaging customers.
It is a very bad move to ban the Pre from SERO. Sprint can make that move, but they do so at their own peril.
AT&T Wireless tried what Sprint is doing. It didn’t work.
Hey don louie, like i stated before, I understand if you had an old vision plan and they introduced a new phone that was power vision, then they could force you to change your plan. But the data on the Sero is exactly the same as the data on the everything plan. If sprint doesnt see it that way then they should have never offered it. Plus what is the difference between htc touch pro and the pre when it comes to data? The pro is more data intensive than the instinct. So those of you who still say “hats off to sprint for forcing the everything plan” then you can just sit there and let others walk over you or go get a job with sprint if you love to agree with them so much. In the meantime i will just sit here and be a loyal sprint customer and I will just let them offer me the pre on my sero account like they have offered others the instinct on the sero account. We will just wait and see.
I’m not endorsing the practice, it just doesn’t seem like a good argument because you get so much for that $30 and $50 that the average customer doesn’t with ample phones to choose from. If the phones are wanted that much a $10-$40 increase isn’t bad because they will migrate you to the new discount plan. Leaving will not get the person a better deal, my reference point is the regular plans though
I dont get why people say Sprint has terrible coverage. I cant remember the last time I dropped a call with Sprint. The data speeds are nice and fast too. And why are people still arguing about SERO plans not working on the Instinct/Pre. Sure, the data is the same. Sprint knows that. But, if you want those phones, you have to pay more. Its supply and demand. I honestly dont think the people that Sprint is losing is due to them not being able to get an Instinct on their SERO plan or other older plan. Lets be real, thats not a big factor.
Also, I have never see Sprint offer ANYONE the Instinct to a $30 SERO customer. The $60 Everything Plus customers can get the Instinct, not the SERO customers. I suggest that if having to change plans upsets you so much, go to AT&T or VZW and see what kind of plan you can get.
You gotta remember too that SERO customers do not make up a large portion of the customer base. At best, its a few hudred thousand at MOST. Its not like its millions of people on SERO. Sprint decided that offering phones like the Instinct and Pre to a customer paying $30 is not worth it. Its their call and as mad as it might make you, would you really cancel a $30 plan and go somewhere else? You would be screwing yourself of a difference of opinion. That would be silly.
The problem with SERO customers is that a lot of them were taking advantage of a system. You were supposed to get offered SERO by an employee of Sprint.. and most weren’t. People signed up because they found out online through a forum or blog, and well, I would have done the same thing. At this point you have enjoyed your cheap plan for 2 or more years and it is time to decide to pay the same price as the rest of us so you can get the phone you want, or suffer with a different phone and pay less than half of what the current consumer offering is.
Mustang46L – actually sprint opened up SERO to everyone with the savings@sprintemi.com email address. its sprint who closed it, raised rates, added more features, and renamed it the simply everything plus referral plan (i think thats what its called haha). they kept it open for years too.
i’m sure people will find a way to get the pre on the original $30 and $50 sero plans. i definitely will be trying myself. i did it with the touch pro and im going to try my best to get the palm pre. if not, oh well.
Yes, and there were other SERO addresses as well. As we reported previously, Sprint has acknowledged and admitted already that SERO was open to the public, via various low-promotion offerings. This was done on purpose, as Sprint has readily admitted.
Now that leadership has changed at Sprint, they (for some inexplicable reason) want these customers to pay more. These customers aren’t loss leaders, they’re evangelists for Sprint… and pulling the rug out from under them has been tried with other carriers.
Those other carriers don’t exist anymore. Worse, the leadership from those carriers are now trying the same bag of tricks at Sprint.
Yeah, chew on that.
They want them to pay more but are only making that happen if you buy one phone at the moment. I just don’t think SERO subs should be complaining that the hottest phones are incompatible with the cheapest plan.
Hey don louie, how is the pre incompatible with the sero plan? The htc touch pro is probably just as data intensive as the pre, and definetely more than the instinct. At this point its just a matter of principle. well see how smart sprint really is,especially in this economy. Plus, as the news article said, they havent mentioned anything about the sero plan yet. So like i said before, lets wait and see.
It’s not just SERO. If you have an old family plan with a data addon, you will have to change your plan to get the Pre. That is just stupid.
That’s correct, but it’s a similar situation. Remember, SERO was offered immediately preceding the Everything plans, and Sprint’s first-ever banning of a compatible phone on a compatible plan (Instinct).
I can understand Sprint wanting Instinct and Pre to require a data plan. But, it’s a false premise to extrapolate from that, that an Everything plan must be used exclusively. Sprint could easily check if folks have a Power Vision pack (just like they have done in the past).
Even iPhone does not require a voice plan change in most cases. You can have a Cingular plan from nearly a decade ago, and you can activate an iPhone on that.
This is being done for one reason, to raise ARPU as much as possible. And, it’s worst effects are on customers who are the most loyal. That’s a poisonous scenario that Sprint doesn’t need right now. These customers didn’t want Instinct, but they do want the Pre. Keeping it from them over an (unnecessary) plan limitation, is a huge, huge mistake, that I’m afraid could start Sprint down the path of collapse.
And yes, I said that last sentence.
Sprint is already well on the path of collapse. They need to be trying to change that path. What they are doing here is speeding up the inevitable.
At a time when customers are jumping ship left and right, the ones that weathered the storm and stuck with Sprint are now being forced out. Brilliant decision if your goal is to tank the the company. Horrible decision if your goal is to stop the bleeding.
But hey, Sprint will be able to say, “The Pre is our best selling phone!” No matter that they will be losing 10 customers for every customer that buys a Pre, as long as the Pre is the best selling phone it’s all good in their eyes. and as long as that is the case, that CEO needs to be fired ASAP, and his entire management team replaced.
I’m sick of Sprint complaining that SERO customers are causing them SO much loss of money. They opened it to the public, and those who had the chance took the offer. Now they closed the door. End of story (sort of…let’s not forget Russ McGuire at Sprint gave his email address and CID number for the new SERO everything plus crap…but hey…whatever). Anyway, for simplicity sake, end of story. Their own fault. To punish customers who took advantage of their self promoted plan is bull.
However, this just proves my point. The reason SERO got so widespread…was because of WORD OF MOUTH advertising. People got a hold of this great deal and started talking up a storm about it. If it ended, and people that didn’t get it said “oh, that sucks, but hey, let me check out Sprint anyway”…it would be a great, and rather clever viral marketing ploy. Take a loss for a few customers, then have these customers talk about how great Sprint is, thus attracting more customers. It’s pretty much FREE marketing for them. I was telling everyone how great Sprint was…
Sprint is now offering a $100 gift card for everyone you get to sign up for Sprint (if you are a current subscriber) for up to $1200. That’s over 3 years of SERO plans ($30 plan). But trust me…the way Sprint is going…I am not recommending any of my friends to get Sprint. After the situation with the Instinct, and now the same thing happening with the Pre…what loyal customer would recommend them? None. The complete opposite of what should be going for…when the can simply stop being idiots and realize the marketing potential I explained above.
The only reason I still have even my SERO plan is because I am using my HTC Touch Pro on it. Once they start doing this crap with the Windows Mobile phones…bye bye Sprint.
Another thing to take note is that Sprint is marketing that the everything plans are so awesome and save so much money. Individually, yes, they are worth it. However, once you mix in family plans that other carriers have, and realize that a mother, father, and two teenagers go in on a family plan together, the savings are minimal. I know personally my parents (I’m 25) have no use for the Sprint Radio, Sprint TV, Sprint Navigation, or the unlimited texts. They just want a phone. Also, keep in mind that basic plans are the same across the board, so anyone who wants a phone with 450 minutes is really not going to find much savings from one carrier to another.
In conclusion, once the loyal Sprint users leave…which Sprint is unwisely pushing out the door…it’s pretty much going to be the end of Sprint.
An Open Letter
Problem
“The reasoning behind the requirement was the same reasoning given for the Instinct, that is, the company did not want people buying voice only plans and end up surprised by potential data usage charges.”
PhoneNews
Data is Data, if you have “unlimited Data” on your account, it should not be “limited to 5 GB Data” or select cherry picked devices, i.e. Instinct, or Pre or any other future devices.
The Industry has executed a Coup d’etat against the consumer,by perhaps conspiring and enforcing, hence implementing the following two main steps:
1.The term “unlimited” has been forced silently modified to a “limited 5GB”, with no legal challenge by the consumer, first by Verizon,… now by Sprint.That is in lew with the ever expanding technical capacity!
2.Next they limited the consumer’s choice of hardware, by concucting a new plan which allows them to discriminate against any prior agreement, which they breached again, without any legal challenge.Limiting it to a specific device i.e. iPhone by AT&T and Instinct by Sprint, “reverse discrimination” against the rest of the accounts.
C.P. ” …they (for some inexplicable reason) want these customers to pay more.”
They always want the customer to pay more…its called greed, with one exception, that is when they are just establishing themselves and starting up, when they need customers to lay the foundation for the new company.
The trick is the oldest trick in commerce, legaly known as “bait and switch”.
Sprint is not the sole violator, Verizon started with step 1, AT&T took it to step 2 with the iPhone and its plans, and Sprint is building on step 2 by adding “other devices” to the industry trend ,Pre as a second additional device after Instinct cleared the path and established the pattern of step 2 for the customers of Sprint.
The Cellular Industry in the U.S., argueably lead by Verizon, has been gauging the consumer, by charging the consumer for incoming calls, not allowing you the consumer to have the same controls as with landline, i.e. tollfree calls, select blocking,limited caller id with no matching name,out of control incoming charges fom text or calls e.t.c.,unlike the rest of the consumer’s in the advanced free market.
Sprint is just the lesser evil/expensive actor in this Industry,grasping for more of a slice of the cake, the motto is “it is never enough”! Just like children in a candy store with no parental control.
Solution
1. Congress, at some point in not so distant future, enhancing the consumer rights of this Industry, which is ran like the “Wild Wild West”.
2. Class action lawsuit on behalf of the 60.000.000 consumers, with complains in common, to maybe bring some real change to this abuse pattern.
Sincerely: F1
Consumer Experience:Airtouch/Verizon,Tmobile,Sprint Spectrum/PCS
Sprint :Since 1997
Plan: modified Fair & Flex 700 with unlimited Data
Device: m610 Dec 2006.
I think they ought to let SERO in on this but really don’t care one way or the other because that deal is already head and shoulders above anything out now. The data is the same no matter what device so the Pro Pack should be the option for the older plans or Data Premier w/fam messaging for fams. All you guys leaving because the extremely cheap, inclusive plan doesn’t fit thier feature phones is your right but you’ll be paying more elsewhere. Why don’t you all voice your displeasure on buzzaboutwireless?
An FCC invesitagation into the Industry practises, could and would also pave the path for the above two solutions!
I think an FCC investigation into the practices of wireless providers is LONG over due. There is no way they should even be asking you what kind of phone you have. If the phone works, it should be activated, no questions asked. It shouldn’t have to be branded with a carrier’s logo, and have a special plan, or whatever. Just let people buy a compatible phone, from wherever they want, and let them activate it on whatever plan they want.
That crap Verizon tried to pull with the GPS on the Mogul was ridiculous. And all the carriers are guilty of doing simiar things (locking down bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, tethering, etc).
Sawlty you make a great point. Me and you have clashed in the past but your point on letting any phone get on any data plan just makes sense. There should not be any types of blocks whatsoever. So for those who say “hats off to sprint or any other company who does anything similar” go on, keep letting companies dictate what you do. Maybe you should move to china and that you can let the government also dictate what you do online. As for the rest of us, we will stand up for ourselves and demand better service.
Man, you people sure get up in arms about this. I dont think the average customers is that worried about it.
I wonder how many of thier subs switched over to the new plans? I did just for the Instinct but returned it because it wasn’t ready and almost picked it up again til rumors of other stuff came about. I feel for those that have older plans but not SERO because those were the 1st everything plans
We will all see what happens when the phone is released. If its true and they require an everything then ill cancel my sero plan and leave the other for my wife and go to verizon and get the omnia. Then ill just get a 20% discount with my job and also have better coverage. So i guess well see what happens. Hey, maybe the retention dept. will let me do it anyway. You never know.
I wish I could follow some of the people on this site around for a day… I wanna see you go to the grocery store and haggle with the manager on the price of eggs..
Mustang-
You can follow me around if you want. I try to haggle all the time. The economy has been a little bad for me so I have become a professional haggler. I can teach you a couple of things about haggling.
If I had already paid for eggs, but when I went to leave they told me it cost extra for the carton because it had a new design, you better believe I would start haggling.
JJ, you will probably be leaving then. I haven’t read about one person who got the Instinct on anything other than an Everything or Everything Plus plan. I understand where you be coming from but you’ll be loosing money because there is no $30 plan anywhere else that includes what SERO does and if you’re planning on getting an Omnia your discount will be for the primary alone which does apply for the data plan too though. If you have become a pro haggler you should recognize where the true value is and just stick w/the Touch Pro or pay the $60 Everything Plus because it still beats what else is out there
Don Louie, My brother in law currently has the htc touch pro on a sero plan and I used to have the instinct on my sero plan before. That is why there is a possibility of getting the pre on my sero plan. The reason I took it off was that I needed a pda phone that did more than the instinct. Plus you are right that I will not be able to find another plan better than the sero but if I have to pay an extra $60 to get the pre, then why not pay a little more and get better coverage with verizon? I can get the 39.99 plan with $5 text package and $30 data package which is $75 total. With the better signal coverage it will more then compensate for not getting the pre. But I will wait till the pre comes out and cross my fingers. Like they say, it doesn’t hurt to try. So we will see what happens. Plus my wife has a sero plan also and if in the end me switching to verizon doesn’t work out I can just call sprint and say I want the same plan as my wife and get the sero plan again.
None that includes nav or entertainment, that’s just me though. I don’t see the big deal as far as SERO is concerned
This might be a record for the amount of posts on the comments section at Phonenews.com. Is it
Hardly. Some of our articles have attracted hundreds of comments.
I like that it has remained on topic and when Christopher brought up how att let’s you add the iphone data to existing plans. That is why I side with people on the old Ultimate and Nav data packs that were turned away from Instinct and will by the Pre too, for SERO holders not so much. Either way the SERO holders go they will still have the best deal going
Many of you may not remember but at the time of the Samsung Instinct Fiasco Sprint Wrote this little tidbit and it’s posted here on PhoneNews.com:
Sprint Responds to SERO Woes: https://phone.news/sprint-responds-to-sero-woes-3699/
What pisses me off is after saying that in fact they would not do this again, here we are!
I have been Twittering / Blogging and emailing Sprint and Palm hoping that they would change their minds on this issue. So far I have yet to get a reply.
Sero Plan Holders need to make a bigger fuss as do older plan holders.
Heck I looked at the Everything Plans but Sprint Refused my plan discount that I have had for years. ATT will let me use my 16% off on an iPhone plan if I decide to purchase it but Sprint won’t.
At this rate Verizon will Own Sprint within what a year, two at the most?
Come On Sprint, your screwing another couple million out of getting a new phone for what? 100,000 may stay for $70 but you lose 900,000 at $40…..
If my calculator is correct this is your gain loss ratio:
Staying Customers 100,000 x $70 = $7,000,000
Loss of Customers 900,000 X $40 = $36,000,000
Net Loss: $29,000,000 — Thats Negative Cash Flow Sprint —