Following up, Sprint has launched the HTC Hero after months of speculation and the first reveal by PhoneNews.com.
The Sprint version of the Hero is functionally identical to the reference GSM version with the same 3.2-inch multitouch capacitive display, 5.0 megapixel camera with video recorder, microSDHC slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, HTML browser and the Sense UI frontend.
The rest of the featureset consists of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with stereo audio support, accelerometer and speakerphone.
Pricing is set at $179.99 after minimum $69.99 Everything Plan or higher selection, $50 instant rebate, $100 mail-in rebate and new 2 year agreement.
Once again, it’s not clear if an everything plan is required. I checked the website and the wording isn’t clear. You essentially need unlimited data. So what about the old plans that so many people have with the unlimited data? Every time I call Sprint, the reps tell me that they’re trying to do everything to get people away from those old plans. I understand why but it’s causing a lot of issues. So once more… is an everything plan REQUIRED to use this phone or can it be activated with an older plan that includes unlimited data?
I just tried ordering my phone through telesales and they said I need an everything plan. They said I need a plan with unlimited data which my plan has. I asked them to explain to me why unlimited data is different than they everything plan and they were unable to. I got transferred to a supervisor and he would not let me upgrade without changing my plan so I just hung up. I have just placed my order online and will see what happens when I get the phone. I have also placed a complaint with the bbb and the fcc. We will see what happens.
You complained to the BBB and FCC??? ROFLMAO You gotta pay to play. You’re not being forced to buy the phone! You sound like those SERO whiners.
Actually, JJ’s got a good point, Ia. Sprint is essentially trying to con people out of money because they can’t keep up with the older things they promised. There really is NO difference between an unlimited data plan and having an everything plan when it comes to data. It’s about time these other agencies stepped in and took aim at Sprint for the misconceptions they’re throwing out. And frankly, it’s good to see people try and be more proactive about things.
For those that don’t understand the difference between the standard unlimited data plan and an Everything plan, the difference is in the inclusion of Sprint Navigation and Sprint TV/Radio access.
None of the above features are provisioned on SERO or older plans with unlimited data, which is why they are specifically spelling out the Everything plan requirement which starts at $69.99. Since the requirement was spelled out in the initial announcement and press release, this should not come as a surprise.
To John: The wording is pretty clear on the dedicated page for the Hero and the online sales page.
Hmm… apparently I’m not being very clear in what I’m saying. When I said there is NO difference between an unlimited data plan and having an everything plan, I specifically said, “when it comes to data.” Sprint Navigation has nothing to do with what I was talking about – nor does Sprint TV or Sprint Radio. While on the subject, some, actually many, of the older unlimited internet plans include Sprint TV and Sprint Radio access. And I’ve actually also seen some old unlimited net plans also include Sprint Navigation. Furthermore, to cite that phones REQUIRE a plan that includes add-ons such as Navigation, Radio or TV would essentially be, to a very major extent, incorrect. Now… once again… there is NO difference between an unlimited data plan and having any of the everything plans when it comes to data. And the initial press release is very specific on citing the forward plans of the company. It is very obvious that they would describe their newer plans as plans that would be attached to these phones. It would make no sense to do it any other way than the way they explained it all in their own press release so that they could essentially advertise their new phone in conjunction with their new-aged plans.
Oh… and To Mr. Saabedra: The wording is misleading because there are no other currently running plans that are advertised other than those shown in your ever-so-thoughtfully placed link. The wording does not explain anything about unlimited data vs the everything plans. And the online sales page misleads the same way. Your misconception is the same as the people out there that think that you cannot have the newer Blackberry Tour on an older SERO or older grandfathered plan. Regardless, thank you for your attempt at explaining this situation, perhaps I didn’t word my previous comments correctly when I was explaining the unlimited data part of these plans.
John, you seem to be making a specious connection between unlimited data being the only requirement necessary in order to get the phone at the above quoted pricing, when Sprint is clearly spelling out the actual plan requirements for the device.
There is a difference in unlimited data plans and it has to do with how the plans are built on Sprint’s end. If the required codes that make up the plan are not found on the account, the phone will not be provisioned correctly, leading to issues.
Its no longer enough to just have unlimited data on your account, you have to have the correct plan in order for everything to work correctly.
HAHAHAHA
whaaa whaaa whaaa…
Like I said before, Sprint isn’t FORCING anyone to buy the phone. It’s clearly spelled out what plan the Hero requires. You gotta pay to play…
I got the phone and love it! I love Sprint! Great service and great phones! Btw any mobile anytime rocks! Thank you Sprint
Why is it that when any phone that comes out that requires an Everything plan, people keep making the same stink about it? This is not gonna change. I cant see the FCC or BBB having any ability to make Sprint change its plans. If you don’t like, go to another carrier and tell Sprint why you left. Its that easy. If Sprint thought this idea was having a negative effect on their bottom line, they wouldn’t keep requiring it.
Sprint is gonna win this argument. I am sorry if your older plan isn’t compatible. I am sure it COULD be if Sprint wanted it to be, but they don’t. Its their decision, not yours. But, whether you continue to be a Sprint customer is completely YOUR decision.
Sprint Tech, the ire stems from Sprint’s previous commitment to not restrict future Smartphones (aside from Instinct) from SERO plans.
Sprint’s failure to deliver on that direct and stated promise will continue to burn them with their most savvy and loyal audience. Personally, I think the bad PR is going to hurt them in the long run, much more than what they’re recouping on people who defect to Android/Pre.
You are right, it is the decision of customers if they want to stay with Sprint or not. Sprint backed away from a promise, how do you think that affects customer opinion of Sprint? How do you think it will affect what carrier they suggest? These aren’t ordinary customers that signed onto SERO. Most are informed, tech-savvy bargain-hunters who have are held to a high regard for their tech decisions in their families and communities.
They word counts more on-average, and Sprint just doesn’t get that. Appeasing a locked-in number of SERO customers, would pay dividends years into the future. Unfortunately, with Dan Hesse dodging interviews from us and others in the online media, I don’t think they’re getting the message.
I might take some heat on my view but SERO is just a very unprofitable service to offer and its a smart decision to not offer it because otherwise it gets abused….
Sprint all ready has the lowest price point on their everything plans and offer discounts just to about everyone.
Did you know if you bank at a credit union you get a discount??
They have dramatically improved their service and handset offerings since Dan Hesse took over.
Do any other carriers even offer a plan close to SERO?? Not that I know of.
Thanks Chris … you have captured the essence of the real problem.
Although I am not a SERO customer, I have a phenomenal ‘grandfathered’ plan and will eventually leave Sprint because I am being held hostage. Why, because I am not allowed to move to many of the newer phones and keep my plan. Once I finally decide that technology has passed by the monetary benefit that I am getting from my current plan, then I will most likely leave Sprint. As Chris stated about the SERO customers who others look to for guidance on purchasing phones, I am one of those people and am already sending people to other carriers … unless price is their primary consideration … even then there are often other good choices.
Also, like the SERO customers, I was promised things on my current plan that Sprint is no longer willing to accommodate, which is flat wrong … if only, because it does not build brand loyalty. If a vendor cannot follow thru with their promises, then why should customers be loyal to them. At this point, it is clearly a dog-eat-dog situation. Sprint, as well as other carriers, aren’t looking out for us, so why should we loyal to them. All it would take is for these companies to realize the value that long-term customers bring to their top/bottom line.
Long term customers don’t buy on price, they buy for other reasons, the biggest is loyalty! It is time for BIG corporations to bring loyalty (trust) back. These companies may not win the hearts of wall-streeters in the short-term, but they will be the last ones standing in the end.
I still say it’s a lot of whining about nothing, Sprint would go a long way by making the Pro Pack the mandatory data plan for said phones but no sympathy for SERO holders
GP, does a $30 plan not build loyalty?
Some of you guys just dont get it. Its not the fact that they are forcing you, it is the fact that when people on the sero plan purchased the plan they were told they would have unlimited data and any phone with data would work on the plan. I understand that the everything plan includes unlimited data including gps and tv. But these phones don’t require the tv and gps to work. If unlimited data is included in a plan and the customer doesn’t wish to use gps or tv then they don’t need to use it. In the end sprint is still loosing customers left and right. If sprint would rather loose 2 sero lines just for forcing one of those into an everything plan then so be it.
@JJ Did sprint really not give any terms to the time the SERO plan would be valid??
The BBB and FCC might have something to do with this forcing of the data plan. Sprint infringing on the “net neutrality” rule not to mention the “bait and switch”. Data is the same no matter what phone you use. If you were offered unlimited data you should get unlimited data. If you want to use gps and tv then you can pay extra. A phone does not need these things added to the account for a phone to work. This will probably bite sprint on the rear end and they will continue to bleed loyal customers. Plus there aren’t many sero plans out there so it wouldn’t hurt sprint. This is just a company focused on the almighty dollar instead of good customer service and loyalty.
I Like Dan Hesse, Sprint did give us a timeline. They said directly to PhoneNews.com that future smartphones would not be prohibited from SERO.
It’s Sprint’s own fault for committing to keep SERO in parity with their Everything plans in terms of device support.
It’s Sprint own fault for committing to only exclude Instinct from SERO plans, alongside the Everything plan requirements.
If there aren’t many SERO plans out there, it’s a false premise to argue that Sprint would have a motive to exclude them from new smartphones. It would make no sense for them to go back on their direct, explicit promise.
There clearly is a large SERO base with a profit motive to back these changes… something I’ve run the staggering numbers on in previous articles.
The simple truth is, GO TO ANOTHER CARRIER if you dont want to upgrade! I can appreciate the broken promises rhetoric, et all but people this is BUSINESS. Sprint finally realized that being the “cool” provider didnt make sense financially, and these bad decisions cost them a ton of money. At some point, they were going to make better decisions, piss off some loyal customers, and get back to the business of being profitable.
Let’s blame SERO on Gary D. Forsee.
Dan Hesse has changed the culture at Sprint and most folks that switch over to them are happy they did….They are not just happy in their wallets…handsets and service are great too!
@ Sprint Tech
You are missing the point … money does not build loyalty … trust builds loyalty.
$30 plan doesn’t build loyalty anymore that a $100 plan would, if the promises made by the company are not kept, especially the promises made when one purchases/activates a plan. The only thing that a $30 plan does is keep people around because they are cost conscious.
For example, my plan (not a SERO plan) costs more than $30/month and I would be more loyal if Sprint would keep the promises that they made when the plan was activated. By the way, I have been a Sprint/Nextel customer for 10+ years … so I think that I have some credibility on the subject of loyalty.
Also, if you read my comment above you notice that the primary reason that I am staying at Sprint is because of the monetary considerations (cost effectiveness) not because I am loyal anymore. I was once a strong advocate of Sprint … but the company stopped keeping their promises … so I stopped being loyal.
@ JJ
I also agree with JJ that anyone should be able to use any phone with their account … some customers don’t want or need Sprint TV, NASCAR, GPS, etc. Sprint should allow customers to buy ANY Sprint authorized phone and activate it. By not allowing this, Sprint is telling long-term customers, if they want a newer phone, that they should shop for a new plan.
Well then, if a customer has to shop for a new plan then why not shop other carriers … this is one reason why Sprint is losing so many customers. If they would let customers buy the newer phones and activate them, then we would not go anywhere else … more importantly, we wouldn’t even look anywhere else, so we wouldn’t be tempted to leave. Please understand … I am not suggesting more services for these people … we just want to use our current plans on a newer phone.
@ I Like Dan Hesse
You say that Dan Hesse has changed the culture of Sprint … he may have … but let me share with you an example of his new culture.
Remember the advertisement where he put up his email address and said that if you had a complaint, suggestion, etc., that you should write him … I think the email address was dan@sprint.com. One would think that this is a forward, consumer oriented move … I sure did.
So I wrote to the email address … it took three (3) emails and two (2) months before I got a response. The person that responded was not professionally equipped to handle the job (trust me on this, as I evaluate potential executives for employment everyday). Finally, two weeks after getting the returned email, I finally got a call from the same person who emailed me and she promised to check out two (2) things/issues and get back with me. Well, to make a long story short, I never heard back from this person … even after I sent, at least, two (2) more follow up emails and one phone call. This behavior does not build trust in anyone, let alone customers.
Please note that I am a 10+ year Sprint/Nextel customer who doesn’t want to leave, but I don’t feel that Sprint is doing the things necessary to build the kind of loyalty that long-term customers deserve.
So, if Dan Hesse has changed the culture … then I hope the next CEO takes it a step further.
@ Christopher Price
I would like to add one thing to your comment above …
Sprint did not restrict the Instinct (and now other smartphones) from just SERO accounts. My plan is not a SERO plan and Sprint will not allow either the Instinct and Pre to be activated on my plan.
I haven’t checked yet but I doubt that I will be able to activate either the Hero or the Instinct HD on my current plan.
What’s annoying is that the sales representatives don’t know if the phone can be activated on the older plans or not. One representative told me that it won’t be a problem to activate the Hero on my SERO plan, but since my plan is not eligible for an upgrade yet I was not able to upgrade. Then I called back to double check, and the next representative told me that I would need to change my plan in order to get the Hero. I understand that Sprint might not be making money on the old SERO plans (although I can’t imagine that providing service to me is costing them more than $30 a month), but either way they should be loyal to their customers. I don’t know if the BBB or FCC can do anything about this, but I don’t think that it’s appropriate for companies to start forcing their customers to change to newer plans by not allowing them to get any new phones. I have been recommending Sprint to friends, and have referred 4 people (regular plans) 2 SERO plans, and I don’t know how many people the people I referred have brought over. Every one of these people signed a 2 year contract and will be charged if they decide to terminate their contract early. On the other hand Sprint decides not to honor commitments they have made to the customers that have been acting as recruiters for them. The bottom line is that the handful of people that are still on SERO plans or other non-Everything plans can not be hurting Sprint’s bottom line and singling us out and telling us that unless we get a newer plan we will not be treated with respect (the way customers should be treated) and will not be allowed to upgrade our phones is just despicable and insulting.
Did anyone try out the hero yet??
Anyword if phonenews is going to a review?? I know Chris much have a lot of feedback on andriod and this would be the perfect phone to review and share it out!
I understand sprint is in the business of making money but the way that they get the money is through customers. Not new customers, but repeat customers who are happy with their service. Alienating more customers by forcing a more expensive plan in the economic status that we are living in is not helping them. Me and my wife not to mention my brother in law, sister and my mother all have a sero plans. If we can’t upgrade to a phone that we like because sprint doesn’t want to then we can just switch to another phone service that gives better customer service and better coverage. Not to mention there is a pay as you go $30 plan that gives you 1000 minutes, unlimited text and picture and 300mb of data and it runs on the verizon network. So we are really trying to stay loyal to sprint, but it works both ways. Hey don’t get me wrong, if you guys that agree with this want to pay for the more expensive plans for me I will go ahead and switch. But don’t keep forcing the “every size fits all” plan on people. It doesn’t work that way.
@JJ, when you signed up for the SERO plan, all phones were compatible. You can’t expect every phone in the future to be compatible with your plan. Times change, things get adjusted. I understand it sucks you cant activate a few phones on your plan, but you have an awesome deal. I just dont see the big deal. You still have plenty of other good devices to choose from. If you want to leave your plan and go pay more elsewhere, thats your choice. Sprint is losing customers, yes, but I dont think they truly mind losing a few SERO customers over this. Like I said, if this was hurting them, they wouldnt do it. I think enough people are switching plans to offset the few who cancel.
Dan Hesse is doing a good job. He is trying to do a huge turnaround, and it isn’t easy.
@Igor. If they were requiring new plans on ALL PDA phones, you would have a valid argument. But its only required on 5 phones right now. The Instinct, Instinct s30, the Instinct HD, Pre, and Hero. 3 of those arent event PDA phones. Blackberry never worked on a $30 SERO plan without adding the BB Data plan but no one ever complains about that.
@sprint tech
Excellent points on Hesse and Sero requiring $30 extra for BB data. It seems to me that most folks on here dont really use BB.
Personally I save a bundle on my Sprint plan since I have 5 lines and 3 of those lines have a BB on them.
PS GO BB TOUR!!!
The only valid point is this. Shop around and see if you can find a reputable 3G coverage/plan that is more affordable than Sprint’s Everything/Any Mobile, Any Time plans.
On the other hand, if you still feel that they are cheating you of good phones you could keep your old plans and still have a viable “smart phone” option if you choose the HTC Touch Pro 2 (Windows Mobile).
Business models change, and Sprint reserves the right to make decisions that is in their business’ best interest. You can’t please everyone all the time, and they would much rather attract new customers for these new phones than make customers paying $30 a month happy.
Bottom line is you (people on incompatible plans) dont agree with their policy because it negatively affects YOU. In the big picture, they are doing the right thing.
@Sprint Tech,
I believe that a company should support their previous plans just as much as they support new ones. In two years, maybe sprint will decide to unveil an upgraded Everything plan which include more features than just navigation and tv. That doesn’t mean that everyone has to right away switch to the new plan. People who benefit from the new plan should switch, and those who don’t should be rewarded for being loyal customers and keep their previous plan.
Companies have always strived to improve their plans and therefore having the users switch to the new plans. Most people no longer have the plans that they had 5 years ago, because those plans were either over priced or did not include enough features.
Now sprint came up with a new idea, — They’ll create plans with the same features for more money, and will force you to get the new plan by not allowing you to use any of the new phones until you pay them more. I would understand if the new phones did not run properly on some plans but this is not the case.
Most of the people that are being denied an upgrade have unlimited data, no different then the data offered in the everything plans. Sprint navigation and sprint tv are extra feature which are extra services which can be added to a plan if the customer decides that he/she needs it, but in no way are those services required in order for a phone to function properly. Therefore there should be no reason that these plans are not allowed to get the new phones.
At one point companies kept customers captive by holding on to their phone-number, but eventually the government stepped in and said that keeping a person’s phone number is not fair. I’m assuming that if this continues and companies start forcing people to get new plans by not letting them get the newer phones, it will draw enough attention to bring about change.
How are they doing the right thing? I don’t understand why they can’t do both, attract new customers as well as support the previous customers. If sprint only focuses on attracting new customers, eventually they will run out of people to attract. Once a person leaves because they are not treated properly, they will not come back.
Sprint is setting a president, showing that they are willing to screw over their previous customers in order to make some extra money and therefore no customer is safe. At some point Sprint may decide to change all of the plans again, and then what, everyone with Everything plans will have to switch plans or won’t be able to get new phones because of “compatibility issues”.
@ Sprint Tech
You keep missing the point.
Yes, we are negatively affected … because Sprint did not follow thru with what they promised.
Let’s try it this way … I don’t know if you are married or seriously dating someone … but imagine your significant other telling you that they have decided that they ‘now’ want to date someone else. They still want to keep you around, but not on the terms that you agreed to when you committed to them. You didn’t do anything wrong … you completely fulfilled your end of the arrangement … you even believed them when they told you that they really wanted you. Here it is now … a changed playing field. You can’t stop them, but you aren’t going to be happy and clearly aren’t going to trust them. Sure, this is better for ‘them’ in the long term. It is still wrong … and sucks for you!
Yes, business models change … and when they do the customers that don’t get what has been promised will find services and companies better suit their needs … and if it about getting what they are promised then it is about trust. People will pay more for things that they know they can count on being there for them. Once the bond of trust is broken a company will have a very hard time getting a customer back.
I don’t know if you looked at Sprint’s churn rate recently … but it isn’t good. A company doesn’t churn customers because they are doing good things. Please do some research on the real cost of losing customers. Studies show that the cost of losing customers is greater than the cost of acquiring new customers. I think that you will find that the replacing 2 SERO customers with an ‘Everything’ customer is a net loss for quite some time. On paper, it looks like it is win, but in reality adding up all the costs, it takes a long time for the new ‘Everything’ customer to make up the lost costs. The goal should be to keep your long-term customers AND add the new ones … not replace them.
Oh, and don’t forget the adage … it takes one person to tell 10 people how bad something is but it takes 10 people to tell even one person when something is good. So, in the example above, losing two SERO customers means that they will likely be telling 20 people how bad Sprint is. The new Everything customer will maybe tell one person how good things are.
Just so we are on the same page … for new customers the Everything Plans are a good bang for the buck. On the surface, better than the competition … but money isn’t the whole reason for buying and Sprint is losing the battle on some of the other fronts. The main ones are in-building coverage, geographic coverage and TRUST! Yes, the other carriers have their issues … hopefully trust isn’t one of them or they will also be in this predicament sooner or later. Just ask T-Mobile about losing all their Danger customer’s data … oops!
We will have to agree to disagree. You people seem to think things last forever. Things change. Economics change. Just because Sprint does something you dont agree with doesn’t mean its wrong. I keep hearing all the complaints, but I never actually hear about a SERO customer canceling Sprint. All bark, no bite. Ranting and raving won’t change Sprint’s mind.
BTW, coverage is so subjective. Don’t tell me just because there is one area where Sprint is having trouble means they are bad everywhere. Around my area, its great. I cant remember the last time I had a dropped call. It has to be at least 2-3 years.
I also dont remember Sprint ever publically saying the $30 will ALWAYS AND FOREVER be compatible with all phones as long as you have service with Sprint. They’d be foolish to give that kind of promise. You keep saying they are breaking promises, but I dont see that. I’ve been with Sprint for years. I real all the internal news and press releases. Again, this is all over 5 phones.
BTW, the mass majority of the churn is IDEN customers. I dont think debate really involves those loses. Sure, a few might be, but not all, or even a lot of them are from data plan requirements. Sprint’s problem isn’t so much losing customers. Its that they are not gaining enough new ones. If you compare the amount of people who leave Sprint each quarter, its not as bad as it looks. Its just they aren’t gaining customer in mass like the other carriers are.
Obviously, we wont change each ohers minds on this topic. So, I will politely bow out. But, Dan Hesse is not an idiot. He’s a pretty smart guy. If letting SERO customers have the Hero and Pre is such an obviously good idea as you keep insisting on, I am sure he would have made it happen. I trust Dan Hesse over random people on the internet.
@sprint tech, how is the everything data plan different from the unlimited data plan? Data is the same no matter where it comes from. The only difference is that you get gps and tv for free. That is my point. Data is data no matter where it comes from, how you get, or what device you use. Have you ever heard of net neutrality? Just because sprint says they are adding more features to a plan doesn’t make other phones not work with it. You really need to be careful, with this mindset your going to continue to loose customers and you never know, your store might me be one of the ones sprint is thinking of laying off employees at. Sprint doesn’t have to much leg room to piss off customers. As you can still see clearly they still have the highest churn rate in the market. I wonder why?
@sprint tech, You say most of the churning comes from iden customers? Where do you get your info from? Even if that is correct, isn’t that still sprint? I understand if iden customers where leaving iden and coming over to the sprint side but their not. So that is still Sprint as a whole churning customers. I wouldn’t stand there and defend sprint to boldly. You might be one of the employees on their target to get laid off. Unbelievable at the stupidity of sprint employees. Not only do they not know what they are talking about, but they think that forcing a customer to pay more in this economy is going to fix their issues. Like that saying goes “GIVE ME A BREAK!”
I agree that forcing the everything plans on existing customers is bogus. I don’t have SERO plan; in fact, I pay $85/month for a Fair and Flexible family plan with data on one line and texting on the other line. I have no problem paying a little bit more to get the $30 pro pack for my line in order to upgrade to the hero. The problem is that my wife doesn’t use any data and doesn’t even want to. In order to get a plan that would allow me to upgrade, I would need to either split us into two individual plans that in the end will cost us $110 instead of $85, or get the data share plan that will cost us $130. On top of that, I don’t use texting, sprint tv, radio, or gps; all I do is check my email, weather, and surf the web a little (approx. 50 MB per month). I don’t like being forced to pay a ton of extra money to get services that my wife and I don’t need just so that I can upgrade to a newer smart phone. Also, Windows Mobile and Blackberry do not impress me, so don’t even bother telling me that I have options for smart phones. Why is it that the phones with the open OSes are going to cost me more in the end? Yes, it is true that comparing an everything plan to an equivalent plan on another carrier is going to be cheaper, but if I compare the everything plan to a plan on another carrier that has only the services that I need (or even want), I will still save money by going somewhere else. By the way, I have been a customer with sprint for almost 9 years and don’t want to leave, but it has been made clear to me that if I want a more modern smart phone, then I don’t have much of a choice.
Boz, that is exactly my point. You hit it right on the mark. The OS on a phone does not make it access a different type of data. They all access the same network. Right now I am paying around $65 for me and my wifes phone. If I get the hero it will jump up to $95. How is that fair?
In the end if I have to get rid of my 2 lines with sprint I will do that and switch to verizon. At least I’ll have a signal when I enter a building and get customer service that actually knows what they are talking about.
If I’m going to pay more I will just switch to a company that actually makes a difference when it comes to customer service and signal coverage.
Boz and other with actual legacy plan have valid points, not SERO, if Sprint would allow the Pro Pack on said phones is that appeasing enough? Maybe Sprint will make the Pro Pack the official data plan for all the feature/smartphones in the future but until then a migration of plans is necessary. SERO holders are allowed to migrate to the EREP (those plans are cheaper with more minutes than public ones) plans w/no problems, when I tried I was shot down.
hey don louie, what are the erep plans?
This happened to me when the original Instinct came out last year and my $110 + $10 3 line 2100 minute fam plan with $20 text, $25 Ultimate Pack, $20 Nav Pack and free Vision plus $7 each for ins. wasn’t compatible. I went from paying $206 before taxes to $171, sure I lost 500 minutes but I saved $35 and won’t have any problem getting any phone. My case will differ from others but you have to weigh it out
JJ, EREP (Employee Referal Everything Plus) are the plans that replaced SERO that have all the current plans have with more minutes while costing less. 500 minutes is $60 and 1000 minutes is $80, SERO can migrate to those plans at will not legacy plans though
Got it. I thought erep plans were only for new customers. thats good to know. If in the end I stick it out with sprint, it will probably be the erep plan unless sprint gives me something else.
Those plans are for new subs but they will migrate SERO with no problems, they ought to make this an option for legacy plans too. I do hope they eventually make the Pro Pack a the Instincts, Web OS’s and Androids
@ Sprint Tech
Again … you missed the point.
A broken promise is a broken promise!! You say that Sprint would be stupid to promise ALWAYS AND FOREVER. Well, would you like to see the emails that I have from retention? I have, in writing, from Sprint, that I could do certain things on my plan in perpetuity (just in case, it means forever). Now they tell me that I can’t. So by your own description, Sprint is, in fact, stupid. How are you going to argue with your own logic?
Yes, coverage is subjective … but how about this for objective. I live in an area without EVDO service, as we are still on 1xRTT data. We have been told EVDO was coming for 2+ years. Sprint even has the equipment purchased sitting in a warehouse for about a year now, but said they don’t have enough money to install the equipment. It isn’t subjective that we don’t have 3g coverage. That kills two birds with one stone … a broken promise and no coverage.
By the way, it is a fact that Sprint’s frequency is not as powerful as the 800 Mhz frequencies of Verizon and ATT for building penetration. So, please don’t tell us that this is also subjective.
Yes, we will disagree … and I commend you for following your leader … but there is a voice that needs to be heard in this discussion … the voice of the consumer! When that voice speaks the company needs to listen. You have dismissed us on this forum as “random people on the internet” and you are blatant enough to have the handle ‘Sprint Tech’. So are you representative of what we should expect from other ‘Sprint Tech’s’? That we are just unhappy people and shouldn’t be listened to? Good Job!!! Now you have alienated some good Sprint customers even further!!! Now, call Dan Hesse and tell him that we don’t matter and that you even wrote that to us!! By the way, do you feel this way ‘FOREVER AND ALWAYS’?
The voice of the customer is speaking and by your own admission Sprint is not able to acquire new customers fast enough … not sure if you are aware, but the is what ‘churn’ means in your industry. Sprint customers are defecting and you don’t have enough to attract people from other companies. So, wouldn’t it be smart to keep as many of the long-term customers as possible?
@ boz
You hit the nail on the head!! My plan (not a SERO plan) would also have to split two lines of service, so my bill would double in price. If my bill will double, then it makes sense to look elsewhere.
In fact, my bill would increase so much that if I kept my same plan and got an iPod Touch with a MiFi for the data, that I would save a ton of money. Just so we are clear I would even recoup the cost of the iPod Touch in only a matter of months with cost savings from doubling my bill. By the way, if I do this it will likely be a Verizon Mifi and then I have a data card for a laptop too!
We are long-term customers and Sprint is not recognizing that they are using too much force on the pry bar, and instead of moving us to a new plan, they are moving us to new carriers.
Thanks Boz … good explanation!
Great comment GP! That is exactly what is happening here. In the end it is the consumer who makes a cell phone company great. In this situation sprint is not helping themselves out.