Surprise! Sprint loses more customers and money 103
Wed, 10 Feb 2010 6:02 pm EST 
You’ve got to feel a bit of pity for Sprint. They’ve improved their network, coverage, stores, plans, phones, and customer service only to keep losing customers and money every quarter. As noted at eWeek, at least the losses are getting to the less painful stage: Sprint’s post-paid (traditional contract) subscriber count dropped by 148,000 in last quarter of 2009, though that’s nowhere near as bad as the 545,000 subscriber loss posted the previous quarter. Sprint’s also losing less money, with $980 million disappearing from the coffers, as compared to $1.6 billion the same quarter last year.
Additionally, Sprint’s also posted gains in their pre-paid count, adding 435,000 customers to their Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile brands. But those brands operate at a pretty hefty discount, and that’s not helping Sprint’s bottom line. It is worth noting that the bottom line has been affected by large costs related to the acquisition of the previously-mentioned Virgin Mobile and regional sub-operater iPCS, as well as investments in WiMax quasi-subsidiary/provider Clearwire.
At the very least CEO Dan Hesse and Sprint investors have to be happy that the pace of losses has slowed. Whether they’re just thinning out the herd so that only Sprint loyalists remain, or we’re looking at a slow change in the public’s perception of Sprint remains to be seen.
[via: MobileCrunch]
103 Comments
wow that's pretty sad. I love sprint I get great service in brooklyn and great data speeds. It's sad to see sprint not getting recognized as much as it should. First!!
I completely agree with you, although I'm not from Brooklyn. I get great service and I love Sprint. I was with Verizon before switching over and the customer service sucks from Verizon. Sprint customer service is the best and I have been a pain in the a** at times. Sprint is the best!!!
I also used to have Verizon before switching to Sprint. It's not that Verizon reception sucked, it was just so damn expensive.
With a Pre in my hands, Sprint as my carrier, it doesn't really get better than that.
if you guys talking on plans service totally rite great. But if you wanna talk about speed data :( not really it takes for ever to load the whole page on low signal as for verizon even on 1x is pretty fast and I can say the big different from sprint speed data and verizon speed data because I was with sprint almost 6 years and I totally got tired of complaning all the time speed data not fast enought for my killer machine palm pre soo yeaa :( I moved to verizon as soon the got the new killer pre plus and wowowo data speed totally rocks, by the way I did a lil test w my cousing and her boyfriend palm pres ofcourse first deleting all cokies and loading precentral.net page and yupp verizon won for almos 60sec on 1X. So like a said before sprint on 1X :( it takes for ever.
If the Pre2 is Sprint-exclusive, I will flip.
it will be
I have great service. I always laugh at the att and verizon guys that are standing by windows to use the phone.
yes, me too! And laugh when they say verizon coverage is better.. Maybe some places, but I've never seen a difference compared to my best friends service. Oh, and data is faster on Sprint most times also. I have noticed slower internet in buildings with the palm pre though, as my palm centro would get signals EVERYWHERE. Palm pre's antenena must not be as strong as the centros
true
My service is good, but no better than my old Verizon service. Price-wise I am way ahead of the game. As far as customer service goes, I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with one of their reps who treated me like crap. Also, the store we bought from screwed things up and we had to fight to get the corporate discount we were due. We ended up getting it, but they didn't cover the prior 6 months. I'll go back to Verizon when this contract is up.
we just switched from verizon and there is no difference in coverage. Just cheaper! Hope sprint will be ok.
we just switched from verizon and there is no difference in coverage. Just cheaper! Sprint should be ok, right?
I've happily been married to Sprint for almost 15 yrs. I was extremely happy with my service when i lived in NYC and now here in "Coldlanta".
sprint's service it's that great I live in atlanta and I hardly ever get more than 3 bars and I stay roaming only reason I'm still with them is cuz I don't have to pay the bill not to mention the original is horrible I luv the software but the hardware gives out after a month of use.
Maybe a bit of punctuation and grammar will help. On a separate note, i know many people in Atlanta and I have never heard any of them say Sprint is no good in that area. You are the first. Probably a problem caused by the user.
yeah, I call bs. My sister lives in atlanta & uses sprint without issue. Also, not a problem when I visit.
unless I'm in english class or I'm writin for some sort of professional reason my grammar really isn't really an issue. On anotha note I don't know where theses people you know may live but I'm downtown and almost always on 1 to 3 bars I don't see how the would be caused by the user.
well the lack of punctuation makes it hard to read your post. i mean a simple period or even a comma here and there would help.
There is a reason for the bleeding of customers. It is called Nextel. While they are developing the CDMA network and working on WiMax, the Nextel customers are essentially second class citizens. Most of those find their way over to Verizon.
nextel was sprints biggest mistake.
And poor marketing was their next. AT&T has well publicized problems and yet they continue to keep their customers.
Sprint should offer a free Palm Pre smartphone with a touchstone back-cover to their existing customers for renewing their contract. Sprint is losing their postpaid subscribers at an alarming rate - these are usually the most valued and potentially loyal customers. Get them hooked on the best smartphone in the industry and Sprint's "churn rate" will go down.
So TRUE!!
Buying Nextel was their BIGGEST mistake.
100000000000% AGREE
Exactly, why won't these so-called analyst ever point that out? They also do not point out, the Nextel customer who cancels, more than likely switches over to Sprints CDMA!
Umm, no. If they were switching to Sprint's CDMA they wouldn't show up as a lost customer. Sprint's total # of customers is dropping, which means customers are either giving up their cell phones (unlikely) or switching to another carrier.
I'm sure Nextel is a contributing factor, but so is the lack of new phones. Android phones get announced almost daily for other carriers, and Sprint's still got the same aging Hero and Moment, still running old versions of Android. The Pre? I think the effort Verizon has put into marketing the Pre, compared to the Droid, tells you how important the Pre is (not very).
Verizon and AT&T tout their coverage and capability, Sprint's ads tout, what? I'm still not sure what their ads tell me. I don't see anything I can't do on other carriers. (Except for 4G, but there aren't any 4G phones yet.) Sprint should be hammering, over and over and over how much more expensive Verizon and AT&T are. The average consumer has no idea how much money they waste on Verizon.
totally, Sprint needs to make price their major marketing point. I loved the dunkin donuts in space ad! Bring it on!
...give it a little time and you'll see that number improve ESPECIALLY with all the complaints from Verizon's extra data fees for all their "cool" phones to AT&T's lack of 3G coverage. I'm pretty sure they'll see a gain in Q1 of this year. I think the only reason why other carriers (Verizon, AT&T, and Tmobile) are gaining huge numbers is due to their wide selection of phones. Yes, the service should be of most important factor in choosing a carrier...but come on...who would choose Verizon if all they had were slider phones?!? Thought so!
I have faith in both Palm and Sprint.
Sprint has not played it's hand with smart phones well. The Palm Pre still cost $250 to Sprint's customers before mail-in rebate. And most customers do not like dealing with a third-party to renew their contracts. Sprint is simply poor at pricing their phones and marketing. When Verizon offers these customers buy-one-get-one-free smartphone deals, they leave Sprint. People (many at least) don't care spending $20 more a month, especially if they have a perception of better service; but spending $150 more on a smart phone clearly affects consumer behavior.
It's really disheartening to see sprint numbers really goes down every time! I'll have to agree, living in NY and has service with Sprint (over 7 years+), Verizon & T-mobile...I love my sprint service, Palm Pre, and the bill better than the other two are combined even more! I wish people give it a shot to sprint and let them try for themself the signal quality, data rate, speed, & value combines with a smart phone like Palm Pre and itbrainer why anyone shouldn't switch to sprint. Keep in mind I am a heavy user of voice and data for my business than most people and sprint helps me do just that better than anyone!
I think they might still be suffering from their image of worst customer service ever. When I started with Sprint PCS, their customer service was the worst ever. I used to use Sprint as an insult: That is worse than sprint's customer's service.
I know people who will never consider Sprint because of their pre-nextel service. Their customer service is pretty good now, but once you make a reputation, its very hard to change it.
I also switched from Verizon for the Pre back in October, and coverage has been the same. In-fact, some areas I get better reception than on Verizon.
Sprint did mess up my bill a number of times, but they were prompt on fixing it. Customer Service quality depends on who you get on the phone, but I can tell they're trying to improve. So far so good for me. It confuses me as to why people keep dropping Sprint...
I love Sprint, and have no reason to switch out. Once "Pre2" hits, I'll just be happier.
Sprint doesn't advertise just as well as the other big companies.
The American people are so stupid that they need to see advertisements to form an opinion.
They think, "Oh, Sprint doesn't advertise much and aren't as creative with their marketing as AT&T and Verizon, they must not be good."
I have seen a lot of Sprint commercials. Do you watch the NFL? Nascar? I must see 5 or more commercial from Sprint nightly.
Notice they have been the same for 8+ months and don't market the Palm Pre at all.
They say "Get the Palm Pre" but don't tell you what its about.
Refer to my post saying Sprint is poor at marketing their products.
Exactly. They don't really say all that much. Their marketing department probably doesn't want to use any technical terms or supply any interesting info. But they forget that the technical people often drive sales for the non-technical (people ask me all the time what to buy, what to avoid, why, etc).
All the fighting between AT&T and Verizon in the ads over coverage, speed, and signal quality make it SEEM like Sprint is way behind them on all three, which is just not true. Yet Sprint doesn't really address that in their commercials, either. Sometimes saying nothing is not good.
But Sprint's commercials lack that cool factor. The android commercials are WAY cooler than the Pre commercials...oh, wait. THERE AREN't ANY!!!!!
You are correct. Where is the Palm Pre advertisement that showcases its many wonderful features? Verizon spent $100 million advertising the Droid. Before you think that is a lot of money, imagine this, it comes to only $100 per phone. Yet Verizon is estimated to have sold about 1 million Droid phones in one month. When Sprint gets a new customer from Best Buy, they pay Best Buy $300 for that customer, and yet they could not run a major advertising campaign for the Palm Pre phone. Sprint is a poor marketing company.
Sprint's brand is severely tarnished, I honestly think they're to the point where they need to change their name and start over.
EXACTLY RIGHT!
I've been saying this for some time now. Change names, get a new image, get a hip spokesperson and they're all set!
I've been w/Sprint for over 10 yrs now. For the first 2 yrs the c.s. was terrible. But, since then I've had a better than average experience.
For a time Sprint had the best selection of handsets, but, they let the other catch up then pass them. They need to do someting about this.
Their advertising should touch on their improvements in c.s. and how much less expensive the plans are. That may help.
Sprint is the best value in wireless. Period. I don't understand why people don't realize that. I have never had problems with their service, except for the occasional screw up, but that's very VERY rare. Customer service could still improve and be a bit more open to stuff, but that does not break a deal. Their prices are perfect, and they have great phones and deals. I don't understand why they still don't have a gain!
I know people like Dieter are all about Verizon, and yeah, I understand they have a much larger network, but they are also much more expensive, and its NOT worth the price. And Sprint will cover where humans are, so why pay 120 dollars for unlimited plus 10 dollars for GPS plus 10 dollars for that verizon TV thingy and not get Nascar or NFL live..... so 140 dollars for not as much stuff.... while I pay $60 for everything unlimited except calls to house phones, and I only use about 70 minutes of that (out of 450).
I say Go Sprint. Period. I have much faith in Sprint and Dan Hesse.
Technically, you do get some calls unlimited with anymobile, anytime! :) GO SPRINT!
I have had only good experience in my 5 yrs with Sprint. I think if people do research instead of watch TV they would see the advantages. I recently went to a Verizon store to see the Pre+ (I had to find it and show the guy what it was) and left laughing at their ridiculous prices and "wicked overlord" mentality.
Love Palm, love Sprint. Love the little guy.
Was it David or Goliath left headless? :)
dat would be totally awesomeness, Comcast wireless! or how bout Google wireless!!!!!
Sprint did it to themselves. They've had bad Customer Service Reps (CSR) for years. I mean, it was almost like they intentionally hire people who love to screw you over. Now that they do have better service the perception is still there.
Perception is everything. I think the only way the bleeding stops is if they're purchase by another company and have a name change, Comcast Wireless?
They will do better if they just axe Nextel. That is where they are losing all their customers.
I don't understand the fixation people have on customer service. I've talked to them like 6 times in 10 years.
I'm more interested in Price, Coverage, Phones.
Sprint has all three covered, at least in my area anyway.
I've been with Sprint for 12 years. Initially the customer service was poor...I think those individuals has either moved on or was fired...because the last three years customer service has been great. The signal strength for me has never been an issue for me in Las Vegas, Nv. I
NOW will they lower the prices on the pre and pixi???
I absolutely LOVE sprint! They have the BEST plans - coverage is awesome - been with them for 10 years and would never switch! I have pulled more people over from Verizon & AT&T when they see the plans - so many people don't pay attention to that! I swear - I should work for the company!
I root for T-mobile and Sprint... otherwise, all we would have left is a duopoly of at&t and verizon... who would want that???
people miss that point. we definitely don't want only two choices, unless you like paying more.
Competition was the only thing that got VZW to drop the text out of network fees. Go Sprint - Go T-Mobile
I find the generalizations people make about carriers pretty entertaining. Touting Sprint as it goes down the tubes, and bashing AT&T as the network with the poorest coverage / highest prices / crappies support.
I have AT&T - my wife has Sprint. I have full bars anywhere in my house. She has to go outside. I have full bars anywhere inside my office. All the Sprint peeps there have to go outside. I have no opinion about AT&T's customer support because I've never had to call them for any reason whatsoever in the 12 years I've been a customer.
So based on my experience I do hope you'll indulge me as I hop on the bash/tout bandwagon: Sprint sucks. AT&T shines.
With that being said, you REALLY should mention thats its just how it is in where you live. I live in the SF Bay Area, and AT&T sucks. Going outside won't even do you any good since you're not gonna get signal anyways! All my iPhone 3GS got was, "Could not activate Cellular Data" or whatever silliness I had to endure. And calls constantly drop on major freeways. And I didn't get "signal" in my house even though I had bars. Sprint on the other hand, is fantastic and I have yet to have horrible coverage. So, in your words, based on my experience: AT&T sucks and Sprint just blows them away.
Every carrier has dead spots. At one of my client sites, I get full bars on Sprint, and nothing on Verizon. So based on a sample size of one, Verizon has horrible coverage everywhere.
The plural of anecdote is not data.
I hope I never lose sprint. I currently have 5 phones with essentially everything you could ask in terms of service (e.g. texting, internet, navigation, any mobile minutes) and it only costs $180 after taxes and fees (and a good company discount). Oh, and the free AIRAVE at the house means I get perfect reception at all times.
They have YEARS of stereotypes and bad stigma to overcome (poor customer service, horrible billing issues, poor phone selection, etc). Having improved customer service, pricing, and phone selection in just the past year is nowhere near enough time to rebound from so much past negativity.
Unfortunately, it will take time... perhaps even another year or two. Can they hold on that long? I hope so...
If Sprint can maintain their price edge and perhaps carry an updated version of the Pre in July, I will certainly stay with them.
I just switched my family plan to Sprint in october after 10 years with Verizon and broke contract to do it. In the short time since then I've already broken even with the savings despite the fact that I have a higher plan with Sprint. And whoever thinks that Sprint customer service is bad has obviously never had to deal with Verizon's run arounds. (Just to give an example they once overcharged me $700 and took 3 weeks of daily phone calls to fix it.)
funny cuz I been with Sprint for 7 years, at one point I tried out AT&T and I could only tolerate it for one day. The reception sucked compared to Sprint. Every where I had EV on Sprint, I had edge...
I returned the crappy LG Incite and got charged $40 for one day. WTF?! Never again, I'll be with Sprint as long as possible. How can you beat getting a new phone discount every year and unlimited anytime mobile to mobile minutes? I laugh when I hear people getting stuck with their last gen phones. Sprint has something up their sleeves and I'm hoping to see HTC Supersonic and the next WebOS.
Palm should require any company that caries the next version of the Palm Pre to spend at least $100 per phone on its advertising and commit at least $100 million advertising the Phone. Then Palm should make sure it comes out with Ads that showcases the wonderful features of the phone. Advertising with a poor message is a waste of money. Most of the people here at PreCentral can market the Palm Pre phone better that Sprint and Palm combined! PreCentral should invite people to suggest ways to advertise the Palm Pre phone and send the result to Palm. They really need help!
Note: Verizon spent $100 million advertising the Droid phone and is estimated to have sold 1 million phones in 30 days. Sprint should not be in this trouble, it really does not make sense. They have the best smartphone (Palm Pre with webOS) in the industry. They have an incredibly reliable network. And their customer service is much improved. They just need to so some of the things outlined here.
Just to be fair, Verizon has a MUCH larger customer base, and with no access to ANY cool phone until the Droid finally came out. So they had a LOT of pent up demand just ready to jump on ANY cool phone that came out.
If the Palm Pre came out on Verizon as the first Linux phone, trust me, they would have sold 1,000,000 Pre's in 30 days. At this point, Pre/Pixi have to compete with the Droid on that network... it is going to be a tough sell, ESPECIALLY if the only marketing Verizon/Palm come up with is "it is good enough for Mom"! Are you kidding? To me that sounds more like an insult!
You have made a good point about the pent up demand, but you should note that Sprint also had pent up demand when the Palm Pre was introduced because Sprint had no
Sprint sucks...Only 2 carriers will remain Verizon & AT&T...
HaHA. I love to listen to the people who have ATT and Verizon. They are the only people I know who love to give away money. My name is Verizon. Do you want to give me some of your money too. Sprint and Verizon have the same CDMA network. But Sprint palm pre extras. Tv radio, gps work everywhere I go. Not in selected areas. And don't cost anymore. What? The verizon and att crowd goes quiet.
they need to get better phones if they want to stay in the game...get pre2 and supersonic out asap or keep bleeding customers
I have been with Sprint for 10 years and no problems....,aybe talked with CS 5 times....their coverage near my house is spottty in one spot but have not had many problems with reseption it has gotten better over the years. I plan on staying with them as long as I can.
Sprint will get out of this its not like its the first time something like this has happened. I love Sprint been with them forever. to the ones who talk about ther customer service I have yet to have a person be rude to me.I have heard about cust serv problems from all four major companies so thats not an issue trust its not every rep that is rude and it is not to every person that calls in .I have been doing cust serv for about 5 yrs now and trust u have bad days no reason to take it out on cust's but hey if u heard the crap I have heard U will understand >>> I love their cust serv and I love the plan that I am on saving alot of money . What company has a deal where u can get a new phone every year I used to work for at&t and last year when that 3gS came out they had the worst prob ever in cust serv ppl couldnt even get what they wanted had to spend big money up front just to upgrade (oh yeah cause they have to wait 2 YEARS TO UPGRADE DUH) unlike Sprint become a premeier cust and u have mad perks my reception is good in places where it used to be bad like in wal-mart now I can walk around and wont loose my call. All this to say i'm stickin wit Sprint once this new wave of phones come out trust ppl will be walking back wit there heads down knowing they were wrong for leaving trust it always happens that way
One of Sprint's problem's is contract renewal. They are fixing that now with Premier customers, but they don't offer any good phone deals when you renew with them. I also do think they should offer better warranty on standard flip phones or candybar phones. Sprint has a good number of texting phones, but they still don't got the razr killer. Companies like ATT and Verizon do spend alot on new customers, by offering better deals on phones, even though their rate plans are higher. I'm happy that Sprint is in the prepaid business, since they are actually good at it, and T-Mobile has been doing it for along time, but they actually put pressure on T-Mobile, before using prepaid was more expensive than using post-paid, and now pre-paid more affordable than post-paid.
sprint is awesome, it's more for the smarter american who doesn't follow marketing trends of verizon and at&t. All sprint customers know you can get the same if not better 3g and now 4g ( come on at&t, verizon catch up with the fourth gen. ) experience for less. Why pay more for the same? GO TEAM SPRINT
If Sprint would actually market how much cheaper they are, you might be on to something. But carriers won't survive on the "smarter American." The need to appeal to all Americans to get the volume they need.
BTW, 4G? Where's the 4G phone? What cities can I get 4G in? Right now, 4G is meaningless. If anything, it loses customers when they head to the Sprint store and ask for a 4G phone.
I have no problems with sprint, been with them for 6 years now, screw those who leave, more bandwidth for me.
I certainly feel sorry for sprint. I almost always have great service, and with a unlimited data plan (best deal in America) you roam to Verizon for free anyway. I really don't understand why people leave sprint...
A buddy of mine used to have Verizon. I think he had a bad phone but he dropped calls all the time. When he called me back I would ask "can you hear me now?". He got pissed and bought the iphone with att. Now when he drops calls, (even more frequently) I answer with "More bars in more places". He laughs a little, I laugh a lot. Not saying Sprint is perfect, as a matter of fact I don't get great reception on the lower level of my house, but that's about it.
Sprint has been great for the last 5 years. I just don't get this.
evertone has made good and valid points... Especially on customer service. I worked for sprint, att and verizon at some piont. All three had some form of billing issues. (been a long time sprint custy, I was around before they had the nextel plans bleed over to the cdma side with the free in coming call plans..miss those)
why sprint doesn't advertise properly is beyond me. They do have the best prices for plans, hands down no matter what.
I think they need to get rid of nextel or really try extremely hard to make the two technologies work. I know that walkie talkie stuff really hit big in mexico/ US travelers that had that. That part of nextel was the shit. It was the call reception that was the pits.
I don't know how 4g works, but if it's based off the uhf/vhf frequencies, from the old tv days I think that will hit well, if they combine that with cmda and have a handset that can surf and call harmoniously will make them contenders for a good revamp.
but they need to advertise properly fast and hard.
Last week Sprint called me to tell me I had to switch to another provider because I roamed to much. Since there service is weak in my neighborhood (in the heart of the city of St. Louis, MO) I was roaming on US Cellular while at home. I talk mostly at home and roamed a majority of my minutes. I guess I was costing them a bundle. Anyways, they let me out of my contract and paid my last bill so I switched to Verizon and the Pre Plus. Love Verizon's coverage. I've got 3-4 bars and faster data speeds, where with Sprint I had none. I miss Sprints cheaper pricing. That is about it.
Cheap service and good phone selection, Sprint having a tough time stopping that leak.
Sprint is GREAT!
I have been with Sprint since Aug of '09. I think they're great, and I only pay $67 a month after taxes and fees! I have 450 minutes, of which I can rarely even use 10% because of the any mobile anytime, and everything else. I can do anything with my phone unlimited with my plan. I just couldn't do this on TMo (not for such a low price). I didn't come from another major company like AT&T, but I'm glad I'm not paying up to $150 a month for my service.
I haven't been up on the news much, but a Pre2 already? I just got this phone... I think Sprint is great, and so is Palm. Both companies have gone through a great change and I believe in both of their futures. I hope upgrading to a newer version of the Pre will be more affordable for current owners, even for the newbies like myself. And I'm hoping it will be well worth it too.
look people, every carrier has blind spots. i had at&t and couldn't make a phone call in my living room. i work for tmobile and knew i wasn't going to make a call in the far-out burbs. verizon is not god. it's still a radio signal and they can't and don't blanket the huge as u.s.of a. marketing is effective, verizon and apple, good at it.
Love Sprint.....Love my Palm Pre
Been with Sprint over 5 years... Been with Palm Pre since day one!
What Sprint seems to fail at realizing is handsets bring customers.. even more so than competitive pricing. It seems like all the other carriers are announcing new handsets weekly, Sprint is lucky to announce a new device once a month.
Not to mention their crazy antics when it comes to device updates.. every other carrier has Android 2.1, Sprint has been testing 2.1 for who know's how long now and still hasn't dropped a release date other than 1st half of 2010.
I switched from Verizon for the Pre. I'm only paying about $10 more for the smartphone than I paid Verizon for my dumb phone. I'd never use data svcs because Verizon would find some reason to add extra charges. I LOVE Sprint and Pre. Service is better and coverage in SF is great. iPhones have a hellish time with signals in SF because of oversaturation. Thinking about switching? Go in the store. They made me a deal that was amazing. My Pre was essentially free.
I switched from Verizon for the Pre. I'm only paying about $10 more for the smartphone than I paid Verizon for my dumb phone. I'd never use data svcs because Verizon would find some reason to add extra charges. I LOVE Sprint and Pre. Service is better and coverage in SF is great. iPhones have a hellish time with signals in SF because of oversaturation. Thinking about switching? Go in the store. They made me a deal that was amazing. My Pre was essentially free.
I've been with Sprint since Dec. '00. I can think of only two times that I have had unsatisfactory customer service in all thos 9 yrs & all I did was call back & talk to someone different & it was handled. mMy experience with Sprint's customer service has more often been that they went the extra mile. cCustomer service has been the most common reason I've heard for leaving or avoiding Sprint. I think they need a media blitz around their recent awards for CS.
Every company is going to have it's weak areas for signal. Where I was living here in town was weak, but usually usable. On several occasions I forced roaming just to see if I could get a better signal from another carrier (pretty sure it was Verizon), but that was just as bad if not a smidgeon worse. Now Sprint is offering the Airrave (often free or reduced cost) for that. I happen to be living in a part of town with excellent signal & haven't had any problems roaming in years, plus now both voice & data are free when roaming.
I see no reason to leave Sprint & as long as they keep offering the most service for the least $$ I doubt I ever will.
Dan Hesse don't worry, bringing the HTC Supersonic and the IPHONE 4G your going up baby. SPRINT is the BEST!!!!!
Sprint hurts themselves. For a long time they use to sell all their phones with Roaming turned off. They have that agreement with VZ for roaming, but didnt want anyone to use it. SO a lot of people were comlaining about the coverage when they realy had coverage.
After a huricain hit near Houston, the Sprint towers were all down. I must have helped 30 people turn their roaming on. They would see me on my cell phone and ask who you with. I would say Sprint. They too were with Sprint, but could not make any calls. I turned on their roaming and it worked.
I even helped a guy who was yelling at the manager at the Sprint store. He was like, my phone doent work at my house. The manager was like we realy cant help you. I asked him is your roaming on? I checke his phone and it was off.
I love Sprint, but that kind of stuff looses customers.
AIRAVE is a nice solution for poor reception at home too.
I had sprint years ago when the customer service was over, I left them & dabbled with verizon & att & settled on Nextel, I was mad as heck when Sprint bought Nextel, but oh what a difference it made!! Since Nextel & Sprint merged, I have NEVER had a problem with customer service. Before that I never had a problem with dropped calls on sprint like ATT & you CAN'T beat the plans!! Some iphone users r paying 150 a month?!? I would HIGHLY recommend Sprint
I've had sprint for the past 8 yrs and i can't complain customers service has def. improved. Especially when they see you've been with the for some time.
As far as coverage I see know difference between my verizon (gag) friends and me.. If only Sprint bought Alltel instead :(
I too switched from Verizon (BB Storm) to Sprint when they launched the Pre back in June of 09. After being disgusted with the Storm and basically a "take it or leave it" attitude from Verizon I decided to visit the Sprint store accross the street. I could not believe how much less Sprint was and no hidden fees, I mean with all of Verizon's gotcha's I was spending around $120 month for what I could get for around $70 a month with Sprint. 8 months later I am still happy I switched, luv my Pre and cannot tell any difference between the service, actually, my reception is better with Sprint inside my house. It just baffles me why people continue to pay so much more for at&t and Verizon, I guess some people have money to burn.
After 10 years, I jumped from Sprint to AT&T for an iPhone. I was out of contract and Sprint would not budge on the price of the Pre. Told them no way I was paying $149 after rebate when I can walk into a store and buy one for $79. I was leaning towards the iphone anyway, but Sprint could have one me over with an offer on the Pre. So they lost another one...and one that could have been saved.
Fortunately, I always had the 450 minute plan with Sprint so the 450 with rollover, texting and corporate discount works out to what I was paying anyway with Sprint. With rollover minutes and other family on AT&T, it's actually a better deal for me.
And now that they're releasing Sling for use on 3G, the lack of Sprint TV is no longer an issue either.
So far, I love my iphone but I'm still keeping an eye on what Palm brings to Sprint next...after all, I've had every model along the way. Good thing is used iphones bring good money on ebay and I could break contract and walk away with little to no loss at any time if necessary.
Your corporate discount is the ONLY way that AT&T or Verizon can match Sprint's plans.
I showed my brother the Pre a few months ago and he was really interested in it. I explained how much money he would save over Verizon once he was out of contract and how the coverage is at least as good in our city. A few months later he texted me that he just got a Droid. (shaking my head) I told him it is very comparable to the Pre but he would've saved a lot of money with Sprint. He texted me back that it is not that much more and he was ONLY paying $110/mo. I RE-EXPLAINED to him that I only pay $87/mo AFTER taxes for unlimited data and texting, 450 mins, free cell to ANY carrier's cell, free for all calls on weekends and after 7 PM during weekdays,and that the $87 includes surcharges, taxes and insurance. I am positive that is not included in the $110 they quoted him. There was no reply back. I wanted to smack him. Can ANYONE explain to me how how people just don't get this?
Did you see if Sprint had a corporate discout? They will usualy give you 15% if you have a legit work e-mail adress they recognize. You can check at the web site. Again Sprint does not advertize this. I got a flyer at work for a discount at At&t and was talking about switching. One of the girls in the office asked me why I wasnt using Sprints discount? Because I had no idea they gave one!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to the website and was approved two days later. It dropped my bill $30.00 a month.
I love Sprint, but I might be switching to FDIMobile soon and get the HTC Mytouch with unlimited calling, data and sms for $69.95 per month.
Granted I have a family plan. The 1500 min unlimmited everything else, but I havent found any company cheaper. Of course Sprint give me a corporate discounts too. Basicly I pay $100 dollars flat for me and my wifes smart phones. Then each of my three kids are $17.00 a month. So my total bill is $160.00. That $32.00 per phone. They could all be Pre's and you would pay the same amount. You cant even put five iPhone's on one family plan. The max is two and you pay a lot more.
All I can figure is Sprint is suffering because people dont mind throwing away money.
I have essentially the same thing.
129.99 - 1500 shared anytime (navigation, unlimited text/data, etc.) for two phones
19.99 x 3 - 3 extra phones
4.99 - Family Locator (my wife likes it)
AIRAVE - Free!
-27% ED
Total bill = 179.07 with taxes and fees
I think the reason people hate Sprint is the CS. I agree that it seems better, but I think it is mainly cause I know them. I know how to get what I want and I know more about the way they work than they seem to. They really need better training, or maybe they are just trained to screw you a bit?
One thing that frustrates me to no end is switching plans. They always tell you to switch at the beginning of the month to avoid being double billed. This seems to be the biggest area of concern in my experience. They tell you to do it this way and you'll be ok. If you do this, you will be double billed (or charged a month in advance is the term they use) every time. Save yourself the headache and switch your plan the last day of the billing cycle. You won't see two charges that way...only a prorated charge for 1 day.
If they were clear about what would happen in these kind of situations, I'm sure they complaints would drop.
One problem I have and I would leave today if not for the contract. They have begun to charge $4.99 for the ASL program unless you agree to give them your Bank info and let them take out money when they see fit. I was happy till this mess. Their service is OK. But they are just another big carrier and don't think twice about stepping on the little guy just like the other two. Sorry if this bothers all the Sprint fans here, but it is true and I think wrong. I don't want any hands in my accounts but me.
I love Sprint and am nine years in with those guys. My service is great, my monthly fees are great. But...I think sometimes they make some poor business decisions. I think Nextel was a bad decision but... too late. Nothing you can do at this point. I don't think going with wiMax was a good decision. It seems to be that most of the friggin world is going with LTE. I know I read that essentially switching from wiMax to LTE would not be difficult but I think switching over may be time consuming. And I dont think Sprint has ANY time to waste.
Well, actually, only western Europe is going LTE. The rest of the world is already using wimax. And that's because it's cheap and large areas can covered very quickly. And, to top it off, on the most fundamental levels, LTE and wimax use essentially the same technology, and clear could switch their towers to LTE in the future if they (and Sprint) felt that was the best move. Check this out: http://www.precentral.net/clearwire-changes-relationship-status-wimax-it...
I was also on the "I love Sprint" boat for the last year or so since I joined up with the company - I joined up specifically for their $99 unlimited plan and super fast 4G network. While the network has more than lived up to its reputation with me, the price I'm paying is really starting to kill my pocketbook - it was that reason that made me leave AT&T. With Sprint, I had to take a contract in order to get the unlimited plan and then I recoently did a little research after looking for a current bill. Sprint's own Boost Mobile has their own $50 unlimited plan with the contract issues - those kind of savings should be for everyone on the Sprint network, regardless of contract. If you feel the same injustice, email the President of Sprint (http://sites.google.com/site/sprintcustomersunite/) and let him know that Sprint customers need the same option.