My day with Sprint (re: Touch Pro 2 & SERO)

[tmac15]

2.5years is not that long........like srsly??

[jimmyz]

I think if you do the math you will come ahead by sticking with your SERO plan- those plans are incredible as far as cost saving- just look at how much sprint wants everyone to "upgrade" from SERO to simply everything plans

[quickstang]

I've been trying to justify the purchase of this phone myself.

I have been waiting for SOMETHING to come out to where I can use my SERO plan. I have been tempted to switch cause of the Pre, or the Hero, or what not, but then I have to go...Do I REALLY need to change?

I saw the price of the TP2 on Sprint, and

If I was a regular customer, I doubt I would even be thinking about it unless my plan was really good considering it is $150 cheaper on Verizon. But then again, I think Sprints plans are cheaper.

Anyway for me, here is what I get.

Got my statement today, and pay $27.05 (that's with tax) Now I look at the phone and go...i've never thought of spending this on a phone.

Then again, look at my bill. If I buy this phone and only get it for say $475, that is $275 more then the Verizon one.

If I change, and then get the Verizon plan, I am at... what $70

So that means I am paying 43+ tax more a month. x12=$516 MORE plan wise.

$70 x 12= $840 for Verizons plan + $200=$1,040 for a year (+Tax)
$27 x 12= $324 for my SERO + $475= $799 for a year (Inc Tax)

$241 cheaper to still buy it on Sprint.

[MidwestDrummer]

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

I'm currently on the $30/mo SERO plan with a Touch Pro that I purchased with upgrade on October 24th of last year.

So this means:

1. You have a dirt cheap plan, that most people shell out a lot more money for.
2. At the time you called, you weren't even a full year into your contract after you upgraded to the TP.

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

My initial contact with Sprint 2 days ago regarding the Touch Pro 2 resulted in a response stating that I must upgrade my SERO plan to the Everything Plus $59.99/mo plan in order to get the phone. I also was informed that I would have to purchase the TP2 for the full price of $599, due to my upgrade eligibility.

There seem to only be 1 inaccuracy here:

1. The TP2 does work on SERO. I am living proof.
2. The price you were quoted is correct. You're certainly not eligible for 1 year ($75.00 off) discounted pricing, much less even sniffing 2 year ($150.00 of) pricing.

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

I then called retentions yesterday and mentioned I had talked to Verizon, and they told me the phone was $199 after rebates and I could order on Friday. This had no effect on her, and she pretty much told me to go ahead and cancel my plan since there is no additional discount she could offer me on the TP2.

Why should they offer you any discount? You're not even close to being OOC, and you're not eligible for any sort of upgrade, so you have absolutely no leverage. Sprint knows you just just a discounted phone less than a year ago, and you pay squat for your service, so why they hell do you think you should be given any sort of discount?!

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

I called the employee line today and got nowhere with another guy, so he transferred me to retentions again. This lady was a little nicer, but also got nowhere with her, so she transferred me to her manager. The manager's best offer was to give me my $75 upgrade discount (1 yr) one month early, and also knock $25 off my bill, making the phone $499.

So, basically you talked Sprint into giving you $100.00 off the phone, that you're not eligible for and/or don't even deserve, and you're still ticked? All I can say is wooooooow.

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

Not one of the people I talked to was willing to give me a credit toward the purchase of this phone, even though I've been a customer for 2.5 years now. They all said they've been given direct orders to specifically not discount this phone, and when I asked why, the manager told me that their policies have changed a lot, and the company is more geared toward a cheaper plan approach, rather than the cheaper phone approach as they've had in the past. After weighing all my options in an Excel spreadsheet, purchasing the phone for $500 on my current plan is MUCH cheaper (even for only 1 year of service, not taking the 2 yr contract into consideration) than the other plans through Sprint or Verizon. That pretty much leaves me stuck having to buy a phone for $500...which is a little crazy if you ask me.

*GASP* They weren't willing to give you credit!? You don't say!! You mean, you barely pay anything for your service, you just got a discounted phone last October, you're not even a year into your current contract, and they weren't willing to give you another discount?! My God, what kind of world do we live in? Oh and BTW, I've been a customer going on 5 years now, and should I be any more deserving? Hell no. Maybe if I was giving Sprint $200.00 a month, but I'm giving Spring about $35.00 for everything that I get. You're 2 and a half years is diddly poo compared to most customers. Basically your customer tenure is squat. So, you say you feel stuck? Sprint isn't throwing you a bone? Go sign up with VZW and get it cheap!! You don't wanna pay for their plan you say? But I thought you wanted a cheaper phone. What you fail to grasp is that you're already getting much more from Sprint that you even come close to deserving, yet you take it all for granted. It's customers like you that should've received one of those letters that Sprint mailed out to some customers a while back, regarding having their service disconnected without a fight.

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

This is mainly for informational purposes for those of you who are on SERO plans who have not ordered a Touch Pro 2 yet. It's also partially a rant.

Yea, this was a rant that has/had absolutely no justification.

[Exil3d]

WOW. I remember when I bought the Pro1 I just mentioned I really liked the iphone and they instantly gave me the phone for 249.99. Gave me all the discounts and thats it.They didnt even question me about my 30momth SERO. So it looks like its going to be different. I wouldnt pay 500.00 for that phone. Ridiculous! After all.... you can get the iphone with far superior 2d 3d rendering. But you will be locked down with Apple restrictions like a drug smuggler who tried to import 100 kilos of cocaine from columbia. This calls for the Officail how much you paid thread.

[PhantomApolyon]

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

This is mainly for informational purposes for those of you who are on SERO plans who have not ordered a Touch Pro 2 yet. It's also partially a rant.

Allow me to preface this with a few facts. I'm currently on the $30/mo SERO plan with a Touch Pro that I purchased with upgrade on October 24th of last year.

My initial contact with Sprint 2 days ago regarding the Touch Pro 2 resulted in a response stating that I must upgrade my SERO plan to the Everything Plus $59.99/mo plan in order to get the phone. I also was informed that I would have to purchase the TP2 for the full price of $599, due to my upgrade eligibility.

I then called retentions yesterday and mentioned I had talked to Verizon, and they told me the phone was $199 after rebates and I could order on Friday. This had no effect on her, and she pretty much told me to go ahead and cancel my plan since there is no additional discount she could offer me on the TP2.

I called the employee line today and got nowhere with another guy, so he transferred me to retentions again. This lady was a little nicer, but also got nowhere with her, so she transferred me to her manager. The manager's best offer was to give me my $75 upgrade discount (1 yr) one month early, and also knock $25 off my bill, making the phone $499. Not one of the people I talked to was willing to give me a credit toward the purchase of this phone, even though I've been a customer for 2.5 years now. They all said they've been given direct orders to specifically not discount this phone, and when I asked why, the manager told me that their policies have changed a lot, and the company is more geared toward a cheaper plan approach, rather than the cheaper phone approach as they've had in the past. After weighing all my options in an Excel spreadsheet, purchasing the phone for $500 on my current plan is MUCH cheaper (even for only 1 year of service, not taking the 2 yr contract into consideration) than the other plans through Sprint or Verizon. That pretty much leaves me stuck having to buy a phone for $500...which is a little crazy if you ask me.

Share your experiences. I'd like to see if anyone without upgrade eligibility was able to get further than this.

This is just silly.

#1 - You SHOULD have to pay full retail price, you already used your upgrade- which was YOUR choice, not Sprint’s (I assume you got your TP1 via your upgrade).

#2 - The phone costs what the phone costs, there’s no more to the story. It’s a whopping $50 more expensive then the TP1 was (and its more than 50 dollars better). I don’t really see how the price is SO outrageous.

#3 – The retentions department is for at-risk accounts and genuinely there to help people with legitimate issues. You are not really at risk (and they know) and you definitely don’t have a legitimate issue.

#4 - 2.5 years is not a long time.

If you want to argue about phone pricing you really should send an email to the logistics and marketing teams for sprint corp. and HTC as well, but bugging a department that is there to help people with legitimate issues (retentions) about something they have no control over is silly. Why are you, as an extremely low paying customer ($30/mo) thinking you should get more discounts. If you look at it from a company standpoint, you should pay the MOST of any of the customers because your monthly rate more than makes up for the higher phone pricing and they make little to no money on your account anyways.

I’ve seen 2 TP2’s given away at $0 to business account customers. Why was that possible….because they pay a descent monthly fee, sprint will re-coop the costs in the long run and the customers asked nicely and with legitimate reasoning.

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m ALL for discounts and making customers happy and satisfied…when its applicable. Hell, I give customers free stuff and discount stuff all the freaking time. You seem fairly intelligent, why are you adding to the pile of unreasonable customers that want handouts for no reason? It’s a premium product and it sells for a premium price…pay to play.

/endrant

[meatgel]

2 stories ... take them for what they are worth:

I own a very small business and an a least a weekly basis am asked by a customer/customers what discount/freebie they get for their birthday. I have taken to asking them what they got me for mine. These are usually the cheapest people who weren't going to spend any money at my shop anyway.

and ...

I was showing a friend of mine my TouchPro 2 (that I love!!) and he asked how much I paid. I told him the price and he about peed his pants. I listened to him rant on about me being crazy for spending that much while he was petting his new English Bulldog -- a dog he paid a small fortune for. I have older car that I paid the same amount for that he paid for the dog! He loves the dog. When he bought the dog and told me the price I didn't even flinch because I knew how happy he was. I listened to his rant anyway.

My point is that people will pay for what they want and many customers are just crazy and expect everything for nothing.

[Cicatrize]

First, let me start with Midwest Drummer...

Dude wtf? lol. I never said I started my plan last year. I UPGRADED to the TP last year. I've been on SERO for two and a half years. I am eligible for the $75 upgrade on October 1st, and she's letting me have it a couple weeks early. Sorry to have to point this out to you twice, but I guess your entire post was pretty much a waste since you talked about this for most of it.

Now that that's out of the way...

To the rest of you getting all mean about it, I'm not sure how you thought this was some huge complaint. It was only slightly a rant, if any. I was just sharing my experience and wondering if any of you had better luck.

I also admitted in the original post that yes, the SERO plan will be cheaper in the long run. I even said "MUCH" cheaper.

[Cicatrize]

And a major point of this post:

It seems that Sprint's old "let's retain our customers by giving them cheap phones" business model is no longer in existence. I saw people on this forum claiming otherwise, so I was wondering if SERO people were getting the same crazy deals.

[p-slim]

Originally Posted by Cicatrize

This is mainly for informational purposes for those of you who are on SERO plans who have not ordered a Touch Pro 2 yet. It's also partially a rant.

Allow me to preface this with a few facts. I'm currently on the $30/mo SERO plan with a Touch Pro that I purchased with upgrade on October 24th of last year.

My initial contact with Sprint 2 days ago regarding the Touch Pro 2 resulted in a response stating that I must upgrade my SERO plan to the Everything Plus $59.99/mo plan in order to get the phone. I also was informed that I would have to purchase the TP2 for the full price of $599, due to my upgrade eligibility.

I then called retentions yesterday and mentioned I had talked to Verizon, and they told me the phone was $199 after rebates and I could order on Friday. This had no effect on her, and she pretty much told me to go ahead and cancel my plan since there is no additional discount she could offer me on the TP2.

I called the employee line today and got nowhere with another guy, so he transferred me to retentions again. This lady was a little nicer, but also got nowhere with her, so she transferred me to her manager. The manager's best offer was to give me my $75 upgrade discount (1 yr) one month early, and also knock $25 off my bill, making the phone $499. Not one of the people I talked to was willing to give me a credit toward the purchase of this phone, even though I've been a customer for 2.5 years now. They all said they've been given direct orders to specifically not discount this phone, and when I asked why, the manager told me that their policies have changed a lot, and the company is more geared toward a cheaper plan approach, rather than the cheaper phone approach as they've had in the past. After weighing all my options in an Excel spreadsheet, purchasing the phone for $500 on my current plan is MUCH cheaper (even for only 1 year of service, not taking the 2 yr contract into consideration) than the other plans through Sprint or Verizon. That pretty much leaves me stuck having to buy a phone for $500...which is a little crazy if you ask me.

Share your experiences. I'd like to see if anyone without upgrade eligibility was able to get further than this.

Don't worry about putting your phone on your account with sero, that is not a problem, everyone has done it already. As for the upgrade you should already know, 1 year = $75 and 22months=$150, by you calling you should expect to hear that, why would you expect to hear anything else the only people who can upgrade every year are people whos plans are 69.99 or higher. if you think you will leave sprint and get anything close to what you are paying for phone service you are deceiving yourself, after the hype of the phone wears off, you will be left thinking to yourself "why is my plan $45 more then it was with sprint and at sprint my night minutes started at 7 instead of 9?" You should hold off and pretty soon you'll be able to buy on ebay for around $350 from somewhere.