Should I Leave Verizon?
 

I've been with Verizon since before Verizon was Verizon. What I mean is that I originally signed up with Airtouch cellular and later they were acquired by Verizon. At any rate that will soon be 10 years I think. I've had my 6700 for 2 years now and feel that while I'm not only looking a new phone, why not check out new providers....

The company I work for gets an 18% discount thru Sprint and 12% discount thru T-Mobile. Verizon gives me 6% discount on my voice and 12% off on my data. My monthly bill is still over $80 when everything is said and done.

A co-worker of mine is with Sprint. He works here in Cheyenne Wyoming but lives down in Colorado. He has a mogul aka 6800, and is getting a minute/data package similar to mine for approx $50 a month. A quick speed test from dslreports.com/mspeed showed that he consistently got 900+kbps on his Sprint Mogal here in Cheyenne while I was scraping to get 400kbps on my 6700. Sprint coverage here in town appears to be acceptable for the few places we've gone.

My number one priority is network coverage. Is it true that other providers have weaker networks or is that some VZ marketing campaign BullS*? How reliable are the coverage maps on the provider's websites? Are there any Sprint users here in the Wyoming / Colorado area who can give any feedback on the coverage across I-80 and I-25? The bottom line is, if the network is going to be weaker in any way then I think I'll stay with Verizon.

Price of service is second.

Customer service is probably the third priority. I've heard horror stories about Sprint customer service? I know all of their call centers are in india right? Is it really that bad?

If you've switched from VZW to any other provider, was it a good move or a bad move in your opinion?

Thanks for any input/feedback/links/etc.

[pt]

If costs and data are your top 2 reasons Sprint is the way to go.

CS isnt as bad as if was before, now that they are trying to save face with customers because of the reputation but yes it was very bad.

But as far as network reliability is concerned it is best with data, verizon with voice. most likely unless you live in a small town, none will be an issue.

www.sprint.com/sero sing up with this email savings@sprintemi.com

Your SERO Private Store Discounts

Purchase a new device and service plan through this SERO site and save!

* You'll find special discounts on many devices
* Select from three SERO voice plans starting at only $30/month
* Unlimited data services included with all plans
* Unlimited text messaging included with all plans through 2/16/08
* Unlimited Mobile Broadband service for only $49.99/month

$30 plan = 500min
$50 plan = 1250min

Enjoy!

Thanks for the feed back. I'll be checking into that SERO deal thru Sprint. A quick check of the sprint coverage map shows that half of the towns I travel to reguarly only offer roaming coverage there and along the way.Would I need a special plan that includes roaming options?

My SERO plan already includes free roaming. I think it's a standard part of the plan. :)

SERO is the way to go bro. I shouldn't have been living under a rock before i signed those dotted lines, but you're one of those who are thankful to get the word about it... Only if it were for word of mouth, I'd be saving alot more money.

Definitely go with SERO. Sprint phones roam on Verizons network so you may not get the best data everywhere but voice should not be a problem. I live in a big city and really have EVDO everwhere and would not trade Sprint for anything right now.

Sweet! Thanks everyone

I recently looked into switching from Sprint to Verizon.....when I crunched the #'s, it would have cost me almost $100 more/month + cost of new phones, plus Sprint stepped up & gave me incentives to stay. I'd be on SERO to but I'm on a shared plan w/ 4 other phones.

if you need a great data plan then yes i would switch otherwise no.

as far as service goes with Sprint i have had no problems roaming throughout Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Yes you do want a plan that has unlimited roaming, while i was in Wyoming my phone was constantly roaming but the signal was great (I have a unlimited roaming plan). there are presently no Sprint Stores in Wyoming or in central and eastern Montana I do not know about Colorado. in other words no quick fix if you have a problem, you will have to take care of all your tech or phone replacement and phone insurance issues by calling in. that in itself can be a daunting task with Sprint if you do not have patience, their last screw up took two months for me to get straightened out. on the up side i now have a $10 Vision access pack with unlimited data for both phones:drunken:


Just my two cents.

Although I don't live in your area i guess i can't give you the best advice, but what i can say is it all depends on what your main concerns are. From what you told us here then it's all about money saving and not quality of service so i think you should switch cause with that sero plan you are saving a bunch of money. I also never had the chance to have a pda or smartphone with sprint seeing how i didn't acquire one until i switched to verizon. I would switch back to sprint, but know too many people who have verizon now.

You can always try sprint for 30 days and if it doesnt work out i am sure Verizon would happily take you back.

i moved from verizon who i have been with for about 5 years to sprint 3 months ago and sprint is alot cheaper my monthly bill is 30 dollars a month plus tax but sprints customer service kinda sucks thats why i skip the customer service and just call the executives of the company lol but verizon has a little bit more coverage than sprint but dropped call wise i dont havent recieved and rom either since i live in a big city,, i live in the south florida area..hope this help you and i say yes switch to sprint

Sprint in Wyoming vs Verizon
 

I checked into the SERO plan and it is very attractive. I had hoped I could switch.

I read the fine print, though, and don't think that I can switch from VZW to Sprint.

The Sprint service agreement says that if a majority of minutes are spent roaming that they can terminate the agreement.

I live in a Verizon home area where there is no 'native' Sprint service. So I would be roaming 100% of the time.

Does anyone have experience with this and whether Sprint enforces the termination provision?

Thanks to all the replies. I'll be dumping Verizon the first week in February!

RGarrett,
It appears that here in Cheyenne, WY is the only city in WY that's officially covered by Sprint. They have a Sprint retail store here. So the majority of my minutes should be used on their network and not roaming. I know AT&T terminated two contracts that a couple of my Colorado coworkers had due to them using than 50% of minutes used roaming on TMobile's GSM here. Not sure if Sprint is enforcing that.

It sounds like I"ll be able to roam without fees on other CDMA networks here if I get the right plan. Does anyone know if data works when roaming?

You can always give it a try and if Sprint terminates your service I'm sure, as someone else pointed out, that Verizon would be happy to have you back!. I wonder... if Sprint terminates your service can you charge them a $200 ETF (early termination fee)?!? Hopefully the buggers don't terminate your service AND charge you an ETF.

Since you are out of contract with Verizon (I assume) you won't have a better time to try the competition than the present. From what I see there are a couple of possible outcomes:

1. You'll love Sprint and save a bunch of money.
2. You'll hate Sprint and realize it within the 30 day grace period so you can go back to Verizon with no ETF.
3. You'll hate Sprint but not realize it until after the 30 grace period in which case you are stuck paying the ETF or living with Sprint's service.
4. You'll like Sprint enough to stay, but they'll terminate your service for roaming too much, in which case you say "Que sera sera" and go back to Verizon.

Outcome #3 is the only bad one, so I say go for it.

I just left Verizon and signed up with Sprint. I picked up the HTC Mogul (XV6800 at Verizon) because Verizon couldn't match the price for the phone or come close on a data plan. Now that I've got a SERO plan I am getting more service for far less money than anything Verizon was willing to offer me.

I also spoke to five customer service reps yesterday (getting switched to the SERO plan) and all were native English speakers with two being in American call centers (southern accents), two being in Canada (Quebecois accents), and one plain jane midwest accent that could have been anywhere from Kansas to British Columbia. All were very friendly and helpful. My impression from reading the forums is that Sprint is much more likely to cut deals to keep customers than Verizon is. Your mileage may vary.

Good luck with whatever you choose.
Keith

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

So my mind is made up. I'm off to Sprint! I called this morning to port my number using the email mentioned above for the SERO plan. The woman on the phone told me that address is no longer valid (although it still works at sprint.com/sero).

If anyone can help me out with a SERO referral, I'd greatly appreciate it. From what I've read the referrer gets a $25 gift card if I dial a certain number after receiving my phone. It'd be the least I could do if anyone can provide me with a referral. Please IM me or PM.

Thanks
[pt]

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

The switch to Sprint has been excellent. Their customer service seems to be more friendly and helpful than Verizon's customer service. The number port took no time at all and signal quality is every bit as good as VZW's (so far). Data rates are superior to Verizon's. Thanks again to everyone who provided feedback on this thread!

[pt]

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

Long time Vz customer that switched to Sprint SERO for the price and the Vogue. I'm saving about 500 dollars a year and I really like the phone.

However, yes, CS is THAT bad. The story is too long and terrible to go into, suffice it to say it was eventually corrected by Executive Services at sprint. IMO, Sprints executive services (escalation dep't) is equivelent to who you get when you call Verizon the first time. The first tier CS in india is absolutely USELESS.

I will say this for Sprint, they screwed up my Vogue rebate......and sent me $250 instead of $100 :)

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

thats what exec services is for, it is too bad that they can't handle them all at reg cs for $100 and save money and customers though

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

Hello to all...I am new to this site main thing turning me onto it was my recent research into SERO...which lead into new phone research etc.. I have been with Sprint for like 8 years or so and until two weeks ago when a friend of mine mentioned SERO I didn't even know it existed.

So now I am at the point of going through the sero sign up process and noticed that you need a valid referral from a sprint employee. I know alot of people say just go into a sprint store and grab an addy off a random business card but I am leary.

1.) i don;t want to get anyone in hot water from my highjacking of their email addy
2.) I don't want to get notified two weeks from now that the person i used new nothing about referring me and subsequently get dropped.

I hate to ask since I see so many people doing it but if at all possible would someone be willing to provide me with a referral? I would be greatful.

Thinking of going with the mogul and hope the official rev a comes soon.

Thanks again and I hope this is appropriate. PM would be great.

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

savings@sprintemi.com

complements of http://www.phonenews.com/forums/inde...topic=2727&hl=

P.s. Please use the search option next time. This was not the topic of this thread and I have posted this info before.

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

I was with verizon for 4 years. I found Sero on sprint, signed up and now i save 80 dollars a month and get x2 more features. Verizon package was 109.99 for 450 minutes with unlimited data and insueance with roadside assistance. Thats all. Anythuing else is extra. With lovely SERO I get everytthing I had with verizon except no roadside assistance but 750 minutes rather than 500.And for bunus on Sero I got 6 to 6 evening minutes, unlimited text, unlimited pixmail, super fast rev a and Tep. All this for a small charge of 37.00 a month. You cannot beat SERO.BTW, coverage in CA is equally or better than verizons. Only complaint I have is why was I not on SERO BEFORE! I would have saved $3700.00 over those 4 years with verizon! As for CS, its improving, heres a tip..... dont dial*4 for any help. You will get a foreigner that has no clue with any question you ask. Call retentions directly and theymprovide excellent CS.

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

you mean to say *2, *4 is minutes. There is a list of helpful numbers at phonenews.com in their encyclopedia. their bump to front numbers are usually in the us, but retentions can do anything as well. The problem is that the more people call direct to retentions the more often they change the number, or at least that is how it used to be.

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

The service is really that bad. I am leaving Sprint in the morning. I have a 6700 the reception has been good, but the customer service has been nothing short of a nightmere!!!

Does any know if you can reprogram the Sprint 6700 to work on VZN networks?

Re: Should I Leave Verizon?
 

No, Verizon will not load the ESN into their databases at this point.