Sprint losses and customer defections continue

[billyapd21]

They need to come up with some comparable phones to the other major carriers or they will lose even more customers. You all know they if Verizon would offer you the same exact plan with the same exact features for the same price you would all jump ship. The only reason sprint has customers is because of the lower priced plans. They will keep some of your current customers and attract some new ones, but the current generation is about tech. You need the latest and greatest phones to compete. Until Sprint gets some better phones they are going to continue to lose customers. I don't think they will go under but they will never gain any substantial customers. I mean look at att, they are absolutely horrible, they only reason they are alive is because of the Iphone.

Want to think about something scary? Just imagine if Verizon was the only carrier with the iphone. Wow!

[BooDaddy]

Between Verizon and Sprint (ceteris paribus), I wouldnt leave sprint for Verizon. I was with verizon for around 8ish years. Hated them the whole time. I have been loving Sprint every since I left VZW back in September. Never looked back. Even if Verizon price matched Sprints plans I would not go back.

Heres some reasons:

First and foremost, everywhere I have went, Sprint has had equal coverage as Verizon. The kicker? Sprints data speeds are normally 2 to 3 times faster than I had EVER seen on VZW. Sprint speed kicks ass...plain and simple.

Secondly, Verizon has HORRID business practices. They nickle and dime their customers to death. They lock out features built into the phones, then want to charge you to have those features available. Remember the OBEX ordeal a few years back? What about GPS on their smartphones (until recently). Oh, and forget about having aGPS unless you either sub to a data plan, or their Navi service.

Thirdly, Infrastructure. Verizon hasnt done jack squat to improve services in my area. There were tons of dead spots, each time you would report them, they would say "yes we are aware and are working diligently to solve the problem". I call shenanigans. The only reason I stayed with Verizon was because I thought they were the best provider in my area. Boy was I wrong. 8 years ago, Sprint wasnt that good in this area. Heres a kicker: Sprint has spent the last 8 years IMPROVING their network here!!! Verizon...nadda. I guess VZW figures, hell, what we have is good enough. Sprint has already been playing with WiMax, and other 4G technologies in some areas. Whats VZW done? Nothing that I am aware of.

Fourthly, customer service. Everytime I called VZW I always hung up the phone pissed off somehow. I got tired of hearing some ghetto fabulous operator try to tell me that they couldnt do anything for me. Oh, and you can forget about them EVER calling you back like they said they would. I would always get "I will discuss this with my supervisor and call you back...blah blah blah", and never get a call back. Going to the stores was just as ridiculous. The first thing they would do is blame ANYTHING they could on water damage. It got to the point where they wouldnt even let you tell them what was going on, they would pop the battery cover off, and say "yep, water damage, you'll have to do an insurance claim".

Granted, I have only been with Sprint for a few months, but I have had nothing but great experiences with customer service. They are always friendly, and will truly do what they can to help. They take ownership of the calls, and if they cant get you a solution, they will find someone who can. Going to the local store is just as nice. Its always busy in this store, due to its location, but they sign you in, put your name on the board, and as soon as they get to you, they meet you on the floor, shake your hand and begin helping. Call me old-fashioned, but I like that. I had some issues with my original Touch Pro, and they did ALOT of fix it. I never even seen them try to look for the darn water damage sticker. I actually feel like I am getting my moneys worth on the TEP i pay for each month.

From what I have read, Sprint used to have janky customer service. But from my few recent months of being a Sprint customer, I have to say, they must have did a 180 in their customer service department. They have always been excellent when I needed help, more so than I had EVER received with VZW. I hate VZW.

But then again, the above is just my opinions and experiences.

EDIT: OH yeah! Forgot to mention. What the heck ever happened to VZW's big annoucement a few years back of their "Open Network Initiative" where they were promising "any device" on their network? That was another reason I was hanging on to VZW, hoping to be a part of that open network. Again, another one of VZW's empty promises.

[brownhornet]

Originally Posted by BooDaddy

Between Verizon and Sprint (ceteris paribus), I wouldnt leave sprint for Verizon. I was with verizon for around 8ish years. Hated them the whole time. I have been loving Sprint every since I left VZW back in September. Never looked back. Even if Verizon price matched Sprints plans I would not go back.

Heres some reasons:

First and foremost, everywhere I have went, Sprint has had equal coverage as Verizon. The kicker? Sprints data speeds are normally 2 to 3 times faster than I had EVER seen on VZW. Sprint speed kicks ass...plain and simple.

Secondly, Verizon has HORRID business practices. They nickle and dime their customers to death. They lock out features built into the phones, then want to charge you to have those features available. Remember the OBEX ordeal a few years back? What about GPS on their smartphones (until recently). Oh, and forget about having aGPS unless you either sub to a data plan, or their Navi service.

Thirdly, Infrastructure. Verizon hasnt done jack squat to improve services in my area. There were tons of dead spots, each time you would report them, they would say "yes we are aware and are working diligently to solve the problem". I call shenanigans. The only reason I stayed with Verizon was because I thought they were the best provider in my area. Boy was I wrong. 8 years ago, Sprint wasnt that good in this area. Heres a kicker: Sprint has spent the last 8 years IMPROVING their network here!!! Verizon...nadda. I guess VZW figures, hell, what we have is good enough. Sprint has already been playing with WiMax, and other 4G technologies in some areas. Whats VZW done? Nothing that I am aware of.

Fourthly, customer service. Everytime I called VZW I always hung up the phone pissed off somehow. I got tired of hearing some ghetto fabulous operator try to tell me that they couldnt do anything for me. Oh, and you can forget about them EVER calling you back like they said they would. I would always get "I will discuss this with my supervisor and call you back...blah blah blah", and never get a call back. Going to the stores was just as ridiculous. The first thing they would do is blame ANYTHING they could on water damage. It got to the point where they wouldnt even let you tell them what was going on, they would pop the battery cover off, and say "yep, water damage, you'll have to do an insurance claim".

Granted, I have only been with Sprint for a few months, but I have had nothing but great experiences with customer service. They are always friendly, and will truly do what they can to help. They take ownership of the calls, and if they cant get you a solution, they will find someone who can. Going to the local store is just as nice. Its always busy in this store, due to its location, but they sign you in, put your name on the board, and as soon as they get to you, they meet you on the floor, shake your hand and begin helping. Call me old-fashioned, but I like that. I had some issues with my original Touch Pro, and they did ALOT of fix it. I never even seen them try to look for the darn water damage sticker. I actually feel like I am getting my moneys worth on the TEP i pay for each month.

From what I have read, Sprint used to have janky customer service. But from my few recent months of being a Sprint customer, I have to say, they must have did a 180 in their customer service department. They have always been excellent when I needed help, more so than I had EVER received with VZW. I hate VZW.

But then again, the above is just my opinions and experiences.

EDIT: OH yeah! Forgot to mention. What the heck ever happened to VZW's big annoucement a few years back of their "Open Network Initiative" where they were promising "any device" on their network? That was another reason I was hanging on to VZW, hoping to be a part of that open network. Again, another one of VZW's empty promises.

You must not live in a suburban area. I have Sprint and I wont even lie.. there are some places in central/south GA where the signal doesnt work worth a damn. I would be mad as hell riding with a friend of mine that had Verizon and having to use his phone to make calls because I had no signal. I will definitely agree with you on the data speed though.. I dont think anyone has faster data right now.

Customer service STILL sucks. I would say 90% of the time when I call them I get someone overseas that I can barely even understand.

[BooDaddy]

You do know that Sprint roams on Verizons network right?.... so really your buddy on Verizon and you should have essentially the same exact voice coverage when you are roaming. If you cant roam on Verizon, you may want to update your PRL. Just be aware, that when Sprint does roam on Verizon, you only get 1X data speeds, but you get total voice calling though.

I live in a very suburban area, its actually more rural than anything. I live in the SouthEast corner of TN, in a small town just outside of Cleveland TN. (zip code 37311). I hardly ever have dropped calls on Sprint.

[MrObvious]

Coverage is a moot point really where I live but ti's mostly about price.

[dkpike]

I've been with Sprint for 6 years now - generally happy witht he phones, plans etc. They do project an image of incompetence though. The email newsletter, Sprint supposedly customized tot he subscriber. Well, for over a year, the one I get has someone else's phone number, their phone model, etc. - so the info and offers do not relate to me. I've contacted Sprint, and they tell me my online profile must be wrong. WRONG - I log on and everything is correct. What's wrong is their ability to do the job right, and their total denial when they do it wrong. I'm frustrated withthe attitude I get fromt hem more than anything else. I want to shout - is anybody out ther at Sprint listening?

[orangekid]

I may jump ship altogether and go to GSM, with VZW being overpriced and sprint being underphoned... all they need are some good phones, I don't get why they sit on great phones when they see what the competition is rolling out. How do you still have only one android device...

[Riley]

Originally Posted by orangekid

I may jump ship altogether and go to GSM, with VZW being overpriced and sprint being underphoned... all they need are some good phones, I don't get why they sit on great phones when they see what the competition is rolling out. How do you still have only one android device...

Hey Orangekid, Sprint has two android devices. the Hero and Samsung Moment. I was over there yesterday taking a hard look at both of them. I like the Hero but was surprised at the screen. Resolution is a step down, however, the Moment has great resolution and a 800mhz processor. problem is the hero ui is more complete. the moment is running the base android platform. I think overall the moment has more potential than the Hero, but nobody knows since its not really discussed that much. All in all, I am not going to use an upgrade on either at this time.

[YANKEEFAN01]

Originally Posted by rileyd5

Hey Orangekid, Sprint has two android devices. the Hero and Samsung Moment. I was over there yesterday taking a hard look at both of them. I like the Hero but was surprised at the screen. Resolution is a step down, however, the Moment has great resolution and a 800mhz processor. problem is the hero ui is more complete. the moment is running the base android platform. I think overall the moment has more potential than the Hero, but nobody knows since its not really discussed that much. All in all, I am not going to use an upgrade on either at this time.

Is the UI really that much better on the Hero? My niece wants an Android phone, but she wants a keyboard, damn texting teens. I don't like spending money on phones when I know there's a better one out there (on my network, i.e. 8330 vs 9630)

[Riley]

Originally Posted by YANKEEFAN01

Is the UI really that much better on the Hero? My niece wants an Android phone, but she wants a keyboard, damn texting teens. I don't like spending money on phones when I know there's a better one out there (on my network, i.e. 8330 vs 9630)

i think the hero is just more polished out of the box. both will be upgraded to Android 2 next year though. The Moment is a very nice phone and is really not that big at all.