18 month rebate inconsistency

Just called in to get my new phones for the 18month program and found out
that Two of my 4 phones do not qualify. The reason given was that the two
phones were changed 2 months ago and that started the 18 month plan over
again for those two phones. Note all 4 phones were activated on the same
date 20 months ago... two phones destoryed in an accident 2 months ago and I
purchased NEW PHONES at full price from Frys Electronics to replace them.
Note: SPRINT did not give me replacement phones I just changed the esn to
the new phones I purchased as replacements.

The intention of the Sprint replacement plan was to have Sprint give
customers rebates on new phones every 18 months to allow them to obtain the
latest new phones and then lock them in to another 2 year contract instead
of churning to another carrier.

I was willing to sign up for another 2 years but now since they wont give me
the rebates allowing me to upgrade each of my phones I am forced to move to
another carrier to get the new phones. Good thing my original 2 year
contract is up next month.

Gary

---

› See More: 18 month rebate inconsistency

In article <SNfxe.3837$Qo.357@fed1read01>, [email protected] says...
> Note all 4 phones were activated on the same
> date 20 months ago... two phones destoryed in an accident 2 months ago and I
> purchased NEW PHONES at full price from Frys Electronics to replace them.
> Note: SPRINT did not give me replacement phones I just changed the esn to
> the new phones I purchased as replacements.
>

You may be able to find a kind Rep who'll change those two lines and
enable the rebate, but, according to the posted terms, you reset the
clock when you bought new phones:

http://pcshandsetupgrade.sprint.com/...ntRebates.html

"Purchasing and activating a new phone and receiving any other discount
prior to date of eligibility for the rebate offer forfeits enrollment in
the program (excludes additional new lines of service)."

So any rep that refuses the rebate is acting in accord with the terms of
the New For You upgrade program.

I don't want to make you angry, but I'm not going to fill your head with
pie-in-the-sky expectations, either. At absolute best, it's a rep's
judgment call, and they have to be ready to justify it if that call
happens to be a monitored one.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

"O/Siris" <rØbjvargas@comcâst.nêt> wrote in message
"... according to the posted terms, you reset the
clock when you bought new phones."

That's what I was told recently, but it seems to be a screwy policy. I
bought a Treo 650 about 8 months after I signed up with Sprint, so I
supposedly was set back some 8 months on the rebate. Doesn't seem to make a
lot of sense since I paid full price, and especially considering that I can
just go to another carrier for a better deal when my contract expires. Am I
missing something?

Zen Cohen wrote:
> "O/Siris" <rØbjvargas@comcâst.nêt> wrote in message
> "... according to the posted terms, you reset the
> clock when you bought new phones."
>
> That's what I was told recently, but it seems to be a screwy policy. I
> bought a Treo 650 about 8 months after I signed up with Sprint, so I
> supposedly was set back some 8 months on the rebate. Doesn't seem to make a
> lot of sense since I paid full price, and especially considering that I can
> just go to another carrier for a better deal when my contract expires. Am I
> missing something?
>

No. It's not as friendly as Verizon's policy (you qualify two months before
end of contract, period). Waiting period is shorter, but Verizon doesn't
reset the timer if you activate another phone.

If you never have to use another phone on the account during the 18 months,
Sprint's policy is better than Verizon's. Otherwise, Verizon's is better.

--
JustThe.net - Steve Sobol / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Coming to you from Southern California's High Desert, where the
temperatures are as high as the gas prices! / 888.480.4NET (4638)

"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table" --Anna Nalick, "Breathe"

In article <[email protected]>,
"Zen Cohen" <[email protected]> wrote:
> supposedly was set back some 8 months on the rebate. Doesn't seem to make a
> lot of sense since I paid full price, and especially considering that I can
> just go to another carrier for a better deal when my contract expires. Am I
> missing something?

This confuses me, too. Since we can now keep our phone numbers when we
switch carriers, it seems to me that if some other carrier is offering a
great deal on a phone you want, there's little reason in most cases to
stick with your current carrier if they won't match the price. Thus,
I'd expect the carriers to be fairly aggressive in trying to keep their
current customers.

Or do they all figure that even though they'll lose people who jump to
get a new phone, they'll be gaining as many people who are jumping from
those other carriers?

--
--Tim Smith

Well, here's another little story on the subject.

I purchased and activated a Treo 600 in January 2004. That ought to
make me eligible for the New For You rebate this month.

So I checked the website, and it says I won't be eligible until
September 2006!

CALL 1: I call Sprint, and the explanation is that when I had a warranty
replacement of the phone in March 2004, that automatically reset the 18
months! Their phone broke, I got replacement under the extended
warranty I paid SPCS for, and then it's SPCS's policy that *I* get
penalized for it!?

The CS rep explained that if I ask nicely, Sprint's Rebate department,
*might* reset the "New For You" rebate date based on the original
purchase date. He transfers me to the rebate department -- and I get
dropped off of hold.

Booinnnggg!!!

CALL 2: So I call the Sprint Rebate Department myself. After waiting on
hold, the rep explains that I have to talk to Sprint Customer Service,
and have them place "a special code on my account", to indicate that I'm
eligible for the rebate.

Booinnnggg!!!

CALL 3: So I call Sprint Customer Service *again*. Wait on hold again.
Get a rep who says that Rebate department must put a note in my
account in order for them to allow the resetting of the rebate date!

....at which point, *I* explain to the CS rep that the resulting diatribe
was not personally directed at her, but that THIS IS NOT GOOD CUSTOMER
SERVICE!!!!!!!!! Why do I have to get bounced back and forth between
different divisions of the same company in order to get something that
should have been mine in the first place???

So now, I'm on hold while this CS rep is on hold, waiting to talk to the
Rebate Department, to work this all out.

Finally, Brittany got the problem resolved with the Rebate Dept, and I'm
eligible for the rebate.

And, of course, she let me know about the instant rebate program that
starts July 7 -- though she warned me to call ahead to the store before
going, to make sure that they are on board with the program.

Sigh.

On Fri, 1 Jul 2005 21:56:16 -0500, O/Siris <rØbjvargas@comcâst.nêt>
wrote:
>http://pcshandsetupgrade.sprint.com/...ntRebates.html
>
>"Purchasing and activating a new phone and receiving any other discount
>prior to date of eligibility for the rebate offer forfeits enrollment in
>the program (excludes additional new lines of service)."

You just quoted it.

Notice the "AND" in there?
Purchasing and activating a new phone AND receiving any other
discount.

That does not include if you buy something for full price and Sprint
gives you NOTHING.

I realize this is being mishandled by the SprintPCS system and they
are moving that date back often. But if they gave you nothing it
should not affect your ability to receive a rebate from them on the
posted schedule. A deal is a deal. The obvious intent is to deny
rebates more often than every 18 months.

They are cheating.

[email protected] wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Jul 2005 21:56:16 -0500, O/Siris <rØbjvargas@comcâst.nêt>
> wrote:
>> http://pcshandsetupgrade.sprint.com/...ntRebates.html
>>
>> "Purchasing and activating a new phone and receiving any other discount
>> prior to date of eligibility for the rebate offer forfeits enrollment in
>> the program (excludes additional new lines of service)."
>
> You just quoted it.
>
> Notice the "AND" in there?
> Purchasing and activating a new phone AND receiving any other
> discount.
>
> That does not include if you buy something for full price and Sprint
> gives you NOTHING.

But are you really paying *full* price? There has been some speculation
that Sprint subsidizes the sale of all Sprint phones to some extent.


> I realize this is being mishandled by the SprintPCS system and they
> are moving that date back often. But if they gave you nothing it
> should not affect your ability to receive a rebate from them on the
> posted schedule. A deal is a deal. The obvious intent is to deny
> rebates more often than every 18 months.
>
> They are cheating.

There must be some logic to it somewhere. I can't believe that
Sprint is being stupid or dishonest on purpose.

--
John Richards

On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 16:51:26 GMT, "John Richards"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>> They are cheating.
>
>There must be some logic to it somewhere. I can't believe that
>Sprint is being stupid or dishonest on purpose.
No, more than likely it is a computer programming error. They have
unconnected systems, the rebate system doesn't know whether you got a
rebate before or not. It assumes an ESN change on your account
constitutes a rebate, which is hardly true.

I had made no changes at all and my date was being pushed back. It
was amazing. I looked, and though "Oh, good, I can get a new phone in
April" Looked again in April, it was October. Heh. I wouldn't have
believed it. I wish I had a printout. I do now.

Practically speaking if I want to buy 10 phones with my own money and
pay for them and use them interchangeably on my account as I wish,
that should have nothing to do with the "one rebate in 18 months"
deal.

FWIW, I understand rebates are going to be replaced with instant
discounts on 7/7/05.

John Richards wrote:

>> Notice the "AND" in there?
>> Purchasing and activating a new phone AND receiving any other
>> discount.
>>
>> That does not include if you buy something for full price and Sprint
>> gives you NOTHING.

If I buy a phone off eBay, the counter shouldn't reset then, eh?

Yet it did. On my phone, anyhow. Not on my wife's when we bought hers off
eBay (which was weird).

> There must be some logic to it somewhere. I can't believe that
> Sprint is being stupid or dishonest on purpose.

It's possible that they are. But this being Sprint, I'm more willing to
ascribe the situation to stupidity than malice.

--
JustThe.net - Steve Sobol / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Coming to you from Southern California's High Desert, where the
temperatures are as high as the gas prices! / 888.480.4NET (4638)

"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table" --Anna Nalick, "Breathe"

Steve Sobol wrote:
> John Richards wrote:
>
>>> Notice the "AND" in there?
>>> Purchasing and activating a new phone AND receiving any other
>>> discount.
>>>
>>> That does not include if you buy something for full price and Sprint
>>> gives you NOTHING.
>
> If I buy a phone off eBay, the counter shouldn't reset then, eh?
>
> Yet it did. On my phone, anyhow. Not on my wife's when we bought hers off
> eBay (which was weird).
>
>> There must be some logic to it somewhere. I can't believe that
>> Sprint is being stupid or dishonest on purpose.
>
> It's possible that they are. But this being Sprint, I'm more willing to
> ascribe the situation to stupidity than malice.

I believe the criterion is not that one paid full price but whether the
phone was ever activated on Sprint's network before.
If this is its first activation, then Sprint assumes the buyer
benefited from a Sprint subsidy on the sale price of that phone,
hence the 18 month clock is reset.

--
John Richards

I bought a phone off ebay, even thought they said that if I activated
it, my rebate timer would be reset. But then between the time I won and
the time I was about to activate it, RS had an acceptable phone on sale
for a price I was willing to pay. I kind of hope my wife's phone breaks
so I can replace it with the one off ebay. Losing her rebate does not
matter as she would not let me spend the money on a brand new phone.


Steve Sobol wrote:
> John Richards wrote:
>
>>> Notice the "AND" in there?
>>> Purchasing and activating a new phone AND receiving any other
>>> discount.
>>>
>>> That does not include if you buy something for full price and Sprint
>>> gives you NOTHING.
>
>
> If I buy a phone off eBay, the counter shouldn't reset then, eh?
>
> Yet it did. On my phone, anyhow. Not on my wife's when we bought hers
> off eBay (which was weird).
>
>> There must be some logic to it somewhere. I can't believe that
>> Sprint is being stupid or dishonest on purpose.
>
>
> It's possible that they are. But this being Sprint, I'm more willing to
> ascribe the situation to stupidity than malice.
>

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> CALL 2: So I call the Sprint Rebate Department myself. After waiting on
> hold, the rep explains that I have to talk to Sprint Customer Service,
> and have them place "a special code on my account", to indicate that I'm
> eligible for the rebate.
>
> Booinnnggg!!!
>
> CALL 3: So I call Sprint Customer Service *again*. Wait on hold again.
> Get a rep who says that Rebate department must put a note in my
> account in order for them to allow the resetting of the rebate date!
>
> ...at which point, *I* explain to the CS rep that the resulting diatribe
> was not personally directed at her, but that THIS IS NOT GOOD CUSTOMER
> SERVICE!!!!!!!!! Why do I have to get bounced back and forth between
> different divisions of the same company in order to get something that
> should have been mine in the first place???
>
> So now, I'm on hold while this CS rep is on hold, waiting to talk to the
> Rebate Department, to work this all out.
>
> Finally, Brittany got the problem resolved with the Rebate Dept, and I'm
> eligible for the rebate.
>
> And, of course, she let me know about the instant rebate program that
> starts July 7 -- though she warned me to call ahead to the store before
> going, to make sure that they are on board with the program.
>
> Sigh.
>

I wanted to respond to this separately. The Rebate Center was 100%
correct. It's not their job to "fix" your eligibility, nor are they
even supposed to look into it. They have one AND ONLY ONE JOB, process
the rebates.

That rep on Call #3 is just as stupid and lazy as #1. Godammit.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

In article <[email protected]>, steevo@my-
deja.com says...
> That does not include if you buy something for full price and Sprint
> gives you NOTHING.
>

It means you reenter the New For You program under the new phone. And,
technically, you missed an AND also.
--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> If I buy a phone off eBay, the counter shouldn't reset then, eh?
>
> Yet it did. On my phone, anyhow. Not on my wife's when we bought hers off
> eBay (which was weird).
>

It shouldn't. Yes, on occasion, it does. That's why reps are allowed
to add that override code. All a rep has to do is do a lookup by ESN.
If it's been used previously, it shouldn't have reset your "clock", and
the rep can place the code to override that it did so.

--
RØß
O/Siris
-+-
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
+Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792+