Retention FAQ 11/9/2003

This FAQ is in no way authored by Sprint Spectrum, Sprint or Sprint PCS unless
otherwise expressly noted. By reading on, you agree that you are fully aware of
this. I see many questions asked repeatedly about rate plans, and thought an
"Unofficial Retention FAQ" was in order. I have no association (i.e. never been
employed or received any remuneration for them) with SprintPCS and there is a
greater than zero chance there may be errors herein. I believe everything to be
correct, but use the information at your own risk. This FAQ comes not from
SprintPCS, so it is unofficial, but apparently has useful information some
SprintPCS apologists are upset about being made public.

What about retention deals? SprintPCS wisely would prefer that customers not
leave, its been reported it costs ~$365 to obtain a new customer in
advertising, support, and phone price subsidies, etc.; so it behooves SprintPCS
to try to retain customers by offering them a deal. However this is a murky,
semi-secret, here-to-fore not fully documented process.
Car Manufacturers often have a $1000 loyalty bonus for folks that buy a car
that is the same make as their existing one. Those plans are not secret.
Sprint could save a lot of grief and help themselves by switching to a single
predictable advertised retention plan. Bonus 5% extra minutes after first year
with Sprint and 2% more for each additional year might work. Some SprintPCS
employees insult me, but SprintPCS does not keep secret the special deals for
new customers, why should it keep secret the deals it has to retain customers?
Ford doesn't. From what I have read in this newsgroup, I read about customers
SprintPCS has lost because the customer didn't know how to get or wasn't
offered a retention deal, that SprintPCS might have been happy to offer.....IF
IT HAD BEEN ASKED FOR....


FAQ on retention Deals from SprintPCS

Who should I contact?

Outside of a contract call CANCELLATION or go to a SprintPCS owned store and
talk to a manger and try to negotiate a deal. The variability of deals is truly
astounding, and while its been discussed, I'm not sure I or anyone else has a
good handle on how to get the best deal, other than its a matter of luck and
who you negotiate with, and how well you can negotiate, and your standing as a
SprintPCS customer. Such unpredictability is the reason for this FAQ.

CANCELLATION = 1-866-762-0468

How do I negotiate?

When buying a car, I always found the best negotiating tactic was:
"I don't think that’s the best deal you're allowed to offer me, let me go eat
lunch, and think on it.”


What works best in negotiating with Sprint?

So apparently with Sprint, you call Cancellation and say "I'm seriously
considering switching to XXXXXXX Carrier because.....; are there any deals you
could offer me to consider to stay with Sprint?"

In my case I said (and meant it) "I'm considering switching to Verizon as my
son now has Verizon, and with their deals on 1000 Free Verizon to Verizon
minutes, I'd come out ahead".

A former SprintPCS rep said (in this newsgroup) he could always tell who was
really getting ready to Cancel, and who was bluffing. If the Sprint rep says
"OK I can cancel you", you say, "I have 2 more weeks this billing period, let
me think about it, don't cancel me yet; when should I call back to cancel so as
not to be charged another month, if that’s what I decide?" Then hang-up, wait
30 seconds call Cancellation again, and try another rep. Always ask for
something extra when they make an offer. If they say: we can offer you xxx
minutes for only $yyy/month with unlimited nights and weekends. Say "That
sounds enticing, if you can also add unlimited PCS to PCS and we have a deal",
might work for you. or if you're a high dollar customer (over $70/month) also
ask for a credit on your account.

A Sprint employee in 9/2003 posted the following suggestions
(*****ing corrected)::

They can't cancel you unless you tell them specifically to cancel, if you
say you're thinking of canceling, they won't cancel you.

How long have you been a customer? $97 per month for all 4 lines? I'm
assuming you have 3 add-a-phones.

Use what you know to your advantage. If your bill is always paid on
time and in full, say that. Also, do some shopping around at the
competitors first, if you see a better deal, write it down and who it is
with.

Stay calm, and be polite. If you don't get what you like, say 'thank
you' and call back a few minutes later.

Keep to your "I'm thinking of canceling soon" attitude. Think of
the reasons to cancel, if you're not in a contract, then you have more
ammunnition.


What retention deals are available?

Go to Google, select groups, select advanced group search, pick
alt.cellular.sprintpcs as newsgroup, and "Retention deal" as phrase
and search the last few months and see what people have gotten so you'll know
what you could reasonably expect, after examining the dozens posted here
recently. Some claim they have stopped offering unlimited Vision as a free
bonus. Most commonly they offer you additional anytime minutes, perhaps because
it appears you wouldn’t use them anyway. Sometimes you may get a discount on
purchasing a replacement phone.


Am I a good candidate for a good retention deal?

Apparently the longer you have been a Sprint customer, and maybe if you've
never been late with a payment, and the more phones you have, and the more you
pay per month, the better chance you have to get a good retention deal. You
also need to be not on contract, or in the last month or so of a contract,
although not necessarily.


Are there any other ways to save?

Yes! If you work for a large company, it may have a deal negotiated with
SprintPCS that will also allow any employee to participate. These deals offer a
discount of 5 to 27% on monthly repeating charges, and discounts on new
equipment purchases. Further, business plans users are never charged
"Activation" fees; and likely have a dedicated SprintPCS employee in the Sprint
business department to handle billing problems, etc. These discounts would be
ON TOP OF any promotional plan or retention plan, you would contact either your
company's Sprint representative or the Business # 1-888-788-4727

SprintPCS now allows any customer to get new customer deals on a new phone if
you have been using the same phone for 18 months. You get the discount by
rebate however.

Some folks swear by (although others swear at) bargains obtained on eBay when
purchasing a phone. Caveat emptor.

=========

Nov. 9, 2003
This FAQ is based on my experiences and opinions and the reported experiences
of others as posted in this newsgroup. Always go by the latest dated FAQ and
ignore all earlier ones. SprintPCS is free to change its policies at any time,
and I make no guarantee as to what will happen if one seeks a retention plan,
and cannot be held responsible for your results. I believe it would serve
SprintPCS better if it were not secretive about these plans, and view this
posting as helpful to Sprint. I welcome ===constructive=== criticism and
additions.

Personal insults addressed to the author will be ignored.

One former employee has the notion that availing oneself of these opportunities
is "Stealing" from SprintPCS. Hardly. You won't be holding a gun to their head,
just asking for deals that not everyone knows about. Sprint wouldn't give you a
retention deal if you weren't eligible and they didn't want you to have it. In
many cases they are adding Plan Minutes that they reasonably expect won't be
used anyway. But I like having extra minutes I don't use so I don't have to
carefully track my usage. If you're the type that insists on paying full
sticker price every time you buy a car, then maybe asking for a Retention plan
is not for you.

---

› See More: Retention FAQ 11/9/2003

On 09 Nov 2003 13:47:14 GMT, [email protected] (DSL GURU) said:

I'm confused here. You are trying to convice someone that the Sprint
method of not disclosing certain deals is shady and then compare them
to the ethics and sales methods of car dealers and car salesmen to
show your point? Have you thought about that example big picture?
CNN found that 75% of people would rather go to the dentist then visit
a car dealer. Have you bought a car from a dealer?

>However this is a murky,
>semi-secret, here-to-fore not fully documented process.

>Car Manufacturers often have a $1000 loyalty bonus for folks that buy a car
>that is the same make as their existing one. Those plans are not secret.

>Sprint could save a lot of grief and help themselves by switching to a single
>predictable advertised retention plan.

I doubt that would save Sprint grief. I assume they look at the pros
and cons of keeping an individual Sprint customer and what it means to
them at the time a specific contract is up for renewal. It is a fact
of doing any business that some customers cost more to maintain then
others. I don't know what Sprint looks at but an example to analyze
is an internet user. The person that is dialed in all the time or is
on broadband and pulling from KaZaa all day long costs considerbly
more then the soccer mom that checks email a few times a day. But..
that soccer mom may have to call support a lot which costs. I know a
person that worked at a Geico insurance call center. They determined
that each call to a CS center should be no more then 4 minutes and
costs the company about $7 (NOT farmed out overseas). This is not
meant to be a direct comparision to a cell phone company but each has
factors to consider that neither of us know what they are.

You can take your "secret" deals even further then a cell phone
company as most businesses are flexible in that area. It is called
how to make a deal and which I am sure a majority of the general
population is well aware of. Your car dealer example is a prime
example of this. I have also reduced my car insurance (not Geico),
one of my credit card interest rates, my car window tint, quite a few
computer purchases, and even cut my monthly garbage collection fee in
half by calling and dealing. Sometimes you get a better deal,
sometimes you don't. If every company did this for everyone, there
would be far less companies around. Business 101. I don't know how
or why you are so surprised that this is possible and what advantage
it has to the company and yourself.

I am not questioning your specific methods of how to make a deal with
Sprint (that I snipped out), only your personal reasons for why there
is a deal process.

You are so anxious to find fault that ou contradict yourself. You say Sprint
shouldn't have a single predictable retention FAQ, and then you say if a
company negociates:

"Sometimes you get a better deal,
sometimes you don't. If every company did this for everyone, there would be
far less companies around. Business 101."

On 10 Nov 2003 08:22:06 GMT, [email protected] (DSL GURU) wrote:

>You are so anxious to find fault that ou contradict yourself. You say Sprint
>shouldn't have a single predictable retention FAQ, and then you say if a
>company negociates:
>

No, I have no idea how you arrived at that assumption as that was
certainly not what I was I trying to say. Reread my last paragraph.
I will requote it below and explain further.

-->
I am not questioning your specific methods of how to make a deal with
Sprint (that I snipped out), only your personal reasons for why there
is a deal process.
<--

Further explanation...
You feel there should be NO deal process at all and suggest a standard
discount for everyone across the board. This is not a reasonable
expectation as some plans and usage patterns are bringing in less
profit then others and some accounts are worth more then others.
Expecting to lump 17 million accounts (or whatever they have) into one
classification and assuming them all as worthy of a standard discount
is not an educated decision. Do you not agree with that? You also
give the impression that the current practice is somewhat shady and
deceptive with some backroom dealing. I stated that IMHO, it is
nothing more then a deal making process between two parties.

So in summary.
Your specific methods of dealing and trying to get a better deal are
useful. I do not agree with your biased reasoning behind having to
call and make a deal compared to automatically getting a standard
discount.

Was that clear?

There are certainly arguments for and against having a public known retention
plan, and then you proceeded to present both sides.

Against: There are bad customers you may not want to keep
For: You could go broke negociating deals for everyone

===========
Sprint now keeps it a secret, and is losing customers because of it. I present
methodologies for getting a retention deal rather than just walking. I believe
Sprint would be better served having a known retention deal.

i.e. After 2 years you get $150 off a new phone and
5% additional anytime minutes for every year you've been with SprintPCS in
exchange for a new 2 year Agreement.

DSL GURU wrote:

> There are certainly arguments for and against having a public known
> retention plan, and then you proceeded to present both sides.
>
> Against: There are bad customers you may not want to keep
> For: You could go broke negociating deals for everyone
>

You forgot two improtant statements AGAINST:

1. No other company has publicly stated retention plans.

2. Profit margins are seriously impaired by these retention deals, which
takes money out of the coffer that supports technology and network
upgrades.



> ===========
> Sprint now keeps it a secret, and is losing customers because of it. I
> present methodologies for getting a retention deal rather than just
> walking. I believe Sprint would be better served having a known retention
> deal.
>
> i.e. After 2 years you get $150 off a new phone and
> 5% additional anytime minutes for every year you've been with SprintPCS in
> exchange for a new 2 year Agreement.

Sounds like a Customer Loyalty offer to me, not a retention plan. And if
you don't know the difference, find someone a little smarter to explain it
to you.