New phone attempt

I have an older dual band QCP phone from several years ago.and on a $30/300
anytime, unlimited after 8 PM plan. I was interested in getting a newer
phone with perhaps the $150 rebate making the phone cost anywhere from $0 to
$50 or so. Got told that I need to agree to another two year extension, move
up to $35 plan, go back to 9 PM unlimited, and wait 18 months to qualify???
Oh brother...looks like I stay with the old phone or pay about $150-$200 for
a new phone. :-/

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› See More: New phone attempt

Scott wrote:
> I have an older dual band QCP phone from several years ago.and on a $30/300
> anytime, unlimited after 8 PM plan. I was interested in getting a newer
> phone with perhaps the $150 rebate making the phone cost anywhere from $0 to
> $50 or so. Got told that I need to agree to another two year extension, move
> up to $35 plan, go back to 9 PM unlimited, and wait 18 months to qualify???
> Oh brother...looks like I stay with the old phone or pay about $150-$200 for
> a new phone. :-/

You do need to be on a $35 or higher plan and have had your phone for at least
18 months to qualify. Most carriers don't do promos for people spending less
than about $35-40 as profit margins are apparently quite thin for the people
spending less than that amount.

I don't know about the 9pm Nights and Weekends. I'm sure you could pay the
extra $5 per month for 7pm, but I'm also sure that wouldn't count towards your
$35/month total - it has to be $35/month before you add in any extras.


--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / [email protected]
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

It was the idea that I pay $5 more per month and then LOSE the earlier time
slot for unlimited calls that gets me. I asked about getting a break on that
and got quickly told "nope," then asked if I was ready to change plans and
extend my agreement by 2 years. Uhh..."nope."

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Scott wrote:
>> I have an older dual band QCP phone from several years ago.and on a
>> $30/300 anytime, unlimited after 8 PM plan. I was interested in getting a
>> newer phone with perhaps the $150 rebate making the phone cost anywhere
>> from $0 to $50 or so. Got told that I need to agree to another two year
>> extension, move up to $35 plan, go back to 9 PM unlimited, and wait 18
>> months to qualify???
>> Oh brother...looks like I stay with the old phone or pay about $150-$200
>> for a new phone. :-/
>
> You do need to be on a $35 or higher plan and have had your phone for at
> least 18 months to qualify. Most carriers don't do promos for people
> spending less than about $35-40 as profit margins are apparently quite
> thin for the people spending less than that amount.
>
> I don't know about the 9pm Nights and Weekends. I'm sure you could pay the
> extra $5 per month for 7pm, but I'm also sure that wouldn't count towards
> your $35/month total - it has to be $35/month before you add in any
> extras.
>
>
> --
> JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
> Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) /
> [email protected]
> PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
> Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

"Scott" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:FgM8d.125283$9Y5.59310@fed1read02...
> It was the idea that I pay $5 more per month and then LOSE the earlier
time
> slot for unlimited calls that gets me. I asked about getting a break on
that
> and got quickly told "nope," then asked if I was ready to change plans and
> extend my agreement by 2 years. Uhh..."nope."

Let me ask you this, even though a commitment of 2 more years doesn't sound
all that pleasant, considering that you've been fairly satisfied with
coverage (you aren't complaining about that) and you've been with SPCS for
quite awhile, does it make all that much difference, if you take the rebate?

On the other hand, you would save money in the long run, over the next two
years, if you kept your plan and just bought a phone from Office Depot, Best
Buy or any other outside source, considering the additional costs of a new
plan.

Bob

PS: Which Qualcomm model was that, the 2700?

Scott wrote:
> It was the idea that I pay $5 more per month and then LOSE the earlier time
> slot for unlimited calls that gets me.

Well, what do you expect Scott? You're asking Sprint to eat the cost of
the phone AND continue to not make a profit on your account?

Yeah, it sounds blunt, but Sprint is a business, not a charity group.
$35 is the price point at which they'll take a hit on the phone cost if
they know they're getting that revenue for two years.

--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

I am not talking about the aspect of the rebate at this point...I would
consider paying more to have the discount option every 18 months . The idea
that I should pay $5 more per month, restart a 2-yr contract, and then
*lose* benefits by giving up the earlier nighttime hours is poor business
practice. If I pay for a higher cost plan I should not have a net loss in
benefits. Sprint already benefits by making me pay more for no change in
benefits if I go to $35. I have considered buying a phone outright, but I
am also looking at other phone carriers when my contract runs out in
January. Maybe I can get progress by getting to the retention department,
since the sales department has their own priorities.
However, since I am interested in getting a new phone earlier, I will
probably either just buy it (ideally on sale), or just get rid of my Sprint
service in January.


"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Scott wrote:
>> It was the idea that I pay $5 more per month and then LOSE the earlier
>> time slot for unlimited calls that gets me.
>
> Well, what do you expect Scott? You're asking Sprint to eat the cost of
> the phone AND continue to not make a profit on your account?
>
> Yeah, it sounds blunt, but Sprint is a business, not a charity group. $35
> is the price point at which they'll take a hit on the phone cost if they
> know they're getting that revenue for two years.
>
> --
> E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
> Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.
>

"Scott" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:goV8d.26$kz3.9@fed1read02...
> I am not talking about the aspect of the rebate at this point...I would
> consider paying more to have the discount option every 18 months . The
idea
> that I should pay $5 more per month, restart a 2-yr contract, and then
> *lose* benefits by giving up the earlier nighttime hours is poor business
> practice. If I pay for a higher cost plan I should not have a net loss in
> benefits. Sprint already benefits by making me pay more for no change in
> benefits if I go to $35. I have considered buying a phone outright, but I
> am also looking at other phone carriers when my contract runs out in
> January. Maybe I can get progress by getting to the retention department,
> since the sales department has their own priorities.
> However, since I am interested in getting a new phone earlier, I will
> probably either just buy it (ideally on sale), or just get rid of my
Sprint
> service in January.

No one is forcing you to change your plan, nor lose any options that you
currently have. As it stands now, with the options that you listed
previously, you aren't generating much, if any profit for SPCS. SPCS offers
a rebate, but that doesn't mean that you have to take it. If you do, SPCS
does require certain conditions on your plan.

With SPCS, there is no expiration of the plan you signed onto, nor any rate
increases. You can keep that plan, until you either leave SPCS or change
plans. As mentioned here numerous times, there are customers still on the
initial Pioneer plan offered, where no monthly service charges were applied.
The only charge for those folks is $0.35/min, including LD for outgoing
calls. Granted, it's not much a plan now for the minutes offered in today's
plans, but for those that have minimal usage every month, it's still working
for them.

If you find a better deal with another provider, so be it, but you can
expect to be locked into an agreement with them, for the same type of featur
es you have now with SPCS.

Bob

I can get equal or better service with another carrier and get a new phone
as they want to attract new customers. Signing contracts are not a problem.
Hopefully it wont come to my leaving Sprint, but being able to move the
number makes it a lot easier.

"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Scott" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:goV8d.26$kz3.9@fed1read02...
>> I am not talking about the aspect of the rebate at this point...I would
>> consider paying more to have the discount option every 18 months . The
> idea
>> that I should pay $5 more per month, restart a 2-yr contract, and then
>> *lose* benefits by giving up the earlier nighttime hours is poor business
>> practice. If I pay for a higher cost plan I should not have a net loss in
>> benefits. Sprint already benefits by making me pay more for no change in
>> benefits if I go to $35. I have considered buying a phone outright, but
>> I
>> am also looking at other phone carriers when my contract runs out in
>> January. Maybe I can get progress by getting to the retention department,
>> since the sales department has their own priorities.
>> However, since I am interested in getting a new phone earlier, I will
>> probably either just buy it (ideally on sale), or just get rid of my
> Sprint
>> service in January.
>
> No one is forcing you to change your plan, nor lose any options that you
> currently have. As it stands now, with the options that you listed
> previously, you aren't generating much, if any profit for SPCS. SPCS
> offers
> a rebate, but that doesn't mean that you have to take it. If you do, SPCS
> does require certain conditions on your plan.
>
> With SPCS, there is no expiration of the plan you signed onto, nor any
> rate
> increases. You can keep that plan, until you either leave SPCS or change
> plans. As mentioned here numerous times, there are customers still on the
> initial Pioneer plan offered, where no monthly service charges were
> applied.
> The only charge for those folks is $0.35/min, including LD for outgoing
> calls. Granted, it's not much a plan now for the minutes offered in
> today's
> plans, but for those that have minimal usage every month, it's still
> working
> for them.
>
> If you find a better deal with another provider, so be it, but you can
> expect to be locked into an agreement with them, for the same type of
> featur
> es you have now with SPCS.
>
> Bob
>
>

I recommend you contact the Retention/Cancellation department
and ask for the best plan they can give you for $35 per month.

--
John Richards


"Scott" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:goV8d.26$kz3.9@fed1read02...
>I am not talking about the aspect of the rebate at this point...I would
> consider paying more to have the discount option every 18 months . The idea
> that I should pay $5 more per month, restart a 2-yr contract, and then
> *lose* benefits by giving up the earlier nighttime hours is poor business
> practice. If I pay for a higher cost plan I should not have a net loss in
> benefits. Sprint already benefits by making me pay more for no change in
> benefits if I go to $35. I have considered buying a phone outright, but I
> am also looking at other phone carriers when my contract runs out in
> January. Maybe I can get progress by getting to the retention department,
> since the sales department has their own priorities.
> However, since I am interested in getting a new phone earlier, I will
> probably either just buy it (ideally on sale), or just get rid of my Sprint
> service in January.

Thanks for the advice John. I will probably have to do that near the
contract expiration...I have time to mull over my options, and the holiday
season may offer some Sprint deals, etc.

"John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:a%[email protected]...
>I recommend you contact the Retention/Cancellation department
> and ask for the best plan they can give you for $35 per month.
>
> --
> John Richards
>
>
> "Scott" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:goV8d.26$kz3.9@fed1read02...
>>I am not talking about the aspect of the rebate at this point...I would
>>consider paying more to have the discount option every 18 months . The
>>idea that I should pay $5 more per month, restart a 2-yr contract, and
>>then *lose* benefits by giving up the earlier nighttime hours is poor
>>business practice. If I pay for a higher cost plan I should not have a net
>>loss in benefits. Sprint already benefits by making me pay more for no
>>change in benefits if I go to $35. I have considered buying a phone
>>outright, but I am also looking at other phone carriers when my contract
>>runs out in January. Maybe I can get progress by getting to the retention
>>department, since the sales department has their own priorities.
>> However, since I am interested in getting a new phone earlier, I will
>> probably either just buy it (ideally on sale), or just get rid of my
>> Sprint service in January.
>

Scott wrote:
> I can get equal or better service with another carrier and get a new phone
> as they want to attract new customers. Signing contracts are not a problem.
> Hopefully it wont come to my leaving Sprint, but being able to move the
> number makes it a lot easier.

People don't understand that at $30/month, after you subtract the cost of
providing service and administrative and other costs, there's no profit in
providing the service. Ask my wife, who pays $30/month plus $5 for the
unlimited PCS to PCS and uses hundreds of PCS to PCS minutes a month. She could
end up paying $30 and using 600 or 700 minutes in a month, and only paying for 300!

No other carrier offers promos or discounts to people spending under $35/month,
either.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / [email protected]
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

Scott wrote:
> I am not talking about the aspect of the rebate at this point...I would
> consider paying more to have the discount option every 18 months . The idea
> that I should pay $5 more per month, restart a 2-yr contract, and then
> *lose* benefits by giving up the earlier nighttime hours is poor business
> practice.

I disagree. What you're saying is that it's okay to pay $5.00 more a
month, but not to commit to that plan for two more years on a particular
plan. BReally all that's been said on Sprint's end is "these are the
terms at which we will give you a $150 credit." If not, you can keep
your old plan but not get the rebate.

> If I pay for a higher cost plan I should not have a net loss in
> benefits.

When you factor in a $150 rebate, it's far from a net loss.

> I have considered buying a phone outright, but I
> am also looking at other phone carriers when my contract runs out in
> January.

So basically, you're leaving Sprint to go to another carrier who will
discount the cost of a phone in exchange for a contract which probably
last about two years, and be tied to a particular service agreement
which will probably cost around the same price point. I guess the
reasons are purely psychological, in which case, hey, whatever floats
your boat.




--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Well, I got a refreshing apology from the retention department for what the
sales department fed me...they said I shouldn't have to give up the earlier
start time benefits by going up to the higher rate and that I could join the
discount program. They said to call them again near the contract end. If
they stick to this promise, fine. It may still not be cost effective
regarding the cost of a new Sprint phone, but that depends on sales others
(or Sprint) may offer.

"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Scott wrote:
>> I am not talking about the aspect of the rebate at this point...I would
>> consider paying more to have the discount option every 18 months . The
>> idea that I should pay $5 more per month, restart a 2-yr contract, and
>> then *lose* benefits by giving up the earlier nighttime hours is poor
>> business practice.
>
> I disagree. What you're saying is that it's okay to pay $5.00 more a
> month, but not to commit to that plan for two more years on a particular
> plan. BReally all that's been said on Sprint's end is "these are the
> terms at which we will give you a $150 credit." If not, you can keep your
> old plan but not get the rebate.
>
>> If I pay for a higher cost plan I should not have a net loss in benefits.
>
> When you factor in a $150 rebate, it's far from a net loss.
>
>> I have considered buying a phone outright, but I am also looking at other
>> phone carriers when my contract runs out in January.
>
> So basically, you're leaving Sprint to go to another carrier who will
> discount the cost of a phone in exchange for a contract which probably
> last about two years, and be tied to a particular service agreement which
> will probably cost around the same price point. I guess the reasons are
> purely psychological, in which case, hey, whatever floats your boat.
>
>
>
>
> --
> E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
> Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.
>