Sprint to start charging upgrade fees on 11/10

[teh_toidi]

What Sprint needs to do to remain competitive is:

1. Giving the $75 or $150 discount on the new 2 year promo price instead of the full retail.

2. Giving INSTANT discounts on upgrades instead of making people pay full retail then $36, then wait 2-3 months for the rebate cheak.

In reality Verizon's upgrade policy is way better. People used to say, well Sprint gives $150 off every 18 months, and Verizon only gives $100 every 2 years. I was fooled by this as well until I realized that Verizon takes $100 off the new 2 year prices NOT full retail like Sprint. Therefore Verizon's deal is actually about $300 off in many cases. Verizon would really gain some attention if they clarified their policy. With this new fee, I don't see what stops Sprint customers out of contract from cancelling their service altogether to get the new customer price. That's absolute BS that a new customer gets $180-200 off the phone, when a loyal customer must renew, pay full retail then wait and wait for $150. Next time a Sprint customer calls Verizon greedy I will simply laugh.

uh sprint has been giving instant rebates on phones since july there are no more rebate checks unless certain things apply. and its now every 2 years intead of every 18 months

[TProphet]

I really wish you wouldn't give courtesy credits, because this is just a Band-Aid on the overall problem. It's better to watch Sprint lose a ton of activations and have even more customers port out to other carriers due to this fee over the lucrative holiday season. The "senior leadership team" of companies (as execs like to call themselves these days) only seems to reverse bad decisions when it affects the bottom line, and a disappointing holiday season is a great way to accomplish this.

This is one of those classic Sprint management decisions, actually. It costs a customer nothing to switch to another carrier (and they'll give him a free phone), or a minimum of $36 to stay with Sprint. All else being equal (or even more competitive) it's pretty obvious which decision is the right one.

From what it sounds like.. any phone that has not been previously activated will get charged the $36 fee and it states it will show up within the first 3 bills. It does not say anything about whether it's for rebate customers or not.. Just that it's for all upgrading customers.. and again based on it saying "does not apply to insurance exchanges, warranty exchanges, used devices or inter company porting", I would guess that it basically means for ANY NEW PHONE that has not been previously activated.

I have my regional manager emailing our area director about this as he's not happy. (I won't post any info that I get in response to the emails).

I can see me giving a bunch of courtesy credits for this.. lol.. not going to lose new activations in the Xmas season because of this.

[lgmayka]

uh sprint has been giving instant rebates on phones since july there are no more rebate checks unless certain things apply.

The last time I inquired, retailers like Best Buy and Costco did not give upgraders instant discounts, only rebate forms. Are you saying that this has changed?

[Next Steps]

The last time I inquired, retailers like Best Buy and Costco did not give upgraders instant discounts, only rebate forms. Are you saying that this has changed?

Direct channels do give instant discounts, but indirect dealers and retailers do not.

[teh_toidi]

The last time I inquired, retailers like Best Buy and Costco did not give upgraders instant discounts, only rebate forms. Are you saying that this has changed?

right now only Radio shack and sprint stores do instant rebates, there might be a few others as well

[Falkin'sMaze]

Just a quick couple of comments.

1. Please trust Next Steps. I've yet to see incorrect information.

2. Certain customers will be exempt from the upgrade fee. Certain corporate customers are exempt from it. Also, if I recall correctly,certain PCS customers will be exempt as well...I THINK there's a loophole if you're already eligible for the $150 off.

3. If you upgrade over the phone on the IDEN side, the fee is only $15. I suppose it might be the same on the CDMA side...(and YES, you do have to pay shipping).

4. I know that for me...I TELL EVERYONE about the fee. I am not having a customer come back and try to chew me out for it. AND IT SHOWS ON THE CONTRACT. Why lie? Just do your job and tell the customer about it. Sheesh.

5. Does the fee suck? (sigh) Yeah. Can we (meaning your local Sprint/Nextel retail reps) do anything about it? No, except pass on to management our feedback about it.

I do hope for all fellow Sprint/Nextel employees that this doesn't ruin your holiday season for sales.

Falkin'sMaze

[treo650_07]

I just swaped my treo 600 for a 650 when my 24 months passed and I could get my $150 discount. I then tried to switch my 600 to my wife's line (whose 24 months is coming up in July of '06) and was told that her upgrade discount would be set back to zero months if I switched phones on her line. Is there a way around this? Sorry if this has been covered - I did a search and couldn't find anything.

[TProphet]

Nope. This is one of Sprint's more brain-damaged senseless bureaucratic policies. It's caused a great deal of angst since its inception and there is no way around it except to switch to another carrier.

I just swaped my treo 600 for a 650 when my 24 months passed and I could get my $150 discount. I then tried to switch my 600 to my wife's line (whose 24 months is coming up in July of '06) and was told that her upgrade discount would be set back to zero months if I switched phones on her line. Is there a way around this? Sorry if this has been covered - I did a search and couldn't find anything.

[lgmayka]

I just swaped my treo 600 for a 650 when my 24 months passed and I could get my $150 discount. I then tried to switch my 600 to my wife's line (whose 24 months is coming up in July of '06) and was told that her upgrade discount would be set back to zero months if I switched phones on her line.

The irony is that some Sprint employees on Internet forums assert that switching phones between different lines on the same account is not supposed to reset the clock. Unfortunately, if you try it and those employees turn out to be wrong, you're--er--screwed.

[lgmayka]

If this post from another forum is correct, Sprint salesmen may lose some sales this season:

http://www.sprintusers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81026
---
Starting on November 10th there will be a $36 dollar activation fee applied whenever an Upgrade (with a discount from Sprint) is done. This will not be waive-able. The code for the fee will be tied into the same code used to make the system discount you're phone. As well, all added sub lines will be charged an $18 activation fee. All WAIVE ACT FEE codes are being taken out of the system.
---

Note particularly that:

1) The fee will not be waivable. cruznis300 will be out of luck. (He was planning to waive it to some customers as a courtesy, if I understood him correctly.)

2) The fee will apparently not apply to customers who buy their own phones without a Sprint rebate/discount.

Given (1) and (2), the obvious conclusion is:

3) The $75 discount/rebate for 12-23 month upgraders is now effectively worthless. The effective discount (over buying the phone yourself) is only $75 - $36 = $39. For that measly $39, the customer must sign a new 2-year contract. Except in very specific circumstances, that's nuts!

[cruznis300]

Nope. This is one of Sprint's more brain-damaged senseless bureaucratic policies. It's caused a great deal of angst since its inception and there is no way around it except to switch to another carrier.

Activating a previously activated phone on the SAME account will not reset the time.

[treo650_07]

Activating a previously activated phone on the SAME account will not reset the time.

That is what I am trying to do. Both phone numbers are on one account. How can I be assured that by activating my old phone on my wife's line won't reset her time?

[NGeorge]

I've done this before, and it *does* reset the time on the online meter that shows when you will be eligable, but you call a rep, they look into it, note that it was previously on your account, and put a code on your account that allows the rebate to go through... worked for me.

--Nat

[steve3590]

So, if I am a current Sprint customer and I go to Best Buy and pay full price for a new, unactivated Sprint phone, (no discounts, 18month......) DO NOT have it activated at Best Buy, take it home, call in for a simple esn swap. Is this now going to cost $36.00. If it is my days of swapping phones 3 times a week will be over really quick.

[mulletwireless]

So, if I am a current Sprint customer and I go to Best Buy and pay full price for a new, unactivated Sprint phone, (no discounts, 18month......) DO NOT have it activated at Best Buy, take it home, call in for a simple esn swap. Is this now going to cost $36.00. If it is my days of swapping phones 3 times a week will be over really quick.

What ever best buy you go to is full of utter fools. Most blue smurf box stores are, how do we say nicely telling you if its not a new line a service for anything go else where...

They are given a better deal on sprint handsets then direct stores could dream of, they are given to best buy at a loss for Sprint. They make the biggest margins on their handsets to off set their sad escape act. money on the back end.