Goodbye, Sprint

bmeehan · 11:19 AM

A few months ago, the cracks began to form around the USB door. I had TEP coverage, but didn't feel like it warranted being without my phone for 3 days like the last time I did a warranty repair... so I waited.
Fast forward, and now the spidering under the glass radiates from the center button and the USB door, and in reflected sunlight, the screen has barely visible lines that look like a contour map of Pennsylvania. Mind you, this is not affecting the LCD at all... the screen still looks as good as day 1. But the touch screen is starting to become unresponsive or less responsive in some areas.

So I made a trip to the only Sprint store in the Rochester metro area. Explained the symptoms to the rep that met me at the podium. He was quickly joined by a repair tech who took one look at the phone, noticed some cosmetic damage on my 1.5 yr old phone and immediately ruled it an insurance claim, not a warrantied repair. "It's customer damage," he said, focusing on the small bit of plastic missing on the upper slide near the volume controls.

I kept my cool, but tried to plead my case. They offered me any phone in the store as an available upgrade, but really they don't have any phones I'm interested in. I want to stay on WebOS, and even their current Android Phones are a bit lacking. I just wanted a replacement for the phone I had, that I'd been paying $7/mo for coverage for the last 12 months. But no one would budge.

From the store, I called Sprint with *2. Got a rep pretty quickly and he told me the store was incorrect... the deductible was $50, not $100. <sarcasm>What a relief</sarcasm>! Then he offered me a supervisor. 35 minutes later I got a supervisor. Thank goodness there was a tablet in the store to keep my son occupied! I got no relief from the supervisor either.

So I pulled out the only weapon in my arsenal, the only power I have with a carrier - my wallet. I told them that $84 in TEP charges + $100 (or $50) was in excess of what the phone was actually worth. I told them that I would be happy to take my business to another carrier where I didn't experience:

4-5 dropped calls per day

No coverage at my home at all - in the middle of suburbia in the 3rd largest market in New York state - clearly shown on their map as 3G and 4G covered. Thank goodness for AirRave!

Abysmal 3G coverage where my work-issued VZW phone has no problem.

Sprint, your phone plans were very affordable, but in the end, I need to make phone calls. Without a phone or coverage, that's just not going to happen. I'm 60 days away from the end of my 2 year contract. It's $50 to leave Sprint. VZW and AT&T would be about $20-25 more per month for a comparable plan.

Now to choose which one. Pre3, where are you?

-Brian in Rochester, NY

GTAFan9999 · 05/29/2011, 12:08 PM

Enjoy your no Unlimited data plans.

malpha · 05/29/2011, 12:49 PM

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Switching to Verizon myself. What's the point of unlimited data if you don't have the coverage to use it - or it keeps switching from 3G to 1x so that it's a PITA to use or if your 3G is barely a kbps above 1x.

With the new $10 add-on at Sprint, for my usage, Verizon works out $5 cheaper without VZW Nav and $5 more with VZW nav (I don't need unlimited text, so the $5 text add-on works for me - I do only around 100 a month).

Rkguy · 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTAFan9999

Enjoy your no Unlimited data plans.

What good is an unlimited plan with limited service?
I think he recognizes that it costs more with VZW or at&t.
<mod edit>

Although, on that note, the OP definitely just came on here to complain, so it's moot I guess.

twiktor · 05/29/2011, 01:00 PM

sucks when the Sprint rep you get is a *****. Too bad you don't have another store nearby that may have a better staff. Just yesterday here in Vegas I brought in my phone due to keyboard issues, gps inconsistency, and overall poor performance on this Pre which is #8. Mind you I brainfarted and left all my patches and uberkernal installed and this phone was at one point 2.1 which I'd brought back to 1.4.5. The tech came out and basically said to go home and do a full doctor to remove the traces of rooting and unlocking, and turn Dev mode off so he can do a swap without Palm being noisy about warranty issues. He clearly is a webOS fan and was quite open about his using of Preware and overclocking too. He then asked if I had used 2.1 as 5 Pres came in bricked by ppl who tried installing it that very day. I didn't even know 5 of us had Pres in Vegas heh. He also showed me on his Evo an email about Pre 3 being tested by them.

Anyhow my point is that it's all about the reps you speak to. In that same store I've been told to both suck it and been helped so it all depends on who you talk to.

VZW are crooks and ATT are lying swine. Sprint has a slight reptardation issue but at least they have good prices

totoro80 · 05/29/2011, 01:02 PM

i hear ya....the new $10 upgrade fee on sprint is making is easier to switch to att or verizon if they get the new WebOS phones and sprint continues to twiddle their thumbs.

hell, $5 - $10 more a month isn't that big of a deal to me

netwrkr9 · 05/29/2011, 01:11 PM

I checked Verizons rates with my useage and no matter what, it still is almost 25 dollars a month, and that is not 4g.

Syndil · 05/29/2011, 01:56 PM

Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Enjoy it!

Rkguy · 05/29/2011, 02:32 PM

We have some Sprint aficionados on here.
I think every carrier has a few skillets going

Cantaffordit · 05/29/2011, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTAFan9999

Enjoy your no Unlimited data plans.

A Pre2 on VZW has an unlimited data plan... And I am VERY happy with my Pre2.

Syndil · 05/29/2011, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rkguy

We have some Sprint aficionados on here.
I think every carrier has a few skillets going

My post was intended to point out that every carrier has its faults.

And given the OP's particular situation, I have no reason to believe that a VZW or AT&T store would have reacted differently. By now it's common knowledge that the Pre will develop cracks around the USB port, but any more than that and it may be assumed as user damage.

laoh · 05/29/2011, 03:58 PM

With the $10 smart phone fee, it's harder now to convince frustrated patrons to stay with Sprint. I mean what's Sprint's trump card now? Been with Sprint for 11 years and I used to hate it for the first 5-6 years due to bad customer service, lack of true SMS/MMS when other carriers had them, lack of good phones, and the pain of switching phones out (going to the store and waiting to get your address book transfered). But my plan was decent. And with corporate discount, it's hard to leave. And in the past few years, they really made strive to be better. Now they have Sprint Premier (I'm gold), unlimited data, gps, mobile to mobile (this is huge), etc...

One thing that still keeps me at Sprint and on my Pre- (5th one btw) is that I love webOS and I love the mobile hotspot. Sprint hasn't begun to crack down on this and I hope they never will. I travel a lot for work and it comes in handy so much when I'm at the airport waiting and I need to hope on the internet.

Hope you can find some good deals on the other 3 (or soon to be 2) carriers...

netwrkr9 · 05/29/2011, 05:51 PM

If Sprint does not carry the Pre 3 or other new webOS phone (besides the veer) I will happily pay more on Verizon but am I happy with Sprint? Where I live the Sprints coverage is excellent and for the person who is not a home body and uses a lot of data/calling/texts you can't beat Sprints rates. 200 mb per month? I would use that up in less tha a week, lol.

runukraine · 05/29/2011, 07:33 PM

Giving the Veer a 30-day tryout. I might be saying goodbye to Sprint as well. What I've discovered is AT&T coverage is significantly better in Davis, CA. It'll hurt to pay a bit more... but the improvement in data and voice coverage is probably worth it.

GTAFan9999 · 05/29/2011, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cantaffordit

A Pre2 on VZW has an unlimited data plan... And I am VERY happy with my Pre2.

Maybe it's because you already had a data plan before Verizon made the change. It wouldn't make sense for VW to just wipe everyone with the unlimited data plan for people that already had it prior to the said date.

toyotast165 · 05/30/2011, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by runukraine

Giving the Veer a 30-day tryout. I might be saying goodbye to Sprint as well. What I've discovered is AT&T coverage is significantly better in Davis, CA. It'll hurt to pay a bit more... but the improvement in data and voice coverage is probably worth it.

same here, loving the veer and at&t service so far. Sure their reps are just like verizon and sprint, but the phone works, everywhere, unlike sprint now. Sure sprint worked fine in dec, but not anymore, so its verizon or at&t for me and I am loving how much faster at&t is than verizon and sprint.

**berdinkerdickle** · 05/30/2011, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTAFan9999

Maybe it's because you already had a data plan before Verizon made the change. It wouldn't make sense for VW to just wipe everyone with the unlimited data plan for people that already had it prior to the said date.

did they just barely change their data plans?

Just a couple days back they were still offering the $30 unlimited data plan.

**berdinkerdickle** · 05/30/2011, 01:03 AM

ATT has been good for me for years.

HenryAlan · 05/30/2011, 06:12 AM

I too am done with Sprint. My wife just switched to AT&T for the Veer, I'll do the same for the Pre3. We've been with Sprint since the 90s, but the new charge means it is no longer the obvious choice on price. Coverage has always been so-so (my wife can finally make calls in our house). And the reps at the local AT&T store seem far more professional than anyone at the Sprint store.

wellwellwell11 · 05/30/2011, 07:31 AM

honestly people choose whats the best for you. Im on sprint and it works for me, the service is fine for me where I am. If AT&T and Verizon is better for you (better service maybe not the price) thats something you have to choose. All in all who cares if it seems a bit unloyal to leave sprint, we all have our needs so do whats best for you.

05/29/2011, 11:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
bmeehan Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 6 Likes Received: 0 Thanks: 1 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Goodbye, Sprint A few months ago, the cracks began to form around the USB door. I had TEP coverage, but didn't feel like it warranted being without my phone for 3 days like the last time I did a warranty repair... so I waited. Fast forward, and now the spidering under the glass radiates from the center button and the USB door, and in reflected sunlight, the screen has barely visible lines that look like a contour map of Pennsylvania. Mind you, this is not affecting the LCD at all... the screen still looks as good as day 1. But the touch screen is starting to become unresponsive or less responsive in some areas. So I made a trip to the only Sprint store in the Rochester metro area. Explained the symptoms to the rep that met me at the podium. He was quickly joined by a repair tech who took one look at the phone, noticed some cosmetic damage on my 1.5 yr old phone and immediately ruled it an insurance claim, not a warrantied repair. "It's customer damage," he said, focusing on the small bit of plastic missing on the upper slide near the volume controls. I kept my cool, but tried to plead my case. They offered me any phone in the store as an available upgrade, but really they don't have any phones I'm interested in. I want to stay on WebOS, and even their current Android Phones are a bit lacking. I just wanted a replacement for the phone I had, that I'd been paying $7/mo for coverage for the last 12 months. But no one would budge. From the store, I called Sprint with 2. Got a rep pretty quickly and he told me the store was incorrect... the deductible was $50, not $100. <sarcasm>What a relief</sarcasm>! Then he offered me a supervisor. 35 minutes later I got a supervisor. Thank goodness there was a tablet in the store to keep my son occupied! I got no relief from the supervisor either. So I pulled out the only weapon in my arsenal, the only power I have with a carrier - my wallet. I told them that $84 in TEP charges + $100 (or $50) was in excess of what the phone was actually worth. I told them that I would be happy to take my business to another carrier where I didn't experience: 4-5 dropped calls per day No coverage at my home at all - in the middle of suburbia in the 3rd largest market in New York state - clearly shown on their map as 3G and 4G covered. Thank goodness for AirRave! Abysmal 3G coverage where my work-issued VZW phone has no problem. Sprint, your phone plans were very affordable, but in the end, I need to make phone calls. Without a phone or coverage, that's just not going to happen. I'm 60 days away from the end of my 2 year contract. It's $50 to leave Sprint. VZW and AT&T would be about $20-25 more per month for a comparable plan. Now to choose which one. Pre3, where are you? -Brian in Rochester, NY Last edited by bmeehan; 05/29/2011 at 11:19 AM. Reason: Typo.*
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 12:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
GTAFan9999 Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 199 Likes Received: 4 Thanks: 19 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts	Enjoy your no Unlimited data plans.
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 12:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
malpha Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,836 Likes Received: 3 Thanks: 155 Thanked 371 Times in 264 Posts	Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Switching to Verizon myself. What's the point of unlimited data if you don't have the coverage to use it - or it keeps switching from 3G to 1x so that it's a PITA to use or if your 3G is barely a kbps above 1x. With the new $10 add-on at Sprint, for my usage, Verizon works out $5 cheaper without VZW Nav and $5 more with VZW nav (I don't need unlimited text, so the $5 text add-on works for me - I do only around 100 a month). __________________ screwdestiny PSN • Twitter • Last.FM
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 01:00 PM	#5 (permalink)
twiktor Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 151 Likes Received: 1 Thanks: 43 Thanked 20 Times in 16 Posts	sucks when the Sprint rep you get is a *****. Too bad you don't have another store nearby that may have a better staff. Just yesterday here in Vegas I brought in my phone due to keyboard issues, gps inconsistency, and overall poor performance on this Pre which is #8. Mind you I brainfarted and left all my patches and uberkernal installed and this phone was at one point 2.1 which I'd brought back to 1.4.5. The tech came out and basically said to go home and do a full doctor to remove the traces of rooting and unlocking, and turn Dev mode off so he can do a swap without Palm being noisy about warranty issues. He clearly is a webOS fan and was quite open about his using of Preware and overclocking too. He then asked if I had used 2.1 as 5 Pres came in bricked by ppl who tried installing it that very day. I didn't even know 5 of us had Pres in Vegas heh. He also showed me on his Evo an email about Pre 3 being tested by them. Anyhow my point is that it's all about the reps you speak to. In that same store I've been told to both suck it and been helped so it all depends on who you talk to. VZW are crooks and ATT are lying swine. Sprint has a slight reptardation issue but at least they have good prices
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 01:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
totoro80 Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 96 Likes Received: 2 Thanks: 1 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	i hear ya....the new $10 upgrade fee on sprint is making is easier to switch to att or verizon if they get the new WebOS phones and sprint continues to twiddle their thumbs. hell, $5 - $10 more a month isn't that big of a deal to me
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 01:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
netwrkr9 Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3,132 Likes Received: 154 Thanks: 453 Thanked 495 Times in 364 Posts	I checked Verizons rates with my useage and no matter what, it still is almost 25 dollars a month, and that is not 4g.
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 01:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
Syndil Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Jeffersonville, IN Posts: 1,393 Likes Received: 86 Thanks: 47 Thanked 242 Times in 161 Posts	Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Enjoy it! __________________ Touchscreens are a fad.
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05/29/2011, 02:32 PM	#9 (permalink)
Rkguy Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 805 Likes Received: 7 Thanks: 175 Thanked 60 Times in 55 Posts	We have some Sprint aficionados on here. I think every carrier has a few skillets going __________________ ...This programming stuff is actually addictive but really hard :/
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 03:58 PM	#12 (permalink)
laoh Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 734 Likes Received: 130 Thanks: 30 Thanked 74 Times in 55 Posts	With the $10 smart phone fee, it's harder now to convince frustrated patrons to stay with Sprint. I mean what's Sprint's trump card now? Been with Sprint for 11 years and I used to hate it for the first 5-6 years due to bad customer service, lack of true SMS/MMS when other carriers had them, lack of good phones, and the pain of switching phones out (going to the store and waiting to get your address book transfered). But my plan was decent. And with corporate discount, it's hard to leave. And in the past few years, they really made strive to be better. Now they have Sprint Premier (I'm gold), unlimited data, gps, mobile to mobile (this is huge), etc... One thing that still keeps me at Sprint and on my Pre- (5th one btw) is that I love webOS and I love the mobile hotspot. Sprint hasn't begun to crack down on this and I hope they never will. I travel a lot for work and it comes in handy so much when I'm at the airport waiting and I need to hope on the internet. Hope you can find some good deals on the other 3 (or soon to be 2) carriers...
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 05:51 PM	#13 (permalink)
netwrkr9 Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3,132 Likes Received: 154 Thanks: 453 Thanked 495 Times in 364 Posts	If Sprint does not carry the Pre 3 or other new webOS phone (besides the veer) I will happily pay more on Verizon but am I happy with Sprint? Where I live the Sprints coverage is excellent and for the person who is not a home body and uses a lot of data/calling/texts you can't beat Sprints rates. 200 mb per month? I would use that up in less tha a week, lol.
	Liked by

05/29/2011, 07:33 PM	#14 (permalink)
runukraine Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Davis, CA Posts: 380 Likes Received: 12 Thanks: 202 Thanked 255 Times in 128 Posts	Giving the Veer a 30-day tryout. I might be saying goodbye to Sprint as well. What I've discovered is AT&T coverage is significantly better in Davis, CA. It'll hurt to pay a bit more... but the improvement in data and voice coverage is probably worth it.
	Liked by

05/30/2011, 01:03 AM	#18 (permalink)
berdinkerdickle Tazmorator (Chief Mod) Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: P\|C when the light below is green. Otherwise; I could be just about anywhere. Posts: 10,721 Likes Received: 223 Thanks: 3,116 Thanked 2,773 Times in 1,851 Posts	ATT has been good for me for years.
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05/30/2011, 06:12 AM	#19 (permalink)
HenryAlan Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 300 Likes Received: 13 Thanks: 32 Thanked 76 Times in 33 Posts	I too am done with Sprint. My wife just switched to AT&T for the Veer, I'll do the same for the Pre3. We've been with Sprint since the 90s, but the new charge means it is no longer the obvious choice on price. Coverage has always been so-so (my wife can finally make calls in our house). And the reps at the local AT&T store seem far more professional than anyone at the Sprint store.
	Liked by

05/30/2011, 07:31 AM	#20 (permalink)
wellwellwell11 Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: in a dark place Posts: 1,972 Likes Received: 35 Thanks: 11 Thanked 243 Times in 182 Posts	honestly people choose whats the best for you. Im on sprint and it works for me, the service is fine for me where I am. If AT&T and Verizon is better for you (better service maybe not the price) thats something you have to choose. All in all who cares if it seems a bit unloyal to leave sprint, we all have our needs so do whats best for you.
	Liked by

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