How will Sprint treat current customers?

[wfcentral]

I have been a Sprint customer for longer than I can remember (5-6 years). My contract expired 2 years ago... yet, I did not jump ship when the iPhone came along OR the t-Mobile G1.

Now, when they finally have a phone I want... how are they going to treat me (us - for those of you in the same boat as me).

Right now if I go into my account and choose the "upgrade phone" link it gives me $75 off the full price of a phone. So, it's something ridiculous like a phone new users get for $99 will cost me $399 - $75 = $324 + signing a 2 year contract.

Just doesn't seem right to me - hope the Pre doesn't go that route.

[bryanharig]

$75 credit after 1 year of service
$150 credit after 22 months of service.
New 2yr agreement required.

Dont expect any more and you wont be disappointed! Why should they give you any more? If you were really going to leave you would pay the ETF and leave. If you arnt willing to do that they will offer you the minimum possible discount to keep you from changing your mind and paying the ETF.

[jhoff80]

Originally Posted by bryanharig

$75 credit after 1 year of service
$150 credit after 22 months of service.
New 2yr agreement required.

Dont expect any more and you wont be disappointed! Why should they give you any more? If you were really going to leave you would pay the ETF and leave. If you arnt willing to do that they will offer you the minimum possible discount to keep you from changing your mind and paying the ETF.

If you read the first post, its clear that they are out of contract already.

[bryanharig]

Sprint does not make any distinction between upgrade in or out of contract.

[tprevett]

Premier status gives you an "As New Customer discount" on your primary line once every year...

[jhoff80]

Originally Posted by bryanharig

Sprint does not make any distinction between upgrade in or out of contract.

Yes they do, because for people who are out of contract, there is no ETF for them to pay, they're free to go at any time. While they might have clamped down on this in the past year or so, often the best thing to do is call retentions and tell them you're thinking of switching.

[VaccPalm]

Sprint now gives premiere customers the $150 upgrade every year now .
Problem is if your liek me and just got a phone ( touch pro) no discounts will apply.
I purcahsed the 800W in July and in October I Purchased the Touch Pro . I asked them for a discount anf they said no discount apply. I tild them whats the discount if I sign a new 2 year deal and was told that they will not get me discount. I purchase aty best buy and had a 15% coupon and so i saved money but Sprint wouldnt give me anything and I dont expect any discount if i get the Pre since I just got a Pro a few months ago.

Now if you are out of contract thats a different story.

[nojok3]

Originally Posted by wfcentral

I have been a Sprint customer for longer than I can remember (5-6 years). My contract expired 2 years ago... yet, I did not jump ship when the iPhone came along OR the t-Mobile G1.

Now, when they finally have a phone I want... how are they going to treat me (us - for those of you in the same boat as me).

Right now if I go into my account and choose the "upgrade phone" link it gives me $75 off the full price of a phone. So, it's something ridiculous like a phone new users get for $99 will cost me $399 - $75 = $324 + signing a 2 year contract.

Just doesn't seem right to me - hope the Pre doesn't go that route.

And you didn't jump ship because you enjoyed the deal you were getting.

[lugose]

What defines a "Premier" customer?

[wfcentral]

Originally Posted by nojok3

And you didn't jump ship because you enjoyed the deal you were getting.

I didn't jump ship because...

1. my family members are on Sprint (free mobile 2 mobile)
2. I did not want to deal with the hassle of all the sign-up fees
3. The iPhone did not feel right at the time (no physical keyboard - YUCK)
4. I thought the Android phone would be the one (physical keyboard, open source) - but, the Android has no multi-touch and does not seem to have taken off like I had hoped.

The PRE does seem right... physical keyboard, multi-touch, GPS, don't have to switch networks, etc

I am planning to buy three (me, wife, daughter leaving for college) - however, if they want to charge me $324 each - OUCH

[Rhody]

I bought a 800w in July. A couple of months ago, they called me and told me that I would get a $150 discount if I upgraded phones. I have a $99 simply everything plan. I think they want me to upgrade every chance I get and re-up my 2-year agreement.

[dave75]

A family (3 lines) everything data plan with 1500 minutes is $150 ($130 for 2 lines + $20 for each additional line).

[aero]

Originally Posted by bryanharig

$75 credit after 1 year of service
$150 credit after 22 months of service.
New 2yr agreement required.

Dont expect any more and you wont be disappointed! Why should they give you any more? If you were really going to leave you would pay the ETF and leave. If you arnt willing to do that they will offer you the minimum possible discount to keep you from changing your mind and paying the ETF.

Wrong. Typically for any handset the OP he will get fully discounted new customer pricing. also if he has paid his bill on time and is not oin some kind of $30 sero with data, he get an additional $70 resinging bonus if he simply asks.

Caveats:
1) This applies to everyone: the question of not just about the phone price, but of the plan price. If he is going month to month currently and his contract expired two years ago he certainly is on a four year old plan structure. Buyng a Pre will probably require him to change plans.

2) He isn't liable for ETF (you didn't reead his post!). Also Sprint makes changes to substantife charges several times per year. For example no one was actually liable for ETF for the past 60 days (jan 1 - Jan 31) http://www.intomobile.com/2009/01/20...anuary-31.html

[aero]

Originally Posted by tprevett

Premier status gives you an "As New Customer discount" on your primary line once every year...

You don't need a premier status, if you are out of contract calling retention gets you as new discount plus a resigning bonus as long as you have been paying your bill on time, and you can get that on every line.

I have five lines on a family plan and every one of them gets new customer pricing on handsets.

[palmhead]

But what is premier status?

[wfcentral]

well - I sent to see if I was a premier user at Sprint and found out some bad news... I "thought" I was out of my contract... I forgot that when we got our new cellphones and added a third line I signed up for another 2 years.

The good news is that my 2 years is up 6/15/2009. The bad news is that I won't be getting a PRE till then.

Oh well, guess it will give me a chance to see how they review after people start really getting them. Of course, we don't know for sure when the PRE is coming out so I may be waiting 4 months or 4 days after they come out...

I do have a $30 data plan + tethering on my line... I think I will cancel that about 2 months before my plan ends.

[VaccPalm]

The premier status was given to certain Sprint Customers, dont ask me what the criteria is but i suspect its length of time with Sprint. ) been with sprint 10 years or so) I just got a letter in the mail 1 day saying that i was a premier customer. Benefits were a $150 discount once a year for a new phone. Some free downloads every month and discounts on accessorys. Really its the $150 every year that is cool.

[palmhead]

That's very nice. Thanks. I'm going to check it out see if I can qualify.

[laravia18]

I'm with sprint on a family plan and the primary line (as far as I know) gets the $150 off every year because we are part of the premier status. It is a pretty cool deal. Not to mention having a free ringtone every now and again helps make it just a bit sweeter.

[aero]

Originally Posted by laravia18

I'm with sprint on a family plan and the primary line (as far as I know) gets the $150 off every year because we are part of the premier status. It is a pretty cool deal. Not to mention having a free ringtone every now and again helps make it just a bit sweeter.

I have a family plan and get full new customer pricing on all handsets every two years. I just move the phone around after 30 days. The way the contract terms are your two years are on each line.

Check sprint users, it is not difficult to get full discoutns on each handset. Mine are staggered so I can get new handsets every six months, which leaves me a lot of breathing space and allows me to skip TEP insurance. I got new customer pricing in July on two lines, I am eligible for new customer pricing on one line in June, and two other lines next February.

"Premier" is just a metric attached to your account. It is ARPU plus other things in an algortym like credit worthyness, lenght of service, likelyhood of churn

Let's say you are scaled from 1 to 10 on profitability. If you have SERO, with a 10% discount and unlimited data and text for $27, have been a customer for 6 months total, call Sprint to get dropped call credits, and pay your bills late you are likely a 1. IE you are in the "fire the customer" category

If you have no discounts, pay more than average for what you get, have $200 a month worth of charges, make a lot of very profitable international calls, pay on time and have been a 10 year customer that changes phones every four years you are probably a 10.

"premier" probably starts at "7," or the top 30% of customers and unlike the more precise metrics the CSR sees but wont tell you , they have made that rating public to you so you feel special (and you are more special to them then low profit customer).