Airave - Free Details (actual policy)...

[derrickonline]

After reading about the Airave, I thought hmmm why not especially since reception is poor in my basement.

I know people have used the old retention department trick to get the Airave (i.e. give them a sob story about how you love your Pre and Sprint but you might have to leave).

I'm a little more direct. I said my service is poor in my home, I'm a new subscriber, I have a Palm Pre. My wife has been with Sprint for 10 years and also upgraded to the Pre and I said... "you don't expect me to pay extra to get better reception do you". I said it in a joking way. The guy laughed and said... I totally agree.

He said: Actually the unit is free for any customer without spending limits on their account. Apparently they bill it to you and credit it back. So it's no secret. Just tell them your reception is spotty and you'd like an Airave.

I also confirmed that I will never pay a monthly service fee for the box.

My apologies if this has already covered.

[smedley12]

Oh, wow. My coverage is awful in my home so this would really help. I'm going to call customer service today - will post the outcome!

[PreGame]

Hrmm those *******s tried to sell me one for $150 bucks awhile back when my reception was crappy. When I got my pre I contacted them back as the Pre has NO coverage at my house. They dispatched a tech to check the area and called me back saying we will give you an airave for free with 2 years free. I was like "***... you guys tried to sell me one last time I told you my serverice sucked here"

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by PreGame

Hrmm those *******s tried to sell me one for $150 bucks awhile back when my reception was crappy. When I got my pre I contacted them back as the Pre has NO coverage at my house. They dispatched a tech to check the area and called me back saying we will give you an airave for free with 2 years free. I was like "***... you guys tried to sell me one last time I told you my serverice sucked here"

I don't understand the "*******s" and "***" reactions.... Why not just "Thanks, I appreciate that"?

[PreGame]

Originally Posted by hparsons

I don't understand the "*******s" and "***" reactions.... Why not just "Thanks, I appreciate that"?

Those reactions is because I have had NOTHING but trouble with Sprint. It started at the begining of last years contract when I wanted my wife to have internet and text messaging like me. So they took it off my account and put it on hers. I then had an $800 phone bill. I called and said "NO... I said I wanted it on both accounts. I want my wife to have everything I have unlimited text and internet." So they take it off her account and put it on mine. We then had a $600 phone bill. We then continued this for another 4 months and finally I called in on my last straw frustrated and got lip from the Customer Service supervisor. That is when I said we are done. Well then the Pre comes out so I decide to give them another try. Then again we get crappy service.

Sprint is nothing but a joke.

[-Drifter-]

FYI, just got off the phone with retentions and they received a memo late yesterday stating that no more free Airaves are to go out

[smedley12]

Well, guys, I'm sorry to report that I just got off the line with Sprint Customer Service, and I do NOT have a free Airave to show for it.

I even went all the way to retention/cancelations, complained about my non-existent service in my home, that I would have to drop my Pre and my new contract, etc. No love from the rep. A few minutes later I said "I understand it is Sprint's policy to credit an Airave to consumers with this very issue" and she said that, yes, they did have that policy, but discontinued it recently.

If anyone else gets a different response today, please post!

[jbc28]

Originally Posted by -Drifter-

FYI, just got off the phone with retentions and they received a memo late yesterday stating that no more free Airaves are to go out

Wow! I talked to Sprint yesterday and had one sent out.

This may mean that an update to fix the Pre's radio is imminent.

[PreGame]

If you TRUELY have no service at your house email Jerry [dot] Adriano [at ] sprint.com and email him about your issues. I did this and he had his VIP Exec members contact me to work out my issues. They want to try and keep your business. If they still say no, request that a technician go to your address and test the service. If it is bad then they will usually give you an airave. If not i would cancel my contract.

[STARGATE]

I just got mine a couple of minutes ago; call 6/16/09 for another issue, and mentioned that on my new office I get no reception, the nice lady said she would send me an Airave at no cost and no monthly charges.
I guess I was really lucky.

BTW, I will update on the signal reception as soon as I get up and running

[Nugget]

Just got mine.

Called and said the following: " hi, i've been a customer for 5 years and I just moved to a new apartment. My Pre keeps dropping my calls due to lack of reception."

she replied: " one moment sir while I check what I can do for you"

1 minute later she came back on and offered me the Airave!!

[digiburd]

well i've been on the phone for over an hour. talked to tech support who flagged my closest tower for service then send me over to... some painfully new noob who didn't even know what the airwave was.. he sent me to some telesales lady who put me on hold who then send me to airwave cust support.. who didn't help at all and just said well cancel then.. so she sent me over to retention.. but retention wouldn't even talk to me .. the airwave cust support came back on and said that i had to go to a store to cancel the account and talk to them about the airwave...

MEGA AIRWAVE/SPRINT CS FAIL!

[bryanharig]

Try asking for the 'Airave' next time.

[equake]

I just asked for retentions after they tried to sell me one. They are shipping me a free one.

[gtkansan]

Erg. they suck... I called too... got the monthly service fee removed but still charged for the box itself.

[Wendellp]

you can't talk to CS about the airave period. I did and even spoke
With a supervisor who went on and on about radio waves and
Interference in my house..I told the CS rep that I would be wasting
My time and yours if he could not approve one for me but was still
Put through to her supervisor. I was ****ed and started researching
Other carriers and found att coverage to be great in my area called sprint
Back and went to cancellations my first question for him was how much
Would it cost me to cancel my 5 lines minus returning my pre and he got
The numbers and then asked why I was leaving sprint...I told him I'm tired
Of the reception in my house and noone willing to help me as this has been
Noted on my account(not really) on several occasions. I made sure he was aware
Of my service I had maintained for 7+ years....bla bla bla.....he then offered me
The airave for free and no monthly charge I told him if it don't work I would still
Cancel and return the equiptment.....I was firm and trully ready to cancel....got my
Airave TODAY less than 24 hours layer amazing my wife was very surprised. It works
Very well full bars anywhere in the house...but be sure to hook up the gps atenna by
A window....I will be calling sprint tonight and thanking them for such prompt service

[sudoer]

Originally Posted by jbc28

... This may mean that an update to fix the Pre's radio is imminent.

It's nice to hear someone show some optimism about why Sprint changed their policy.

Pesonally, the device did not seem that great to me for "every user" to want one. They legitimately filled a need for those who really needed them, but for those who do not, I think they may be more of a hinderance than a help: "data" is not free over the airrave and it only operates using a 1xRTT (voice only) protocol. I suppose people at home can use wi-fi, but they have to remember to turn it on each time. I'm glad Sprint is clamping down on what has apparently become a money pit.

Maybe Sprint will open this back up once they've built some back end software to corroborate customer stories about no service. They have data for all your calls and what towers they were made from. I bet they collect stats about dropped or low signal calls too. You can bet they are building (or have built) some reporting into the system that the customer service people use to determine whether you might need an airave or not. If they have such reporting, you can pretty much guarantee that they'll make an internal notation on your account that it looks like you might just be looking for freebies.

Let's hope that the upcoming update fixes many of the radio issues and that Sprint can find a way to give airaves only to the people who still really need them.

-- Bob

[PreGame]

Originally Posted by Wendellp

you can't talk to CS about the airave period. I did and even spoke
With a supervisor who went on and on about radio waves and
Interference in my house..I told the CS rep that I would be wasting
My time and yours if he could not approve one for me but was still
Put through to her supervisor. I was ****ed and started researching
Other carriers and found att coverage to be great in my area called sprint
Back and went to cancellations my first question for him was how much
Would it cost me to cancel my 5 lines minus returning my pre and he got
The numbers and then asked why I was leaving sprint...I told him I'm tired
Of the reception in my house and noone willing to help me as this has been
Noted on my account(not really) on several occasions. I made sure he was aware
Of my service I had maintained for 7+ years....bla bla bla.....he then offered me
The airave for free and no monthly charge I told him if it don't work I would still
Cancel and return the equiptment.....I was firm and trully ready to cancel....got my
Airave TODAY less than 24 hours layer amazing my wife was very surprised. It works
Very well full bars anywhere in the house...but be sure to hook up the gps atenna by
A window....I will be calling sprint tonight and thanking them for such prompt service

GPS??? I thought it connected to a cable/dsl modem.

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by bclancy

It's nice to hear someone show some optimism about why Sprint changed their policy.

Pesonally, the device did not seem that great to me for "every user" to want one. They legitimately filled a need for those who really needed them, but for those who do not, I think they may be more of a hinderance than a help: "data" is not free over the airrave and it only operates using a 1xRTT (voice only) protocol. I suppose people at home can use wi-fi, but they have to remember to turn it on each time. I'm glad Sprint is clamping down on what has apparently become a money pit.
...

I take it you don't have a Pre? There's no need to remember to turn on WiFi on my unit. And yes, I would prefer to use WiFi at home. Even if I had a good signal, WiFi is better than EVDO.

And I agree on the "money pit". When folks are demanding free units, cursing Sprint if they don't get their way, etc, then it's obvious what started as an "extra" by Sprint has suddenly become an entitlement.

For those that are about to blast me about how they should be getting the service they pay for at home... the fact is that it's usually something in the home that causes the interference. One way to tell for sure - if you get bad reception in your home, and good reception in your front yard - the problem likely lies in your home.

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by PreGame

GPS??? I thought it connected to a cable/dsl modem.

It is. It's got a GPS that ensures that it's operating in the US. If it's not in the US, it won't work.