[furreverdad]

Are you seriously asking if our own personal wants are more important to us than the perception of a heartless corporation?!?!

This isn't directed at anyone specific but the most annoying thing about being a Mac user are the people who try labeling you as "selfish" for not putting the big corporate teddy bear's needs over your own. They go around celebrating profit margins, justifying price gouging and encourage secrecy that shuts out it's most loyal of fans.

I just don't get it. We are CONSUMERS and we pay good money for these things so our customer loyalty should be worth something. And in this case, if Sprint says "Premiere Customers will get a chance to beat the crowd" then I sure as heck would like that opportunity.

/RANT

AMEN!!

[NM08SRT8]

Question. You all are talking about the S|P Mailer we got as a anniversary package that includes the 25% Discount, right?

I got one, and haven't even been on this plan for 1yr, but got that package shortly after coming back to Sprint. We've had an account with them for 11yrs, but I just recently came back from att (was with them for 2 months) towards the middle of last year. My re-up is in November. Can someone clarify please? Thanks.

[NM08SRT8]

Are you seriously asking if our own personal wants are more important to us than the perception of a heartless corporation?!?!

This isn't directed at anyone specific but the most annoying thing about being a Mac user are the people who try labeling you as "selfish" for not putting the big corporate teddy bear's needs over your own. They go around celebrating profit margins, justifying price gouging and encourage secrecy that shuts out it's most loyal of fans.

I just don't get it. We are CONSUMERS and we pay good money for these things so our customer loyalty should be worth something. And in this case, if Sprint says "Premiere Customers will get a chance to beat the crowd" then I sure as heck would like that opportunity.

/RANT

Could this be considered False Advertising?

[pogeypre]

I was very excited this morning when I opened my email and saw a message from Sprint. My excitement quickly vanished as I read. Some excerpts:

I am sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. It seems that the Sprint Premier Customer incentive has been "tweaked" for the release of the Palm Pre. Customers who are listed as Premier would normally receive devices early, but in the case of the Pre, it was impossible to make everyone happy. The concern was related to concentrations of customers and what store they would most likely frequent. At current, the Premier Customer emails are sent without regard to the store you might go to. This creates a large problem with the Pre as we might have eighty people show up at one store, and only ten show up at another.

We had the options of hoping this worked itself out, or potentially disappointing our Premier Customers. We provided for several key stores to hold phones for special offerings to Premier Customers, with fifty plus sending an RSVP. I know that this comes as little comfort to you, and I must apologize to you personally because I all but guaranteed that we would go through with the release of the Pre on Friday to Premier customers. It is unfortunate, but I do hope that this has not damage irreparably your experience with Sprint, and I also hope you will still attempt Saturday to pick up a Pre. Please let me know if I can help further.

Regional VP, Sprint Business Services

This leaves me very disappointed and . It also leaves me looking for a edible hat. Anyone know of any good sombrero stores?

[VaccPalm]

So instead of disapointing a few Premier Customers they figure its better to dissapoint them all.
I think the Pre will be a success and do well INSPITE of Sprint. They have bungled and made a total mess of this. AGain I will still buy it and think it will do well but Sprint (Not Palm) has just totally blown this release with ameture stuff. They seem so disorganized.

[crawform]

Lame

[jayhay312]

I was very excited this morning when I opened my email and saw a message from Sprint. My excitement quickly vanished as I read. Some excerpts:

I am sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. It seems that the Sprint Premier Customer incentive has been "tweaked" for the release of the Palm Pre. Customers who are listed as Premier would normally receive devices early, but in the case of the Pre, it was impossible to make everyone happy. The concern was related to concentrations of customers and what store they would most likely frequent. At current, the Premier Customer emails are sent without regard to the store you might go to. This creates a large problem with the Pre as we might have eighty people show up at one store, and only ten show up at another.

We had the options of hoping this worked itself out, or potentially disappointing our Premier Customers. We provided for several key stores to hold phones for special offerings to Premier Customers, with fifty plus sending an RSVP. I know that this comes as little comfort to you, and I must apologize to you personally because I all but guaranteed that we would go through with the release of the Pre on Friday to Premier customers. It is unfortunate, but I do hope that this has not damage irreparably your experience with Sprint, and I also hope you will still attempt Saturday to pick up a Pre. Please let me know if I can help further.

Regional VP, Sprint Business Services

This leaves me very disappointed and . It also leaves me looking for a edible hat. Anyone know of any good sombrero stores?

No worries!

I am thoroughly disappointed in Sprint here. They could have handled this as soon as they realized there were issues. They could have e-mailed all of the Sprint Premier customers who were interested (and don't tell me this is not possible. They have our Sprint # and our e-mails from when we signed up.). And simply said "our bad we aren't going to be able to fulfill this statement we made to Premier members. It was out of our control, but we still want to apologize."

Or they could have used the information we provided Zip-code, e-mail, and Sprint Phone number to decide where to send Palm Pre's for Premier members to pick up. This could have been automated. You set up a database with those three pieces of information. You decide how much interest is in each zip code, and you ship Pre's to that location based on interest. Or you send an e-mail a week before and say "Hey Sprint Premier member do you want a Pre on Friday? If so, respond to this e-mail confirming that you can pick it up at this location at this time on this day.
They probably used the sign up page to gauge interest in the Pre in each region of the country. I'm sure they used it to help decide how many Pres to send to each store. And yes I'm sure they used other variables to help decide this too.

Instead we are all left guessing and if you hadn't posted this response we would have been left fuming on Saturday.

Stupid Sprint. Stupid me for caring so much. [says to himself] It's just a phone damn it!!!

[bubbatex]

Stupid Sprint. Stupid me for caring so much. [says to himself] It's just a phone damn it!!!

+1 - Made me laugh, thanks!

[chodaboy]

So instead of disapointing a few Premier Customers they figure its better to dissapoint them all.

My guess is they figure if you are already a Premier customer AND you want the Pre bad enough to try and get it early, you will tolerate them going back on their word. Of course, when other carriers get the phone, that won't work so well.

[rumz]

Stupid Sprint. Stupid me for caring so much. [says to himself] It's just a phone damn it!!!

True that. In a few days it'll all be over. It IS just a phone... (even if it's a phone I've been waiting for for 6 months )

[ariker01]

I have been with Sprint 11 years and am a Premier Customer. I am also out of contract. Hope this can maybe give me a little leverage when purchasing my Pre.

And I wonder what Sprint will end up doing with my email, zip, and phone number after I was not notified about ANYTHING! Hope I don’t start seeing 3rd party mailers or get text message about killer deals pharmaceuticals.

[Mike_Diako]

This is the email i received last year from sprint. It did not arrive until after 3pm...

Sprint
to me

show details 6/18/08


Reply

Follow up message
from Sprint <sprint@sprint.delivery.net>
reply-to sprint@sprint.delivery.net
to *********@gmail.com
date Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 3:19 PM
subject Exclusively for you: Get the Samsung Instinct before anyone else
mailed-by sprint.delivery.net
signed-by sprint.delivery.net

[pogeypre]

This is the email i received last year from sprint. It did not arrive until after 3pm...

I received mine at 1:13... might be a difference in time zone, but still, I wouldn't expect to see anything after the email I received.

More power to you for holding out what little hope there is left.

[Reeves]

I think Sprint's been all over the place with this launch and have said so many times, but...

...with regards to this, I think this is one of the few things they handled OK. It's likely that they didn't nail down final inventory available numbers until the last minute, and when they finally saw they didn't have enough, they wisely called it off.

Think if they'd gone ahead with this with Sprint stores in the state of disinformation and disunity they are in now...even if they had more inventory, some stores would be selling it on Friday to Premier customers and some wouldn't. Some stores still aren't even getting shipments until Friday or Saturday, and some aren't getting it until after that. People would be pissed off just as much as they are now, but maybe even more so. The launch is chaotic enough as is. This would have sent it spiraling over the edge.

[jayhay312]

I'm already trying to figure out how I can ditch the GF at the hotel and run out to grab a pre at a Sprint store down in NJ. I figure we have 3 hours from the time we get to the hotel until the wedding starts. As long as I don't have to wait in line. I figure I have about 1.5 hours to drive 5 miles and get my Pre. Here's to hoping I can still get one and fast at noon time on Saturday.

[Gekko]

This is the email i received last year from sprint. It did not arrive until after 3pm...

and when was the public release date?

[trbobusa]

no emails today? anyone?

[Mike_Diako]

I received mine at 1:13... might be a difference in time zone, but still, I wouldn't expect to see anything after the email I received.

More power to you for holding out what little hope there is left.

I'm on the east coast. I definitely don't plan on holding my breath waiting for it though.

and when was the public release date?

The 20th iirc.

[heavyuser]

I got mine at 2:19 Central time.

dateWed, Jun 18, 2008 at 2:19 PM

subjectExclusively for you: Get the Samsung Instinct before anyone else
mailed-bysprint.delivery.net
signed-bysprint.delivery.net

I received mine at 1:13... might be a difference in time zone, but still, I wouldn't expect to see anything after the email I received....

[georges326]

Just went into my "A" Sprint store...still somewhat secretive...advocate said he expects 40. Opening at 8am on Sat. and no evening hours on Friday. Spoke to Business Premier Dept....no sales through them...only at stores "because it is a BIG release." So boys and girls, IT'S WAKE UP EARLY TIME!!!!(no matter who you are).