Just sent this letter to Sprint.

[dan330]

To whom it may concern,

After careful consideration I have come to the following conclusion. After the never ending rising bill while still ON CONTRACT, with fees such as $10 "premium" data, negating of my employer discount in various billing tricks. The nickel and diming has finally got to me, and you most likely will be losing a customer of 7 years because of these transgressions. On top of this was the removal of my yearly upgrade which was promised to me when I resigned my contract.

On top of all this, the service itself has been degrading, the data getting slower it seems as the day goes by. The 4G WiMax is pretty much unusable lately despite my being in a "well blanketed" area while Verizon LTE users are soaring past me in terms of speed and usability. For the first time in 7 years, I will be shopping other cellular providers and recommend everyone else(at least a dozen people, of which they passed recommendations out as well) I helped put on your service do the same. I will be voicing these concerns loudly in communities that revolve around cell service.

dude.. when did you go GREEN? cool..


hope your letter get some traction with them... because the service is sucking!!

 

[IOWA]

dude.. when did you go GREEN? cool..


hope your letter get some traction with them... because the service is sucking!!

I went green... just under a week ago. Yeah... it's taken a few people by surprise, I think mostly me

...but hey, I help where I can!

 

[BenChase7]

That's exactly what I'm thinking. I think Sprint LTE 4G is going to require a special "plan" because it's "different".

Based on the articles I've been reading.. there will be no changes to the service plans for for Sprints LTE. Do you have anything that says otherwise?

 

[IOWA]

Based on the articles I've been reading.. there will be no changes to the service plans for for Sprints LTE. Do you have anything that says otherwise?

After posting some of those other articles, I'm leaning towards Sprint keeping things 'as is' for now. I'm not going to hold my breath though. An official announcement is when we'll all find out.

 

[BenChase7]

After posting some of those other articles, I'm leaning towards Sprint keeping things 'as is' for now. I'm not going to hold my breath though. An official announcement is when we'll all find out.

well, since Sprint will be launching their first LTE device in the next couple weeks, we will find out. But i hear where your're coming from. However, I would think if they were increasing prices, we would have heard something by now. Especially since so many articles suggest that they will keep unlimited data with LTE. I'm betting they keep the same prices, along with unlimited data... just like I was since day one.

 

[IOWA]

well, since Sprint will be launching their first LTE device in the next couple weeks, we will find out. But i hear where your're coming from. However, I would think if they were increasing prices, we would have heard something by now. Especially since so many articles suggest that they will keep unlimited data with LTE. I'm betting they keep the same prices, along with unlimited data... just like I was since day one.

Na, Sprint's been known for their impromptu announcements, ala the $10 Premium fee was leaked only days before it went into effect.

 

[BenChase7]

Na, Sprint's been known for their impromptu announcements, ala the $10 Premium fee was leaked only days before it went into effect.

eghh, sorry you're still upset about the 10 dollar fee added a couple years ago.. but I'd be surprised if there are any fees added anytime soon.

 

[dan330]

I would be surprised if they did not raise the over all price....

inflation.. tax...and death..
what do they have in common? --- I hate them! but you cant stop them

 

[NYCHitman1]

I love payin me's a $10 fee and still paying less than the competition

 

[Caloy]

I have to agree, I did notice that their data speeds has been very slow, I couldn't even get a decent 4G signal now, even when I go to a big city. I'm still trying to research which would be my best option, I don't need too much data as I do not consume more than 5GB a month (99.99% of the time). Though I'm tempted to renew my contract to get the new HTC Evo 4G, I ask myself is it even worth it that there is no 4G service anyways?

Unlimited is a very good marketing term, but I quickly found out that I really don't need it. So when my contract expries, I'm looking at either AT&T or T-Mobile. Hopefully they will come out with a phone as good or better than the new HTC Evo 4G.

 

[IOWA]

I have to agree, I did notice that their data speeds has been very slow, I couldn't even get a decent 4G signal now, even when I go to a big city. I'm still trying to research which would be my best option, I don't need too much data as I do not consume more than 5GB a month (99.99% of the time). Though I'm tempted to renew my contract to get the new HTC Evo 4G, I ask myself is it even worth it that there is no 4G service anyways?

Unlimited is a very good marketing term, but I quickly found out that I really don't need it. So when my contract expries, I'm looking at either AT&T or T-Mobile. Hopefully they will come out with a phone as good or better than the new HTC Evo 4G.

Caloy! Soo good to see you! How've you been?

/ontopic
Yeah, it seems 4G has been DEGRADING where I'm at, I barely even turn it on anymore.

 

[Kendog210]

That's craziness. I don't know how your Sprint plan was so expensive. They are cheaper than VZW and AT&T. What the heck did you have?

It depends on your needs. ATT is over $20 a month cheaper but that is with a 10% employer discount. But even without the employer discount it would have been slightly cheaper because ATT's "surcharges" werent as high as Sprints.

I had 2 lines with Sprint. $170 a month after tax and surcharges (NO TEP or anything else). I signed with ATT when they had the 2GB for $25. So without a discount ATT would be $150 play tax and surcharges. But since ATT surcharges were a little less, they would still come out cheaper.

Now though ATT will be a little more expensive cause they increased it to 3GB for $30. So for 2 lines ATT would be $160 before taxes and surcharges and probably about $175 after. So an extra $5 bucks.

But if you were getting un-usable below advertised speeds, you might find the $5 to be worth it. In my situation I will save about $480 over the 2 year agreement.

 

[droidcentric]

Don't waste your time i spoke with Hesse's office about so many issues i experienced and they just don't care. all the guy kept telling was oh that's terrible but we would love to have you back with Sprint. When i asked what Sprint would do for me he made it pretty clear they did not want me back enough to give me a phone. Not even so much as a small credit or token gesture was offered and this coming from a department which is supposed to be working under the CEO. The real kicker was they had a promotion at that time of up to $100 for trying to retain valuable customers who were at risk of leaving. I was flat out told that i did not meet the criteria and no two customers get the same treatment as every account is valued differently. So the guy who just signed up and pays three times more would be more valued then someone who has been with the company for twenty years.

I was basically out of contract for 6 years and never got a phone upgrade yet they refused to give me a free Photon. When i explained to a customer retention supervisor that i would go to AT&T he said that was a great idea. I even had a regional manager tell me that he does not get free loyalty Cheeseburgers and he eats McDonalds every day so in his opinion Sprint should not give loyalty offerings to customers either. Shortly after that hes insinuating that i must be unemployed and broke if i cant cough up the cash for a near obsolete phone.

If you want the email for Dan's office it's dan@sprint.com but you wont ever get him directly you can bet on that one. I even threatened to tell shareholders what was going on and about threats made against me and a regional manager threatened to sue me. The way Sprint is being run has gotten way out of hand in fact when i canceled my service they apparently refused to cancel me which i did not find out until days later. Then they had the nerve to bill me and threaten collections for $.23 which would have been more had it not been for AT&T porting my number away. I told them i'd take them to small claims over the balance and waste their time and money so they squashed it.

My mother has been with Sprint for like 10 years and has never been treated with so much disrespect. I spoke to someone who explained how the length of time you have been with the company and how much profit you generate will determine the treatment you receive. My mother generates much less profit having two phones but since her bill was $30 more a month the account is considered of more value.

I will say Sprint used to be a great company but the only place i see the company headed now is bankruptcy protection. In the end AT&T had a better phone, they are extremely helpful and professional but best of all i save $10 a month over Sprint + tax savings. And for every person you refer to AT&T they give you $25 so if you convert you can pay for your new phone by simply bringing friends and family over.

 

[Caloy]

Caloy! Soo good to see you! How've you been?

/ontopic
Yeah, it seems 4G has been DEGRADING where I'm at, I barely even turn it on anymore.

Very long time mate! I'm doing great. Hope everything is well in your end. Cheers!

Don't waste your time i spoke with Hesse's office about so many issues i experienced and they just don't care. all the guy kept telling was oh that's terrible but we would love to have you back with Sprint. When i asked what Sprint would do for me he made it pretty clear they did not want me back enough to give me a phone. Not even so much as a small credit or token gesture was offered and this coming from a department which is supposed to be working under the CEO. The real kicker was they had a promotion at that time of up to $100 for trying to retain valuable customers who were at risk of leaving. I was flat out told that i did not meet the criteria and no two customers get the same treatment as every account is valued differently. So the guy who just signed up and pays three times more would be more valued then someone who has been with the company for twenty years.

I was basically out of contract for 6 years and never got a phone upgrade yet they refused to give me a free Photon. When i explained to a customer retention supervisor that i would go to AT&T he said that was a great idea. I even had a regional manager tell me that he does not get free loyalty Cheeseburgers and he eats McDonalds every day so in his opinion Sprint should not give loyalty offerings to customers either. Shortly after that hes insinuating that i must be unemployed and broke if i cant cough up the cash for a near obsolete phone.

If you want the email for Dan's office it's dan@sprint.com but you wont ever get him directly you can bet on that one. I even threatened to tell shareholders what was going on and about threats made against me and a regional manager threatened to sue me. The way Sprint is being run has gotten way out of hand in fact when i canceled my service they apparently refused to cancel me which i did not find out until days later. Then they had the nerve to bill me and threaten collections for $.23 which would have been more had it not been for AT&T porting my number away. I told them i'd take them to small claims over the balance and waste their time and money so they squashed it.

My mother has been with Sprint for like 10 years and has never been treated with so much disrespect. I spoke to someone who explained how the length of time you have been with the company and how much profit you generate will determine the treatment you receive. My mother generates much less profit having two phones but since her bill was $30 more a month the account is considered of more value.

I will say Sprint used to be a great company but the only place i see the company headed now is bankruptcy protection. In the end AT&T had a better phone, they are extremely helpful and professional but best of all i save $10 a month over Sprint + tax savings. And for every person you refer to AT&T they give you $25 so if you convert you can pay for your new phone by simply bringing friends and family over.

I have to agree, Sprint's customer service has gone way down. I remember trying to buy a battery in a Sprint store nearby, and was told that they won't be able to sell me an OEM battery uf I don't give them my original battery, something to do with recycling. So not to waste my trip, I said ill just buy a car charger. The one I talked to said please wait. I waited 15 minutes and saw the same sales associate entertaining another guy who just walked in. I was really pissed and just walked out. If they don't want my business, I don't want their service. When my contract expires on June 3rd, I'll be hunting for another service provider who will value my business.

 

[Raynes]

What good of unlimited data when I can't use it? If they fix it, I'll stay. If not, I don't mind paying more for better service. That's what you do when you can afford it.

That argument works on the other carriers to. The only reason you need faster speeds is to download things faster. If you're downloading things that take so long that Sprint's data speeds cause you problems, chances are you're going to hit your cap on verizon.

I'll take slower functional speeds over a cap that makes any amount of speed worthless any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

[Adar]

That argument works on the other carriers to. The only reason you need faster speeds is to download things faster. If you're downloading things that take so long that Sprint's data speeds cause you problems, chances are you're going to hit your cap on verizon.

I'll take slower functional speeds over a cap that makes any amount of speed worthless any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I agree with your point, but a lot depends on what you consider acceptable speed. I barely get more than 150k download speed and often average just barely above 60k. Internet on my phone is barely usable for even doing email and occasionally looking at a website. Data caps wouldn't really affect me terribly, since I can't really use Internet as is.

That being said, I have no plans to jump ship. I've been with sprint for about 10 years. Even with the currently abysmal Internet, none of the other carriers are even close in price since I have 4 lines. I am very hopeful that the new upgrades for 3G as well as adding 4G LTE will make my concerns go away.

 

[BenChase7]

my data speeds are pretty slow, too. I get about 300Kbps on average via Sprints 3G (I live in Phoenix). I consider myself a pretty heavy data user, as I use about 2 to 5 GB a month. That would cost me a lot of extras on Vzw or ATT's networks.. I only pay about $180 (after tax, fees, insurance, etc) on Sprint for practically unlimited everything for 3 lines... its hard to beat Sprints plans. Sprints plans just cant be beat! Even with the slow data speeds, my phone can surf the web quite well.. web pages open fast.. I've never had a problem with streaming data... I stream music several hours a day without a problem. That being said, Sprint needs to improve their data speeds.. and what I have seen in their Network Vision upgrades, that is clearly happening.

 

[Joshbear]

That argument works on the other carriers to. The only reason you need faster speeds is to download things faster. If you're downloading things that take so long that Sprint's data speeds cause you problems, chances are you're going to hit your cap on verizon.

I'll take slower functional speeds over a cap that makes any amount of speed worthless any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

A data cap doesn't automatically make data speeds worthless. Those speeds are only worthless once you reach the cap. This seems to be an argument that Sprint users like to use to justify their abysmal data speeds. It's slow, but at least we it's unlimited! When I had Sprint I thought the same thing. But what's the use of unlimited data if it's so slow you can't use it?

Sprint's data speeds aren't slow for just downloading things, either. Simply accessing the internet or checking e-mail takes ridiculously long. For me, Sprint's data speeds were just appalling, and I'l gladly pay a bit more every month to have good 3G speeds and excellent 4G on Verizon's network.

 

[droidcentric]

And when your data is slow it takes longer to send files which wastes both your time and battery while waiting. And if you do the math at 150Kbps you are getting approximately 1Mb of possible per minute which there is no way in hell you can stream anything of good quality with that. If you enjoy being trapped in the ice age of slow speeds and low quality video and music then Sprint is probably perfect for you.

Most simply don't have a clue that streaming services downgrade the quality when you have a slow connection. So radio you don't get HD or even CD quality and video like Netflix you get the lowest possible bitrate. Hulu recommends a minimum of 1.5Mbps for standard definition and 3Mbps or better for HD streams. While Netflix bitrates are 3Mbps for 720 and 4Mbps for 1080 so anything less is a very low quality stream.

For some it's about quality and for others it's about quantity which is what keeps both the Dollar stores and Sprint in business.

 

[NYCHitman1]

And when your data is slow it takes longer to send files which wastes both your time and battery while waiting. And if you do the math at 150Kbps you are getting approximately 1Mb of possible per minute which there is no way in hell you can stream anything of good quality with that. If you enjoy being trapped in the ice age of slow speeds and low quality video and music then Sprint is probably perfect for you.

Most simply don't have a clue that streaming services downgrade the quality when you have a slow connection. So radio you don't get HD or even CD quality and video like Netflix you get the lowest possible bitrate. Hulu recommends a minimum of 1.5Mbps for standard definition and 3Mbps or better for HD streams. While Netflix bitrates are 3Mbps for 720 and 4Mbps for 1080 so anything less is a very low quality stream.

For some it's about quality and for others it's about quantity which is what keeps both the Dollar stores and Sprint in business.

That isn't the case for all Sprint customers. These issues aren't widespread nationwide. It just so happens that people here on the boards have some issues, but that doesn't account for everyone on Sprint. For all those know-it-all types out there, I'm willing to put money down that I get better speeds on my Sprint phone than you do on any provider you have. FWIW, like everything else in this world - YMMV.

 

[droidcentric]

So you get better speeds then most of the Sprint user base (judging by the constant posts on Sprint's own forums) and this is a good thing?

You may have faster data but i have more reliable coverage here in Florida and that's what is most important to me. Imagine if half the roads you traveled each week were total dead (would you still sing the same tune?) zones. Not to mention a few years before the AT&T merger i had the CEO of bellsouth himself go to bat for me. I have also been an AT&T customer for well over 20 years and when i had a problem paying my bill a few years ago they even discounted my bill. Yes after losing my job due to medical problems they knocked $40/month the cost of my land line completely off my bill and let me keep my home phone for free. If it had been Sprint they would have tried to sell me some additional service to correct the broken services they already sold me.

 

[ArmageddonX]

You know, the worst part about sprint sucking so hard these days is all the friends I told to switch back a year ago when the service hadn't declined to where it is now. I bet I had 10 friends and family members convert, now I feel like a *****e because they are stuck in a contract with a terrible company for another year. I apologize to them every time I see them lol....

Same thing happened to me. I convinced my Family to stay with Sprint in June of last year & we all re-upped our contract for the Evo3D. Bam, this network restructuring happens. Every time one of their phones 3G doesn't work I get an angry look lol

~ ArmyX

 

[Roddy]

wow.. i had no idea everyone else was feeling like me. I haven't been on this forum in ages and I see all the complaints that I'm having.

 

[rodneyrob]

I've never posted on here but I browse this forum everyday. I must say my data as well as reception has progressively gotten worse since I got my 3vo a week after it came out. I'm talking up to 2 min to open a Web page sometimes. I'm experiencing a couple dropped calls every week. I live just outside of Philadelphia. It's getting to the point where I'm seriously considering paying more for better service after sticking with sprint since 98'. I have one more upgrade to use by October. I'm holding on in hopes that lte service will be in the Philly region by then. Otherwise I'm going to have to make a tough decision. I've never been able to use my phone inside of my house due to poor reception but it's so bad lately I'm just about ready to jump ship. Believe me this post can't begin to voice my frustration.

 

[IOWA]

UPDATE:

So Sprint made right by me, and allowed me to upgrade early. I picked up the LTEvo and I couldn't be happier. 3G speed has SKYROCKETED on this thing.

Check it out.


Each and every test is taken on 3G!