Sprint phone to Virgin ?

[optimusv45]

i have read at various places that Sprint is allowing their phones to be used on Virgin through a program called Bring You Own Sprint Device. I called Virgin they told me they cant use Sprint phones, anyone with any insights on this ?

 

[Frisco]

i have read at various places that Sprint is allowing their phones to be used on Virgin through a program called Bring You Own Sprint Device. I called Virgin they told me they cant use Sprint phones, anyone with any insights on this ?

Hello optimusv.

First let's get this thread out of the device area and to the Virgin Mobile sub-forum here at AF, where more forthright responses are likely.

FWIW, folks who answer the support lines at various carriers/providers are often ill trained, especially with regard to new developments with devices, plans or special offers.

You should visit a Virgin Mobile store and have a friendly face to face about it.

There are articles in tech sites and notices at Sprint, Virgin Mobile and Boost about the deal. Here's just one such article, from last March:

Sprint phones are now welcome on Boost and Virgin Mobile

 

[mogelijk]

According to Virgin, you cannot bring a Sprint device onto the Virgin Mobile network. While Sprint announced they would allow MVNO's to use Sprint phones, to this point Virgin Mobile has not changed their policy and there is no indication that they will.

From the Virgin Mobile website, "You cannot use a mobile phone from another wireless carrier, or any unlocked device. But it's the perfect excuse to get a new phone.Click here to view Virgin Mobile Phones and Plans."

 

[Petrah]

I called Virgin they told me

Nine times out of ten when you call companies like this you're never speaking with someone who is sitting in an actual building owned by that company. They normally hire other companies, sometimes not even in the states, to answer their customer calls.

 

[jae_63]

But "Ting" will, for most devices, let you bring your own Sprint device.

https://help.ting.com/entries/22567...evice-to-Ting-A-List-of-All-Supported-Devices

 

[mogelijk]

But "Ting" will, for most devices, let you bring your own Sprint device.

https://help.ting.com/entries/22567...evice-to-Ting-A-List-of-All-Supported-Devices

Oddly, one of the exceptions is that they do not allow phones from Virgin Mobile.

 

[tcomotcom]

While Sprint announced they would allow MVNO's to use Sprint phones...

mogelijk brings up a good point.

The Sprint Nextel press release on this issue wasn't clear that they were only talking about non-Sprint Nextel owned MVNO's like Ting, Repubilc, Voyager, etc.

It's also worth noting that you can't bring just any Sprint phone - this program only allows for particular, newer phones that have the technical ability to work with this program. Instead of re-flashing the phone entirely, the phone has a software module that accepts over the air data that alters certain settings that associate the phone with the MVNO's "network".

Ting has expanded on the issues of which phones work and why on their blog, if you're curious and want to read more.

edit: mogelijk's quote of jae_63's post directly above links to the most recent list of accepted phones - just read the blog post if you want some additional info about why certain phones aren't on the list.

 

[tcomotcom]

Nine times out of ten when you call companies like this you're never speaking with someone who is sitting in an actual building owned by that company. They normally hire other companies, sometimes not even in the states, to answer their customer calls.

It's not really correct to say that they "normally" hire contractors. It is more correct to say that support is typically provided by a mix of both employees and third-party vendors located in the U.S. or abroad. How much is domestic vs. foreign and how much is regular, full- or part-time employees vs. contracted, third-party vendors just depends on the company.

Foreign contractors are perfectly capable of providing excellent service if the company that hired them is willing to pay for the training and supervision necessary to create excellent service. Of course, the same thing applies to domestic, regular employees. No one is going to provide you with good service unless the company provides the call center staffers with the training, coaching and feedback necessary to do a superior job. If a company wants its vendors to do a bunch of training and provide a bunch of coaching, the company has to pay the vendor for that. Doing a first-rate job is always more costly than doing a third-rate job.

Who you get (foreign vs. domestic, employee vs. vendor) depends on a bunch of factors: Weekday vs. weekend. "Normal" business hours vs. late night. English vs. Spanish. Retail customer vs. wholesale customer. Large business account with thousands of lines vs. individual consumer/family account. Each company has its own complex call-routing rules based on factors like those above.

If you get bad service, its not because the call center employee is a foreigner and/or employed by a third-party vendor, its because the company that outsourced its call center work chose to do it on the cheap. If a cheap company brought that work back to the U.S. and hired employees, the service would still be bad.

 

[Petrah]

It's not really correct to say that they "normally" hire contractors.

Normally.. meaning not always. Apologies, the rest was TLDR.

Probably good to stay on topic as we've both covered it well enough.

 

[tcomotcom]

Normally.. meaning not always. Apologies, the rest was TLDR.

Probably good to stay on topic as we've both covered it well enough.

Sorry my response to your post got the thread a little off topic. Your post presented inaccurate information based on an unsophisticated understanding of how call centers operate - I just wanted to give everyone a glimpse of how things actually work. Accurate information benefits everybody.

Are you sure it was a good idea to TL/DR my post? If you don't understand a subject and don't have the time to read a few paragraphs and educate yourself, you really shouldn't offer up advice about what "normally" happens. You're a "Guide"; people expect you to know your stuff.

 

[Petrah]

Your post presented inaccurate information based on an unsophisticated understanding of how call centers operate

No, it didn't. My reply is based off the fact that I've had personal experience with call centers as a business owner.

I've said all I need to say on the matter. Time to move on.