The truth: Why the extra fees are a rip off

[BlackDynamite]

You are just a broken record. It is not for 4g. Really how hard is that to understand. Not for 4g. It is a fee to own the phone. if you do not like it, take your phone back.

It is not legal for Sprint to charge me a lease fee on something I already own. Try again. And taking my phone back is obviously not the only option so save your worthless comments.

Again, I did not take my phone back, and I am not paying the fee. And no, I will not encourage anyone to just shut up about it or accept it.

 

[RiverOfIce]

It is not legal for Sprint to charge me a lease fee on something I already own. .

Let me guess, it is also illegal for the your isp to charge you because you own you pc?

lol then sue them. Also sue apple and att, because they have a special iphone fee.

It is a fee to use the phone, you own the phone, but you have to pay the fee to use it on their network.

 

[BlackDynamite]

Let me guess, it is also illegal for the your isp to charge you because you own you pc?

lol then sue them. Also sue apple and att, because they have a special iphone fee.

It is a fee to use the phone, you own the phone, but you have to pay the fee to use it on their network.

#1: Yes, it is illegal for your ISP to charge you a lease fee on a computer you own.

#2: No, Apple and AT&T do not have a special iPhone fee. The iPhone plan is the exact same amount as the smartphone plan.

#3: The phone is just a regular smartphone. The only thing different about the way it uses the network is it has 4G. If you don't have 4G in your area, then you are paying extra for the exact same service.

 

[sikclown]

Sigh Salty I was simply using the SERO accounts as an example because they are instantly recognizable in these forums , alot of people had to drop them to get the EVO, and just to mention a plan different from the Simply Everything plans. I pay full price every month and have never gotten or ask for any credits or discounts outside of my Premier status. I guess I could bitch and moan and whine and complain until I got something for free but I am just not built that way. Before I buy something I make myself aware of what all the costs associated with something are and then make my decision. You speak of people making their decision to purchase the EVO when it was announced but before any actual pricing was announced, yourself included... Well that is fine but stupid to make a purchasing decision before you know the ACTUAL prices. My point is and has always been this..... The $10 fee exists and if I want the phone that is an add on that I will accept. Or I can stick with my Hero and wait for the next phone to come out and maybe that one doesn't have a $10 fee. It isn't rocket science

 

[eieio]

you and i have the exact same problem...i'm in charlotte and am blanketed by 4g coverage according to all the maps and such, but i have to say that it may as well be non existant based on the fact that the signal inside my house and out is terrible....so my question primarily for eieio and/or riverofice, is will signal quality improve over time, and how will it improve....is it just a matter of more towers/repeaters being installed? how can one be surrounded by coverage and get such a crappy signal? inquiring minds wanna know

The signal will improve as more towers are added..

There are a few factors that will limit building penetration.. But as the network matures if will become less of an issue for most people..

The goal is to fill in coverage holes and also there will be lots of city/business repeaters/towers added that consumers will benefit from..

There are lots of reasons why a signal does not penetrate a building, window types, electrical wiring, a building construction material etc..

There will be consumer units available hopefully by next year that will boost indoor signals if needed by next year.. I tested two units a few weeks back, one was a docking station for the phone the other was a unit similar to the air rave that Sprint sells now for its CDMA signal

Also there will be software upgrades in about 6 months that will hopefully help this become less of an issue if it affects you..

 

[BlackDynamite]

Sigh Salty I was simply using the SERO accounts as an example because they are instantly recognizable in these forums , alot of people had to drop them to get the EVO, and just to mention a plan different from the Simply Everything plans. I pay full price every month and have never gotten or ask for any credits or discounts outside of my Premier status. I guess I could bitch and moan and whine and complain until I got something for free but I am just not built that way. Before I buy something I make myself aware of what all the costs associated with something are and then make my decision. You speak of people making their decision to purchase the EVO when it was announced but before any actual pricing was announced, yourself included... Well that is fine but stupid to make a purchasing decision before you know the ACTUAL prices. My point is and has always been this..... The $10 fee exists and if I want the phone that is an add on that I will accept. Or I can stick with my Hero and wait for the next phone to come out and maybe that one doesn't have a $10 fee. It isn't rocket science

You know what else isn't rocket science? If you have a current plan, that is offered on Sprint's website, on a current smartphone, that is currently offered on Sprint's website, and your plan supposedly includes everything, yet you have to pay extra to upgrade your phone- to a phone made by the same manufacturer as your current phone, and uses the same services as your current phone.

Seeing that as a rip off certainly isn't rocket science.

Yes, you are free to pay it or no get the Evo. The rest of us are free to complain about it and get Sprint to take care of the fee.

We're not asking for something for nothing. We're buying the phone, not getting it for free. We're paying for a top of the line Sprint plan that supposedly includes everything.

The only difference is 4G wasn't around when my plan was made, so I could see my plan not including 4G. But I don't have 4G here so there is no difference whatsoever in the services I used on my Touch Pro 2 last week to the services I have right now on my Evo.

 

[eieio]

You know what else isn't rocket science? If you have a current plan, that is offered on Sprint's website, on a current smartphone, that is currently offered on Sprint's website, and your plan supposedly includes everything, yet you have to pay extra to upgrade your phone- to a phone made by the same manufacturer as your current phone, and uses the same services as your current phone.

Seeing that as a rip off certainly isn't rocket science.

Yes, you are free to pay it or no get the Evo. The rest of us are free to complain about it and get Sprint to take care of the fee.

We're not asking for something for nothing. We're buying the phone, not getting it for free. We're paying for a top of the line Sprint plan that supposedly includes everything.

The only difference is 4G wasn't around when my plan was made, so I could see my plan not including 4G. But I don't have 4G here so there is no difference whatsoever in the services I used on my Touch Pro 2 last week to the services I have right now on my Evo.

If 4g was available for you would you pay the extra 10 bucks a month?

 

[BlackDynamite]

If 4g was available for you would you pay the extra 10 bucks a month?

I don't know. It depends on how good the 4G was. If I couldn't get it inside like everyone is saying, and it wasn't that much faster than 3G like other reviews are saying, then I probably wouldn't.

But if it was really 10 times faster than 3G, like Sprint is saying, and I could access it everywhere I went inside or out, and talk on the phone while I used it, then I probably would at least on 1 of my lines. I would be pissed about it though after Hesse said it wouldn't cost extra, but at least I would see a reason for charging me extra.

As it stands right now, I see no reason why anyone should be charged extra if they don't even get 4G. Unless you are coming from a dumbphone, then of course you should pay extra for a smatphone plan. But if you already have a smartphone, and you don't get 4G, there is no reason for you to pay extra.

 

[fayester]

I don't know. It depends on how good the 4G was. If I couldn't get it inside like everyone is saying, and it wasn't that much faster than 3G like other reviews are saying, then I probably wouldn't.

But if it was really 10 times faster than 3G, like Sprint is saying, and I could access it everywhere I went inside or out, and talk on the phone while I used it, then I probably would at least on 1 of my lines. I would be pissed about it though after Hesse said it wouldn't cost extra, but at least I would see a reason for charging me extra.

As it stands right now, I see no reason why anyone should be charged extra if they don't even get 4G. Unless you are coming from a dumbphone, then of course you should pay extra for a smatphone plan. But if you already have a smartphone, and you don't get 4G, there is no reason for you to pay extra.

Yup its call not getting the phone...especially since the 10 bucks is not for 4g BUT for the EVO..the actual phone.

 

[BlackDynamite]

Yup its call not getting the phone...especially since the 10 bucks is not for 4g BUT for the EVO..the actual phone.

The $10 is not for the phone, lol. It's a "premium data fee" as defined by Sprint, not a premium phone fee.

 

[trife]

our personal reasons are all different

for me I had a aircard for $60 a mo and had a page plus phone that was $40 a mo for unlimited text and voice

so for $10 more a month I have the same speeds, same unlimited plans but I get a dope phone to take with me everywhere.

That is worth 10 a mo to me. I've been wanting a smartphone for ever, but couldn't see spending 60 a mo for my home internet and another 30 to have it on my phone too. I basically break even now and have 4g in some areas

so 80+30 for hotspot = 110 right? Thanks to sprints @ home my google voice gives me unlimited talk. Also now i qualify for a 13% discount on the phone so I'm paying the same as i did last month for far, far greater abilities.

Show me a plan for 110 a mo where you have unlimited everything including tethering, wifi for all your home devices?

iphone
2gb data $25
unlimited talk $70
unlimited text $20
tethering is $20 ontop of the 25 for data and its capped at 2gb!

so you're looking at 135 bucks a mo for a 2 gb cap.. please man and just for good measure lets throw in 4g, a better phone and more reliable network. Its not even in the same ballpark.

i looked into t mobile but they dont even have 3g in my area much less 4g or id have got a nexus months ago.

we all have different reasons

 

[BlackDynamite]

our personal reasons are all different

for me I had a aircard for $60 a mo and had a page plus phone that was $40 a mo for unlimited text and data

so for $10 more a month I have the same speeds, same unlimited plans but I get a dope phone to take with me everywhere.

That +is worth 10 a mo to me. I've been wanting a smartphone for ever, but couldn't see spending 60 a mo for my home internet and another 30 to have it on my phone too. I basically break even now and have 4g in some areas

so 80+30 for hotspot = 110 right? Thanks to sprints @ home my google voice gives me unlimited talk. Also now i qualify for a 13% discount on the phone so I'm paying the same as i did last month for far, far greater abilities.

Show me a plan for 110 a mo where you have unlimited everything including tethering, wifi for all your home devices?

iphone
unlimited data $25
unlimited talk $70
unlimited text $20
tethering is $20 ontop of the 20 for data and its capped at 2gb!

so you're looking at 135 bucks a mo for a 2 gb cap.. please man and just for good measure lets throw in 4g, a better phone and more reliable network. Its not even in the same ballpark.

i looked into t mobile but they dont even have 3g in my area much less 4g or id have got a nexus months ago.

we all have different reasons

No doubt, if you are coming from a dumbphone plan then paying a little extra for a smartphone plan is to be expected.

But if you were already on an unlimited everything smartphone plan on Sprint, and then had to pay extra, and there was no 4G in your area, that is another story.

 

[colnago]

...Now you are complaining about the $10 increase for our "premium" access to 4g, but as far as you know they could do the same thing with their new network.

As far as testing and speed I will wait until it has a real HSPA+ phone and I will wait to see their coverage. Because aparantly sometimes companies make a mistakes or flat out lie.

We will see how much they really roll out and how fast HSPA+ is soon enough. For now it is all a lot of talk... there needs to be quite a bit more testing of both techs in my opinion.

While t-mobile may be an option down the line right now the coverage here in unbearable. I still consider sprint a damn good deal.

Why wait...I've had my phone since November, and just did this today (network changed 2 weeks ago) T-Mo's $10 per month web2go plan:

 

[sikclown]

Oy vey... Now it is just arguing for the sake of arguing.

 

[MindTrainer]

I know that someday we will all have 4G; but I don't have it now and probably wont for a while...

Every time I boot my new phone it throws the 4G in my face. It's like an INSULT. Like na - na you don't have it but we're still getting your $10.

 

[ShoxV]

It's so funny to see the tools defend sprint with ******ed justifications. Its this kinda passive bullshit which lets companies get away with rip offs to begin with.
And all the talks about "if you don't like it go to t-mobile" is hilarious, it's like when someone complains about the government doing something wrong and people come back with "if you don't like it then you can just get out!" (cue southpark)

Does the concept of "principle" mean anything to you people? Even if the fee was $2.99, I'd agree with the points brought up in this thread. Yeah, sprint is still cheaper than other plans, but the fact that they're blatantly ripping people off with this fee is the point, and if the consumer base is reflective of most of the people in this thread, sprint is gonna realize they can get away with this and continue doing it.

I love the Evo, and I don't see why people on the forum think either I have to either shut up and pay a 10$ fee I shouldn't be paying, or just not use the Evo or Sprint at all.

 

[geneva54]

Im just waiting for another phone to come out without the 4G premium.

 

[saa001]

And you are kidding yourself if you believe that Sprint hasn't looked at how the EVO has sold and everyone who buys it is willing to pay the $10/month fee. The only way they would back off on this fee is if very few people bought the phone because of the fee.

Since the EVO has sold extremely well, Sprint will very likely keep the $10/month fee. Simple economics. People willing to pay it, they will continue to charge it.

Right, sit down and shut up always works, right? If Sprint knows we're pissed, maybe they'll do the right thing here. And you're kidding yourself if you don't think Sprint has cronies reading forums like this one.

Right, because I didn't mention single user plans at all. Oh wait, I did. And I didn't post anything about T-Mobile's HSPA+ being available. Oh wait, I did...

I don;t care too much about mobile to mobile on any network. If someone has a cell phone, I text them rather than calling anyway. All my friends are the same way. Even my friends with dumbphones text way more often than calling.

I have a family plan with 4 Touch Pro 2s right now. If you don't think teenagers want smartphones in this iPhone era, then you obviously don't know very many teenagers.

There was no cap removed. Sprint had unlimited data on smartphones all along. The only 5GB cap was on the data cards.

 

[IOWA]

It's so funny to see the tools defend sprint with ******ed justifications. Its this kinda passive bullshit which lets companies get away with rip offs to begin with.
And all the talks about "if you don't like it go to t-mobile" is hilarious, it's like when someone complains about the government doing something wrong and people come back with "if you don't like it then you can just get out!" (cue southpark)

Does the concept of "principle" mean anything to you people? Even if the fee was $2.99, I'd agree with the points brought up in this thread. Yeah, sprint is still cheaper than other plans, but the fact that they're blatantly ripping people off with this fee is the point, and if the consumer base is reflective of most of the people in this thread, sprint is gonna realize they can get away with this and continue doing it.

I love the Evo, and I don't see why people on the forum think either I have to either shut up and pay a 10$ fee I shouldn't be paying, or just not use the Evo or Sprint at all.

Here's a question for you. How is it a ripoff fee if they arent forcing it on you?

 

[ShoxV]

Here's a question for you. How is it a ripoff fee if they arent forcing it on you?

It's a rip off because of the principal. They're charging you a fee simply for owning the new phone, without any justification. You have to compare it within the context of owning the Evo when justifying the fee, you can't say "don't buy the evo" because if that's your mentality, no one would ever be able to complain about anything, ever.
I mean, am I not allowed to complain if california raises taxes, because california isn't forcing me to stay in california?
Can I not complain if they raise the cost of parking meters from a dollar per hour to 10 dollars per hour because I can choose to take the bus?

Think about it, this guy isn't simply trolling because he's an apple fanboy, he's making VALID complaints as an Evo user, and even if you don't MIND paying the $10 fee, I really doubt you can, after knowing the facts, actually justify that it's OKAY for them to charge you extra only because they KNOW you'll pay it.

 

[leaddog]

Blah blah I don't have 4g why should I pay for it blah blah. Seriously people? It's a price hike. Yeah, that's right, they raised the price. They don't care whether or not you have 4g, and you are not paying for 4g. If you want the rock bottom cheapest plan for a high end smartphone, that would be a N1 on Tmo. Understand that you will pay full price for that N1. Also understand that Sprint's plan has certain advantages over Tmo's. Then kindly stfu and make a decision.

According to me, the $10 is (1) an extra fee for using the EVO and (2) the fee for the bragging rights for having an EVO.

In no way the $10 has anything to do with 4G or 3G. It is simply an additional fee that one pays on top of the plan. The problem is that various people have linked it to be related to the 4G network. Sprint needs to come out with a consistent explanation. Once people come to understand this, there will be no more $10 threads. Period.

How many of you realize that today, less and less number of people have land lines. So for $80 + tax/fees, one with the Simply Everything 450 plan can call up practically anyone without using up their minutes. So the 450 minutes comes down to essentially talking to a landline. I think 450 minutes is really long and so Sprint really does have a wonderful plan. No other carrier comes close.

 

[leaddog]

Im just waiting for another phone to come out without the 4G premium.

Firstly, the $10 is not a 4G premium.
Secondly, it is not in Sprint's interest to come up with a new smartphone without this extra fee for the new phone. If the phone is advanced enough, people will pay the small increase so as to avail of the phone.
Thirdly, Sprint is a for-profit organization. If it uses the extra fee to expand its network, then great. Otherwise, it can use it simply to increase their profit. If a person has any objections, then they are free to choose another cell phone carrier or none at all. This fee is not forced on people. Hey, a person is always free to chose another phone on Sprint that does not carry this fee.

When a person buys a luxury car, they have to pay a luxury tax. So, for this phone, the luxury tax is $10 per month. Take it or leave it. As simple as that.

 

[BlackDynamite]

According to me, the $10 is (1) an extra fee for using the EVO and (2) the fee for the bragging rights for having an EVO.

In no way the $10 has anything to do with 4G or 3G. It is simply an additional fee that one pays on top of the plan. The problem is that various people have linked it to be related to the 4G network. Sprint needs to come out with a consistent explanation. Once people come to understand this, there will be no more $10 threads. Period.

How many of you realize that today, less and less number of people have land lines. So for $80 + tax/fees, one with the Simply Everything 450 plan can call up practically anyone without using up their minutes. So the 450 minutes comes down to essentially talking to a landline. I think 450 minutes is really long and so Sprint really does have a wonderful plan. No other carrier comes close.

Sprint calls it a "premium data fee" so that is why the fee gets associated with data.

Also, as the first post shows, other carriers do "come close" (beat is actually more accurate) Sprint's $80 for 450 minutes price. T-Mobile actually offers unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited data (on smartphones) for $80 per month. For the same with only 500 minutes is $60 per month. They don't have any good phones yet though, but the price absolutely competes (and beats) Sprint's Evo plan prices.

 

[sikclown]

I hear what people against the fee are saying..I really do. But you have a choice is what I am saying. To me a rip-off would be a hidden fee or something they added that you had no idea about before hand. But this is upfront and known before you complete your purchase. Comparing moving out of your state because of taxes with not buying a phone is overkill. You are welcome to complain about anything you want Shox.. But if you are going to get rude and call members of this forum tools I suggest you go elsewhere.

 

[sikclown]

Sprint calls it a "premium data fee" so that is why the fee gets associated with data.

Also, as the first post shows, other carriers do "come close" (beat is actually more accurate) Sprint's $80 for 450 minutes price. T-Mobile actually offers unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited data (on smartphones) for $80 per month. For the same with only 500 minutes is $60 per month. They don't have any good phones yet though, but the price absolutely competes (and beats) Sprint's Evo plan prices.

And this is where mobile to mobile for free comes in. I use about 250 minutes a month because of this