I just looked at my Sprint bill, and it was $760. As a seasoned nextel/sprint customer, I have learned not to panic. Looking at the bill, and reading some threads about credits and so forth, I thought there should be a thread about being a sprint customer. Many on here are leaving other networks to come to Sprint, and I think you should know as much about managing your bills and plans as you do the evo. Your decision to switch to Sprint for many is a two year commitment, and how you navigate your contract, can save you more money than the full price of the evo.
Navigating your bill: I think most cell phone companies make cell bills unnecessarily difficult, so that lazy people like me will just pay the bill, or get lost in the confusion when we call asking about it, and just begrudgingly pay the bill. Truthfully, if sprint didn't charge me so much more than they should have, I would have just paid an extra $20 and not thought about it.
I put my mother and wife on a 3000 minute shared plan. I expected the retail price of this with a 10% discount for being an member of a credit union -if your not a member, find one and start an account. So my bill with tax and all of those other junk fees phone protection plan, etc. should be around $185. My bill was $290. If i tried to explain it to you, I would get banned for having the longest thread in history. So in short, they charged me incorrectly for lines, downloads, forgotten discounts, activation fees, etc.
Through conversation, my bill for usage went down from $290 to $165 plus the junk fees. I save at least $100 in one conversation.
Rate Plan & activation fees: The 10% discount on my plan is almost $20 a month, which equals $240 a year, and $480 over the length of the contract.
However, the sprint store in their zeal to sell me the new phones and plans, offered me a better discount, because they told me my bill would be around $165 for the three lines. Well, there was something in my bill that reflected that. However, the sprint person on the phone could not figure out. The rep quoted me around $162 a month before fees. So I made them put this in my notes and i asked for their employee number. I put this in an email to myself so I wouldn't lose it. I was then transferred to another department above hers to get activation and another fee for an old line removed. I ask this person to verify my plan amount, after we did the other fees. As no surprise to me, it was higher than the quote from the last employee. The person on the phone tried to tell me it was a simple mistake and my bill would be higher. I stated I was quoted the price and wouldn't pay more. After a few minutes on hold, I was given an extra $10 a month off.
To make a long story a little shorter. An hour or so on the phone with Sprint will save me around $740 over the retail two year contract price for the shared three lines with 3000 minutes.
It is my hope that others will share their experiences and help new comers navigate the company which you will have to work with to use your great new cell phone.
I'm sorry it is long, but this is a very abbreviated explanation of the difficult dance we have to do with Sprint to get the best service and plans for our phones.
Navigating your bill: I think most cell phone companies make cell bills unnecessarily difficult, so that lazy people like me will just pay the bill, or get lost in the confusion when we call asking about it, and just begrudgingly pay the bill. Truthfully, if sprint didn't charge me so much more than they should have, I would have just paid an extra $20 and not thought about it.
I put my mother and wife on a 3000 minute shared plan. I expected the retail price of this with a 10% discount for being an member of a credit union -if your not a member, find one and start an account. So my bill with tax and all of those other junk fees phone protection plan, etc. should be around $185. My bill was $290. If i tried to explain it to you, I would get banned for having the longest thread in history. So in short, they charged me incorrectly for lines, downloads, forgotten discounts, activation fees, etc.
Through conversation, my bill for usage went down from $290 to $165 plus the junk fees. I save at least $100 in one conversation.
Rate Plan & activation fees: The 10% discount on my plan is almost $20 a month, which equals $240 a year, and $480 over the length of the contract.
However, the sprint store in their zeal to sell me the new phones and plans, offered me a better discount, because they told me my bill would be around $165 for the three lines. Well, there was something in my bill that reflected that. However, the sprint person on the phone could not figure out. The rep quoted me around $162 a month before fees. So I made them put this in my notes and i asked for their employee number. I put this in an email to myself so I wouldn't lose it. I was then transferred to another department above hers to get activation and another fee for an old line removed. I ask this person to verify my plan amount, after we did the other fees. As no surprise to me, it was higher than the quote from the last employee. The person on the phone tried to tell me it was a simple mistake and my bill would be higher. I stated I was quoted the price and wouldn't pay more. After a few minutes on hold, I was given an extra $10 a month off.
To make a long story a little shorter. An hour or so on the phone with Sprint will save me around $740 over the retail two year contract price for the shared three lines with 3000 minutes.
It is my hope that others will share their experiences and help new comers navigate the company which you will have to work with to use your great new cell phone.
I'm sorry it is long, but this is a very abbreviated explanation of the difficult dance we have to do with Sprint to get the best service and plans for our phones.
