I Bite my Thumb at Thee, Sprint

So, our annual "upgrade your phone" time is here... but I was very disappointed when I logged into my account to see what it would cost for new blackberries.  Last year, it was about $100 per BB, which isn't a big deal, I think that is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things, but hubster's didn't even last him a year before it broke so he has been using my old Treo for a while now.  We didn't use the insurance we've been paying because it would have cost us $100 for a new BB and we were only 2 months away from our upgrade and they couldn't guarantee us that we would get a new phone and not a referbished one.  So we decided to wait... 

So 2 weeks ago, I log in to see what we are going to get for savings on new phones. I'll get $150 and hubby will get $75... not great, but not too bad, still manageable. Ok, 2 more weeks until we upgrade.

Well the day finally came! I was so excited, I tried logging in on my phone before I got to work, but no success there. So I wait until I get to my desk and log in.  I can upgrade to a new BB for $99 ($150 savings and $200 instant rebate)!  Let me check the hubby's, it will probably be around $175, but whatev, we can swing it. 

OH NO!  He gets $75 savings... thats it! So a new BB is going to cost us about $400 for him! WTF!

Now, we have been talking about iphones since we got our BBs last year, so I decide to "chat" with one of their representatives online... You can see the convo:

12:07:51PMSystem: "Thank you for contacting Sprint. My name is Gerry M. In order to better assist you, may I please have your first and last name?"

12:07:51PMMia Merrel: "I was wondering what my early termination fee would be if I cancelled my account?"

12:08:38PMAgent (Gerry M): "Good morning Mia. I will be happy to assist you today."

12:11:03PMAgent (Gerry M): "Which phone number are you inquiring about today?"

12:11:13PMMia Merrel: "My whole account"

12:11:49PMMia Merrel: "I was wondering what my early termination fee would be if I cancelled my account?"

12:12:07PMAgent (Gerry M): "All right, I will only be a moment getting that information for you."

12:12:15PMMia Merrel: "Thank you"

12:14:40PMAgent (Gerry M): "Thank you for your patience. I am showing that the fee for line 1 is currently at $120 and the fee for Line 2 is also at $120, for a total of $240. May I ask as to why you are inquiring?"

12:15:55PMMia Merrel: "Because we were waiting to upgrade our phones, but I just found out today, I can get a new blackberry for about $100, but it would cost us around $400 for my husbands blackberry. And since we have been debating on blackberries and iphones for a year now it would be just about as expensive to cancel and get iphones."

12:19:31PMAgent (Gerry M): "I understand that the iPhone is a cool phone. However some of the drawbacks are that you have to pay for nearly every application that you get for the phone, the phone is uninsurable, so if you were to accidentally break it, you would have to pay full price for it. Also, the data plans required to run an iPhone is $20*-$40/month more that what we offer for the same plan."

12:24:15PMMia Merrel: "I am kind of tired of being jerked around by sprint anyway. Last year I was on a SERO plan and when I ordered new phones I specifically asked if the SERO would work with the Instincts that we ordered. They assured me it would. then we I got the phones and activated them, they told me they wouldn't work and I would have to get a regular plan, which has been costing me almost $100 more a month."

12:24:38PMMia Merrel: "we ended up hating the instincts so we switched to blackberries, but i am still having to pay a lot more than i used to."

12:26:12PMAgent (Gerry M): "I can certainly understand your concern. I also apologize for any incorrect information that was shared with you, causing you not to have a positive experience with Sprint."


Now, I know Sprint isn't a great company, but because I used to pay $30/month, I pretty much let it go... then when I had to move to a family plan and pay $155/month, I figured, whatev, millions of people pay more than I do, so I'll just suck it up... Its normal, plus the new phones are cheap... But I'll be DAMNED if I have to pay a normal rate and $500 for new phones! I'm not paying that much for a freaking BB! Fuck You, Sprint!

Especially when it would be the same price to cancel our phones and get new 16gig refurb 3GS iphones!

I'm pretty sure we are going to wait until the end of the month and then port over... hopefully AT&T will give us some better service... I mean we like their UVERSE tv and internet...  Hopefully the cell service is just as good.  And we would get rollover minutes, which means we don't have to pay for as many anytime minutes to begin with...

So, I hope you are happy, Sprint. Because of your stupid policies, not another providers "cool phone", you are losing a 7 year customer.  And I'm taking my husband with me... hopefully more will follow.