Upgrade now program...

[jonathanm1978]

So I'm eligible for upgrade now on two of my four lines...and I'd like suggestions on what I should do....do I trade my SGS3 and get the SGS4, or do I need to wait on something upcoming today may be better than what I can get right now? I hate to go pay the fees and then in two months have a brand new "oooh I want it" coming out.

 

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[derrph]

I was in the same boat as you in January and I decided to do the upgrade now program. I traded my iphone 4s and a galaxy note 2. The actually process the do it the rep ended up messing my account you and stuff so I was in the sprint store longer than I was suppose to. He had to put a dummy phone on my account for some reason idk. But honestly I would just wait until yuo have your actual upgrade for 1. it was go wayyyy smoother than my experience and 2. by that time you will be able to see what all phones are out at that point and time and 3. Youll be able to keep your S3 and if you want you can revert back to it if you want. I miss my 4s and wish I didnt give it up and i find myself using my iphone 5 and keeping that note 2 in the box.

[peteyz24]

If you have an S3 I would wait for Tri-band LTE, if I was you.

[jonathanm1978]

That's what I'm getting at...is there a time-frame on how long before new phones come out with new tech for LTE bands?

[S4GRU]

Tri-band phones are expected this Fall.

 

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[jonathanm1978]

By then also, my Upgrade Now fee should be down below $200 i would think. I paid to Upgrade now last year on a line, got the GS3. It cost me $50 fee, $299 a month after the release. Now, it's $275 fee, and whatever the promo price is on the SGS4.

[peteyz24]

That's what I'm getting at...is there a time-frame on how long before new phones come out with new tech for LTE bands?

Sorry, I assumed that you had already read on here that the tri-bands were expected this fall.  You know what they say about assuming,  I walked right into it.

[halcyoncmdr]

So I'm eligible for upgrade now on two of my four lines...and I'd like suggestions on what I should do....do I trade my SGS3 and get the SGS4, or do I need to wait on something upcoming today may be better than what I can get right now? I hate to go pay the fees and then in two months have a brand new "oooh I want it" coming out.

 

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This is how it's supposed to work:

 

You pay X amount extra to buyout the remainder of your contract and become eligible for your upgrade discount immediately. This amount varies according to the type of device you purchased subsidized last, and the amount of time left in your contract. For example, a $200 ETF Sanyo Vero will have a lower Upgrade Now cost than a $350 ETF HTC EVO Design at the same point in the contract. This Upgrade Now program cost will vary between $50 and $275, and is usually available starting 6 months into a contract up until the last month before upgrade eligibility (20 months now).

 

You are required to utilize Sprint's buyback program to sell your old phone to Sprint, the amount of the buyback is directly credited towards your purchase in store that day. You can add additional buybacks if you want to decrease your out of pocket cost if you want, but they are not required for the Upgrade Now program. If your old phone is lost, you can still take advantage of the program now, but that old phone will be marked Lost/Stolen in the system and will never be eligible to be activated again (so you can't just say you "lost" your phone and then sell it elsewhere for more money than the Buyback program).

 

This makes you eligible for the advertised discounted pricing on a phone, no additional discounts, just eligible for the advertised price as if you were upgrade eligible already. Any other additional promotions going on you would still qualify for, like additional discounts for adding a home Phone Connect, buying a Tablet as well, etc. they can stack together.

[koiulpoi]

This is how it's supposed to work:<snip>

It's a great program, that I'm very familiar with. If only Sprint would figure out how to make things uniform across Corporate Retail vs Preferred Retailers. It's really bad for Customer Service when somebody comes in and asks for an early upgrade, and we can't... but another store can. And, sometimes, Account Services. Nobody is happy having to be sent to another store.

[halcyoncmdr]

It's pretty much the same with any corporate vs franchise style company.

 

Verizon has this issue as well according to some friends that work in a corporate store for vz.

 

Any fast food franchise also can choose to not offer some special promotion. In major cities you won't notice this, but get a bit further out and many franchises don't have anything special, just the standard menu despite advertising. That's why the ads state it is at participating locations only.

[koiulpoi]

Actually, it's not that similar; Sprint's Preferred Retailers aren't franchises at all. We still have to follow all Sprint national promotions, our planograms are usually identical. The major differences is that ASCs have less access to certain tools, and other similar things like the upgrade now program.

 

As I'm sure you know, managing customer expectations is key to keeping satisfaction high. When a customer comes in to a store with a big Sprint logo, where they've purchased phones before, had phones repaired at before... it breaks that expectation and leads to unhappy customers when employees have to say "We can't do that. You have to go to a Corporate store."

 

It may be the reality of the industry, but it could definitely be better.

 

Frankly, I'd be all for Sprint simply purchasing all Preferred Retailers.

[Rocket87]

My advice is get out of a preferred retailer, I did it for 2 years and working for corporate is so much better.

 

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[iansltx]

Getting back on-topic, don't use Upgrade Now until tri-band phones are out. There isn't really a point, when you've got an S III already, IMO.

 

I'm not sure whether I'll utilize the program at this point, because getting a buyback credit that's less than the insurance deductible on my phone rubs me the wrong way. Might just buy my next phone outright, sell my S III on my own and not extend my contract.

[MacinJosh]

Could I get like a Galaxy Victory and use that for my upgrade now device so I wouldn't have to sell back my iPhone. I can make a but load more for it on eBay than Sprint Buyback!

 

 

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