Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[marioc21]

The promotion is very smart. Its most favorable to sprint to get 2 year contract customers to switch as their aggregate bills for voice/text/data are higher than customers who have edge or next and receive lower access fees. The $350 max buyout also limits the likelihood that installment plan customers switch, if the buyout is even applicable to the payoff on financed devices. Basically, its a lot easier to half a bill where each line is paying $35 or $40 for access than $15.

 

With that said, I suspect this will give ATT and Verizon huge incentive now to push device financing on any contract customer who asks, more so than before because it makes leaving far more cost prohibitive on average.

 

And despite the bold promotion, I don't think it will be any hotter than the last promo after the initial influx it causes. Why? The steps are complicated and the mistrust of all wireless companies is so high. It literally seems "too good to be true"

I believe the $350 applies to either ETFs or unpaid installment balances.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[cletus]

I believe the $350 applies to either ETFs or unpaid installment balances.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

Neat! I just went back through that and it appears you are correct. I thought it was ETF only until now.

[maxsilver]

I am just confused how this is actually going to be implemented.  Does an employee just get a drop down box of data and price?

 

So a sprint employee sees a $100 verizon bill, then just selects 2 lines, 2GB data, $50/month from three separate drop down boxes?

 

I guess I am just more interested on the back-end implementation.  It just seems like a nightmare.  I know that T-Mobile just went through a very focused effort to get over 90% of its subscribers on simple choice.  This new promotion seems like a disaster for back office and plan management.

 

This is my concern as well.

 

The backend systems can barely handle the plans they have going on now. Things are really going to get messed up if everyone is getting a custom quoted price plan.

 

Plus, this brings a really weird "haggling" to the lineup too. If it becomes clear that the reps can just select a rate plan arbritarily, people are going to start pushing for the lowest one. Folks are going to feel cheated (because at some level, they are getting cheated.)

 

In fact, I bet the reps will do the haggling for them for the commissions -- similar to how most corporate Sprint stores just gave anyone who walked in off the street a $25/month rate plan on a random strangers Framily plan).

 

- - - - -

 

I'm 100% on board with the basic idea. Give subscribers a great deal, to get them on board. It's a good move. Marcelo has the right idea.

 

But this particular implementation of that idea feels --- really sketchy and not well planned. They probably should have just come out with a simple rate plan, like the plans they trialed in the midwest. ($40/3GB. $50/Unlimited).

[marioc21]

Re-reading some of the transcript from the financial conference I saw this:

 

So we entered into 2014 with the idea that we needed to come up with something new to continue to attract subscribers. We came up with the family plan idea, which when you look at the start on January and probably in the mid-February, was a great start. It went after the one, two to three, up to five lines. But then very rapidly it start to deteriorate as people started to post their accounts on eBay and Craigslist and all those things.

 

 

Marcelo said roughly same thing at another conference a while back.  Which really confirms that the downfall of Framily was not that it was "too complicated", but in fact too "successful". Too many people were able to hit the magic 7. They seemed to be banking on fact that most "Framilies" would be no more than 5.  

[unoriginal]

Here's an official FAQ from Sprint about the new promotion:

 

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/FAQs_about_the_Cut_Your_Bill_in_Half_Event/aaadfaa2-1717-4cef-9268-f1a5d85ecaea?INTNAV=LP:CutYourBillinHalfEvent:12022014:FAQ

[irev210]

This is my concern as well.

 

The backend systems can barely handle the plans they have going on now. Things are really going to get messed up if everyone is getting a custom quoted price plan.

 

Plus, this brings a really weird "haggling" to the lineup too. If it becomes clear that the reps can just select a rate plan arbritarily, people are going to start pushing for the lowest one. Folks are going to feel cheated (because at some level, they are getting cheated.)

 

In fact, I bet the reps will do the haggling for them for the commissions -- similar to how most corporate Sprint stores just gave anyone who walked in off the street a $25/month rate plan on a random strangers Framily plan).

 

- - - - -

 

I'm 100% on board with the basic idea. Give subscribers a great deal, to get them on board. It's a good move. Marcelo has the right idea.

 

But this particular implementation of that idea feels --- really sketchy and not well planned. They probably should have just come out with a simple rate plan, like the plans they trialed in the midwest. ($40/3GB. $50/Unlimited).

 

 

Much agreed - just like the corporate discounts.  I know someone that walked into a Sprint store and just said they were with blah blah blah employer and got the highest 27% discount.  The associate wanted the commission and just pushed it through.

 

My experience at sprint stores leaves much to be desired.  The way employees are compensated definitely invites the potential for a lot of scamming.

 

I look forward to seeing how Sprint actually plans to roll this out.

 

I also read a lot of other comments in major news articles were current sprint customers felt like they needed to switch to AT&T or Verizon, then switch back.

[sbolen]

The backtracking has already started:

http://www.imore.com/sprints-cut-your-bill-half-promo-results-only-20-percent-savings

 

After announcing a promotion Tuesday that would cut the bills of AT&T's and Verizon's customers in half if they switch to Sprint, the wireless carrier admitted that the net savings is only closer to 20 percent rather than the 50 percent that it is marketing. When customers on the two larger rival carriers switch, they would still have to pay for a new phone or lease one, costs that are not calculated in the promotion.

Edit: backtracking on reporting, rather. It sounded like this was positively received when announced, but now media is starting to report that you still have to buy a new phone/lease a new phone and appears to be backtracking on the deal.

[marioc21]

The backtracking has already started:

http://www.imore.com/sprints-cut-your-bill-half-promo-results-only-20-percent-savings

 

Wasn't backtracking. That story is based off of Q&A with Sprint CFO at a financial conference and discussing why plan wasn't going to hurt Sprint's bottom line that badly. Was explaining that half price was just on service plan and didn't include costs of new phones purchased by customer. So taken all together a customer's net savings would only wind up being 20 to 30%. 

 

Transcript of conference is here: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2726075-sprints-s-management-presents-at-bank-of-america-merrill-lynch-leveraged-finance-conference-transcript?page=1

[caspar347]

So the media misinterpreted the announcement, and is now probably going to make it look like Sprint's fault. Wonderful.

[gnoj]

Well here's the CFO from the transcript of yesterday's conference:

Ok, thanks for the context. We can see that he did not add any caveats to that statement. So, he has either been misinformed by the network team, or he lied. 800 voice deployment will not be completed by year's end.

[Dkoellerwx]

Ok, thanks for the context. We can see that he did not add any caveats to that statement. So, he has either been misinformed by the network team, or he lied. 800 voice deployment will not be completed by year's end.

 

When they say things like that, it almost always has to do with *sites already installed*. I can see them having every site that could possibly be ready have 1x800 live by the end of the year. But not every single site in the network.

[bcltoys]

Ok, thanks for the context. We can see that he did not add any caveats to that statement. So, he has either been misinformed by the network team, or he lied. 800 voice deployment will not be completed by year's end.

On the 800 voice being done there are at least 8 tower's just here in Cecil county Maryland that have just legacy antenni don't think you can get 800 voice from them but maybe i'm misinformed.The tower's in lower Cecil county proly won't see upgrade's for year's. Only 8000 or so people live down here and most of them are with Verizon or AT&T.

[Mercurial1]

Neat! I just went back through that and it appears you are correct. I thought it was ETF only until now.

While the 350 applies to both the beginning cost of many devices is well above that threshold. This could be cost prohibitive for some to do the switch if they recently purchased devices.

 

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[avb]

This is my concern as well.

 

The backend systems can barely handle the plans they have going on now. Things are really going to get messed up if everyone is getting a custom quoted price plan.

 

Plus, this brings a really weird "haggling" to the lineup too. If it becomes clear that the reps can just select a rate plan arbritarily, people are going to start pushing for the lowest one. Folks are going to feel cheated (because at some level, they are getting cheated.)

 

In fact, I bet the reps will do the haggling for them for the commissions -- similar to how most corporate Sprint stores just gave anyone who walked in off the street a $25/month rate plan on a random strangers Framily plan).

 

 

Sprint requires you to upload a copy of your bill, so this seems like a good idea to keep the front line reps from giving a better deal than what they actually qualify for.

[EvanA]

Arstechnica commences bashing http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/12/sprint-offers-to-cut-your-bill-in-half-but-will-also-cut-your-data-speed/

[caspar347]

Arstechnica commences bashing http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/12/sprint-offers-to-cut-your-bill-in-half-but-will-also-cut-your-data-speed/

Wow. I'd expect more from Ars. There has been no evidence of throttling and I doubt Sprint will do it to people on these plans.

[Ascertion]

Wow. I'd expect more from Ars. There has been no evidence of throttling and I doubt Sprint will do it to people on these plans.

I don't understand it either. I like Ars but if they spew this crap then their reputation will plummet. The contract simply states that Sprint can throttle speeds, not that they will. And every carrier has this in their contract.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

[EvanA]

I don't understand it either. I like Ars but if they spew this crap then their reputation will plummet. The contract simply states that Sprint can throttle speeds, not that they will. And every carrier has this in their contract.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

And every plan is equally affected. The new plans aren't prioritized lower than old plans. That doesn't even make sense.

[Deval]

The backtracking has already started:

http://www.imore.com/sprints-cut-your-bill-half-promo-results-only-20-percent-savings

 

 

Edit: backtracking on reporting, rather. It sounded like this was positively received when announced, but now media is starting to report that you still have to buy a new phone/lease a new phone and appears to be backtracking on the deal.

 

Obviously they would have to purchase a new phone, so the media is just reporting FUD if you ask me. Making a big deal out of something just to shine a less than positive light on it.

[Deval]

I don't understand it either. I like Ars but if they spew this crap then their reputation will plummet. The contract simply states that Sprint can throttle speeds, not that they will. And every carrier has this in their contract.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

 

It's simple click-bait, something I would expect from BGR. 

 

A few months back, when Sprint first announced their plans to manage congestion, Legree made a comment on his Twitter account about it. I copied and pasted T-Mos T&C and replied to him, and the entire discussion dropped.

[Johnner1999]

Obviously they would have to purchase a new phone, so the media is just reporting FUD if you ask me. Making a big deal out of something just to shine a less than positive light on it.

Correct

 

But step back for a moment

 

Sprint says we will cut your bill in half.

 

I'd say the majority still have an old subsidized plan. Which doesn't work anymore at any carrier to get the best price.

 

So customer sees new bill and maybe $20 less than before and service might not be as good.

 

 

At the end of the day it's a great promotion. It's just that customers need to relearn how to buy cell plans.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Deval]

Correct

 

But step back for a moment

 

Sprint says we will cut your bill in half.

 

I'd say the majority still have an old subsidized plan. Which doesn't work anymore at any carrier to get the best price.

 

So customer sees new bill and maybe $20 less than before and service might not be as good.

 

 

At the end of the day it's a great promotion. It's just that customers need to relearn how to buy cell plans.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yep, they are cutting the bill in half. Where does it mention anything about the phones? A Verizon customer who walks into a Sprint store will have all that explained to them prior to switching over, so the whole Sprint hate which is being spewed by the neckbeards is uncalled for, if you ask me.

[derrph]

Well that sounds dumb for sprint to have these people sign up only to tell them that your last on list for speed. Boy these tech site will say what they need to just to make sure sprint don't get new customers so they can have something bad to speak on about sprint. And they know they can do that because they have that much influence when the average consumer googles sprint and their tech site comes up with a sprint article.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

[sbolen]

Well that sounds dumb for sprint to have these people sign up only to tell them that your last on list for speed. Boy these tech site will say what they need to just to make sure sprint don't get new customers so they can have something bad to speak on about sprint. And they know they can do that because they have that much influence when the average consumer googles sprint and their tech site comes up with a sprint article.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

I don't think that's the case. I think the vast majority of opinions from the people who write these type of articles are VZW/AT&T/TMO subscribers who live in optimized markets (a/k/a, urban cores), and only hear the negative about sprint due to experiences from pre- or during the NV rollout.

 

Put simply, the people writing these articles aren't Sprint Subscribers and have formed an opinion on the network quality via groupthink.

[lennyj17]

Well that sounds dumb for sprint to have these people sign up only to tell them that your last on list for speed. Boy these tech site will say what they need to just to make sure sprint don't get new customers so they can have something bad to speak on about sprint. And they know they can do that because they have that much influence when the average consumer googles sprint and their tech site comes up with a sprint article.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6+

 

Sprint is swimming upstream here, against the currents, no question about it.