Sprint and Average Customer Perception

[derrph]

With the introduction of the new plans Sprint has announced. I told one of my friends about the $60 unlimited plan and she was shocked yet happy about it. She currently has T-Mobile and there has been times where my Sprint service has out performed her service even in the city with puling up information and out of town...well... you already know how that went. She was talking about switching and stuff but then she sent me a typical article bashing Sprint and I got irritated by it and I had to explain to her that Sprint is not bad at all. These articles are based on past experiences from 3+ years ago. I told her I'm pulling 60+ mbps on LTE but she's worried about Sprint being slow ( because of what she read). Guys give me some advice on persuading her to give Sprint a chance. 

 

I feel like articles that are being posted is what keeps away customers.  It makes no sense that T-Mobiles 2g network is not spoken about when they are in the news for changes to plans and such. But good ol Sprint makes changes and articles that get posted rips Sprint apart for filth. 

[pollixx]

I'm a proud customer of Sprint. There was some doubts when I first made my switch from Verizon. I've had nothing but great experiences since I've made the change. I get service everywhere I go. I've even had service in places where my wife on Verizon couldn't even get a signal.

 

The bottom line is you can only satisfy yourself. Everyone had different needs and wants. I love the fact that Sprint phones aren't branded to death. I get essay to configure Google Voice and great customer support over the phone.

 

I'm convinced that a lot of the negativity comes from old disgruntled customers and lines who drank the T-Mobile kool aid.

 

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

[derrph]

I'm a proud customer of Sprint. There was some doubts when I first made my switch from Verizon. I've had nothing but great experiences since I've made the change. I get service everywhere I go. I've even had service in places where my wife on Verizon couldn't even get a signal.

 

The bottom line is you can only satisfy yourself. Everyone had different needs and wants. I love the fact that Sprint phones aren't branded to death. I get essay to configure Google Voice and great customer support over the phone.

 

I'm convinced that a lot of the negativity comes from old disgruntled customers and lines who drank the T-Mobile kool aid.

 

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

 

I fully agree with you.  She was with Verizon but then switched to T-Mobile. I told her that you can go by what those articles are saying because they written by people who are highly biased and the comments are from people who had Sprint back in 2007 and still haven't gotten over it. But I did say she needs to do whats best for her. 

[gusherb]

I don't even bother mentioning Sprint to others, everyone I know has att or Verizon and can't be bothered with anything less. They all see Sprint as a joke, the laughing stock. I quietly mutter to myself "just wait, before long Sprint will be number one"....That day can't come fast enough.

A good friend of my mothers is a regional sales rep/trainer for Sprint and has a company car with the name on it and regularly gets shouted at and rocks, bricks etc thrown at her car. Same for her coworkers, it got so bad they took the markings off their vehicles. She chose to keep hers though.

 

The people I know that have recently switched to Sprint have been very happy with it, the people I know that had it a long time hated it and eventually switched to att and Verizon and couldn't be happier.

[briank86]

Well those that advertise the most, must be the best. Just like how if it's printed on the internet it must be true.

[centermedic]

Everything goes in cycles. I remember when Sprint was the top dog and AT&T was considered to be Satan's toe jam. Amazing how things change. Enjoy your service and needle your friend whenever it might amuse you

[runagun]

Sadly, its Perception that sells.  And we all know Sprints Perception sucks. But to be honest they had it coming.  What I would like to see from Sprint is at least have one Market that is fully tuned/optimized by now. Even for me Chicago Market is better but theres still many holes. Something that Root Metrics and all the others confirm Sprint is Top Dog.  It"ll be a great Day when that happens. Just frustrating waiting so long cause I really do want them to succeed.  It sometimes feels they take one step forward and two steps back.  So Marcelo if your listening put a fire under Sprints ass and make the public take notice.    

[dnicekid]

Sprint is like my wife.... ****** me off sometimes but still makes me happy... I can't leave her or Sprint... But one of my other carriers has to go soon..

My Tmo is blazing... But I send this from my sprint phone while camping...

My Tmo signal is dead...

I like being with the underdog...

 

A few friends have left Tmo/vzw for sprint, and so far happy. They say there are some spotty places but call quality and mainly price keep them happy.. Both are maxed framily members.. Sprint is getting better.

 

####SPRINT-2BE-DISRUPTIVE###!

#SPRINT-IF-U-WANT-2B-DISRUPTIVE!##

^^my new moto^^^

[jamisonshaw125]

Yesterday, I drove down 408 to 417 to orlando international. I only dropped LTE once. Then all the way back and down some side road which I had no idea existed, I still had LTE. All night at the bar I was at, I had LTE. And the entire way home from the bar, I had LTE.

 

I didn't even run speed tests because it just worked. It was a little slow loading a page in downtown, but that can be expected when there are 10's of thousands of drunk people trying to locate their BFF or trying to check into fb so everyone knows how they spend their Friday night [emoji85][emoji87]. I'm sure if I had a spark phone, my speeds would've been impressive.

 

That could sell me to sprint if I was worried about the service....

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5s using Tapatalk

[Rawvega]

A good friend of my mothers is a regional sales rep/trainer for Sprint and has a company car with the name on it and regularly gets shouted at and rocks, bricks etc thrown at her car. Same for her coworkers, it got so bad they took the markings off their vehicles. She chose to keep hers though.

 

Wow, regardless of how one feels about Sprint, that's definitely excessive.

[WillM]

Sadly, its Perception that sells.  And we all know Sprints Perception sucks. But to be honest they had it coming.  What I would like to see from Sprint is at least have one Market that is fully tuned/optimized by now. Even for me Chicago Market is better but theres still many holes. Something that Root Metrics and all the others confirm Sprint is Top Dog.  It"ll be a great Day when that happens. Just frustrating waiting so long cause I really do want them to succeed.  It sometimes feels they take one step forward and two steps back.  So Marcelo if your listening put a fire under Sprints ass and make the public take notice.    

 

Yes. Their perception is really horrible in some markets. It's to the point where people don't even consider them but like you said they had it coming. There are some good Sprint markets but there seems to be more bad ones. I signed up with them here in NJ in 2007. Nobody I knew had them then and the same goes for now. It seems most people who are using the network here are on Boost or some other MVNO. I had a problem with my iPhone about a year ago. I went to an Apple store one morning and the guy decided to swap it out. He came out with the new phone but then excused himself and had a little meeting with a few other employees. When he came back I asked if there was a problem and he said they rarely sell a Sprint phone so they didn't know the procedure to activate a replacement unit. The LTE rollout is taking forever here and we haven't really seen any upgrades in quite some time. Even the upgraded sites are often lackluster. It's the reason I'll most likely be leaving when the next iPhone comes out. I've pretty much lost faith in them finishing this work. I just want to be able to use my phone in the places I go and too often I can't do that now. That is where the perception comes from. It's poisonous as once people leave it's really hard to get them back. 

 

It's not all bad as they have good markets too. I go to Boston several times a year and things are a lot better there. Not as good as Verizon but light years better than here. I know it's tough to compete against Verizon and even AT&T in the Northeast Corridor but it's not impossible. In the end though having cheaper plans are nice but people won't accept the weak or unusable coverage you get in return. Sprint just has to try harder. Only then will the perception begin to change around here. 

[sbolen]

The turnaround is happening and with the whole "2.5G!" thing starting to pick up steam in the media, Sprint & those 8T8R deployments are gonna look awfully good. Cyclically, they'll poach customers from TMO/VZW/ATT with a superior network and value proposition.

 

Perceptions won't change overnight, but when NV1.0 & NV2.0 are fully deployed and tuned (with that large native roaming footprint!), watch out. If Claure has freedom to operate, with Masa's backing, Sprint could charge way far ahead.

[derrph]

Well those that advertise the most, must be the best. Just like how if it's printed on the internet it must be true.

This is why I also say to try it for yourself and not base a decision based on what you read. Really you aren't losing much going from T-Mobile to Sprint. Partly I blame the media for making the average consumer think that you need 30+ Mbps to stream music and stuff on your phone.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[derrph]

The turnaround is happening and with the whole "2.5G!" thing starting to pick up steam in the media, Sprint & those 8T8R deployments are gonna look awfully good. Cyclically, they'll poach customers from TMO/VZW/ATT with a superior network and value proposition.

 

Perceptions won't change overnight, but when NV1.0 & NV2.0 are fully deployed and tuned (with that large native roaming footprint!), watch out. If Claure has freedom to operate, with Masa's backing, Sprint could charge way far ahead.

Sprint has a ways to go to change perception but things are turning around daily.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WiWavelength]

Guys, unless you need to add subs to your Framily, you should not worry in the least about convincing others to sign up with Sprint. That is not your responsibility, nor an S4GRU mission mandate. You may wish to refute misinformation and misperception -- that is a noble goal. But do not get your self worth wrapped up in your choice of wireless provider.

 

AJ

[Dkoellerwx]

 

 

What I would like to see from Sprint is at least have one Market that is fully tuned/optimized by now.

Visit Kansas City

 

 

 

Sent from my LG G3

[bigmachine]

It is completely silly to tie one's self worth to a single carrier.  It's more like this:

 

Self worth = Sprint stock price - Tmo Avg. EDGE Speeds / Weight of halted AT&T tower gear X number of Verizon XLTE sites.

[S4GRU]

I don't recommend a provider to anyone, let alone Sprint. I try to explain the pros and cons of each provider in an area. I just give Sprint an honest shake, which too many these days won't do.

 

However, I don't recommend any provider because all of them have bad areas. And even if I try to make a safe recommendation, it can blow up in my face.

 

Like AJ said, S4GRU doesn't advocate Sprint service. We just are wireless network enthusiasts who love to discuss technical and nerdy details. Especially about Sprint, which most of us use. But anytime you recommend a product or service, you are tying your reputation to it with somebody. And given the variability of wireless networks and how/when/where people use them differently, it's just a losing proposition.

 

Just give clear and honest feedback about what you know. And let people decide for themselves.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[runagun]

I was there in late April. Went to sprints campus and all. Sadly, the Vzw phone I had was beating sprint in speed tests on its own campus. Granted this was a few months back. Here's to hope a lot has changed. When I was there band 41 wasnt activated or my g2 never sensed it.

 

On another note I know Rockford il is swimming in new Band 41 few a few months now. There's still holes around the city but I'm very hopefull that once they tune the network it will be top notched.

 

 

Visit Kansas City

 

 

 

Sent from my LG G3

[kyle_4thousand]

Long post, since I haven't been very active on the site lately. Work's been a bitch.

 

I would say perception around me in the Chicago suburbs is about average. I hear more people groan about AT&T to be honest. There are a lot more Sprint stores around here and I would say about half of them used to be Nextel storefronts back in the day. From what I have heard Nextel was the best provider in the NW suburbs back in the mid 2000's. Everyone had Nextel and PTT was everywhere. Some still have a similar perception of Nextel before Sprint, like my parents. They're average customers who stuck with it through the merger and are still happy with the service they receive and pay for. But on average, Nextel had a more positive perception in its heyday than Sprint does currently. Aside from the issues this market experienced during the peak of NV deployment, perception is improving but not at levels we would want to see.

 

Now when I was in Orlando, Florida- it was a totally different story. Everyone who had Sprint complained about it. I did too at times. Service was better in Chicago, always was, period. (Ericsson, cough) However I've heard it's gotten a lot better in that market so I'm looking forward to my trip back down for work next month. It will be interesting to see if I can notice anyone's perceptions changing as they are in Chicago.

 

Now what I currently see as unacceptable, even from an average customer perspective, would be coming across places (like downtown Crystal Lake, IL) were I once had great service with Nextel and/or Clearwire WiMax and am now finding terrible signal present day on LTE and even Sprint 3G/1x voice. If Sprint is providing customers who live and work in these areas with new technology (Network Vision) the experience should be no less than what they were receiving from Sprint before. They have the tools and resources to get coverage ubiquitous with that of the decommissioned Nextel and aging Clearwire footprint. In my opinion they are not currently taking advantage of that existing infrastructure from these technologies as much as they could be to convert to NV standards and fill the gaps. I do know there are a hundred or so iDen to NV conversions, and maybe a few dozen WiMax to NV converts. Clear B41 is nice, but it is not everywhere WiMax is. I just think more could be done in many of these areas to provide the same level of service that customers experienced on previous technology. I'm not having this problem currently where I live and work, as 95 percent of the time my service works great. However that 5 percent were service wasn't so great I can often times recall having good WiMax or iDen service at one point in time. I think that's one of the worst killers of a good perception of Sprint in the eyes of average customers.

[Dkoellerwx]

I was there in late April. Went to sprints campus and all. Sadly, the Vzw phone I had was beating sprint in speed tests on its own campus. Granted this was a few months back. Here's to hope a lot has changed. When I was there band 41 wasnt activated or my g2 never sensed it.

 

On another note I know Rockford il is swimming in new Band 41 few a few months now. There's still holes around the city but I'm very hopefull that once they tune the network it will be top notched.

 

 

The Sprint campus had been one of the weird holes in the KC area. A couple new B25 and 26 activations a few months ago fixed that.

 

Sent from my LG G3

[david279]

Here in new Orleans nobody cares about the perception. Sprint and Verizon are one and two. Sprint because of price and then Verizon because of speed. Everybody in my family uses sprint. A lot of the people I work with still use sprint. And it helps that the network is getting better. B25 and B26 all over the metro area.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[coorsleftfield]

I don't recommend any of the major carriers, the frugal side of me almost always recommends MNVOs.   They seem like a much better deal to me, at least for individuals.  I should add that most people who ask me about wireless providers are low data users, because the high data users already know where they want to go. 

 

Sometimes I get asked specifically about Sprint, since they know I'm using it, and I'll tell them my experience, and what I know from this site as far as the NV buildout. 

 

One thing that I think is really undersold is the fact that Sprint can roam to Verizon.  My friends who are switching wireless carriers are always amazed when I tell them this information. 

[greenbastard]

I'll say this much about Sprint. Before NV, I had trouble making indoor calls and even the simplest sms would not go out.

 

Post NV, everything works a lot better. Just this weekend, the tower that services my house went down (im about ¼ mile away from it). Back in the day, I would have been without service, but to my surprise, I was still on B26 from the neighboring towers indoors! Phone calls were clear and coming in without trouble in HD. Because I was pulling data from so far, 3G was not working, but B26 was pulling in 1 mbps download! Before, I would have been out of luck, but with the improvements made, my service was not disrupted even with a down tower. What's more interesting is that more work has yet to be done. 8t8r radio can't get here soon enough.

Edited August 24, 2014 by greenbastard

[greencat]

The airport area in KC must be another weird hole because even within a few miles of the airport coverage was spotty.