jamesinclair

Well, technically they are.

 

Under a subsidized plan, there is no monthly device cost.

 

The plan cost is the plan cost, not a plan + device cost.

Further, it does looks like a price hike to me.

If we move to Framily, our rate goes up, assuming we dont want to find 7 other people to join us.

On top of that, wed be paying a monthly phone cost which today is part of the rate. Thats like a double price hike.

Because of that, my family is content to stay on out current plan (standard 1500 min plan, not sero or anything)

Incidentally, the GS4 is at a penny an amazon, but I dont believe you can check of its the triband model.

Is there an advertised end date for 2 year pricing on the old (pre-my way) plans?

Theres a line on our account that has an upgrade. Not sure if should get the G4S triband or wait for the 5, which may be here as soon as April.

Lol, I guess you haven't been following my photographic escapades over the last few months. There's only two sites in the city Clovis that have not been physically upgraded yet: The one at the rodeo grounds and the one over by Home Depot at Shaw/Willow. There's also two sites in the county that haven't been upgraded yet, as far as I know: The one out on Bellaire that you went and took pictures of plus the one out on east Shaw, between Leonard and McCall, I believe. It has been about a month since I went to check those two out.

 

As far as completed sites are concerned, the following Clovis-area sites are ready to go, hardware-wise:

 

1. Alluvial and Peach (this was the first hardware-complete site in Clovis; mid-september)

2. East Copper

3. Minnewawa and Shaw

4. Herndon and Tollhouse

5. Ashlan and Clovis

6. Academy and Shaw

7. Herndon and Thompson

 

It's that stupid rodeo grounds site that is holding things up, I swear. The freaking permit is issued! EFFING WORK ON IT ALREADY

Woops, I guess I wasnt paying attention!

Oddly enough, my focus was on the three sites that havent had any work, as theyre the three closest to my families house!

Thats the rodeo sight, the nextel site, and the mcall/leonard site.

I never got a pic of the leonard/mcall site because its deep in someones property, and when I drove by the homeowners were around, so I felt awkward stopping, getting out of my car, and taking pictures of their property.

As someone who watches Hulu a lot (I dont own a TV), the Verizon ads piss me off.

Not just the content, but the frequency. Uh, so annoying.

Great thread OP

Had almost no data signal at my house today, could this be a sign of good things to come? The nearest tower has been upgraded and 3g speeds had been pretty good until this morning when it basically went to barely on 3g or 1x. I am in Clovis near Ashlan and Clovis. Hopefully not just a normal outage.

Isnt that the only tower anyone has seen work at?

Because this way everybody gets to share in the savings. On paper that's a more effective recruitment tool than "Dude, come on over so I can get $10 off of my bill".

That makes sense.

It's about giving customers to recruit more customers.  You save a little more on your bill when you bring in another customer, but not as much as Sprint is making by getting another customer.

Whats the difference between doing it this way rather than "get $10 off your bill every month by refering people!'  style offers?

Seems like if this is just a referal system, it would have been more work on their end changing their entire billing system to framily, vs "apply recurring discount"

What is the benefit to Sprint in bundling people in large groups?

Does it save money on their end in having 7-10 people in one account?

False.

 

There are at least two markets that are 100% complete with NV installs. A couple more where the most of the remaining sites are DAS, which don't really count.

Which ones?

I mentioned PR/VI which is 100% NV....but not 100% LTE. The above comment implied 100% LTE.

That is just downright cold. Until next year? Are you developing a mindset of "Sprint will never finish"? If so, please stop. Who would have ever thought such a massive undertaking would be so simple? I sure didn't. I was surprised when Visalia finally got LTE. It's still not available where I am even though the tower work was done months ago. But that doesn't mean that they won't ever finish. Please refrain from being so negative about Sprint.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

Please dont read into things Im not saying. Youre drawing conclusions you want to draw and putting words in my mouth.

The claim: ALL towers will be done by Feb 4.

My response: Nope.

I think thats a pretty reasonable conclusion.

Will there be SOME LTE in two weeks? Entirely possible. Id say highly likely even. LTE is moving south, and a tower, two or three by Feb 4 is very reasonable of an expectation.

Will there be LTE coverage in all of Bakersfield in 2 weeks? Unlikely, but still a possibility. Depends which towers get done.

Thinking that ALL towers will be done, which as far as I know is a feat unaccomplished in any market yes, is highly unrealistic.

It's not being negative, it's not being cold, it's looking at the facts.

Yes, Sprint will finish (and I never said otherwise, please dont make things up), but to hope that every tower will have its permit issued, every tower with have backhaul installed, every tower will be converted, and every tower will pass inspection in two weeks is absurd. This conversation is absurd.

Again, please dont confuse setting proper expectations in regards to a comment made by a customer service rep looking at an internal website with negativity, "bashing" or anything similar.

But again, Ill gladly eat anything you put in front of me if the statement was in fact true.

That really wasn't a very nice thing to say. I know that we all keep hoping that Bakersfield and Fresno would be upgraded already, and maybe there are a few sites in Bakersfield that are already upgraded and just need to have backhaul hooked up.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

"all towers in Bakersfield have an end date of being upgraded on Feb 4th"

I will eat this website if EVERY SITE gets updated (appoved) in two weeks.

It would be unprecedented.

Even PR/VI which was the fastet moving market isnt fully done with LTE yet (even though its NV done)

I wouldnt expect Bakersfield to be 100% done for many months, or even until next year, and nor should anyone here.

Just got off the phone with Sprint Corporate & was told the all towers in Bakersfield have an end date of being upgraded on Feb 4th & 4G LTE should be on the same day or on the 5th can not wait to see it happen will post pix once I see it on my phone

Ill have what youre drinking

Isn't most sales now from online?

Yes but show-rooms are important.

Look at bank. Over the past twenty years, many people declared "the end of the bank branch" due to ATMs, online, and now mobile banking.

And yet theyre building more of them now than ever. Why? The storefront is a giant ad.

For cell stores, besides seeing the sign/brand on the side of the road every day, the store lets you feel the phones before you buy, and for many people, its an essential customer service / support area.

If the closest repair/help store is an hour away, you might not be so keen on the brand.

Also, I have a feeling people associate stores with coverage. "Therese 5 Sprint stores there and no Tmobile stores....Sprint probably has better service there"

So all 611 calls goes to India?

More likely 3rd party call centers in the US.

Agreed, it is.  But giving away the farm to existing subs does not set a good precedent.  Finding a balance is key.  And after all, T-Mobile subs are no longer under contract.  So, if they are not happy with magenta's notoriously inconsistent to nonexistent coverage, they are free to return to Sprint.

 

AJ

There is certainly a balance on how much should be given away.

I feel that today, Sprint is more on the "not enough" side, especially for those in markets with limited or no NV progress. The constant loss of subscribers indicates this, as people arent being offered enough to stay.

While those that move to Tmobile can always move back and take part in the new customer incentives (made even easier by the Nexus 5), that person can also move from Sprint, to Tmobile...and then onto one of the other companies, or even the virtual companies. If you are unhappy with both Sprint and Tmobile, you probably want to keep sailing to warmer waters, and at least try the 14 day period.

I cant believe they would limit this to US only and to areas that currently have Sprint service.

For the customer, whats the point?

So, my sister just switched from Verizon to T-Mobile (long story but she had a bad experience with Sprint and wouldn't consider it) and I went to the T-Mobile store with her.

 

Every single person in there was switching from other carriers and walking around (okay, eavesdropping) most were from Sprint. I think people are really underestimating the effect that the ETF payoff will have on people under contracts. I know my experience is anecdotal but I was honestly shocked how many people were switching from Sprint. I fully believe the subscriber losses will exceed that 150,000 number in Q1 2014. 

 

I actually really like Sprint but it will be an uphill battle winning subscribers back.

Ive heard on other forums a LOT of AT&T customers calling in, mentioning the tmobile deal, and being offered TONS of incentives to stay - all without requiring any contract extensions

Is Sprint doing the same? Or is the credit purse still tight?

Edit: It doesnt help that Sprint targets all their promotions at new customers....framily, phone discounts etc. Yes, that MAY bring people in, but guess what, it makes existing customers unhappy.

Isnt a customer in the bag better than two in the bush?

Especially because once a customer leaves - they're not coming back. I had a very poor experience with AT&T and would never go back to them.

Sprint doesnt seem to understand that they need to make their current customers happy. It pays off in the long term. So many purchasing decisions are made thanks to recommendations between family and friends. You need your customers to be advocates of your brand, not disgruntled.

I just looked up japan roaming and it doesn't look very cheap either!

I think Sprint should work on getting agreements in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Sprint is what's on the smaller tower. The permit is issued, but no work yet. I check that tower every couple of days because it covers the south end of my house.

Who is on the big tower, and why is Sprint on a much smaller one?

You know what's scary to think about?  What if Legere would get off his asshat and committed to taking LTE across all of his EDGE/GPRS sites across the country?  How uncarrier would that be??

 

Id rather he sign some roaming agreements.

Clovis, by the rodeo. Anything of note here? Unsure what all the antennas are and if any are new. Couldnt get any closer to see the base cabinets.

Smaller tower:

Larger tower:

Why would T-Mobile care about rural areas? It practically admits that it does not, that urban/suburban areas are its bread and butter.

Theres not much benefit to covering rural areas due to the low number of residents.

However, tmobile also doesnt cover popular vacation/tourist areas, like Yosemite. No one lives there, but theres millions of visitors a year.

Thats true around the country - lakes, ski resorts....places people travel to for a day or two.

Sprint doesnt cover these places either, but Verizon does, so we get coverage there.

I have a family member who spends 97% of her time in the city - but she likes hiking, and she wants the peace of mind that she has emergency coverage. Without coverage or roaming agreements, that means tmobile is a no.

Uncarrier 4:

It was started by Tesco, a UK company. It tanked at the cost of about $2bn and I think was bought out by its management. I visited a few of their Cali stores, not bad but I think they misread the market. The cheaper wholefoods is close to the mark. It's absolutely nothing like their UK stores though! Their UK stores are much closer to safeway \ Ralphs.

The best part was how cheap everything was because they would pile coupons on discounts on coupons on free gift cards.

Its why they lost $2bn - they were literally giving food away.

Every week they'd have a $12 off $50 coupon, and a $5 off $25 coupon (they stacked). Grocery has a small margin, and they were giving massive discounts off already lowish prices AND there was a rewards program on top of it.

And it was glorious, as a customer. Probably not so great for share holders....

Right now they have brand new owners so all the coupons are gone (noooooo) but the food quality is still very high. I've never bought a store branded item there that wasn't fantastic.

Bonus: They have a deep discount section for stuff expiring soon. While US chains love throwing food away, they give huge markdowns and sell it to you. Steak has a sell by date of tonight? Who cares - I need it for dinner anyway and it's 75% off.

Fresh & Easy sounds like the street name of a Fresno hooker.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

Its a chain with 150 stores, California, Nevada and Arizona.

Sells a lot more organic/local/healthy stuff than your average market, but at standard prices (ie, not whole foods mark ups).

Excellent selection of pre-made lunches. Having lobster mac and cheese at work is class.