troyd96

Anybody seeing slower to useless LTE speeds in the south Dekalb area? Actually quite a few places in the metro? Some of it is worse than before LTE was even brought to the Atlanta Market and sadly making my phone 3G only actually gives me better speeds in certain areas cause no one is using it. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

I said people chatted and called Samsung and all got an answer of 9/4 or 9/5. Being that 9/4 is a holiday I assume they all get shipped out Tuesday morning. My order says "Pre-order" with no date either. My email said 9/11 originally, but I think the email was an estimate. I have a feeling while tracking numbers are printed and probably on boxes with the carrier shipped phones, I would assume Samsung has the final say so on when they can be shipped even for the carriers. I'm assuming all the carriers are waiting for the go ahead from Samsung before they ship them. I would bet that no one gets anything till next week no matter where you bought it. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

For those buying from Samsung direct. Several people have chatted with Samsung and they said that all orders as of yesterday would be shipped by 9/4 at the latest. My order now went from 9/11 ship date to just saying "Pre-order" with no date. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Release day isn't till 9/15 per Samsung. I bought 2 through Samsung using the Note 7 loyalty credit promo. They all say ship 9/11 will be delivered by 9/14. I know that Samsung is making an effort to get the Note 8's out to Note 7 users as quickly as possible so that they will be some of the first to get the phone. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

I jumped on the Note 7 loyalty promo to get $425 off straight from Samsung. I ordered the Sprint version but now I'm wondering if maybe I should have ordered the unlocked version. So I too would like to know what if any performance difference the unlocked version will have versus the Sprint version if anybody knows. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Where does it say that? Since most employee discounts are by % they changed to a flat $5? Haven't seen that in any fine print. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Nope I don't get anywhere near that amount of data usage. I'm talking about the limiting of speeds and video quality they call "optimization" which is just a focus group driven synonym for throttling. Oh Goody... I get to pay them more money if I actually want full speed everything which then once again makes the new plans more expensive than legacy plans. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Agreed but I still can't get over the throttled data aspect of the whole thing. Now if they start throttling stuff on ED1500 as a side effect of throttling this new plan then it will just suck all the way around and lose one of the last few aspects of that plan that make it worth it. I mean they already killed the subsidy phones, so I will have to do an analysis in 1.5 years time or so and see what provider, plan, phone, network fits my need for the lowest price. Before then it was a no-brainer to stay on Sprint. New phones every 2 years cheaper than anywhere else due to the subsidy and employee discount. I could overlook spotty service (even for voice sometimes) and slow data speeds if the price was right. Now I can't do that so much. So we shall see in 18 months or so. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

I've done this before in this post but I'll do it again to show you. I have 2 lines with ED1500. Here is my breakdown for 24 months: Two Premium Phones: $200 x 2 = $400 Primary line monthly: $110 + $10 = $120 Employer 18% discount off whole first line : - $19.80 Secondary Line: $19.99 + $10 = $29.99 Service for 24 months: $100.20 + $29.99 = $130.19 x 24 = $3124.56 Total cost = $3124.56 + $400 = $3524.56 New plan and installment comparison: 1st line: $60 existing customers 2nd line: $40 existing customers -Employee discount as far as I know doesn't work on these new plans but even if it does it is less than ED1500 discount wise. Service: $100 x 24 = $2400 Cost of premium Samsung Phone, since I'm an Android user and stick with Samsung normally with easy pay: Galaxy S7: $28.96 x 24 months = $695.04 x 2 phones = $1390.08 Total cost for 24 months: $1390.08 + $2400 = $3790.08 So as you can see new plans are more expensive over 24 months with added paying for phones in full, not to mention throttled data for certain aspects of it. I didn't even get into that I actually like to pre-order the best and greatest (generally a Note device) that will be way more money in easy pay than the S7 currently is as well. I know I should buy my phone outright. I have the ability to do that but why do it when easy pay is the same price over 24 months. There is no price advantage of doing that on a brand new released flagship phone as it saves no money. Now if Sprint is going to offer $10-15 per line per month easy pay credits to make it cheaper over 24 months (which I hear they are doing now to loyal customers) then that makes the new plans on par except the throttled data situation. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

People that are mindful of their total 24 month cost for all options still want their contract phone and legacy plan as they tend to still be cheaper for you get top of the line phones. Especially the people that have corporate discounts on the full first line still. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

This is what frustrates me over all the people here and in the media acting like these new unsubsidized plans are cheaper and better for the consumer. If you get a new premium device every two years and do the math for buying a phone full cost it cost way more money. Plan to plan it may be almost the same, but add the cost of the phone in full and it isn't even close compared to $200-300 per phone and a legacy plan over 24 months. Not to mention the employer discounts that come off the whole primary line versus just the data for these new plans. The funny thing is the phone companies knew this going in. They aren't going to start a new plan unless it is going to make them money, and they are making out like bandits with these new plans. Yet everyone was still so gung-ho about "no contracts" are better for consumers. Now we see them offering $10-15/month credits for installment phones, or $200-300 off phones, or B1G1F offers. Now you throw that in and the new plans get better and almost the same as the legacy ones. My problem is why change all the stuff to begin with if you are just going to end having to offer deals for people to stay with you or go to your service to begin with? IMHO, as a consumer who wants a new premium phone every 2 years or so, the whole mobile market should have stayed with the status quo. It was better for the consumer, and the change to get rid of subsidies was nothing but a money grab by all cellular companies. Now they gotta offer deals to get people to stay, but it's still a bad thing for consumers because you are giving up your legacy (unthrottled, or "unoptimized" as they put it) for throttled service with a lot more caveats in the fine print. Just my two cents... Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Boo boo! [emoji6] Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Agreed they are going to have to do some offer like B1G1F or 50% off phones in a year and a half when I look for new deals on phones. Despite the commercials they are nowhere near the ballpark of Verizon, AT&T, or even T-mobile in some markets as far as coverage and data speed goes. So they need to at least meet the same deals other carriers are doing or beat them or they will start seeing a mass exodus again. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Not so fast. Yes to new customers 2 year subsidies went away and was announced. Any current customer could get a 2 year contract still for a long time even through retailers then eventually only at Sprint. In fact the announcement said they would still give 2 year contracts on a reactive basis which is how I got my last one on both my lines back in September. So no there was no notice of getting rid of them even on a reactive basis. Luckily for me I think my account is still set up as a business account back from my old Nextel days so I may still be able to get them even in 1.5 years. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

LOL... A lot of people choosing any carrier do a cost benefit analysis for value for their money versus quality of service. A lot of people stuck with Sprint even though the data on the network is slower and in my area a lot more dead spots even for usable cell service(voice). The data is still slower than other carriers in my market, but I'm fine with that for the unlimited data and getting a nice phone for $200 or so every two years. Based on my corporate discount the legacy plans and subsidized phones every 2 years is cheaper over that 2 years versus doing a cost analysis of any lease, easy pay, or buying a new premium phone outright with any new sprint plan. Not to mention my legacy plan allows me to have unthrottled data versus the new plans marketing term of "video and audio optimization" which is just a glorified word for throttling certain aspects of your data usage. The savings my family gets from being on the legacy plan (ED1500) and subsided phones is such a great amount we have never even thought about going to another carrier. In 1.5 years when my lines come out of contract the cost saving of sprint is now no longer as appealing and I can easily pay the same or just a little bit more for a better network in my market. So at that point the cost/benefit analysis comes into play once again. I am like another poster. I don't get why people are more for Sprint succeeding versus their own financial benefit and well being. I want Sprint to succeed but if they make business decisions that end up making them lose their advantage for me using them then I have no issues finding a new company if it makes financial sense to do so. That is capitalism at its finest. Never understood the vibe on this forum about Sprint being more important than the consumer. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

You can have this attitude but I don't think it is the best one to have if you want sprint to survive. Sprint has very little advantages at this point over even T-mobile, subsides were one of them. Without that I can get plans with similar if not better coverage and possibly even cheaper on other networks if I have to BYOD, lease, or installment a phone. In 1.5 years when my contract runs out I'll be looking at my options and will go with the cheapest one for my 2 lines whether that be sprint or somewhere else. The loyalty to sprint will be over, and it was a very long loyalty. I think you are going to find there were a lot more people sticking with sprint for contracts than you thought, and despite how much you hate them, they do and did make sprint money. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Sprint only will offer it to you on a reactive basis. Meaning if you call and ask for it you will get it. Just make sure you are specific that you want a 2 year subsidized phone with no change to your legacy plan. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Yeah I got mine Saturday and turned in my Note 7. It isn't the Note 7, but it will be OK for a year or two. Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

While I agree with you that someone should be an informed consumer, I disagree that the information is readily available to the average consumer. We aren't the average consumer, and the average consumer does not forage boards to figure out stuff and I don't expect them to. From what has been told there is no fine print in any contract or website officially from sprint that says the $25 fee will be charged, so I'm not sure how the consumer is supposed to be informed of that other than by a sprint employee when they are talking to the consumer, which the employees are not doing. Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

Well take that up with your corporate stores and telesales because the sprint forums are riddled with people that are being charged it and was not told about the fee. Instead of acknowledging the issue that does exist you just make an excuse that you can't do a 2 year contract and they basically will soon be gone. No wonder people are having issues with the sprint employees. I want sprint to succeed but it seems if you are indeed an employee you might be part of the problem and not the solution of making them profitable. Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

Completely agree with this. Activated one of my old Note 4's on ringplus and it has 4.5GB's that goes up to 7.5GB's after 6 months. I have it for my son. Grant it with him being in school most of the days of the month and at home on WiFi the rest, I doubt he ever reaches that amount of data, but he needed a phone for safety reasons so I got him the cheapest option, and you can can't beat free with just keeping a balance on the account that will likely never be touched. Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

Not missing the point at all. It seems sprint went into some kind of "let's please everyone" mode. Which is biting them in the butt cause the salespeople aren't properly trained on how to tell the customer everything. They have had to enact these $25 subsidy charges to recoup costs but are not conveying this info to their customers that still want 2 year contracts. Whether you all like it or not 2 year contracts are still an option with sprint, and just glossing over that fact with a "2 year contracts are going away" comment doesn't change the fact that they are still there and will likely be available for customers through sprint (maybe not 3rd parties) I would suspect for at least the next year if not longer. In the meantime they are ticking off old customers by doing the following: 1) Talking customers off of legacy plans and onto the new plans. 2) Customer still wants their discounted phone up front and wants a 2 year contract and the salesperson doesn't let them know of the $25 charge per month nor does any contract or fine print. I realize that no one really ever gets a "discounted phone", but the average consumer doesn't know this or is too stupid to realize this. 3) Customer gets angry after 1-2 months and complains and bad mouths Sprint to everyone, thus hurting sprint's brand and reputation as well. So looks like sprint needs to cut the 2 year completely with no grandfathered accounts to get rid of the confusion to the average customer or make sure they disclose the fees better until they do get rid of contracts. Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

Well if that's the case I don't know why anybody on a legacy plan would ever switch to the new plans. Especially if they're getting two year contract phones. It sounds as if the new plan plus the subsidy charges for each line would cost a lot more. That's the one thing so far that I have disliked about the new way the carriers are doing this. They present the plans as being cheaper than the old ones when they really aren't. You all do the same thing. At best they break even. At worst they cost more over a 24 month period. My bigger issue with Sprint right now which is going to hurt them in the long run is that the salespeople are not even telling customers that end up getting 2 year contracts on these new plans that they're going to be hit with a $25 subsidy charge per line. I've read the fine print and the contract language and that amount and number is not in any of them. Most of the complaints on the Sprint forums is that of customers complaining that they were not informed in fine print or by the salesperson that those $25 charges were going to happen. So it seems that Sprint needs to be training their salespeople better, or it's a deliberate tactic just to get their foot in the door and hope that the majority of people don't complain about it. Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

Ok here is the screenshot of Sprints current page. I didn't see that it said you have to activate 4 lines to get the $40+$30 for each additional. So it would be $130 for 4 lines. Which means correct they are exactly the same if only adding 2 lines which makes me not changing plans even better for me based in the other things like corporate discount. While it invalidates that they make less money on one rather than other, it does not invalidate the point that if ED1500 is a bad plan like the poster I quoted says then the Unlimited Freedom plans are equally as bad. So the people complaining on here about old plans being a money loser for Sprint are only assuming the opposite of me(non-profitable) with no proof to back up their point either. I can't see how a company like sprint (if in the monetary bind you all make it out to be) that Sprint would decide to offer 2 year contracts still and not get rid of them. Since they don't release their profit levels of plans, we will never know for sure, but it's hard for me to believe they would continue to offer these contracts if it was hurting them too badly. Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk

A few counterpoints to supposedly our misconceptions: 1) Don't know where you are but I'm on ED1500 and never seen my video or audio compressed or throttled down to less than HD for video and and smaller bit rate audio stream. I pay attention to stuff like this, and I have never seen that happen. Now I have seen on a congested tower area the video or spotify buffering over and over again sometimes to the point where I say the hell with it and just quit streaming, but that doesn't happen often. 2) The ED plans made them more money. I think the bigger misconception is that the 2 year subsidies were costing Sprint more money than now, but I would like to give you and example right now apples to apples how that can not be true. This is based on the new unlimited freedom plans for 2 lines vs the ED1500 plan I have with my 2 new Note 7's on contract I just got. Sprint Unlimited Freedom for 2 lines: $40 + $30 = $70 per month 2 lines Note 7: $349.99 per phone 2 year contract Note 7: Retail $849.99 Subsidy Charge: $25/month $70 * 24 = $1680 ($25*2)*24 = $1200 $349.99*2 = $699.98 Total 24 months: $3579.28 Every Data 1500 2 lines: $110.00 + $19.99 + ($10*2 premium data charge) = $149.99/month 2 lines Note 7: $349.99 per phone 2 year contract Note 7: Retail $849.99 No Subsidy charge $149.99 * 24 = $3599.76 $349.99 * 2 = $699.98 Total 24 months: $4299.74 So actually if you do a 2 year contract on the new plan even with the $25 month subsidy charge for each line you save $720.46 on the new plans. That saves a person $720.46 on the new plans versus the ED1500, so whether or not either plan is profitable, obviously the ED plan gives Sprint more money over a 24 month period when someone does a 24 month contract. Now I had several reasons why I didn't go with a new plan over the ED1500. 1) My corporate discount saves me $480 a year versus a lot less with the new plans. 2) I worked a better deal for the upfront cost of the Note 7's I got, so I didn't pay $349.99 a phone. I won't say what I did pay, but I worked a deal, lets just say that. 3) I have not seen them throttle or compress ED1500 on my phone yet, so the new plans are garbage to me on that aspect, and you can't really put a price tag on getting non-compressed video/audio.