chicodelta

Thanks ericdabbs. Looks like I'll have to wait to see what BF has to offer or jump ship if nothing interesting is being offered this year.

The question is whether SERO subscribers are SOL.

I don't think that as a Sprint subscriber our options are all that limiting (unless you are still locked in contract). Buying a phone off contract opens you up to several options. 1. T-Mobile offers great pricing plans if you bring your phone (depending on your coverage reception and data may even be better) and you are not locked in a 2yr agreement. 2. A pay as you go, such as straight talk, might also be a good option if you don't consume much data. I notice that I constantly have my phone running wifi off of my office and home wireless and my data consumption on my bill looks relatively low. I'm not saying that this is for everyone, but I've been on several SERO forums where former sprint users dumped sprint and wound up with better service and saving money in the long run. I've been with Sprint since 2003 and for the longest time I thought that Sprint was it but over time more options have become available so, my point being, the market has changed and I think that there has been a shift in the mobile service industry to where it is more of a consumers market.

I understand that increasing their subscribership is important for business growth (BUS 101 right?) but another thing that they teach you in business schools is that it is less expensive to keep current clients than it is to recruit new clients. Example, the issue in question now is $100 off of the new G2 for brand new customers BUT not for existing. We are talking a difference of $100 to lock an existing customer for another 2 years, I mean Sprint can pretty much offer that in form of an account credit if they so choose to for existing customers. Now the cost to recruit new customers includes promotion (i.e. $100 off if coming from competing network) plus all of the marketing/advertisement/store overhead and sales reps etc. So while I see your point, in looking at the big picture it is still ludicrous that Sprint is not approaching this differently. This might explain why they have trouble with subscription retention.

I'm a SERO user myself. Does anyone have any confirmation as to whether or not Best Buy is a no go for SERO as of today? I remember about last summer people were able to upgrade (albeit it required some maneuvering). It sounds like BB has the best deal around for the G2 at $99 plus $50 GC for existing customers. I can't imagine any Sprint BF deal beating that. Anyone know what the likelihood of the iPhone 5s (or 5c) being on the list as a BF deal this year?

Yes the G2 is already selling for $99 but that is only for new customers. Last years BF deals were open to new+existing Sprint customers who were up for renewal. I really irks me that Sprint alienates its existing subscribers when it comes to offering those types of promotions.