weknsmith

So much for the theory that Sprint would clear out S4 inventory via a Black Friday sale:

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-makes-it-easy-to-give-big-this-holiday-season.htm

Being an Employee Referral account holder it is nice to see that the G2 will be available for $49. Of course, Best Buy has had that price for the last two weeks but some of us are not allowed to purchase phones from them.

I still think the S4 camera and removable battery are worth waiting for over the Nexus 5 or G2.

Come on, Sprint. I want my Tri band LTE.  

I agree, my next upgrade is going to be used on a tri-band device.  I looked at both the Nexus 5 and the G2, but both are missing features that are must haves for me.  I have to have the ability to swap batteries during the day as my usage and network signal issues can result in needing to use one or two spare batteries during the day on my S3.  Also, I want a phone that has the best possible camera as I take a significant amount of video and pictures at my kids' activities.

It's looking like the tri-band S4 is the ideal device.  Now if they would just release the thing in time for the Black Friday deals...

Do I need to say it again? Read the internal memo in this thread. The thread is only seven pages long at this point. If you have not read the whole thing, then you are not doing your due diligence.

 

AJ

Of course I read that memo. I actually first saw it in the Nexus 5 thread, and probably read about the same time as anyone else that saw it posted in live time. The question is whether or not the frontline staff is aware of that memo. If they are, why would they tell customers to take their phone in to be looked at for issues when the problem is related to the network.

Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for Sprint and want to see them succeed. They just need to figure out how to get the information in the hands of the people that need it and make sure that they don't waste their customers time by handing out bad information.

I'd suggest we leave it at that and let this thread continue with its original purpose.

This is I believe the third time that I have posted this question. Uh, did you not see the internal Sprint memo posted in this thread? Sprint is doing all that it can. What more do you want? Electrical engineers manning customer service?

 

Regardless, it is impossible to train thousands of minimally educated frontline employees adequately on technical issues. Subscribers are generally no more intelligent. So, almost any deep seated technical issue that frontline employees try to describe to subscribers gets lost on one side or the other. It is pointless.

 

I will add that the low level employee disconnect affects all wireless providers. Your pot shots at Sprint are unnecessary -- and a borderline S4GRU rule violation. The difference is that Sprint is completely overhauling its network, running a hybrid 3GPP/3GPP2 network, and deploying tri band FDD/TDD LTE. That leads to more technical difficulties than the other providers face.

 

AJ

I would like to see Sprint support put together some internal documentation for those frontline staff members. It is perfectly reasonable for customers to expect the support personnel to not give them blatantly incorrect information. Obviously, the support staff is doing their best to resolve issues based on the information at their fingertips. The problem is that they may be instructing customers to take phones in to be checked for issues when the problem is network based. This could result in wasted time traveling to the repair center, wasted gas money, etc.

As a long term customer of Sprint, I am excited about the potential of the Network Vision improvements. I just hope that Sprint will do everything they can to reduce the bumps in the road that the customers and support staff will face during these times of transition.

It appears the knowledgeable people saw your post and replied haha. I was going to redirect you to them

Thx. I've read enough posts to know that Robert & AJ were probably the most likely candidates to reply. I wasn't sure who else was extremely well informed and/or worked in the industry at some point.

Also, thanks to Robert and anyone who dedicates time to the site. It's a great resource.

What other devices lack SVLTE support?

Sorry, I'm new to the site and am not familiar enough with which users are very knowledgeable. Anyway, I have seen some posts that state that tri-band phones will not be capable of simultaneous voice & data. Is this a known fact that is a side effect of the way that tri-band works? Or was it a design decision where you have engineering limitations that result in having to give up SVDO and/or SVLTE.

I've got an S3 and I'm pretty sure it supports SVDO. I've just been reading up and it sounds as if the S4 dropped SVDO and instead supports SVLTE. Of course who knows what the re-released S4 will support. In my case, simultaneous voice & data is a make or break feature.