Leaving Sprint

I know that phones are important to people. My phone is how I run my business and my life. I don't expect that to change anytime soon. 

About eighteen months ago my sister first told me about SimpleMobile. For $40 per month, taxes and fees included, she was getting unlimited service. I was shocked. I was paying Sprint about $150 for the same service, but I was scared to change. Sprint’s coverage was outstanding in the Tampa Bay area. My EVO 4G phone was also outstanding. I didn't feel I could risk losing calls, because my business is my phone. 

You couldn't have found a more vocal and supportive customer for Sprint than I was. Of course they weren't happy with that, or so it seemed. My first problem was my rebate. I know, I should have known better. Sprint insisted that they would rebate me $100, by check, when I purchased my EVO. Well guess what? They lost my rebate paperwork, three times. Even though they had all the information, and all of the purchases and activation were made at a Sprint corporate store, they were very sorry that they couldn't help me. I never got my rebate.

Two years before I had bought a Treo 800w. It was an awesome phone, when it worked, but Sprint gave me nine of them over a ten month period. That they refused to simply move me to another phone was upsetting, but I had everything backed up and syncing so the problem wasn't insurmountable. The next phone was a Blackberry Tour, and it was fantastic. I had zero problems with the service, the phone, or anything for nearly sixteen months.

My beloved Blackberry had eaten three batteries, two cases, a holster, and a headset. Call quality was still good, but I wanted more capability. So when Sprint debuted the EVO I kept my eye on it. The Treo 800w experience had taught me to be cautious about jumping to a new phone. I read service bulletins and user experiences. Several months later I took the plunge. Android was exactly what I needed, and the EVO did the job admirably. Even though I had to purchase an extended battery for $60 to get through a day away from a desk, and I rationalized that the added expense of getting screwed out of the rebate was unfortunate but not unforgivable.

Let me just say that I was wrong.

After six months the motherboard failed on my EVO. In the next six monthe this happened 4 times. Although the people at the local Sprint store were apologetic, Sprint had again decided that after three replacement phones I again should not move to another phone.  This is a pretty important point.

After the purchase of my Treo 800w and the resulting awful experience Sprint had instituted a policy of allowing customers to “crossgrade” to a different phone model after three warranty exchanges or a defective phone. This policy remained in force for the entire time I enjoyed my flawless Blackberry experience. After I bought my EVO 4G Sprint revoked that policy. I had a rather heated discussion with several people at Sprint who insisted that they were very sorry that they couldn’t help me. I swallowed hard. Then Sprint announced the iPhone 4S.

For the last few years I had been a Sprint Premier customer. We got some cool benefits like a special toll-free number, annual phone upgrades rather than every two years. Stuff like that. So I figured that I could hold out and jump to the iPhone when it debuted, and that was only three months away. So six weeks before the iPhone debut, Sprint cancelled the Premier program. I was told, very politely, that I could hang.

I took deep breaths even then. I weighed my options, MetroPCS, Verizon, and the dozen or so other carriers available. My sister kept talking about SimpleMobile. I started to listen.

It was almost eerie. As I investigated other carriers it became more and more obvious that Sprint was wildly overpriced. Most US carriers are overpriced. That is why they are some of the most profitable cellular carriers in the world. Also during this time Sprint began to experience a number of Network outages in the Tampa Bay area. I was told by some anonymous Sprint employees that this was partially due to Sprint’s decision to abandon WiMax for its 4G service and move to LTE technology. I went to my local Sprint location one day to complain and the showroom was full of customers who were sharing my frustration with the network issues. I was asked politely by the store manager to call in for a service credit because it would be over an hour before they got to me. He explained that they were aware of the issue at corporate and so I did.

I was told by customer service that there were no issues in Tampa Bay at all. That there hadn’t been in months and that no credit was due. I asked for a manager. I spoke to two managers. I related my entire tale and my desire to stay with Sprint. I was assured that no one at Sprint would issue me a credit. I was incensed. I asked the finance manager bluntly. “Are you saying that my business and my eight years as a customer mean nothing and that you will not issue the credit that your store manager assured me was forthcoming?”

There was silence at the other end of the phone. I asked if she could hear me and she said, “Yes sir.” I asked again and she said, “No sir.” I thanked her for her time and hung up.

In the next five minutes I purchased a used unlocked Android phone and a SIM card for SimpleMobile. I activated and within five days I was a SimpleMobile customer. I doubt I will ever go back to Sprint or any other traditional carrier. SimpleMobile has been awesome.

Now we can do the math. I am saving over $1000 per year on my service. My monthly bill has dropped from $147 to $40. Even with the purchase of a new unlocked phone each year I will save on average $600 per year.

I purchased a Samsung Galaxy Nexus from Google directly two weeks ago. That experience has been very positive as well, and I will write about that next time.