yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] phidung3721:
I wouldn't say it false. You have to give it a few tries but some reps will apply the credit when you do 18 months payment at once. One of the guys on reddit posted his conversation with a Sprint rep about this. I can't find it at the moment. I will put the link once I find it.

Edit: Just did some reading, it turned out to be really risky to get phones from sprint, some people got their phones blacklisted for not staying 50 days on sprint.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
You're late for the party... It's gone!!!

The free camera promotion was running from Black Friday until December 5 when you ordered your phone online, but subject to stock availability... First come first serve. I was lucky enough to be able to register and get my 2 free cameras last week without getting any notifications from Sprint!!!

https://promo.sprint.com/static/sold-out.html
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] reverenddak:
Would any of you that got the extra free camera be will willing to hook one of us up that missed the free deal? I also missed the cheap sprint deal, and so I paid $500 plus tax. I don't regret missing out, because even at $500 this phone has been worth it. But man, I am envious of those that got the deals.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
"Hook"?

They are now going on eBay for $50 in the box.

I don't think you can get more hooked up than that.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] borijess:
I just sold the phone with camera for 350. 200 dollar profit. I actually thought it was a great phone. Could not justify keeping it if I already have the Note 8.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] reverenddak:
A bunch of people getting extra cameras for free, and another guy boasting about the profit he made from scamming Sprint. Yeah, I thought it would be harmless to see if anyone could hook up someone that paid full price and no camera with one of their extra cameras. Sorry for asking.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] borijess:
I got an extra camera but my friend just bought the ESSENTIAL and knew I had a camera and asked if they can have it.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] wolfu11:
And we wonder why phone companies are switching to bill credits..........
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] hellot1M:
You must keep the phone active with sprint for 18 months to get this deal. But good luck getting the phone. They have been on backorder for months and no sprint store has them in stock anymore. I'm beginning to wonder if essential just decided to give up on this phone.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
Are you being serious? Honestly, what makes you even begin to imagine that? The bi-weekly camera updates? The 2 Oreo beta updates (just released last week)? The weekly AMAs?

They communicate with their community more than any other manufacturer... These erroneous conclusions are just beyond ridiculous!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
People are just assuming...unfortunately!!!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] ruthlessnature:
I ordered one yesterday from sprint phone sales and the delivery date is 01/04/17. They only have black available though.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
So happy to see this thread keep going strong. Finally, this sprint customer of 10 years gets a good deal on a phone! Typical sprint however, they gave the same deal to everyone lol. I have 12 more days to call and get it unlocked (50 days)!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
I was told last month (right after I activated and paid off my phone) by one the unlock phone dept reps that the 50 days phone unlock is automatically by the 51th day. Your phone will get a pop up message letting you know that your phone has been unlocked. He said (don't quote me on this) that Sprint pre-installed a countdown software on all of the Essential phone Sprint variant so they don't have to deal with customers calling in for the unlock code when their phone completed the 50 days unlock policy.

I have 15 days to go so let wait and find out!!!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] hellot1M:
I work for sprint so... There's that. Have for over 5 years. I'm going off trends I've seen with previous devices. We just recently was advised to remove all promotional material for the device. I'm only assuming based off trends
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] JoRocker:
I worked for Sprint for 2 years and Verizon for 4 years... I know that it doesn't mean anything... They are most likely removing promotions because they have ended sales, and they are trying to push newer devices. It doesn't mean anything...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] hellot1M:
Basic common since shows that if a device isn't selling then there is no profit. Eventually this will effect them as a whole. This is not Samsung or apple. This is essential, a brand new company with only 2 products and a lot of bad PR. Software upgrades does not mean a company is in a healthy position. They are trying to keep optimistic. I could be wrong about all this but it does not look good for essential as a whole. They could possibly sell to someone else or maybe provide more inventory. A major problem they are having with sales right now is nobody wants a phone they can't have immediately and given a random estimate of when they might receive. Last couple we ordered were nearly a week delayed. This was just 3 weeks ago. We ordered one for a customer the day after Christmas and it original said it would be here tomorrow. We just received an email saying the date has changed to Friday instead of Monday. This has been an issue since the day the phone was first available for pre-order.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DrvLikHell:
I would tend to agree with the majority of this. Sprint lost a lot of money with all the people who exploited the previous lease deal that is the subject of this thread. They gave away so many $500 phones for +-$150. It gets even worse if you add up all the free cameras they sent to those same people. Plus the phone isn't selling well and there are delays in product supply, pissing off the few people that do want to buy the phone. I wouldn't be surprised if Sprint is looking to cut its losses and break ties with Essential. I don't know if Essential as a company is in trouble, however, their sales haven't been very good.

Their marketing is also poor. One Best Buy I went to had it on display in line with all the other unlocked phones. It was placed next to some crap phones like Blu. It needs to have its own display kiosk to show that it's different and good. At the other Best Buy I went to, where I actually bought one of my phones, they didn't even have a display model. I had to ask one of the staff if they had them and he had to get a sealed box from some back room and open it up to show it to me. If they are relying on Sprint to market the phone, they're in serious trouble.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] hellot1M:
Sprint still has the phone on its own display. I get asked about it all the time but when people come in the store it's because they are expecting a phone when they leave. For $6 a month it's a killer deal! Next up is the Moto z2 for $11 up or new. Both phones having it's own display section. The problem is essential isn't shipping. We have tried getting some for in-store inventory but the warehouse doesn't even have them. Everytime the warehouse gets some in stock it's shipped immediately to those who did a direct ship or ordered over the website/telesales. If they would just ship each store 5-10 of these devices they would be sold out within the week of receiving them. Everytime our district receives some (when we were receiving them) they were sold the same day or within days.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kfhughes:
They may very well have a production capacity issue. I ordered mine directly from Essential. It was shipped from China and took almost a week to reach the West Coast. Most of that time FedEx showed it was sitting in China waiting for export release.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
Wow...shipped from China!!! No wonder why it takes so long for Sprint to restock!

Mine was shipped from Louisville, KY by UPS next day delivery.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] dandan2980:
Same here, received mine a month ago but it was shipped from China. Too a week to get to me.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] roebling:
Sprint's always had the best phones & best plans & best prices...

No wonder they're going broke!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
They're going broke because of their customers fleeing their worst network coverage!!!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] roebling:
Every network except maybe AT&T and Verizon has coverage problems for travelers. FCC rigged it that way from the beginning, dividing the country's tower licenses into tiny, county-sized regions.

The USA has the developed world's worst cellular network, sure, but we have the BEST politicians money can buy!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
No doubt... Capitalism as we call it. Money talks!!!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
Exactly.

Everywhere else in the modern world pricing is going down and data speeds going up. Not here.

But to add on the Essential shipping.

Some come from China when there is no stock in the US. Since they were selling as fast as they could build them, they have to come directly from China. If you have ever ordered Apple, you see the same thing. If it's special order or not in stock, the tracking starts in China.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DessertDevice:
Is this deal dead?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
Yeah, the phone and camera promotion was ended last Dec 5.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
May I ask your age? Quicken tells me I've spent nearly $34,000 on mobile phone service since 1995. Prices have gone down and speeds have gone up.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DrvLikHell:
If he means general internet speed, he's partially correct. People in the US pay far more for internet than people in almost all of the rest of the developed world. I'm definitely paying far more per month for internet than I did 15 years ago. If I didn't find an ultra cheap mobile provider, I'd also have a higher phone bill too. And while US internet speeds have been going up since the migration to broadband from dial-up, they are generally not as fast as other countries, often by a good measure.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
I was sending from my phone so I didn't elaborate like you did.

Thank you. You made my point.

For the other guy that asked.

Old enough to know better than to answer the question about my age.

But I've been designing computer chips for 29 years and an MSEE for more than 25.

I had email at home on an ISDN line using UUCP on a NeXT computer before anyone knew about email.

I also remember Usenet groups.

I also had a cell phone pre Verizon, I had GTE MobilNet.

I still have the same number.

Old.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Jonathanlc2005:
So... I just got an early term fee sent to me on my bill. Lol I'll post more about it tomorrow.

Let's just say it ended with reminding them they are recorded for quality assurance, told them to stop being sheep and actually read the agreement, and a few others. Apparently they will issue a bill credit but can't wait to unload this for you all tomorrow.

They really messed with the wrong person
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DrvLikHell:
I'm curious to hear if you canceled before or after the 50 days. There isn't supposed to be an early termination fee anywhere. I'd really like to know how the dreamed that one up.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Jonathanlc2005:
Yes I did cancel it within 50 days, infact... 3 days after but it wasn't supposed to happen that way. I paid for the lease because I didn't want to pay 5 dollars a month for 18 months when I have the money now. So I paid it. It was supposed to be a gift and they person who I got it for didn't want it. So I already paid the lease and I didn't have time to drive the 2 1/2 hours to return it. I just kept it and canceled the line.

Last night we got the bill and was shocked it showed up because there was nothing obligating me to keeping it for 2 years let alone 50 days. We have been customers for 10 years, we pay $300 a month and now we see a $350 dollar early term fee.

First off, a note. I don't know what happened to Sprint employee care. We used to have them say "thank you for calling Sprint employee care" and now we don't.

The rep that handled the case was so sassy on the phone I wish I could have met him in person if you know what I mean. It was like pulling teeth to get me to a supervisor. So after being transferred to the supervisor, he insists its correct. I told him stop being sheep and look at the contract. He wanted to call the store in Baltimore to get the contract details and the person who sold it to me wasn't there. So I told him, you could call any store and you have access to the details as well, I don't see why we have to wait for this one person to get you the details.... Anyone with RMS could pull it up. This rep was so determined to talk to this one person so I said I'm not going to wait 24 hours for a gossip discussion on a contract details, so your going to wait till I find it and I read it to you. So I made him wait and read it to him. So after reading it to him he said he will issue a bill credit but we haven't seen anything show up yet.

I told him there are times where computers have charged my customers $800 for something on their bill. That is why your working here. Stop being sheep and look at the details before you assume you know what your talking about.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Jonathanlc2005:
Here's the screenshot
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] runderekrun:
Well this is terrifying. I got 18 more days til I can request an unlock.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
I saved a copy of my agreement and there is nothing about ETF in my agreement.

I have it handy to email back to them if they try to charge an ETF.

I stil have 24 days to unlock.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
Same here. I saved my copy too. My 50 days end this Saturday and hopefully I don't have to deal with this headache! :p
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] runderekrun:
Where did you get it? I wonder if I can get it after the fact?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
I'm not sure if you can but I'm still active with Sprint so I just signed on to my account then click on the "view agreement" and it popped right up.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] runderekrun:
Boom I found it. Mine doesn't say anything about an ETF either. Just says I'll have to pay off the lease.

More detailed instructions for finding this:

Log into account. Hover your mouse over "My Sprint" in the upper-left. Go down to Documents. You should see the link to "Device Financial Agreement".
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Jonathanlc2005:
Upload a copy for everyone just in case please
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
I saved both device and service agreements. There is no ETF in either.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Jonathanlc2005:
an update...

they removed the charges
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] jakkzen:
They tried to pull the ETF and you will owe the remainder of $699 for each of the phones "scare tactic" with us too. When we told them we were canceling our lines, I asked them to show me on the agreement that I have for each line where it shows this? They cancelled the lines.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DrvLikHell:
When I went to pay off the lease on my first phone, the Sprint chat rep told me that I'd have to pay the full $700 price and kept insisting that I was wasting money if I paid it off now. When I quoted the contract they told me to call support instead. I hate scare tactics.

I can't believe they were able to apply an ETF to a bill when no such requirement or option existed. It's really like they have the ability to just make up fees out of nowhere. I have 20 days until I can unlock my first phone. I also have printed and PDF copies of the agreement.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] runderekrun:
These scare tactics just re-enforce my choice to cancel sprint after the 50 days. I got on the 30 dollar 2GB plan and honestly thought about keeping it (its about what I pay for cricket). Sprint signal is very decent where I live too. But unfortunately I've had to call them 4 times and use their chat 6 times just to get my bill "correct". It's asinine. Each different person I talked to would tell me something wildly different. I got in an argument with one because I wanted the 30 dollar plan prorated from the moment I requested to transfer to their $30 a month plan and he said it would be cheaper for me to prorate from later in the month which makes no sense. I've heard terrible things about Sprint and they have, unfortunately, proven them all correct.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
Yep.

As soon as my phone is unlocked, I'm done.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
I think they only have so many options within their system ....even the reps get frustrated.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] runderekrun:
I think so too. I was never mad at the CS representative and treated them well. I got a little testy with one of them but apologized afterwards. One guy I talked with said the $30 dollar plan didn't exist and I had to tell him to look at my account to see that it does in fact exist and he was quite surprised. The CS representatives also varied wildly in what they were able to do, like how they were able to apply account credits etc. Some had to wait till the next bill and some could do it right then and there. Bizarre and hair pullingly annoying to deal with for all parties. It's why I am out. The only other company I've ever had to deal with that was this frustrating is my local isp. Thank god we have choices for mobile internet.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DrvLikHell:
I've had a similar experience. I've called and chatted with Sprint more times in the first month with them than all of my prior wireless companies over the past three years. And I get complete crap for LTE speeds on their network when I'm at home.

Last month they also told me that they could only prorate a plan change on the next months bill. I figured I'd be in for another argument when my bill came out today, but I was totally shocked that they did it correctly. I had them put me on the Seasonal Standby plan which is less than $10 a month just to keep the number. Two Sprint reps told me that plan still counts towards the 50 day time period, so hopefully I won't be arguing with them at the end of the month when I want the phone unlocked.

I get that this whole Essential/Sprint deal was a ploy to attract more customers, but they're going about it the wrong way. Nobody cares if you can get a great phone for cheap if you have to argue with your provider over everything.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
Finally, my 50 days is ended today. I called yesterday and chatted with the phone unlock rep. He checked my account and said that my phone is paid off and my account is in good standing then he asked me if I travel outside of the country and I said "yes". He then put me on hold about 1-3 minutes so he could process the phone unlock request. He came back and said that my phone is going to be unlocked domestically and internationally, and the process is going to take 24-48 hrs. I then asked him if that time processing you mentioned is "business" hrs/days and he said "yes". He said I will receive an email letting me know that my phone is now unlocked, and it should be unlocked by Tue or Wed the latest.

Everything went smoothly so far but I still have to check my final bill next month to find out!!! I hope that I don't have to go through the hassle that others had!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
Same here. Bet you don't receive an email though. I think you've seen my emails on this or other forums, I also unlocked two iPhones this month. Maybe we'll get a text 4 days after they were already unlocked. They were kind though, didn't even ask why or try to give me any kind of retention deal.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Caltinpla:
Agree! he was nice and very professional, did not try to sell me anything. He just said "thank you" for doing business with Sprint at the end of the conversation.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
Unlocked yet? Following another post on here this month- his was unlocked on Thursday (previous Friday was day 50)
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Ascertion:
I reached my 50 day threshold Friday. I contacted Sprint via Twitter and while they took upwards to 2 hrs to look into it, they stated an unlock request was sent to the appropriate team. This was about 30 hours ago. Still locked at the moment but it might be 24-48 hours during business days.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
Friday was day 50 for me, and I created a ticket on that day. On Sunday I called to just check into it, I didn't expect it to be unlocked. But I like to pester them. That's my right.

The gentleman said it appeared to be unlocked, specifically stated it was unlocked on that day (48 hours after request), so I'm pretty pumped. However the phone doesn't say that it's unlocked. So I'm in the car, I have another phone he can call me on, and we try to troubleshoot some. He doesn't appear to know how to do any troubleshooting on the phone other than to access the menu where we all go to check to see if it is unlocked, so he sends me to what is supposed to be technical support, but ends up being a telesales dept.

That was the most mind-numbing, harassing phone calls I think I've ever had. This is happened one other time I think with Sprint or maybe my AT&T service. Seems like it is a twelve-year-old from India or the Philippines.... Acts like a real jerk, I don't know if that was his intention, kind of sounds like a girl also.... And just asks me all kinds of personal questions. Do all of my children have a phone? Do all of my children's friends have a phone? Do my children's friends parents have a phone? Do they have a tablet? What kind of tablet do they have? What kind of service do they have?

Offensive, rude, way over the top. Then hangs up. I wish I could report this to Sprint, and I may waste my time to send a paper letter just for principle. I want that (kid, man, woman) coached. What a holy nightmare.

Called back and spoke to a CSR who was properly trained, and you guessed it- the phone isnt unlocked, the ticket hasnt been opened.

So ready to go to any prepaid and just get a service for price.

They thank me for my ten years of service then try to strong arm me to get a LG tablet out of the blue?!?!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Ascertion:
Maybe I need to check if an actual ticket has been opened. It's been 48 hours but nothing yet.

Wondering if they just say they opened a ticket to complete their work. lol

I did request my unlock over chat. I wonder if maybe I need to call in?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
I didnt think those things occured via chat. Most of the advice you read on the forums suggests to go through the prompts to leave sprint when calling in, option 5, then 5, then 2.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Ascertion:
Well, i talked with Sprint and they did say a ticket was opened on 1-13-18 but this time they quoted me 72 hours. I will just wait. It's probably because weekend+holiday that it's taking >48 hours.

Thanks