yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[EVO 4G General] donnyespo:
Yea that is pretty lame, I believe I was up for an upgrade in april also Ill have to check with sprint to see if that still stands.
[EVO 4G General] Adam48:
If you're having issues with your tenure as a Sprint or Nextel, it's likely due to the billing system conversion from the old Sprint system to the new one which is a modified version of Nextel's. If your start date as a customer is directly related to this, you'll have to escalate your call to a level two supervisor, to put in a ticket for this. (3 years, Sprint/Nextel customer service representative)
[EVO 4G General] willy900wonka:
I recieved my letter. I should qualify for gold, 10+ years and 5 lines.

Letter / perk or not I may start shedding lines. I've said too much, but I will call my shots.
[EVO 4G General] pflatlyne:
Yea,they sold me a phone in June promising me yearly upgrades,now,before a year is up,they say "Sorry,we are changing that".Im NOT happy.:mad:
[EVO 4G General] cwbristow@cox.net:
Got my letter,

Qualified GOLD,

Yeah!!!!
[EVO 4G General] mcskibadee1:
So what's the consensus? Does this change allow me to cancel my service without a early termination fee? That yearly upgrade was one of the reasons I went with spring as well as the evo.
[EVO 4G General] r916:
Me too.

How would I go about writing the BBB and state attorney's office, like how do I and what do I say?

This is lame, I'm able to upgrade on 5/12/2011 and I want the next phone that will be coming out but with this, now I cannot.

I'd be more then happy to let them cancel my 3 lines and I will take my money else where, most likely tmobile since their network isn't slow as ****, I had tmo for 8 years and then came to sprint, what a mistake.
[EVO 4G General] fenixjn:
This is not a change to your contract with Sprint meaning that if you were to leave, it is very likely you'd have to pay ETF per line.

I really doubt this would make a difference. This is still a perk or additional benefit as being a 'loyal' (or paying too much) to Sprint. Complaining about might get some attention but I doubt they change back. The best thing you could do is to call sprint and ask for the retentions department (or just threaten with canceling all your lines) and see if they can work you a deal.
[EVO 4G General] randyreed1971:
I agree with fenixjn, you can probably work out a deal with sprint because they know they will more than likely start to loose customers with this change.

The way I see it, it will be right at a year......what june maybe??.....since the EVO came out and they havent put out a phone that can stand close to the EVO yet. So really if you have the EVO your not in bad shape, or behind in the smartphone craze as far as upgrading phones. But also, who knows what the future will bring.
[EVO 4G General] -Apollo-:
Called a couple nights ago and ripped this poor lady and to make a long story short, she didn't think this will fly! Already too many calls about it. We shall see. 2 years with 1 phone...please!!
[EVO 4G General] Quis89:
Has anyone here actually read the contract they signed to know if they would be subject to an ETF or not due to this change?

Plus...I saw someone speaking on bait and switch...how many people actually came to Sprint because of annual upgrades. HONESTLY...that was the primary reason? Keep in mind that the premier program is maybe 2 or 3 years old. So you're all saying that the people within that time can over soley because of annual upgrades?? Cost, phone selection and coverage were thrown out the window when you heard you could get a new phone every year? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight....

Is the change unfortunate?? Yes...but NO other carrier offers yearly upgrades. Sprint still does...you just now need to meet certain criteria that's higher than previous. If this is enough to make you switch then I really don't know why you were with Sprint to begin with...

The entitlement factor you people have is just crazy...

A business' number 1 agenda above everything else is to remain profitable...and this change will help ensure that. I don't like the change like the next person...but it in now way, shape or form will effect the service you're getting. You just can't get the latest and greatest every year. You couldn't get that prior to this program....I think you'll all live. You're going to a provider that won't have yearly upgrades at all if you switch.....and you'll probably be paying more. Sounds like a win......
[EVO 4G General] wrapkgb:
I got the letter a few days ago, but I don't remember it saying if I was gold or silver. So from what I gather if you are gold you get an upgrade every year but if you are silver you can only upgrade everyother year, correct? Also are there any other perks with gold status over silver?
[EVO 4G General] swaze:
No if you are silver you just don't get the full $150 off upgrade price, you only get $75 off after one year

Sent from my HTC EVO
[EVO 4G General] NYCguy2020:
Got the letter today aswell...it felt like a big FU.thanks,Sprint!
[EVO 4G General] r916:
I contacted them via 'chat' and the person was literally retarded, spelling was bad and took forever to answer any question.

It's lame that I have to make my plan $15 more expensive just to qualify.

So silver gets $75 off the upgrade price (upgrade price=new contract price?)

and gold gets $150 off?

I'm still confused on how this works, I haven't even had sprint for a year yet (5/2011 will be 1 year).
[EVO 4G General] fenixjn:
Yes that's exactly what it means: the $75 discount is off the retail price of the device AND it attaches a new contract to the line you are upgrading, on the silver tier. The gold tier has the same rule but the discount is $150.
[EVO 4G General] r916:
So say I wanted to upgrade now (if I could) and I wanted to try the Evo Shift and I'm on gold, The retail is $399 so I would have to pay $249?

That's lame if that's how it works, it should be the $149.99 price not just $150 off.
[EVO 4G General] NYCguy2020:
With premier gold you get the $150 off PLUS any other offers/discounts that are currently available to new customers.
[EVO 4G General] Award Tour:
The future is here. The EVO shipped with a crucial component (CPU/GPU) that was ready to be phased out at the time of it's launch. It held up "okay" but we are in a period where CPUs and GPUs are eclipsing that chipset and even the chipset that replaced it. On top of that, Gingerbread is not guaranteed. I wouldn't be surprised if it ever came officially. Sooner or later, especially with the arrival of HW acceleration, the drivers will become unsupported and future unofficial ports will become less functional and more buggy. So even if you forget about the outside monster phones that are about to be released, you still have a problem where the EVO will be unsupported both officially (by Sprint, HTC, Google, and developers) and partially unofficially.

Yearly upgrades were definitely just a added perk.. but it's hard to argue that Sprint's cheapness and perks weren't the only reason why we're here in the first place. It's data service now sucks, prices are only slightly cheaper, and the perks are gone. The phone selection is still the worse; and the EVO is looking more and more like a fluke.
[EVO 4G General] Bigjim1488:
I think I may just have to jump ship and it pisses me off because I just got my evo how I want it and was loving it. Taking away the upgrades was the last straw for me. It was bad enough that sprint is going to force all smart phones into the extra $10 a month and now this? I have a second line that is going to get screwed out of an upgrade which is not cool at all. I'm pissed

Sent from my Evo while i should be working
[EVO 4G General] ramiss:
This may not be included in what Sprint calls their "contract". However, it could be argued in a court that the offering of the early upgrade is one of the reasons someone would want to sign up with Sprint, thus taking it away is removing a legitimate element of the service that the company provides.

So yeah, you will be expected to pay the fee, but that doesn't mean it is right.
[EVO 4G General] ramiss:
It could also be argued that if the upgrade plan is only a "benefit" or "reward" then why are they sending out letters?

It may not technically be part of the service or contract but Sprint obviously wants to cover their buts somehow.
[EVO 4G General] Bigjim1488:
If need be I will just roam my date like a bandit! They will be happy to get rid of me at that point

Sent from my Evo while i should be working
[EVO 4G General] DirtyShroomz:
Obviously because it's a change to their entire rewards program.
[EVO 4G General] MsRandall:
I called Account Services for my account tenture to be fixed...I thought I started in 2000, but they said my account was started in 98. I have to wait for April 1 for my account to update to the new start date.
[EVO 4G General] twilk73:
Im tired of getting jacked from Sprint. First they mess with us on discounts now there taking the one year upgrade away. I started with Nextel 11 years ago and switched to Sprint aproximatly 4 years ago. Now I do understand Sprints reasoning here and I can respect that. What I cant respect is them screwing current customers. Why isnt this a new customer policy and current customers get to keep the perk. I mean really, dont offer to sell me a great steak and half way through eating it take it and give me only a decent one.

OMG Sprint is getting a leg up and now there head is growing so big they think there the king. I hope like heck we dont get the iPhone its only gonna makes Dan's head even bigger. I really am starting to dislike this guy. I stick with Sprint only because the coverage is decent and the price is good.

The price keeps going up and as tech gets better the coverage is noticibly getting weaker in my location. I mean the internet speed is weak all over around me 4G is a joke here it blankets my town but yet I scan in and out constantly. I also do a lot of work in a near by town and I get shotty coverage there.

I need to call Sprint just to complain, their phone suppor is generaly hit or miss. I dont expect to get anywhere and I am not sure Ill even call considering I am sure my points will be mute.
[EVO 4G General] mad1100:
This was very sad news indeed, one of the few reasons I continue with sprint is for my yearly phone upgrades, without that, I have many more quality phone options on other carriers. With all of these recent negative changes, I dont see things looking great for sprint.
[EVO 4G General] mccurt29:
so basically we have to pay $20 more a month if we have then $69 plan now is $89
[EVO 4G General] fenixjn:
Agreed, it is not right but it is still a perk which is

not in the contract you signed and agreed

. I don't think you'd have a legal standing even if this was the primary reason why you chose sprint over the other wireless carriers because that is just that: an additional benefit which was there because the carrier allowed it for its customers and it is within its right to modify it as it sees fit or even remove it completely.

Again, I agree on the fact that it is not right from the customer point of view, especially for those who have been with Nextel for far more time or those whose plan does not meet the minimum criteria for the 'gold tier' status even when they did before but no matter how big you want to make this, it does not change the fact that it is just a perk. Sprint is free to terminate the perk and do what ATT et. al. do: allow you to upgrade your phone on the 22th month instead for all lines.

Even with a class action lawsuit... I mean the only people who would benefit are the lawyers, the rest of us will get stuck with a 10% accessory discount coupon or something worthless, like a very small credit on the account. Would this cost sprint money? Of course not, Sprint is not the one footing the bill for this, there are always those fees at the bottom of the bill... so not only we don't get that perk back, we might also get a rate hike for it.

Will this cost Sprint some customers? Well you could say so but I don't expect a massive migration over unless the service on your area is pretty bad. Sprint is still one of the cheapest wireless service providers around before hitting on prepaid service and MetroPCS (which has LTE... walled garden LTE) does not have a nice network either so it could be in fact even worse than dealing with sprint. VZ... well you know how that goes. ATT... not even going there. TMO.. maybe, their plans are a little higher but seem to be the best option if you

really

want to leave sprint to make an statement.

As I said before, the best option for you is to talk to retentions and see if they can work out a deal for you, be it keeping your upgrades or allowing you to leave without ETF on some or all of the your service lines.

Well, if you were able to get your upgrades yearly and then find out that that perk was taken away the day you go to the store to pick up your new phone... you'd be very pissed, a lot more than already knowing that perk was taken away and the carrier informed you of that.
[EVO 4G General] whats77inaname:
Gold here, too :cool:, can't see what's on tap for 2010....
[EVO 4G General] randyreed1971:
Thats the ploy with newer electronics coming out.....you will never keep up. The laptop im on right now was new out-of-store when I bought it and the next day it was behind. Same with smartphones. Like I said earlier, the EVO has been out a little less than a year now and its still the best smartphone out there to date.

Sprint is not the only cell phone provider to change its contracts over time......They have ALL done it. Really, for the price, Sprint is pretty good. I have unlimited everything with 2 lines and I pay $115 a month with my discount that my employer offers with Sprint OR Verizon. I picked Sprint because it was a better deal, and it still is. AT&T sucks. T-Mobile sucks. Dollar for dollar the others cant compete with Sprint. Verizon would be my next choice, but with the same package I get with Sprint, Verizon was actually $27 more a month for me with the same2 lines. Sprint has NFL, Nascar, and Sprint TV which others do not.

My EVO is super fast, I dont drop calls, and does everything that I need it to do. Now throw rooting in the mix and all of us EVO owners have a pretty good damn phone, not to mention a good carrier service with Sprint. A friend of mine had a iphone4 with AT&T and would almost drop calls every 10 miles. Now he is with Sprint and a current EVO owner and couldnt be happier. Like these guys saying they are gonna jump ship and go to another provider because they are gonna be offering the new LG 3D phone. Why would you go to a crappy provider just to get a cell phone? Sure it might be good, but you would have to tell your friends to call you at home because you cant talk on the phone due to poor service. Dont get me wrong, I love the new little Gadgets and all, but I really think its funny when I read some of these posts........

Sometimes we forget that this is a PHONE.

Getting back to the point.......if we could have played the new Wii games on a first generation nintendo, would anyone ever buy a Wii ??????
[EVO 4G General] xlGmanlx:
this just proves you should go with best buy's buy back program, you won't break even more than likely but you will be able to buy phone's off contract i think and not have to keep extending your contract
[EVO 4G General] brownhornet:
And I think you dont realize that for quite a few Sprint IS a crappy provider. You do know they dont have service everywhere and there are quite a few places that AT&T has coverage when they dont right? In GA, once you go south of Atlanta Sprint's coverage is basically non-existent unless you stay near the interstate. Thats one of the reasons its absurd to me that Clear is adding 4G service in LaGrange because everytime I go there I have to roam on Verizon. A lot of people sacrifice that just because Sprint has been cheaper traditionally but with Verizon at least that price gap is closing. And its not much of a decision to choose between Verizon & Sprint if the difference is only $10 a month.

And I guess you also dont realize that the Evo (just a phone) is probably the only reason Sprint actually had a positive number of subscribers for once. AT&T and Verizon both have better coverage here than Sprint. As far as the NFL, Verizon actually took that from Sprint last year and Sprints current NFL app is garbage. Nascar, wack. Sprint tv, quality sucks unless you're on 4G and you cant even use it over wifi. I dont know where you live but you seem to have a concensus that Sprint is better than AT&T and Tmobile everywhere and thats quite the contrary. Verizon and AT&T also have faster data speeds than Sprint. Bottom line, Sprint is a value carrier, we all know this already. And honestly im starting to wonder if the Evo was just a fluke based on that retarded dual screen phone they announced.
[EVO 4G General] splink7007:
I am soo angry with Sprint right now it isnt funny. I got my letter in the mail the other day. I come to find out they have me in the "silver" premier tier. I only have the $129 plan but have been with Sprint well over 10 years. I called and spoke to a CSR about my start date. They have a start date for me being OCT of 2006. I said that is completely wrong on your part. I advised them that is when I got married and added my new wife to my family plan. Sprint had to of changed my account number or somehow managed to change my start date when I added a family plan to my account. The rep said they do see a note on my account from 2004 but still have a start date for me as 2006. I said think about it, that doesnt make any sense. How can there be notes on my account from 2004 but then I joined the company in 2006?? She would not budge on my start date. I got so pissed at her I had to hang up. I called back later in the day and spoke to someone who had a little bit of understanding. They transfered me to an escalations agent. Finally the escalations agent agreed that my start date did not make any sense. She claimed to have opened a ticket for some back office department. She said they will investigate the history of my number and get back to me. I really hope Sprint can figure this out. I have been giving them $200+ dollars every month for them to not know when I started with them. Thats just effn crazy.
[EVO 4G General] globen:
Just got my letter today!!!!!Looks like i'm going to roam crazy the next few months!!!Thanks SPRINT for caring!!!!
[EVO 4G General] swaze:
Lol tell em y you mad son. Bottom line sprint ain't better everywhere. So if its not where you live then leave .....who cares. But at&t vrz and T-Mobile sucks in my area. So I could care less. People come to my house and have no signal while I get great 3g and decent 4g inside my house. I wish people who keep posting they are leaving sprint would leave already and start complaining on the thunderbolt forum or atrix forum cause this is getting redundant

Sent from my HTC EVO
[EVO 4G General] brownhornet:
Mad? No, just pointing out the obvious that on a nationwide scale Sprint has the second to worst coverage there is. There's no denying that.
[EVO 4G General] swaze:
Wouldn't know I haven't been everywhere in the world.

Sent from my HTC EVO
[EVO 4G General] JayStation3:
I have been with sprint since 2001... I think May or June...so I should be okay after that, Ill have to call to confirm, but I'm almost positive Ill be okay... Im not waiting 22 months to get my upgrade when I have been with them so long...lol...
[EVO 4G General] detusueno:
LOL @ the delusional people who are saying that the EVO is still the best phone on the market. Hopefully your delusion will carry you and your already out dated EVO through 2012. For me it's a easy decision, no yearly upgrades and nothing worth upgrading to = going to download 20 gigs worth of ubuntu images.
[EVO 4G General] randyreed1971:
Brownhornet. .........so what is the best phone on the market right now? I'm curious to hear your opinion on that........

As far as service goes, I've been everywhere on the east coast from NY to FL and I always had great service. Your right, i cant speak for everywhere, but I can say here in Greensboro NC Verizon can't touch sprint. A friend is working right here with me right now and he's verizon Droid x can't touch an evo......not to mention 4G!

I agree with whoever said they wish you guys would jump ship and stop complaining about it. The ones that do jump will probably be back in a year or so bashing whoever they left sprint for.
[EVO 4G General] brownhornet:
Thunderbolt.. releasing in another week. Bionic, releasing in March. Atrix, Galaxy S II... and dont hit me with the "they're not on sale yet" line. Pretty much everything that's been debut'd so far this year has better specs than the evo EXCEPT the echo. And there's a reason Verizon is known as the nations largest network. And how many people is Sprint's 4G even practical for at this point? I live in a 4G city but it doesnt work indoors. Im willing to bet the majority of people that have EVO's dont even use 4G regularly if at all. I hardly even turn mines on mainly because I know if I do ill have to reboot since Sprint is still yet to fix the wimax bug that keeps trying to connect even if you cut it off.

Ill give it to Sprint that they did come out with 4G first.. no matter how useless it is for many. But Verizon pretty much closed that gap overnight and have already said theyll have their whole 3G network covered with LTE in another year. Evo is a good phone im not denying that but its time as the head phone on the market has pretty much come and gone. Hopefully Sprint will realize that and not try to ride its coat tails for the next 3 years while everyone else upgrades their handset selection.
[EVO 4G General] swaze:
U

Lol you do realize you can say that about every phone released.....for example you just named the thunderbolt as the best phone....well it got bested by the atrix already and neither have been released yet lol. So at the end of the day the evolution lasted on top or on par with everything that came out in 2010, but I doubt you will be able to say that about any phone you just named.

Sent from my HTC EVO
[EVO 4G General] Quis89:
Pretty sure AT&T has the highest number of dropped calls. Maybe in wrong though.

Although coverage and dropped calls don't always go hand in hand. In my area AT&T sucks. Verizon and Sprint go hand in hand.
[EVO 4G General] randyreed1971:
Like I said, evo is the best out right now and been that way nearly a year now. Hell I can name phones that hasn't even came out yet and say they are better. I bet that was said about the echo too.......

Im sure Sprint has a "new and improved" phone coming out this year by someone in their lineup. I doubt they are gonna sit around while all the other carriers are coming out with new phones. All you guys that are wanting to upgrade.......I guess that proves my point.
[EVO 4G General] Philyteach:
I got "the letter" yesterday. I called them up to discuss it and got some interesting and likely wrong information from the csr I spoke to. She said that it had to do with my credit with Sprint. When I asked her to explain she started fumbling with late payments, not enough history, poor credit score. I told her that I've had autopay since the account was opened 9 years ago and never missed a payment. As to my credit score, its probably better than Sprint's! So I asked her to escalate the call. I get a supervisor that tells me that my bill isn't high enough. I ask him how much I have to pay to be gold. He tells me $169. My reply to him was "oh great, I have my bill here and its $181, sign me up!" Now he tells me that when I take off the taxes and my $10 premier data charge I don't make 169, I'm at 155. I ask him to escalate because I'm a 9 year customer that's damned close to the $ mark as well. The pecker told me "they'll tell you the same thing and HUNG UP ON ME."

Anyone know how I can get a copy of the transcript of my call that was "taped for customer service training?" I do not tolerate being hung up upon, especially since I was actually being polite. If I were being a ****, which is my next mode of operation, I could understand it.