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Sprint Losing Money, says "Gouge the Customers"

gigaom.com — Sprint isn ’t just losing millions of customers and billions of dollars, it’s in the midst of pioneering a new management philosophy. We’ll call it the Three-Megabit Monte. Similar to the venerable street con, this is where Sprint leads a customer down a confusing line of lies and inflated charges in the hopes of making a buck.

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  • orientis, on 05/20/2008, -4/+7Don't you guys have a telecommunications ombudsman or something?
    • WELLDOITLIVE, on 05/20/2008, -3/+5***** Sprint sucks!
    • Yez70, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2An ombudsman program would be a good idea, but we 'supposedly' have competition in the market, which means you're money should do the talking. The only problem with that is the '2 year contracts' that you usually have to sign mean you have to pay a $200 fine in order to get new service. All our major carriers also lock their phones or use differing technologies so once you choose a cell carrier you're stuck with them for a few years...

      The 2 year contracts usually include a locked phone for free or under $100. Buying an unlocked phone in the US is not an easy task and it's usually fairly expensive ($200-$500). They are impossible to find offline and usually mean ordering from Europe online. You also get no price break when you choose a phone company without a contract.

      I'm not sure you can get unlocked phone for Sprint though, as they are not GSM compatible.
  • JerryAscione, on 05/20/2008, -19/+24I used to have Sprint, I threw that phone out the window on the highway. iPhone = happiness.
    • halobender, on 05/20/2008, -6/+20Too expensive. $300 for a cell phone not even considering the substantial payments made to AT&T for their services.
      • colin8651, on 05/20/2008, -4/+4$300 for a cell phone is not a large cost. Free phones and paying $50 for a phone is not the phones true cost, it is a subsidized price from the service provider. The Samsung U600 cost $297 to replace, that phone has nowhere near the features the iPhone does.
        • houndeyex, on 05/20/2008, -3/+8$300 is the iPhone's subsidized price.
        • sancho, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1How much is the AT&T iPhone plan? The minimum plan is $59.99. Plus $300 up front for the phone. Over your two year contract, that's $540 more than the "free" phone with a $50/mo plan.

          I'm not saying it's not worth it, but let's call a spade a spade--that money could matter to some people.
      • HerrSchnuff, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1Here in Germany I paid 99€ for it, doesn't strike me as expensive...
    • ryangoff, on 05/20/2008, -9/+5Ha! Sprint decided to change my number at their own whim. So I threw my Sprint phone out of my car window at 75 mph ... while on a bridge ... into a river. It was so liberating.
      • CodeCobalt, on 05/20/2008, -7/+10liberating... i'd say donating it to charity would be liberating. but eh, throwing your junk into all of our waterways... well thats not really liberating for anyone. I have Sprint, I have a phone thats in all honestly better than the iphone for what I need. It does everythign the iphone does and then some. minus a multitouch screen and accelerometer. But I also had lots of features the iphone didn't have for the longest time.

        AT&T doesn't equal happiness to me. I truely love sprint. but hey, if you like overspending then by all means stick with what you got. If you like to save a buck and get more features for that buck, http://www.sprint.com/sero is the place for you.
        • Cyclone83, on 05/20/2008, -1/+4Dugg for SERO. I laugh when I see companies offer unlimited plans for $99/month
        • cawpin, on 05/20/2008, -3/+2@Code - After reviewing your comments on this topic I am convinced that you are being paid to make them.
    • jmiddlin, on 05/20/2008, -2/+3that is earth friendly.
    • kingmanic, on 05/20/2008, -8/+10Over priced, under featured with the only thing that other phones don't have is a good web browser.
      iPhone = sucker.
      Try almost any phone in that price range from blackberry to Motorola for more features. This may change as more software gets written for the iPhone but currently the appeal of the iPhone is purely Jobs reality distortion field and tech lust for good looking gadgets.
      • luchid, on 05/20/2008, -4/+3So how did Apple manage to sell 5 million of them?
      • colin8651, on 05/20/2008, -4/+5When BlackBerry wants to add a new feature, they create a new phone for you to buy. When apple makes a change, you download it and install it on your Phone.

        What other phone has Exchange support? I am not talking about porting, but direct access.
        • cowsgonemadd3, on 05/20/2008, -3/+4ppc6700 has more features than the iphone and its 5 years old?? And it can DOWLOAD stuff....has more programs available because its windows based...a better keyboard....
        • kingmanic, on 05/20/2008, -3/+3This may be odd to a iPod/iMac person but get this, many phones allow you to INSTALL your OWN software. I know such a radical idea has only been around for a handful of decades so I can see how you could miss it. In the same vein this 'upgrading firmware' idea is surprisingly not Apple's invention either. Who da thunk eh.
        • mcquitty, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1And many phones don't allow you to install anything..

          People have been hacking the HTC phones for a long time... I used to have the original HTC Windows Mobile phone... too bad the thing wasn't overly stable. I liked it, but it would hang.

          Come to think of it, so did my last one... Blackberries for now, maybe a 3g iPhone... we will see. Lack of outlook synchronization and no 3g kept me away.
      • Fubeman, on 05/20/2008, -3/+1Go ahead. Keep telling yourself that. It's fine with us. Now repeat after me: "There's no place like home, There's no place like home, There's no place like home."
        If you want to bloat yourself with "features," go ahead. Features is not what's it's about (plus, if you want more features just jailbreak you iPhone and you'll have tons more - or better yet, wait until next month and you'll be able to stuff your face with as much features as you want). Me, I'd rather have a phone that just works and one that I don't have to hunt down a dumb ass menu system to turn my freaking volume down! It's about ease of use, the best browser and media player on any mobile device, reliability and not having to deal with an interface that sucks ASS! Now that's a "feature" I can use.
      • AVigorVermin, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1speaking of sucking ass...
    • huertanix, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2AT&T = Suprise NSA spying!
    • mofw, on 05/20/2008, -2/+1Why are you talking about your cell phone? This article is about T-1 lines.
  • chkdg8, on 05/20/2008, -2/+19Their stock is self explanatory: http://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/overview.asp?s ...
    • OwdenBowden, on 05/20/2008, -1/+5I was a Nextel subscriber for a long time. Liked the 2way walkie and the service was good (especially if you went out of the country). Then the worst merger on the planet happened (Sprint/Nextel) and I could not get any phone calls (everything went directly to voice mail; I could text message anyone in the Nextel network but not any other network - and forget picture messaging. I always got my bill 3 - 7 days after it was due - until I called and complained for the hundredth time and then I got it a day before it was due. And all in all I got sick of paying a large amount of money for a walking answering machine. seriously - Spirnt has been screwing their customers for a very long time. Now they can screw the Nextel customers as well. The company doesn't care about SERVICE - let alone customer service and if we are lucky they will tank and Verizon will eat them up (Only problem is that now Verizon is not investing in their infrastructure so their network is tanking a bit since they have the influx of new subscribers). Only time will tell
      • brufleth, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3I've had Sprint for about eight years now. I haven't had a single hickup in my service in those eight years. They have never over billed me, they offer competitive plans every time my contract is up, and they offered nationwide calling back before that was common place.

        In short, I've been nothing but satisfied with them. If I had one gripe it would be that they don't offer nicer phones WITHOUT a camera. That's a hardware manufacturer issue though.
  • SeaweedWater, on 05/20/2008, -3/+50Didnt they gouge the customers when they were making money as well?
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -3/+4Yes. A lot. ***** sprint.
    • samoan27, on 05/20/2008, -1/+3Anyone who says Sprint gouges their customers hasn't ever heard of the SERO plan (www.sprint.com/sero use savings@sprintemi.com to apply). Does anyone really think $30/month is too much for 500 anytimes, nights at 7, free sprint-to-sprint, unlimited Internet, and picture messaging (and if you politely ask for it free text and roaming too). Now don't get me wrong, Sprint may take advantage of the suckers who don't shop around, but lets face it whose fault is that.
    • mcquitty, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2How do you think they made money back then?
    • jaydoj, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2don't all telcoms gouge their customers? Everytime they use the phone?
  • slcseifist, on 05/20/2008, -7/+8Its a shame they have that cell phone walkie talkie feature, otherwise we'd be rid of them for good.
    • FredFredrickson, on 05/20/2008, -2/+11A shame? That's probably the single most annoying thing ever invented. There's a reason why nobody else has this feature - it's because we're all tired of hearing you douchebags' calls.
      • jaydoj, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1the only reply i have for that is that business use them all the time. I work for a hotel chain, and those are the main lines of interdepartment communication. Get rid of that and the gov't contracts and they are done for.
  • GIMAD2008, on 05/20/2008, -6/+14I like to use an electric company analogy. When I pay my electric bill I don’t have to worry about it as I am paying the current rate, and so is every customer that uses the same electric company. We don’t discover down the road that we are paying more per kilowatt than our neighbors. What the problem is they (SPRINT) has gotten away with it for so long that it has become standard operating procedure to stick it the customer and leave it up the to the customer to catch them. Perhaps there needs to be even further regulation of the industry to ensure that gouging doesn’t happen.

    The reason why the electric company (local cable, local phone companies, etc.) doesn't charge one customer and another customer something different is because all the customers are local (regional, etc.) and can talk to each other and compare notes if you will. Dedicated access companies such as Sprint has customers that are spread out and I am guessing that Sprint is taking advantage of the fact that these customers aren’t close enough to discuss services, therefore their is less scrutiny of it’s pricing.

    Due diligence shouldn’t fall on the customer, but on the company itself.
    • pinchduck, on 05/20/2008, -2/+7???? Why would the company do anything to limit their profits? Caveat Emptor, dude. In all purchases, for all goods and services. The company owes you nothing but what you contract for, they are not your mommy. The state of telecoms in the U.S. seriously sucks right now, and I'm trying to figure out how to carry a smartphone but not get locked into a 2 year contract. I don't feel that it is the crappy phone companies role to find the best phone/plan for me, it is up to me. Yeah, I will bitch to the various state/federal/ngo organizations if I feel I am getting illegally charged, but the due dilligence is up to me to figure out how to avoid crappy companies in the first place.
    • DarkPrincess74, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4There doesn't need to be more regulation of prices just more regulation of unfair practices. I'd say locking someone into a contract for years is unfair and directly effects prices. If people can't change the company that they use very often then the market forces are dampened. Lower prices will come from having more companies competing for the same customers. Instead of allowing mergers of phone companies government should prevent it because mergers rarely ever seem to truely benefit the customers unless of course the customers are on the board. I have a feeling at some point other companies will spring up and provide cell service that offers more options, fewer restrictions.
    • S3Captain, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2You are the reason this country is going down hill. You insist that the government oversee all aspects of your life so you don't get "hurt".

      Be a big boy. Do your own homework. "Due diligence shouldn’t fall on the customer, but on the company itself." ?? That is total BS. If you can't go onto the web for 15 mins to find out the going rates for T1 lines you are a mornon. Do you expect a car salesman to always sell you a car $50 over invoice out of the goodness of his heart too? Well, he's not unless you find out what invoice is, chief.

      I think Sprint is a crappy company, yes. Their services suck. But it's no excuse for you expect them bend over and not make as much of a profit as they can off of you.

      You don't want to do your 15 minutes of homework? Then buyer beware.
    • aelias, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Due dilligence is the company's problem? Look, if I want to charge 1000$ to wash someones car, and they pay it, then that's their fault. If the car wash down the street charges 10$, and they want to go there, that's fine, but don't expect me to pipe up about it.
      • sancho, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1No kidding. What's worse is that the sucker you get to pay you $1000 will get down the street, notice that they could have had it for $10, and come back to you demanding $990 back.

        This is a non-story. Someone overpaid for their T1s and now they're whining about it.
      • jaydoj, on 05/20/2008, -0/+11000$ for a car wash? There better be a ZJ involved with that
    • mcquitty, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Damn, you don't know much.

      Let me see...

      Phone companies have different plans for different customers.

      Think electric rates are the same? Some industries work at night for the cheaper electricity. In Texas, you can shop around for better rates from the numerous electric companies.

      Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile all have different rate plans for different types of customers. Business customer, bigger discount.

      Airlines. I could be in coach paying $1,500 for my ticket to Hawaii while the person next to me paid $300.

      Prices are different all over the place. You may not see it, but it still happens.


  • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/20/2008, -6/+19Me and my wife had NEXTEL phones, and they sucked. The contracts were for two years, but their crappy phones would only last one year. Then you couldn't get a new phone without "upgrading" and signing a new contract. When Sprint took over they got even worse. We were glad to pay $400 in early termination fees just to get the hell away from them.
    • RonBurgundy76, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1If they couldn't hold up their end of the contract, then I would have told them to stick that $400 termination fee up their ass.
      • jaydoj, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2Ron, I did that with 'fewest dropped calls my ass' Cingular about three years ago. 417.50 in cancellation fees, told em to stick it up their ass. Hasn't touched my credit yet. ***** these companies, they're all full of *****. Iphone or not, there's no way I'd deal with ATT/CIngular ever again, they can burn in hell for all I care.
        • RonBurgundy76, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Good work. If more people stood up for themselves, then perhaps some of these companies would figure out that trying to ***** us over every time we turn around isn't their best option.
  • phydeaux70, on 05/20/2008, -3/+17So....perhaps it would be wise to do some comparison shopping when getting a T1 in your place of business????
    • BXRWXR, on 05/20/2008, -3/+3RTFA. It's amazing what you'll learn.
  • ryannerd, on 05/20/2008, -3/+9They need to have Murphy Brown doing their PR again or they are doomed.
  • KWhat, on 05/20/2008, -4/+16I ended up leaving sprint and paying the $200 termination fee because each month they would charge me over $250 one nickel or dime at a time. I kind of hope they go out of business.
  • Ascendancy5, on 05/20/2008, -6/+7They're the lesser of the 4 major cell phone companies anyways.
  • sandiegodude, on 05/20/2008, -3/+42I've been a Sprint customer for 3 years now. My PERSONAL experience with them has always been great, great customer service, good features, good coverage where I live/work/play. Don't know what Bohica is talking about with 1 year lifespan on phones, I've got a flip phone which still works fine which was my first phone (I since added a different phone and now just keep my old flippy for backup)

    To each their own I guess.

    One thing this article doesn't point out though... Was the "Sprint Salesman" mentioned in the article an actual Sprint employee or an "authorized dealer?" I've seen plenty of shady salesmen in my life, and cell phone salesmen are, at least in my eyes, a step down from used car salesmen.
    • ticktock4, on 05/20/2008, -0/+22I'm in the same boat. 3 years now with Sprint. No complaints. I think I've lost maybe 5 calls in 3 years, never had any problems with the phones or customer service.
    • funkyloki, on 05/20/2008, -1/+7Not every cell phone salesman is that low. I owned a store for a time. We were what you refer to as Authorized Dealer. And my bread and butter was in customer service. It never benefited me in the long run to lie or cheat a customer. Return customers were our business. We ALWAYS went over every detail of the contract, we never pushed someone into more expensive plans or equipment, and we gave lifetime warranties on our accessories. And there are a lot of independent dealers like me out there. Unfortunately, there is too much competition and all advertising is geared towards the big box and corporate entities, and IMO, that is where most of the problems lie. Maybe we were the anomaly, because I will tell you from experience, that a lot of new customers came to us because of how they were treated at the corporate store, be it AT&T, Sprint, TMobile or Verizon. And a lot of them stayed with us because of how we treated them. Just saying, not everyone lives down to the stereotype.
    • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3The phones that died on me any my wife were Nextel i830s. I used to call them CSI phones because they had product placement deals on the show. They were pulled off the market about a year or so because of their poor performance.

      http://www.mobiledia.com/phones/motorola/i830.html
    • tavisjohn, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2I have been a sprint customer sense BEFORE there was internet on your phone. And I have been happy with them! My phones last about 2 years. (The length of the contract)
      I have looked at phones from authorized dalers, and was greeted with people who only knew how to push the "Current Phone" and was unable to answer questions about any phone but the one they were told to sell sell sell...
      So I pretty mutch only shop at the Sprint stores that have the repair centers in them.
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -3/+2Sprint has tried to rape my bank account a number of times, in my experience it takes about 2 months and hours upon hours talking to some piece of ***** from India who doesn't care if Sprint has been charging you $200 extra a month, no matter how polite you are they are callous pricks who can barely speak English. Chances are, they will ***** up your bill even more next month.

      When you finally get to speak to someone who understands and can speak English reasonably well and when you finally get to speak with their manager, they will act like they are sorry and beg you not to cancel. They'll give you something for free (I got free phone as modem, it sucks) and then a few months later, ***** up your bill again.

      My next phone sure as hell will not be a sprint phone.
    • shdwtek, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I've been a customer since 2003, and it hasn't been that bad overall, but there have been some major exceptions.

      Twice now, they have not wanted to give me the rebates on my phone. I've had to call and argue with them, and tell them that it wasn't part of a promotion that I "missed the date on". It's because I'm eligible to upgrade, and should get the rebate. The finally understood when I caught them in their failed logic.

      One of the big ones was when they offered me a plan change. I figured, wow, this sounds pretty good. More minutes, a second phone, about the same price. Can't lose right?

      Well, what they didn't tell me is the price didn't include all the stuff I already had. If I go and buy a $600 phone with keyboard, I'm going to want to keep my unlimited text messaging, should be common sense. But, nope, they took that off, and the internet. Even though the Vision Plan was recommendation/requirement with my phone. When I tried to go back within the 30 days, they said my old plan didn't exist anymore. I've come to some sort of middle ground with them, I guess.
      • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2Thanks for reminding me. Out of the four phones I purchased (two as NEXTEL, two as Sprint), I was supposed to get a rebate on all four. In the end, I only was able to collect on one of them (50% success as NEXTEL, 0% success as Sprint).
    • aelias, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4I've been a customer 10 years. They double billed me once. I made one phone call and it was fixed instantly. I never drop calls. Meh.
    • brufleth, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2Ditto. I've had them for eight years without a single problem. I haven't only had to replace phones after I destroyed them. One phone I even fell off a bike and slid down a road on. Scratched the hell out of it and kept working until I finally wanted a nicer one.

      They've also given me good plan options whenever the contract was up. I have my fiancee's phone my plan now too. We pay less for the two phones, text messages, more minutes than we ever use, free roaming, etc than most people pay for one phone.
  • minorthreat, on 05/20/2008, -2/+5I could be wrong here, but when you buy internet access, you never truly get the advertised speed. However, if you are paying fo over 2,000 a month of a dedicated t-3 line, I believe your entitled to the full 3Mbps bandwidth. I don't believe he is doing the right thing by suing, he should have brought this to their attention earlier.
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4If it's what they advertise, it's what they should be providing. The law is pretty ***** clear about that.
      • tunapez, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3The law is as clear as their "stated" speeds are not. If you read it again, you will notice the inclusion of the words "up to".

        I got their Hi-speed and couldn't get more than 200Kb/s(in 3 diff cities/states) testing on Sprint servers. Luckily I took it back before 30 days, and my short stint w/ them was closed. So I thought. Next month, $60 monthly charge arrived, 1 hour and 2 managers later it was fixed, email confirmation received. End of story. Errrr, next month, late charges on past due charges from a collection agency. Sent Sprint's email, spoke to Sprint managers, 2.5 hours later, case closed. But wait! The 3rd month after I invoked my 30 day customer dis-satisfaction clause, here comes the $200 early-termination fee. This one took 3 managers in 3 departments, hopefully the confirmation email received is truly the end. But as the moral of the story goes, it's all in the wording. Next month is just around the corner...
      • squison, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1T1 contracts are generally very specific on the speeds they guarantee and the penalties for not hitting those speeds. If this guy was stupid enough to not get a decent SLA on his T1, that's his own damn fault.
    • secrity, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1A T3 is 45 mbs
  • ErikHarrison, on 05/20/2008, -18/+12***** SPRINT.
    • Nathan187, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2Woah...what a clear, concise comment. Took a huge amount on intellectual brainpower on that one.
      • sandersdamnit, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2***** YOU it probably took you five minutes took come up with that witty retort and for the record ***** SPRINT
  • snotrokit, on 05/20/2008, -7/+2gee, what happened to "Dan's" $99 per month for everything spots? He sure looks friendly enough, even puts his own email address out there for the world to see. Dan@sprint.com

    I have personally never had sprint, so I couldn't tell ya. I have always had TMo and AT&T.
  • BufordT, on 05/20/2008, -3/+8How is a major Telco like Sprint gouging customers news?
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3In my experience, they regularly add spurious charges to your bill, then you have to call and argue for hours just to get the bill you're supposed to get. I'm not talking a $1.50 hidden charge, I'm talking about $200-300 charges for internet or something like that when you are told repeatedly that your plan is unlimited.
  • KloroFormd, on 05/20/2008, -8/+6Lemme tell you my story as a customer locked into a cellphone contract with Sprint. Yeah, unrelated to the article, but it should give you an idea of the issues you could have.

    I haven't gotten a bill in 17 months. I received the first bill, none since. Called customer service 10+ times, tried signing up for email billing... nothing. Switched back to paper billing, still nothing. Called to bitch some more... and nothing.

    I got letters and emails both saying I got my deposit back and my spending limit has been removed for being a loyal customer, but they can't get me the damn bill.

    ***** Sprint. 6 more months to go, and I'm dropping this *****.
    • CodeCobalt, on 05/20/2008, -1/+6if you don't like it get your head out of your ass and cancel your contract. Its VERY easy to do with sprint, as they do change their charges fairly often. Once they make a change to your contract you can get out of it no questions asked. I ALMOST cancelled my sprint plan because my razr finally broke, and I wanted the mogul.

      they changed one of the fees by 2 freaking cents. I called, asked for retentions, explained how the increase in the charge caused me financial hardship and I could no longer afford the service. I now receive a $5 credit per month, all because they wanted to charge me 2 extra cents a month.

      So call up Sprint, be friendly, and you'll get what you want. If you call up being an ass you deserve a hard time and you'll get one.
      • dha07030, on 05/20/2008, -1/+4"So call up Sprint, be friendly, and you'll get what you want. If you call up being an ass you deserve a hard time and you'll get one."


        I work in the field this could not be more true!
        • tunapez, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1Sorry to hear that, how do you sleep at night knowing your job is to wheedle, grift and connive?
        • dha07030, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1Hahahaha you are an *****!!!
      • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2...provided they speak English, of course. Otherwise you might want to learn to speak Hindi.
        • mrgreen4242, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Actually almost all of my Sprint CS reps have been native English speaking. My best guesses are Texas area and Canadians depending on the time of day I call.
      • KloroFormd, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I'm always friendly when I call, as are they. And they speak native English.

        I have the choice of going prepaid or paying a $500 deposit to switch carriers due to having limited credit history, so I'll just stick it out until the contract is up.

        I like everything about the service other than needing to add picture mail to get the pictures off my phone, then being charged the outrageous data fee on top of that. I'd like to keep it if they can fix the billing problem, but it's looking like I'm gonna have to talk to someone a little higher up in the chain. It's getting old being told that the problem should definitely be fixed, just to find out it isn't. I'm about ready to demand a nice expensive phone for my troubles.
    • clearwaterlab, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1So, you're complaining for NOT having to pay a bill?
      • KloroFormd, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1No, I'm complaining on NOT getting a bill. I'm still able to check on the phone itself and online, and know how much to pay that way.
  • RedHerringHack, on 05/20/2008, -4/+7The gouging has resulted in the inevitable flocking of customers AWAY from sprint/nextel, and therefore there financial failure. They are stuck in a loop until they crash.
  • drgreenberg, on 05/20/2008, -2/+28Like Sprint or hate them, the actual article is just a rant from an ignorant customer over common telecom practices.
  • plizard, on 05/20/2008, -6/+6i made the mistake of switching from cingular to sprint. my contract is up in 7 months, i'm going back to at&t.

    they have the most ignorant, worthless, drop outs working for their customer service department. everyone of them is an ***** and attempts to make you sound like an idiot and you are wrong.

    the most common problem i have with their customer service is some 9th grade dropout, smacking gum and saying "well it aint in your records" and then they don't know what to say whenever i give them a confirmation number or ask them to explain to me a service or feature only a sales person or another employee would know about.
    • PS3Camaro, on 05/20/2008, -1/+3ha ha, dealing with sprint in the past, their customer service is completely ridiculous, instead of a HS dropout, gum smacking chick, I was transfered to a good handful of people of various nationalities of which none could speak clearly
      • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2At least you got someone you could understand.
    • mrgreen4242, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4I have had the exact opposite experience. Sprint CS has been great ATT's was AWFUL, horrible, terrible, etc etc.
  • ePuck, on 05/20/2008, -3/+12Sprint does suck though. No matter what the article or comments say.
  • msk275, on 05/20/2008, -3/+3Well in all honesty, I've never heard anything positive about Sprint other than their unlimited texting.
    I know that I'll avoid Sprint because of all the negative feedback they've received. Unless they have a major turnaround.
    • PS3Camaro, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2What cell phone carrier doesn't have unlimited texting? I just checked their rates in my area, and I pay $5 less a month than they charge... -shrugs-
    • mrgreen4242, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Here's something positive about Sprint: They have good CS, from my personal experience. Never had a problem with them, and it's been 22 months now. They have a truly idiotic data plan/MMS messaging rate system, but their CS reps are helpful and polite.

      I'll renew my contract with them if I can get a good deal on data/text/MMS service, and that will be the first time I've ever stayed with a cell carrier past the initial contract (had Nextel, ATT, Tmobile, and now Sprint).
  • maddikp, on 05/20/2008, -9/+2Get Vonage
  • Professr, on 05/20/2008, -2/+8I tried to cancel my Sprint account in February, and they kept charging me. They lied about actually cancelling it. It took two more tries and until May to finally get the account closed and the charges removed. I will never use Sprint again, or AT&T either (poor service, technical issues, and HIGH prices).
    • prleet, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1been there done that......how much i don't miss doing that again
  • lacr, on 05/20/2008, -10/+3My boyfriend pays for my cell phone and his fathers cell phone, and we all share a plan. My boyfriend talks ALOT and texts alot, so he does go over his minutes, but 25 cents per text message? $500 a month for a PHONE BILL? The upsetting part is that to cancel, he'd have to pay the early termination fee x 3. I think we might switch to Cingular, because of their rollover minutes. We looked into Verizon for broadband wireless, and our 1 month trial ended up being $400, because they charge for streaming, and we watch a lot of YouTube videos. Verizon took $200 off the bill, but I think using them as a cell phone service isn't in our near future.
    • Cyclone83, on 05/20/2008, -0/+6Umm, so don't go over your plan limits...? You think you'd be able to figure that out. Buried.
    • ConceptualTrap, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3Can't you get an unlimited plan for a lot less than 500$ a month on ANY provider?
      • secrity, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1 I think that $500 bill was for three phones, not one.
    • dha07030, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4These are the people I deal with all day.
    • mxmj, on 05/20/2008, -0/+4Get a better plan with more minutes and unlimited texting.
      Problem Solved.
    • paidhima, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2Amazing. You subscribe to services that provide for a certain type and amount of usage, you use that service well beyond the provided allotments and complain about being charged for that extra usage. My sympathy meter is right around zero.
      • dha07030, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2Why cant more customers be like you.
    • cowsgonemadd3, on 05/20/2008, -1/+4For goodness sake read the fine print BEFORE using otherwise dont cry when you get the bill....
      If you keep running over then upgrade the plan...A lot of plans now offer unlimited talk and text for 99.99 a month so thats a whole lot cheaper than 500 a month....What on earth could he be talking about for that long anyways?
    • Andrwmorph, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1For like an extra $25 more you get unlimited data with Verizon.
    • secrity, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1So with the discount the cost was $100 per line; which isn't bad for that sort of usage. You are ***** streaming youtube fer christ sakes.
  • stevensj2, on 05/20/2008, -2/+18Sprint is the only company whose customer service has hung up on me, blindly transfered me to someone else without telling me or the person I was transfered to, and tried to sell me something else while I was complaining about my phone. No joke, I was interrupted mid-sentence with "Do you have a computer nearby?...Does it have internet?...We are offering a one time entry fee..." And when I made it clear I was not interrested, and would like to get back to the issue I called about, I was continuously told about their internet.

    I spent over 5+ hours with them simply trying to activate the phone. After going to a local Sprint store, the rep noticed they had been typing in all kinds of access numbers, and even added an entirely new phone on my activation. Long story short, numbers had to be changed, phones I didn't even have deactivated, and it was nothing short of the biggest mess I have ever experienced.

    Occasionally when I get my bill, I get billed twice for the same thing, and have to call to get the second charges removed.

    The crap they do is absolutely absurd, and I would never recommend them to anyone. The only reason I am staying with them until my contract is up is because I am not handing them additional fees and giving them more money than my plan states. It is a hassle to have to call and correct them so often, but it is an inconvenience I will accept knowing that they are not receiving more money because of it.
    • Andrwmorph, on 05/20/2008, -0/+6Well I guess we know where all the AOL customer service reps work now.
    • treedude, on 05/20/2008, -0/+0I have had Sprint for some time and have never had an issue with customer service. The only reason I am with Sprint is because the same Verizon plan would cost me $30 more and my nights would start at 9 and not 7.

      In fact I just recently (about 2 months ago) called up because my fiance's RAZR was giving her ***** and she was sick of it. She had only had it about 8 months and it was not eligible to upgrade yet. So I called to see what they could do for me. no sales pitch or anything. They listened and asked me what phone she would like. I said an LG Rumor and they let me have it for $100 as long as I resigned. The same price, sans the $50 MIR, that she would get if she were eligible, which wasn't for another year. Needless to say I was happy and she was happy.

      I still have my Samsung A920 which I bought in February of 06 and it is still going strong. I don't see the need to upgrade since I have a Blackberry through my job (data only).

      I really like Sprint and I hope they stick around. If not I will probably shoot over to AT&T simply for the ease of switching phones.
  • XeriousTrubble, on 05/20/2008, -5/+14nothing positive about sprint? heard of SERO? www.sprint.com/SERO - adam.smith@sprint.com. $30/m for 500anytime, almost unlimited everything else. dugg this down because ALL telcoms do this, not just SPRINT.
    • jonshipman, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2you must not have had other telcoms, because my T-mo doesn't do this.
      • XeriousTrubble, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2since when did tmob start offering t1 lines?
  • Maverick0420, on 05/20/2008, -1/+6i used to work at sprint and i prayed everyday for us to be bought out by another company like google or vonage... Customer service is crappy even to its own employees for our phones and even trying to get a person in sales to not hang up on me trying to get a customer their stylus replacement. Not to mention their system is a piece of ***** with horrible programming and about a million different tools that could easily be combined into one program. And the fact that dealing with dolts who in the first place shouldnt have a phone/data card or let alone operate one because they are too stupid to read a manual or think their phone should be able to order pizza if u are 20000 leagues under the sea really made me stop caring really quickly. Which is sad because the CDMA EVDO network totally kicks AT&T and T-Mobile's EDGE network in the nuts.

    Training was awful too we got no hands on test calls and were thrown out in the wild blue with barely any hands on after nothing but lectures and power point slides.

    Oh and not to mention the damn monitors looking down on you and judging your calls and if you screw up just one thing their or if your opinion on whats wrong technically turns out to not be what really is happening even though you have no way of really knowing since the phone isnt in your hand completely fails your call is retarded as well. Its a really ***** up company to even work for.

    When a company treats their own employees like dirt and employees treat other employees who are trying to do a good job like dirt it makes us the good ones really not care anymore and customer service over all sucks.

    IMO if you want a good network like spirnt but better service go to Verizon. They use the same CDMA EVDO network.

    I think Wimax is gonna be in trouble if sprint cant get their ***** together.
  • glock22ownr, on 05/20/2008, -5/+6Man, Sprint sucks so hard it's not even funny. I remember my friend got a Sprint phone a while back and they shut off his phone after he went over a certain amount of minutes. Getting it re-activated was a pain in the ass. Then canceling it was even worse. After watching that trainwreck Sprint will NEVER be on my list of place to shop for service through. Not to mention the 14k bills stories, crap like this and so on. Nextel's service sucked balls, Sprint's customer service and service sucked balls.... they merged ... what do you expect? A miracle ?
  • chrisinsocalif, on 05/20/2008, -2/+4Sprint owns Boost Mobile, a prepaid service. I get unlimited talk time, picture and text messages for only 50 dollars a month. With tax its only around 53 dollars. There is no contract so I can cancel anytime. Only two downfalls are that you have to pay for the phone when you start up the account and the customer service is ghetto and stupid, otherwise its better than getting an actual Sprint plan.
  • lewhich, on 05/20/2008, -4/+2I used to have sprint for 6 years (since college - 150 minutes talk time a month).
    A few years ago, I wanted them to give me a discount on a new phone and them bitches said I must sign a 2-year contract ... I gave them the finger and went to T-Mobile (with my number) which was a great move because I got a Razr (which was very hot at the time) for a one year contract which expired last year
  • mustafya, on 05/20/2008, -0/+6This article is specifically talking about the special access (circuit) side of Sprint's business. I work in telecom cost management which means I deal with these sorts of issues on a daily basis. Let me tell you something Sprint has absolutely NOTHING on ATT as far as horrible billing practices on the special access side.
  • XeriousTrubble, on 05/20/2008, -1/+1LOLing at all the comments on GigaGOM the said post. Guy is a ***** moron.
  • CodeCobalt, on 05/20/2008, -4/+7Why is everyone so against sprint anyways? I swear if half the people would educate themselves they wouldn't have a problem with it at all. Yea customer service can be outsourced, which is annoying but everyone is doing it nowadays. Good news is, if you have a major problem, or just want an american to assist you, they will gladly transfer you back over to the states. Or better yet just ask for retentions everytime you call and you are garunteed an American on the line. They have a very large coverage area, the fastest and most available wireless internet available. their phone choice is lacking, but theres some good ones up there. I personally have the cheapest plan out of anyone I know, and no dropped calls.
    • jamesLankford, on 05/20/2008, -2/+1"have a very large coverage area, the fastest and most available wireless internet available."

      no they don't, consumer reports does a customer survery every few months and Sprint is never at the top
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2I asked repeatedly to be transferred to an American or an Englishman and they refused every time. I deal with many various customer service departments and Sprint is easily one of the worst.
  • kcflyer, on 05/20/2008, -3/+10This is a complete load of crap. This is a regulated service based on published tariffs. The complainer signed a contract without doing any research, and now two years later wants his money back? One of the commenters on the gigaom.com site took the time to look the tariff up, and found that the claims of the salesman lying were probably unfounded, too.

    Why blame Sprint for your own laziness and lack of research? And shame on gigaom for just regurgitating the ranting of an idiot without doing any research into the issue. This is what keeps bloggers from being considered serious journalists.
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2lol @ bloggers being considered serious journalists
  • ampledismantle, on 05/20/2008, -0/+9I've had service with a couple of the major carriers and gouging, raping, and pillaging are commonplace. Everyone I know who has service with any provider has nightmares and horror stories. It's very unlikely that Sprint is THAT much worse than all the rest (as my experience had been otherwise), but needless to say... I have yet to see one cell phone company worth defending.
  • CodeCobalt, on 05/20/2008, -2/+3the guys main beef is that he only got 2.5 mbps as opposed to the advertised 3 mbps, its the same with any company.
  • mikiekwoods, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2Shouldn't the title read "Sprint, Losing Money, Says "Gouge the Customers."
  • kurtwinter, on 05/20/2008, -3/+2Look at any other carrier's plans. Nice and simple, voice costs this much, data costs this much, bundles cost this much, but with Sprint, its all a shell game. They will give anyone a phone, take cash for payment, and don't even check names or addresses. Sprint: The phone service for drug dealers.
  • doogly, on 05/20/2008, -1/+3I had Sprint, but they were so absolutely terrible, I'm switching to AT&T, I might even pay the early termination fee they are so bad and it would be worth the money to have peace of mind.
  • o0adam0o, on 05/20/2008, -1/+6Sprint has been good to me...altho now their "unlimited data" has a 5gb cap. However i have a SERO plan which means i pay $35 a month hehe
  • enochthewalker, on 05/20/2008, -2/+3Can all of you idiots read the article and see that this is about t1 access and not cell service please.
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -2/+2This thread is now about how much sprint's cell service sucks, please try to keep up.
    • enochthewalker, on 05/21/2008, -1/+1This article is about t1 access. If people want to bash sprint that is fine but people are making retarded comments as if this article is about Sprint's cell service.
    • secrity, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1The artickle was about T1's; the problem is that the last line read "For more examples of Sprint’s philosophy in action, check out this story, this story and this one." -- the examples were about cell phones.
  • ...---..., on 05/20/2008, -1/+3I have worked for Sprint - both as a switch tech and a cell tech - and I have installed their equipment (I now work for the manufacturer) for 8 years now. Sprint has consistently been all about cheap and dirty, low budget, low pay and make do with the least possible.
    After their purchase of Nextel (Next Hell) for 32 billion their stock dropped until they both had a combined value of 31 billion. Nextel's IDEN network is an ancient and dying technology and wasn't worth 5 billion let alone 32.
    The final nail in the coffin for Sprint was their failed drive for 4G WiMax. They went with a platform that wasn't supported by their existing switch equipment - meaning that they had to build an entirely new independent switch for that alone. Then instead of merely upgrading existing cell equipment for 4G they needed to install whole new frames at every site. In the Boston market they ordered hundreds of these and installed 5! Even of those 5 they never got them up on the air. They have since pulled out of the 4G plan and are trying to sell it - hacking it off like the diseased limb that it is.
    They put all of their marbles on the table for Nextel and 4G and lost big on both. It was a big gamble and they lost. Sprint is now trying to position themselves to be bought out - rumor has it that Deutch Telecom has their eye on it.
    • enochthewalker, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2Hmmm. Funny you should say that. I could swear that i just read they had a partnership with several large and powerful companies on wimax (comcast, google, and intel to name a few) and still maintained 51% share and control. That does not sound like bailing out on wimax to me. I think it sounds more like, we can't afford to do this on our own but we really want to make it happen so let's partner up. What do I know though.
  • daivos, on 05/20/2008, -2/+3I have Sprint. I'm not over-charged, I simply make it a point to understand my plan. Anyone who would think they are any better or worse than any other wireless telecom is short-sighted.
    • roflbrothel, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I know all about my plan, they still overcharge me, and they have admitted every time that they have overcharged me, it was an accident, and they are sorry. This has happened repeatedly.

      Anyone who claims their experience is the norm without stopping to think that perhaps others have a legitimate gripe, is short-sighted.
  • Snekers, on 05/20/2008, -2/+1Yeah, T-Mobile!
  • corbettkroehler, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2Their prices are high, of that there can be no doubt, and their telephone system has multiple black holes which make it very difficult to speak to anyone with a pulse, much less an American.

    I'm really sorry to see 4G go and I wish they'd stop promoting their 3G program like it's 4G!

    My Spring mobile broadband service works pretty well.
  • cadmiumpaint, on 05/20/2008, -1/+2I had Sprint for 3 years. They were a nightmare. Almost every bill was messed up with over charges. Customer service was rude. Their billing was incompetent and their phones always broke before my contract expired. The stores were horrible experiences were they made you feel like a pest for wanting to buy something, or get tech support. I changed carriers the day my contract expired. And will NEVER go back.
  • skoles, on 05/20/2008, -2/+2NexTel used to be good, but when Sprint bought them it went to the ***** quickly. Here in the New England area they were doing something with their towers and said service would be "sporadic" for a good 2 years and after that it would be great again. Calls drop out constantly or voicemail just doesn't go through for a whole day sometimes. It's impossible to get connected to the 411 service on the first try, now I have to jump through a menu & then a computer before being connected. And as someone said, the customer service used to be phenomenal, now it sucks. But feel free to keep jacking up the bill for that.

    I was a few years out of my contract when I dumped them and a few months later they send me a bill for $3.12 with no explanation. I keep "forgetting" to call them and tell them to go pound sand. Now I'm with AT&T, which has it's own share of problems but at least the coverage is good and I got a free BB Pearl out of it.

    Call me paranoid, but I swear cellular companies keep new customers on a separate system where every call is clear & connects perfectly fine with full bars. But once you're out of that 30 day cancelation period you're thrown in with the rest of the locked-in animals. Because I've noticed my service has degraded somewhat.
  • mcphatty, on 05/20/2008, -2/+4After reading this article, it reminded me that I needed to cancel my Sprint service.. These people are desperate for customers it seems, after I clearly stated that my only intention was to cancel my service, they resorted to offering me first a 50/mo plan, then a 10/mo plan! Both for 1000 minutes! Too bad I like my iPhone so much.
  • trm3446, on 05/20/2008, -0/+3I've had Sprint and never had any problems. To each their own.
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