Retention hassle and resolution

[rsriniv24]

Accidently posted this in Retention Guru III, but I wanted to relate my experiences of today.

My husband and I have been with Sprint 7+ years, our monthly bill is 108.40 after taxes


Current plan 2000 anytime min.
Sprint to Sprint unlimited
n/w at 7pm
vision

Phones:
sanyo scp5300
sanyo vi2300

We never asked Sprint for anything. I have had my phone for a year since the old one broke and had to pay 110 for it. Husband has had his phone for 2 1/2 yrs.

He called retention this morning that lasted 45 frustrating minutes, and the best they could offer was $299 Treos and "secret plans" they had to save us money. We were polite and said we wanted to stay with them. We did our research and other companies are offering better phones (Black Jack, Q, Dash) and comparable plans. His contract ends next month, mine ends in Sept. 07.

We asked for:
* 2 Treos for as little as possible, barring that we wanted 2 Fusics that were 29.99 on the site yesterday.

* discount on plan
* Vision
* free activation and shipping
* insurance on both phones

They did nothing!! Were we asking for the moon? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Rina

[rsriniv24]

My husband spent another 30 minutes, first talking to customer loyalty (they were useless "we can only talk plans!"), then he was transferred to retention. After 10-15 minutes on hold, he was offered Treo 700ps for $299 and nothing else. The same offer he got during his first call. As he tried to complain, the call was dropped (one of the reasons we want to switch!).

He was walking into his office, and he called me, and I took over.

I made a call to customer support, and after I complained about how he was treated, I was transferred to retention.

I haggled for a bit, and they offered $199 apiece for two treo 700ps. I kept pressing, talking about our two 'tween daughters who will soon need phones, and how we've been paying over $100 a month for the last 2-plus years.

Then the rep slipped and said, well we're offering you the treos for $199.99 and you're getting a $200 credit. I said, "so that means, that'll be two 700 ps for $99.99 apiece?" She hemmed and hawed. She went to talk to a supervisor and 15 minutes later she came back and said, "So you want 2 free fusics? I think we can do that."

I kept hammering, and after a few more minutes on hold, we had the treos for $100 apiece.

Where they zapped us was the service plan. They wouldn't give more than the 10 percent discount offer they sent in the mail a few days ago, and we had to up the bill to add ultimate vision at $15 per line (the rep said it was normally $25 per line0).

What we got:
2 treo 700ps -99.99/each

1400 anytime min
free long distance
sprint-to-sprint
50 text messages--neither of us have sent one EVER!
7 p.m. n/w
ultimate vision $15/per line
insurance $6 per line
free shipping
activation and upgrade fees waived
10% off the bill

This will cost us $119 a month before taxes. ...

A question, what can we do to lower our monthly bill?

[weyland]

Looks like we had almost identical plans.
I've been on with them for 7 years on this stint, and 3 more prior to this one.

I had three phones (Sanyo MM7400, Motorola C290, and Nokia 6225) and this plan-

* $100.00 PCS Free & Clear Plan
* Minutes Are Shared On This Plan
* All Minutes Include Long Distance
* 2000 Anytime Minutes
* Unlimited Night and Weekend Minutes
* Nights: M-Th 7PM-7AM Wknd: F 7PM-M 7AM
* Caller ID, Call Waiting
* Three-way Calling
* Voicemail
* Additional Anytime Minutes $.40 Per Min.

Today, I ended up with -
* PCS Free & Clear Plan
* Minutes Are Shared On This Plan
* All Minutes Include Long Distance
* 2000 Anytime Minutes
* Unlimited Night and Weekend Minutes
* Nights: M-Th 7PM-7AM Wknd: F 7PM-M 7AM
* Caller ID, Call Waiting
* Three-way Calling
* Unlimited Mobile to Mobile
* Phone as a Modem
* 100 Text messages
* Power Vision on two of the three phones
* Three new RAZRs
* NVD discount
* Loyalty discount

I don't wanna jinx the deal until I see the price in writing (because they
*HAVE* been known ot fsck things up from time to time), but I can say that
it is *WAYYYYYY* less expnsive than what we (you and I) have been paying.
(looks like we were paying the same)

Best,

Weyland

[Dan]

Accidently posted this in Retention Guru III, but I wanted to relate my experiences of today.

My husband and I have been with Sprint 7+ years, our monthly bill is 108.40 after taxes


Current plan 2000 anytime min.
Sprint to Sprint unlimited
n/w at 7pm
vision

Phones:
sanyo scp5300
sanyo vi2300

We never asked Sprint for anything. I have had my phone for a year since the old one broke and had to pay 110 for it. Husband has had his phone for 2 1/2 yrs.

He called retention this morning that lasted 45 frustrating minutes, and the best they could offer was $299 Treos and "secret plans" they had to save us money. We were polite and said we wanted to stay with them. We did our research and other companies are offering better phones (Black Jack, Q, Dash) and comparable plans. His contract ends next month, mine ends in Sept. 07.

We asked for:
* 2 Treos for as little as possible, barring that we wanted 2 Fusics that were 29.99 on the site yesterday.

* discount on plan
* Vision
* free activation and shipping
* insurance on both phones

They did nothing!! Were we asking for the moon? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Rina

Sprint is not going to move alot on the price of treo's. the $299 price is the same that verizon offers the phones for, so your not getting "shafted" there.

If you dont need 2 treo's right now, get a deal on the phones you want or need. Perhaps one treo and one fusic?

You need to realize that sprint will look at the total discounts your getting. If your getting a large discount on phones, your loyalty discount wont be raised.

My advice.. work out the best deal for you. You dont have to take a high level of powervision unless you want the services that it offers. You can just as easily take a lower service level, or take the ultimate pack and get a $10 credit on it.

Do you want a cheaper bill in the long run or cheap phones? do you need all 2000 minutes that the plan offers, or do you leave alot on the "table" each month?

If you dont need the 2000 plan, shoot for a $60/1200 minute plan with discounted or free 6pm nights and free roaming. your 10% loyalty discount and the 2 fusic's at new customer pricing.

After you complete that, do you currently get a business discount? If you dont, join a credit union and get an additional 10% off your bill for being a CU member.

[jumonjii]

Good information.

My advice to most people is to haggle for a phone that has the features you need. Don't get a treo just to get it. I think they are clumsy personally.

From that point, determine the best plan for your needs. If Sprint won't budge on a plan, you have 3 months from renewal to change it.

Pick an affordable plan and try again in month for a better plan.

Check your options for discounts
NVP discounts
Loyalty Discounts
Credit Union Discounts
Promotional "flyer" discounts

Try ecare.

When I called for a friend, *2 offered 5 percent loyalty. Ecare offered 10... somehow he ended up with 20 percent.
Ecare also offered 500 free texts, or 8 dollars for unlimited texts. *2 didn't offer that at all.

[JeffDTD]

Just chase down perks through ecare once you can verify everything was done correctly for the treos

Ask for free vision or earlier nights. Tell Ecare that when you resigned your contract, you understand these things would be free and you want to verify that

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