New EVDO phones and Old Vision plan

[meme2]

I was told by CSR that if I upgrade my phone to M500, the system will automatically force my Old Vision plan to new Power Vision plan when I call in to activate my phone. And that the new Power Vision plan costs $20 i.e. Access Pack plus $5 picture mail.

Is there a way to keep my old Vision plan and yet upgrade my phone to M500?

[heavyd]

Wirelessly posted (WHATEVER IS ACTIVE TODAY: Mozilla/4.0 (MobilePhone SCP-M1/US/1.0) NetFront/3.3 MMP/2.0)

Yes.Find a rep that will use the p2k system.It allows them to change devices without changing plans.If they do not want to do it...hang up and call back. Tell them another rep said you could. I have done it dozens of times.

[Dzalumni]

We have two new vision phones and receive a credit on each line to offset the cost of the Vision services. Still have unlimited vision. Many people on this forum have their accounts set up this same way.

[Dragonman]

Wirelessly posted (Treo 700p: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D052; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

It's getting harder and harder to do as more and more accounts get migrated to Ensemble.

The gravy train is coming to an end.

[SAGEMO]

I just upgraded to M620 3 weeks ago, and keep the old vision plan. I think you need to call tech support not regular CS. Most tech support rep. know P2K and can help you to keep your old vision plan.

[msecc]

I just upgraded to M620 3 weeks ago, and keep the old vision plan. I think you need to call tech support not regular CS. Most tech support rep. know P2K and can help you to keep your old vision plan.
Can any of you confirm if you can still use the "OLD Vision" on these phones if you don't upgrade, or does it just mean that they wont charge you for POWER VISION but you can never get on the internet, etc...
Also, is EVDO the same thing as POWER VISION?

[inftaxs]

Can any of you confirm if you can still use the "OLD Vision" on these phones if you don't upgrade, or does it just mean that they wont charge you for POWER VISION but you can never get on the internet, etc...
Also, is EVDO the same thing as POWER VISION?
Yes, you can still use "old vision" on new EVDO Phones if the ESN swap is done correctly (using p2k system). You will be getting the same features as your current regular vision phone (i.e. no premium services like the ones included with various Power Vision packages) but the WEB access will be much faster.
EVDO is a broadband wireless technology used by Sprint and Verizon. Power Vision is Sprint's name for this technology.

[w7excursion]

Yes, you can still use "old vision" on new EVDO Phones if the ESN swap is done correctly (using p2k system). You will be getting the same features as your current regular vision phone (i.e. no premium services like the ones included with various Power Vision packages) but the WEB access will be much faster.
EVDO is a broadband wireless technology used by Sprint and Verizon. Power Vision is Sprint's name for this technology.
As far as I can tell you have the same access as a Power Vision Plus pack would have. Atleast it is on my two phones. I've never heard of Sprint trying to block access to their tv,radio,on demand or music store content just because you have a vision plan. I can use all of those features at anytime but rarely do. Oh and I still get EVDO speeds.

[pixielee]

Until last week I've been using a 15.00 vision picture pack plan, that inc. 100 free txt messages, ... sharing it with my others phones for 5.00. Everything worked great, even used an 8100, 8200 and now my 700P as modem for my laptop w/that plan. I have had up to 4 phones active at one time, and have done alot of plan changes - never did my vision plan get affeced -

Until they split into the new "Vision Plans" this month - my sprint TV went down to 2 channels - Since i was orginaly given a power vision plan free for 2 years with my 700P purchase, i made them put that on and remove the old 15.00 plan ..

i did of course lose my 100 txt messages, and i think i may have lost the ability for the other plans to share it for 5.00 (( though the rep left the plan on my added lines, I will test to see if they are still sharing before i call and have them remove it!)) I probably also lost the "10.00" a month service credit - with the old plan, I received a credit for all my downloads, up to 10.00 a month -

Anyways - i think "unlimited vision" is the same is all the plans - its now the other *perks* that they are modifying the rates for

[SAGEMO]

I have old vision plan om my m620, so I just have the same contents on my multimedia channels as I had before. I don't have any channels on the power vision packs.

[meme2]

So if you call tech support after you get your new phones they can swap the ESN?
Do you have to ask them about pk2 system?
Btw, what is pk2?

Also isn't the minutes plan of sprint separate from vision plan etc? So even if you upgrade or change your calling part of your plan, it should not affect your vision plan.
The trick is to get them to switch the plan onto your new phones????

[pixielee]

an ESN swap shouldnt affect your plan at all ... and the vision will yes, "automatically adjust" - it should not matter what system they use to do the ESN swap ..

p2k is the system that PCS works in - i was on a pilot group in 2000-2001 for a new system that as far as i know, never did really work - navigator i think it was called - most agents i talk to still use or have access to use p2k ...

[inftaxs]

an ESN swap shouldnt affect your plan at all ... and the vision will yes, "automatically adjust" - it should not matter what system they use to do the ESN swap ..

...
This would be correct for new plans where Vision is an add-on. The OP (as well as I) have old plans that included Vision + SMS in the base plan. Not Free add-on Vision, but Vision was a part of the plan. An equvalent would be included N/W on current plans. The code for the plan itslef has Vision in it. What happens when CS is using any system besides p2k to do ESN swap to an EVDO phone, they get an error stating that the new device is not compatible with the old plan. The customer has 2 options:

1. Stop the ESN SWAP
2. Change to any current plan compatible with EVDO phones thus loosing included WEB/SMS as no current plan has WEB/SMS included.

Or, call tech Support and have them do ESN Swap as they have access to p2k system.

[SAGEMO]

So if you call tech support after you get your new phones they can swap the ESN?
Do you have to ask them about pk2 system?
Btw, what is pk2?

Also isn't the minutes plan of sprint separate from vision plan etc? So even if you upgrade or change your calling part of your plan, it should not affect your vision plan.
The trick is to get them to switch the plan onto your new phones????
I bought my phone at Sprint store. They can't access p2k on their system so you must call tech support to do it. But you don't activate your phone at Sprint store, they can't you $150 rebate. The way I did is that I called tech support and let tech support talk to store. I think guys at Sprint Store are quite stupid and they must mass up your plans. So I checked my plan online immediately after I get home. I found my plan is power visin plan rather than my old vision plan. I called tech support to correct it. It took my whole day to keep my old vision plan. But I think it should be worthy.

[meme2]

I bought my phone at Sprint store. They can't access p2k on their system so you must call tech support to do it. But you don't activate your phone at Sprint store, they can't you $150 rebate. The way I did is that I called tech support and let tech support talk to store. I think guys at Sprint Store are quite stupid and they must mass up your plans. So I checked my plan online immediately after I get home. I found my plan is power visin plan rather than my old vision plan. I called tech support to correct it. It took my whole day to keep my old vision plan. But I think it should be worthy.

Got my phones through Sprint CSR Business Accounts. So the phones will come in the mail/fedex. But will follow the advice to call Tech support to swap ESN.

And yes, my original plan was Fair and Flexible but I do not think that the Vision Plan is attached to the minutes plan. They have added codes to my plan to include 7pm free etc and it did not affect the Vision Plan which has the $5 download credit. The only thing is the CSR gave me 500 text messages recently instead of my 100 txt that came with the plan. So I will have to wait and see how it is affected.

My thoughts are if I can get what the regular Power Vision Access Pack gets, there is no reason to upgrade to Power Vision because the "Old" regular vision plan has the $5 download credit.
Did I miss any other advantage to keeping the old vision plan? How about disadvantages?

[Google]

I'm starting to worry on this esn swap to be myself. I recently won a used a900 on ebay and was intending to swap it because I thought that when you change phones it doesn't require you to change vision plans now. I have a 2003 10.00 vision add on, but I'm reading conflicting statements.

The upgrade program seems to say that you don't have to add vision to your account when upgrading. *this phone is not my upgrade just a used one to swap*

Posters have said they have spoken to reps that use p2k to do the swap and alls well that ends wells.

Other posters seem to state that regardless of what system is used a vision plan change is required if it's going from vision-->powervision phn.

Obviously I'm gonna try to get a rep who has p2k to swap it and hopefully my vision remains.

[nathanielmark]

I will be finding out soon enough. i tried to buy the phone at the store and they could not do it. Ecare had already written me stating "go pick out an phone and you can keep your old plan". i purchased the A610 off the web and when i get it i will call tech support and request ESN swap. if anyone tries to say i have to keep the old plan, i will offer to send the written offer i received from ECARE. i am surprised that sprint would want to mess with longtime customers with moderately priced service packages. seems like very poor business strategy.

[jguy]

I originally had two phones on my plan with the old vision for free. I upgraded one of my phones and had to pay for power vision, but they gave me a $10 credit for it. I recently added a 3rd phone and have been paying for power vision on it with another $10 credit. For my third phone witch is a PV phone the account info lists it as "PCS Add-a-phone with Vision". I tried to cancel my power vision on that phone to see if PV would still work. The CR told me becouse of the plan I have, I have to pay for some kind of PV plan on that line. I have a $100 2000 minute plan that I have had since 1998. Does that sound right to you? I dont think I should have to pay for PV if I dont want to use it on that line.

[nathanielmark]

i absolutely don't think you should be forced to pay for that if you don't need it. Do people with Ready-link capable phones have to pay for ready-link? I am beginning to wonder if I don't fit Sprints target customer profile (i don't incur late fees, overages, and I do not buy ring tones)... I have a very good grandfathered plan but I am looking at my actual usage and thinking I could get the service I need for less money with T-Mobile.

[Google]

Well I attempted my esn swap today after receiving my ebay phone. Here's how it went down.

First call I tried *2 and got Angela and I asked if she had p2k. When she said no, I said no thanks and goodbye.

Second call, I tried tech support tier 1 phn number and waited about 15 min before getting trish on the line. I tentatively asked if she had p2k access and she said yes. Then, I asked if she could help me with an esn swap and she asked "they couldn't do it in premiere?" I said, "I need p2k for this process." Off we go. Before we started the swap I made it clear I just wanted an esn swap and for no changes to be made to the account itself. She agreed and we performed the swap which took about 5 minutes. At the end of the call, I asked if she had a agent sign which she gave and then re-confirmed that no other changes were made to the account except for the swap and again she agreed that only a swap took place.

Hopefully all went well and my 10$ vision plan is intact for the time being.

[nathanielmark]

thats excellent news- thanks for update.

[meme2]

Well I attempted my esn swap today after receiving my ebay phone. Here's how it went down.

First call I tried *2 and got Angela and I asked if she had p2k. When she said no, I said no thanks and goodbye.

Second call, I tried tech support tier 1 phn number and waited about 15 min before getting trish on the line. I tentatively asked if she had p2k access and she said yes. Then, I asked if she could help me with an esn swap and she asked "they couldn't do it in premiere?" I said, "I need p2k for this process." Off we go. Before we started the swap I made it clear I just wanted an esn swap and for no changes to be made to the account itself. She agreed and we performed the swap which took about 5 minutes. At the end of the call, I asked if she had a agent sign which she gave and then re-confirmed that no other changes were made to the account except for the swap and again she agreed that only a swap took place.

Hopefully all went well and my 10$ vision plan is intact for the time being.


Good luck Google.
Btw, what is "agent sign"? employee id?
In our case, here is the situation. Time for new contract. So asked for same plan except for new features like nw 6pm. Other than that we asked that the vision plan be left alone.
Then comes the phones,which are eligible for upgrades (coincides with contract expiration). When I ordered the phones, CSR says oh those are PV phones. So you need PV plan. I replied, I just want the phones and please keep my old vision plan intact. CSR then says ok but when you try to do esn swap (he didnt use those words, he says activate the phones), the system will automatically upgrade your vision to Power vision. Then he thinks he is doing me a favor by saying that he made a notation that if the system don't accept our phones, we can get PV for $10 instead of the current price of $15. :laughing: I know for a fact that many SU users were offered free PV.
Well we will have to wait and see when our phones get here. I will try to call tech support to swap esn like google.

[nathanielmark]

meme2: what a jackass (the rep)... anyway, i decided to opt out of the rebate because i don't see this as a prudent time to undertake further commitments to Sprint. I think i will have an easier time getting my plan transitioned appropriately by taking the rebate issue out of it. also, it will make it easier to switch to t-mobile if need be. ill be trying for the ESN Swap myself in the coming days (when phone arrives)... will keep you posted.

[Google]

The agent sign is just another name for their login id or agent #. Ya know, whatever code they use to reference themselves as sprint employees. I only took that down in case my vision is replaced with a PV one or something because even though she said all she did was an esn swap you never truly know until hours or days or weeks later. I of course will be checking on my vision to see if it's still there as it was.

[nathanielmark]

phone is out for delivery so im expecting it at any moment. with a little luck, ill have my new phone activated with existing plan intact. it would be nice to once again be a happy and loyal sprint customer.

[nathanielmark]

phone is out for delivery so im expecting it at any moment. with a little luck, ill have my new phone activated with existing plan intact. it would be nice to once again be a happy and loyal sprint customer.


on hold now for tech support - 18 minutes and counting. i hope i dont have to take too many swings at this.

[nathanielmark]

Stttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkk kkkkkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 11111111111111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nathanielmark]

to be fair, i decided the rep was not a good one as she would not give me a direct answer on the P2K question, she sounded like a bad move so i said nevermind.... next call i will reframe the question: "HI, REPNAME, This is jonathan james higgins III., a corporate customer, do you have access to P2K to help me with a quick ESN swap?

[nathanielmark]

alright, i would call that about as good as it gets. rep was supercool - swapped both my phones around with no issues. i asked if i could give her positive feedback and she put her super on the phone and i talked her up... anyway, sprint may keep my business after all. btw... this phone is by far the coolest i have owned...

[Google]

That's good to hear nathaniel. Keep us advised as to how the vision works later on and if there any issues. I used vision a couple times last night but didn't want to go hog wild in case I was getting charge by chance for evdo.

[FlameOut]

I guess I should have come here before heading to the sprint store. Been a member here for quite a while, but haven't been keeping up.

Anyhow, I used to have 6 Sprint lines. Down to 4 now. @ are the Sanyo 7400, 1 Samsung A900 M and 1 LG Fusic.

My plan is the old $85 2000 min plan. On the Samsung and LG all I was paying was $20 add a line fee, BEFORE I bought these two phones. Now I was told there is no if and or buts, you HAVE to have Power Vision, so now instead of the $20 for each of those phones, I'm paying $40.

I wanted to change my plan (and replace the 2 7400's - $150 rebate each) and get something like the Fusic. The plan I wanted was 2100 min ($109.99), unlim SMS ($20), Power Vision Access pack ($15) for a total of $164.97.

I took that to the Sprint store and rep said it would be $20 for EACH line for the power vision, not just a flat $20. Is that correct? If that's the case, I'd be above where I was when I had the 6 lines

[FlameOut]

I guess I should have come here before heading to the sprint store. Been a member here for quite a while, but haven't been keeping up.

Anyhow, I used to have 6 Sprint lines. Down to 4 now. @ are the Sanyo 7400, 1 Samsung A900 M and 1 LG Fusic.

My plan is the old $85 2000 min plan. On the Samsung and LG all I was paying was $20 add a line fee, BEFORE I bought these two phones. Now I was told there is no if and or buts, you HAVE to have Power Vision, so now instead of the $20 for each of those phones, I'm paying $40.

I wanted to change my plan (and replace the 2 7400's - $150 rebate each) and get something like the Fusic. The plan I wanted was 2100 min ($109.99), unlim SMS ($20), Power Vision Access pack ($15) for a total of $164.97.

I took that to the Sprint store and rep said it would be $20 for EACH line for the power vision, not just a flat $20. Is that correct? If that's the case, I'd be above where I was when I had the 6 lines

That rep was full of crap! I just went on the Sprint web site. Didn't log in and went about as if I were a new customer. I picked my plan, and picked 4 phones (Fusic) and it came to $164.97. I tried to cut and pste plan below. Hope it works. If I do have to pay $20 a line, they sure try to mislead you on the web site. Where it says "These upgrades apply to the first phone only. If you purchase more than one phone, you can add upgrades to your other phones at www.sprintpcs.com/manage after you receive them." If I have to pay $20 each for SMS and $15 each for Vision, that is just crazy! An extra $105!!! So the plan goes from $164.97 to $269.97


Sprint PCS® Service Plan
Show featuresSprint Power Pack Family PlanSM

• Minimum of 2100 Anytime Minutes (minutes vary based on usage)
• No roaming charges
• Unlimited Mobile to Mobile minutes
• Unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes starting at 7 p.m. $109.99
2-year subscriber agreement term
$0.00
Plan Subtotal $109.99
Plan Upgrades
4 Sprint PCS Add-a-PhoneSM
Sprint Power VisionSM Access Pack
Unlimited Family Power Pack Text Messages(per family plan)

These upgrades apply to the first phone only. If you purchase more than one phone, you can add upgrades to your other phones at www.sprintpcs.com/manage after you receive them.
$19.98
$15.00
$20.00

Upgrades Subtotal $54.98
Free Trials -$0.00

Label Data entered
Monthly Charge Subtotal
(Other monthly charges apply*) $164.97

[ehardman]

I was successful this week in completing three esn swaps to new phones with Power Vision. I have a grandfathered family plan with unlimited vision.

It took two calls to tech support as the first tech said he could not do it. I could tell he was new as he kept putting me on hold (I suspect he was asking a supervisor what to do). I told him to forget it, hung up and immediately called again. This time I got a knowledgable tech who did the changes for me without any problems.

Three new phones, all with Power Vision on the old plan. Yea!

[xellus]

Was this through retentions? If not how did you reach these techs?

I was successful this week in completing three esn swaps to new phones with Power Vision. I have a grandfathered family plan with unlimited vision.

It took two calls to tech support as the first tech said he could not do it....

[Raeg03]

Yes you can, call a rep and tell them you DO NOT want to switch to the new PV plan, they can and should, if you say they cant or wont, hang up and call again.

[xellus]

"Call a rep" meaning which reps? *2 and "Cancel service" ??

Thanks!

Yes you can, call a rep and tell them you DO NOT want to switch to the new PV plan, they can and should, if you say they cant or wont, hang up and call again.

[Dragonman]

Congrats to all who have been able to do this. One note however, when you get switched to the Ensemble system between now and March 08 and lose these goodies (and you WILL be moved to Ensemble) Don't say you weren't warned...As I stated earlier in the thread the gravy train is coming to an end.

Now whether Care can offer something to offset this is a possibility but not a certainty.

Ensemble does not allow these types of "mismatches" and EVERYONE will be out of p2k by March 08 (at least that's the goal)

[boxermansr]

Congrats to all who have been able to do this. One note however, when you get switched to the Ensemble system between now and March 08 and lose these goodies (and you WILL be moved to Ensemble) Don't say you weren't warned...As I stated earlier in the thread the gravy train is coming to an end.

Now whether Care can offer something to offset this is a possibility but not a certainty.

Ensemble does not allow these types of "mismatches" and EVERYONE will be out of p2k by March 08 (at least that's the goal)

So for those who have GF vision it will go away once switched? I just got PV for 5.00 each on all my sub lines (had regular vision for free), but I figured I'd get it out of the way now (versus later).

I still have GF vision on my primary line, and the best they'll offer me is 10.00 for Unlim SMS and 5.00 for PV..

But if ensemble IS definately gonna drop vision of PV phones then I guess its time to change now, right?

[ehardman]

Was this through retentions? If not how did you reach these techs?


I just asked for tech support. I did not go through retentions. My first question was "Do you have access to the p2k system?"

[w7excursion]

I was moved to ensemble last month and I still have my GF vision plan. I still call plain ol *2 and do my esn swaps.