Why is ESN swap STILL screwing up my upgrade eligibility?!?!?

[LouS]

Sorry but this is long...

I have 4 lines on my account. Two years ago my son lost his phone. I had an old Sanyo 4900 that I gave him and reactivated it on his line (just did an ESN swap over the phone). Well when my contract was up (after 2 years), we decided to re-up with Sprint and low and behold, my son's phone line was not eligible because we did an "equipment change" 6 month earlier. Now I used an old phone that had been paid for 10 times over but Sprint didn't care and just reset his eligibility date to get a new phone. After arguing with Sprint about this, they agreed to give me $150 credit for this problem that could be used for his new phone.

Now last October we got new phones and renewed our contract and I got the $150 credit on my son's line. At the Sprint store I brought up the ESN swap problem and they said that Sprint had changed their policy and there was no longer any issues like this with a simple ESN swap.

So now 1 year later (2 weeks ago), my older son broke his Samsung phone so again I had another old Sanyo that I gave him. Called Sprint and did the ESN swap and specifically asked if his eligibility date would be affected and they said NO. So I'm sitting fat, dumb and happy and my other son dropped his phone in the ocean (no luck here). We tried for a week to revive it to no avail. So I had my wife's old Samsung that I gave him. Called Sprint tonight to swap ESN's and asked again about the upgrade eligibility issue. This time they said swapping the ESN would reset his upgrade date. I wasn't happy and I talked to a supervisor who told me the same thing. They said they would note my account to not reset the eligibility date but they told me the same crap two years ago. I could probably get the $150 credit again but I am sick and tired of this crap and I am pissed.

Why should an ESN swap make you have to pay more for a new phone when you are eligible and have been paying, in my case, for 4 phone lines for 18 months at about $130/month???? That's over $2,000 by the way.

Can someone give me an e-mail address or regular mail address or phone number of someone I can call? I don't want to talk to just some flunky in customer service or someone on the floor, I want someone in authority. If this doesn't get resolved, I will be calling my local news station to talk to someone who deals with consumer fraud because that is what this is all about. I'm sick and tired of being lied to and misled by Sprint.

Sorry for the long rant, just very aggravated with all this.

Thanks.

Lou S.

[deanwoof]

https://manage.sprintpcs.com/specialofferscontent/images/assets/wow-promoUpgradeProgramTable.jpg

i understand where you are coming from, but sprint, for whatever reason, has covered their butts with the disclaimer. i dont know why an esn swap resets the eligibility date. and nobody (sprint or su) will be able to tell you why. its one of those stupid rules.

[silentbenton]

I do ESN swaps all the time. Sprint has supposedly changed the upgrade policy to allow ESN swaps without affecting eligibility, but every time I change my phone my rebate date gets pushed back. I have had Sprint for over 4 years now and I have never gotten 150 off a new phone because I can't keep a constant phone. I don't think I'll ever buy a phone from them because of it either.

[deanwoof]

blah i think i'm in ensemble or something but a fewmonths ago i remember checking my own date and it was still going to be sep 07 for the 75 and jul 08 for the 150.

now it just says null lol

[NINO63004]

when i switched to my Mogul and asked the rep about the upgrade she said this. If the phone I am switching to has already been on the account it will not effect my rebate status. However when i switch to a phone that has not been on my account it will restart my upgrade status.



Nino

[r0fl]

you actually have to do an eligible upgrade to be part of the newer program where esn changes will not affect future eligibility. just because you got a credit off the phone when you renewed doesn't mean it went thru the upgrade system... it sucks i know.

[silentbenton]

That said I will never be eligible. I will NEVER have a phone for long enough to get 150 off and $75 off is just not enough to justify signing up for another 2 years. I guess I'll just stick to buying and selling phones on Craigslist.

[aau007]

Here is a little kicker.

If you are eligible for the $150 instant upgrade, you pay $150 less when you purchase the phone in store or with Telesales. If your eligibility date gets screwed up, you can call CS and in many cases they will give you the $150 credit after you purchase and activate the phone in store or via telesales. However, since you are getting the $150 as a service credit and not as an instant rebate at time of purchase, you will have to pay sales tax for the $150 in most states. ($300 - $150) x 1.08 (8% sales tax) = $162. Then $300 x 1.08 - $150 = $174. $12 difference for a $300 phone. Not a lot of money but still a decent lunch.

[LouS]

Here is a little kicker.

If you are eligible for the $150 instant upgrade, you pay $150 less when you purchase the phone in store or with Telesales. If your eligibility date gets screwed up, you can call CS and in many cases they will give you the $150 credit after you purchase and activate the phone in store or via telesales. However, since you are getting the $150 as a service credit and not as an instant rebate at time of purchase, you will have to pay sales tax for the $150 in most states. ($300 - $150) x 1.08 (8% sales tax) = $162. Then $300 x 1.08 - $150 = $174. $12 difference for a $300 phone. Not a lot of money but still a decent lunch.

Yes, and since you get the $150 as a credit and not instantly, you pay out-of-pocket for the extra $150.

Is there a way to check your upgrade date on-line at Sprint? If so, can someone tell me how?

Thanks.

Lou S.

[ImSoNotEmo]

https://www.sprintrebates.com/track/sprintpcs/index.jsp

Rebates and Upgrade

[abby]

I just went through this for my previous 6700 and my husbands a**** samsung he dropped in the toilet. I had to call cs both times and explain to them that the handsets I had at the time were either lockline replacements or sprint store replacements that we had never bought a new phone since opening each line of service. I ended up just going to retentions, explaining the problem and they put a high priority note on the accounts and we were able to go into the store pick out or new phones and not pay the full amount. We had to pay less the $150 instant rebate. I since got a mogul as a sprint replacement for my 6700 and love it. My husband had to wait at the sprint store all day yesterday while I was on the phone with retentions getting them to change the sero vision to powervision and go ahead and override the system and activate his phone. They even gave us the credit for the activation fee which I never asked for!

[tkrandall]

Let's face it - Sprint is totally messed up in regards to the rebate/upgrade/ESN swap debacle. I have lost faith they will ever clear up their self-created mess.

[faint of butt]

Just to pile on,

I did a couple of ESN swaps on my line, and each and every time, I asked if in ANY WAY this modified my contract, and they told me no, until the last time when the dropped this bomb on me.

Sprint has the best coverage in my area, but I can't see giving them any more business if this his how it is going to be. Now, it is either deal with Sprint or go to AT&T. Egad.

[Jaggrey]

My 700p bit the dust and they activated a new 755p for me in the store. It didn't reset my eligibility date.

[About SprintUsers.Com]

SprintUsers.com was created in January 2002 as a resource for users of Sprint PCS products and services to learn about and share information. We have cll phone reviews, Cellular Accessories, Downloads, PDA reviews, Ringtones, all of the latest Sprint PCS news and information, an area where you can find help in creating a ring tone or custom image for you phone, and so much more. The most popular section is the message board where visitors can read and write messages, ask questions, and get advice about their cellular phone from other users.