Extremely confused about Vision usage - help?

[Heavy Fluid]

I do not have a Vision package on my account, and am a little, OK, a lot confused on how they charge with Vision. I know it is 4¢/kb downloaded, correct? That is what confuses me. If I get "online" with my phone, and say, come to SU, and browse around, post a few messages, but don't download anything, am I charged for that? What is considered downloaded? Ringtones and apps, screensavers, I get that part, is there anything else? I know minutes will be charged if I use it during the day, is there other "hidden" stuff that you get charged for?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to get a huge surprise $5000 bill from Sprint.

[ScrapMaker]

any time you 'connect' to vision... you are using data... that act of connecting itself using data... surfing, downloading... anything... and I thought it was $0.10 per kilobyte.

[Bohemian Iconoclast]

Go get a service plan guide...read the book, don't wait for the movie...

If it was four or ten cents a kilobyte, do you have any concept of how rudely expensive that is? I consider a penny a K expensive...ten dollars per meg adds up fast. There are people with hundred dollar Vision bills.

If you are using Vision without a plan, you better be sparing about it...and please don't scream at the rep for your decisions when you get your bill...

[Heavy Fluid]

If you are using Vision without a plan, you better be sparing about it...and please don't scream at the rep for your decisions when you get your bill...

I won't be screaming at anyone. I know it can get expensive. I was just confused about connecting, data transfer, surfing, etc. I don't use it at all anymore, which is a bummer. The vision package that Sprint offers is pretty decent, and I will probably be going with that soon.

Thanks for the info.

[Bohemian Iconoclast]

For the record, I wasn't saying you would...more like hoping you wouldn't...ya never know...

[mykidsdad]

the 'a la carte' rate (also known as casual rate) is .01/kb, that is one cent/kb...it simply measures the amount of data travelling in/out of the phone. So, if you view a webpage that is 20k, then you get charged 20 cents. If you send/receive a picture or ringer that is 30k, then you get charged 30 cents..etc,etc...it don't charge by the minute no more(how you like 'dat grammar?), only the old 2G phones are charged by the minute....
So, a couple times a month ain't gonna kill you; but if you start rackin' up $10-15 or more on a regular basis, then it's a no-brainer to get the vision option/package added..

[Nathan]

I do not have a Vision package on my account, and am a little, OK, a lot confused on how they charge with Vision. I know it is 4¢/kb downloaded, correct? That is what confuses me. If I get "online" with my phone, and say, come to SU, and browse around, post a few messages, but don't download anything, am I charged for that? What is considered downloaded? Ringtones and apps, screensavers, I get that part, is there anything else? I know minutes will be charged if I use it during the day, is there other "hidden" stuff that you get charged for?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to get a huge surprise $5000 bill from Sprint.

it is just $0.10 not $0.40, it is best for you to have the vision plan. otherwise, yoou will need to pay casual charges everytime you access the net using your phone.

[ScrapMaker]

no, mykidsdad is right, its $0.01 per kilobyte transferred... send and recieve.

[ScrapMaker]

even sms messages cost kilobyte charges, if I remember correctly...

[synthe]

even sms messages cost kilobyte charges, if I remember correctly...
only if its shortmail. sms is .10/message.

[ScrapMaker]

I could have sworn you got the ten cent charge for the actual message, then also a per-kilobyte charge as well.

[leaving_ash]

SMS does not function on vision. Many phones are 3G voice only (with sms) and cannot accesss vision. These would be the "free phones" you give to your grandparents and children.

[Nathan]

I could have sworn you got the ten cent charge for the actual message, then also a per-kilobyte charge as well.

that's correct. for phones without the text messaging capability - it is just $0.10 per message sent and rec'd. if you have to use the messaging feature of the website, you have to pay for internet usage as well (that is if you do not have the vision plan)

[koehler]

If I have MLB Gameday Audio...probably listen to one game a night, roughly 3 hours.

That doesnt count towards my minutes does it?

Thanks so much!

[ScrapMaker]

you have vision:?

[giedre]

I feel more confused now than ever...I have one of those fair and flexible plans...does that include vision? I can't seem to tell from going to the
sprint website! When I ordered the phone I told them I'd mostly be using it for surfing the web, so thats the plan that was suggested. Now I too am afraid to use the phone!

[ScrapMaker]

how about you tell us how much you pay... and what plan you have...

it would be obvious on your bill if you had vision..

I think you probably don't have it then.

[koehler]

I have the 5600...yet the MLB Audio is not availble...why would this be? It is availble for other cell phones, such as 8200 and what not.

Thanks.

[mykidsdad]

giedre:the flex plans do NOT come with vision automatically;vision would usually be $10-$15 extra depending upon your market. You can see if you have vision by looking at your bill or on the sprintpcs.com website (when u log into your account), or simply by calling cust svc and ask 'em...
koehler: if you have a color screen(vision) phone that will let you get ANYTHING off the web in your phone(MLB, the weather,or 'whatever'), then it does NOT use your minutes;however: you would be charged separately: either 1 cent/kb, or the package price of $10-$15 for unlimited usage... I repeat, either way you do NOT use minutes for vision. ONLY the 'pre-vision' (2g) phones use minutes while on the wireless web...

[synthe]

for sprint, the minute plans and the vision packs are always charged seperate, though they may mention them all in the same breath. whatever your fair and flexible plan is, it won't 'include' vision.
vision is .01/kb if you do not have a pack, and unlimited if you have a vision pack. there are many packs to choose from, just depends on what capabilites you want and are capable of using.
for text messaging, shortmail is web based and therefore gets the .01/kb charge unless you have a vision pack which makes it free. sms does not use vision in any shape or form, and is .10/msg. all vision packs include 100 sms messages.
if you dont want a vision pack, then 100 sms is for $5, and unl. for $10 (with a vision pack it becomes $5 for unl.)
clear enough?

[catzrule]

for sprint, the minute plans and the vision packs are always charged seperate, though they may mention them all in the same breath. whatever your fair and flexible plan is, it won't 'include' vision.
vision is .01/kb if you do not have a pack, and unlimited if you have a vision pack. there are many packs to choose from, just depends on what capabilites you want and are capable of using.
for text messaging, shortmail is web based and therefore gets the .01/kb charge unless you have a vision pack which makes it free. sms does not use vision in any shape or form, and is .10/msg. all vision packs include 100 sms messages.
if you dont want a vision pack, then 100 sms is for $5, and unl. for $10 (with a vision pack it becomes $5 for unl.)
clear enough?



But is the picture mail included in vision...or is it $5.00 extra?

[catzrule]

But is the picture mail included in vision...or is it $5.00 extra?


I called..it is included in the premium vision

[synthe]

I called..it is included in the premium vision
like i said it depends on the packs. heres the breakdown of the basic packs:

premium: $15(2mo. free), unl. vision, 100sms, $10credit towards downloads.

pictures: $15(2mo. free), unl. vision, unl. picmail, 100sms, $5 credit "" "".

professional: $15(2mo. free), unl. vision, unl. picmail, BCPE, 100sms, no credit.

if you dont want a vision pack, but want picturemail, its a $5 pack by itself, but you do incur data charges (.01/kb). Videomail(if your phone is capable) is always going to be an extra $5 pack on top of everything else.

[catzrule]

like i said it depends on the packs. heres the breakdown of the basic packs:

premium: $15(2mo. free), unl. vision, 100sms, $10credit towards downloads.

pictures: $15(2mo. free), unl. vision, unl. picmail, 100sms, $5 credit "" "".

professional: $15(2mo. free), unl. vision, unl. picmail, BCPE, 100sms, no credit.

if you dont want a vision pack, but want picturemail, its a $5 pack by itself, but you do incur data charges (.01/kb). Videomail(if your phone is capable) is always going to be an extra $5 pack on top of everything else.


Picture mail still incurs data charges???..thats rotten. I guess I will keep premium vision for a while and try to figure out how to use it. Thank for all the clarification. Now will you come over and show me how to use the web part of this phone:)

[Bohemian Iconoclast]

...no data charges sending pics with pic pack...

[giedre]

Thank goodness for this forum. Uhmm, ok, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box and it took me a while to realize with my new phone that voice calls are not the same as surfing the web! Lemme tell ya...it's frustrating being dumb! I got the ppc 6600 and I knew I was going to use it quite a bit, but as I kept checking my usage {1 week } all i saw was the 4 minutes used to set up my voice mail. As quickly as I could, I signed up for the business connection. Yes, it may cost a bit more, but now I can do whatever I want to on my device and not have to worry about incurring huge bills!
Just to add, did a lot of changes on my phone accounts and the rep was fantastic! :)

[tkrandall]

I could have sworn you got the ten cent charge for the actual message, then also a per-kilobyte charge as well.

Yes, for a non-Vision Pack subscriber, a shortmail phone now gets charged both 10 cents for the notification of the shortmail, plus per KB to access it. That was changed late 2003, about the time they came out with SMS capable phones. Before that, it was only the per KB charge.

[ScrapMaker]

luckily for me, I have an vision plan and SMS phone from BEFORE SMS, so my vision codes reflect a shortmail phone, and I have unlimited SMS... for free... too bad I can't get my free videomail back... this is frustrating.

[synthe]

Yes, for a non-Vision Pack subscriber, a shortmail phone now gets charged both 10 cents for the notification of the shortmail, plus per KB to access it. That was changed late 2003, about the time they came out with SMS capable phones. Before that, it was only the per KB charge.
WRONG

shortmail does not get both charges. before sms was even around there was only shortmail, at the usual data charges of 0.01/kb. period. they didnt start tacking on .10 per message just because they started a new service.
pricing for shortmail and sms are completely seperate and go by different systems. therefore, having unl. sms on your plan if you use shortmail does jack, you dont need it. otherwise, if you just had the vision pack with out the unlimited sms added on top, you would just get the 100 free text messages, then, although you arent paying the data charges, you would pay the .10 per shortmail. which makes no sense what so ever.
kapish?

[Itz8AMHoGetOut]

i am a tier 2 tech,..vision is one cent per kb that u use if not on a plan, otherwise 15 for unlimited,,or 10 if you have a vision save offer, which may be offered to you when you call in to cancel vision, but you lose your downloads.,.so if you download then kinda pointless,,.the package also includes 100 free txt msg per month, and if its a vision pic pack, 5 bux for downloads FROM SPRINT, not other sites..and if a premium pack for non pic phones, it is 10 dollars downloads...any more help i can be let me know

[ScrapMaker]

Itz8AMHoGetOut, can you elaborate on how some people, like myself, have unl SMS for free? I purchased my phone and activated the $15 vision in December '03... there was no SMS at the time, nor was there videomail. I've had unl sms/videomail ever since... except my videomail suddenly disappeared, and now I have to pay the $5 fee...

every tech that looks at my account says that I don't have unlimited SMS... I'm just wondering how the grandfathering works specifically? When would you have to have started your vision account to actually have grandfathered sms/picture/video?

thanks

[synthe]

Itz8AMHoGetOut, can you elaborate on how some people, like myself, have unl SMS for free? I purchased my phone and activated the $15 vision in December '03... there was no SMS at the time, nor was there videomail. I've had unl sms/videomail ever since... except my videomail suddenly disappeared, and now I have to pay the $5 fee...

every tech that looks at my account says that I don't have unlimited SMS... I'm just wondering how the grandfathering works specifically? When would you have to have started your vision account to actually have grandfathered sms/picture/video?

thanks
basically, you had the service before the packages for the service were introduced. therefore, just because you signed up before they started charging for it doesnt mean that your charges go up. the videomail you were never meant to get free, but a lot of customers have fallen through the loop. now that you have to pay for it just means that sprint caught it. but you have been grandfathered with the unl sms IF you have a phone that is sms capable. if you use shortmail, then it doesnt matter.
did i explain that right, its8am, from one tech to another?

[ScrapMaker]

for some reason no tech I have talked to has said I have unl sms, its just some glitch that I get it for free... but they do say that it will not change...

its just that my vision account is listed as a shortmail phone vision account.. or something to that degree... so I don't have to pay for SMS, it shows up as "wireless web messages"...

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