[canestim]

Even though I know it will never be available on SERO I hope the FCC kills exclusivity agreements like the IPhone. Sprint would gain millions of subscribers if they had the IPhone because they would probably make their plans $5 to $10 cheaper than AT&T or offer included text messaging.

I want to see Sprint do well regardless of my SERO. I'll enjoy my $30 SERO while it last. Just got the Samsung Intrepid and it does everything I need. Maybe not as flashy but it does works well. But If they did do away with my plan I would get the 32gb Iphone with AT&T with no texting.

[ur_moated]

Everyone say's "I'm going to defect to cingularizon because I'm getting screwed by sprint."

Yeah right. I'll ride my $30 Sero plan till the wheels fall off, just like every other SERO user that has brain larger than a pea and isn't defecating money. In the meantime I'm going to install some tethering software and bang the hell out of the data connection, that way sprint won't gain anything by denying me webOS/Android and I can pretend I'm not getting worked by a giant corporation.

The real question is what is the real world benefit for sprint? I already told every person I know that Sprint is screwing me, I'm not going to pay an extra $30, so at best I'll keep my plan or just end up leaving. Does the money gained offset the bad word of mouth and bad press? Maybe it does.

Note to Sprint: If you want to reduce churn, team up with Verizon and coerce apple to make a CDMA Iphone. The Iphone has cachet that no other phone can offer, simply through name. Imagine Hyundai made a car that was better than a Mercedes in every way, but half the price. There will always be lots of people who will buy the Benz for the prestige, regardless of cost. Likewise, Sprint and Verizon will always hemorrhage customers to carriers who offer the IPhone, just because it is a status symbol.

[thecheet]

Originally Posted by ur_moated

just like every other SERO user that has brain larger than a pea and isn't defecating money.

That's a bit much.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by thecheet

That's a bit much.

Indeed.

[dishe]

Yeah, ur_moated, that was a bit harsh. You're right, anyone who would switch to a more expensive provider just because they don't like Sprint's policies may be shooting themselves in the foot.
But that's not always the case.
My point was that not every provider is more expensive for comparable features. Heck, if you don't need a smartphone, Walmart is even rolling out their own MVNO now with unlimited voice and data for SERO-like prices (no smartphones at the moment though).
Some of us don't even need all the features being provided with plans like SERO, but have it because it is cheaper than being on 2 seperate plans elsewhere.

Personally, as I mentioned previously, I was paying LESS on T-mobile for a family plan with the wife and I, and using the phones roughly just as much (data, minutes, etc). I only switched to Sprint because with SERO it was almost the same price as I was paying, but I would also get 3G (something T-mobile didn't have yet), and also my wife *could* use data on her phone when we travel (google maps comes in handy), however I could probably count on one hand the amount of times she used it. I'm sure as heck not going to pay more for features we barely even use. I'd sooner go back to T-Mobile or price out something similar elsewhere.

[ur_moated]

Ok, Perhaps I was a little harsh. But I personally am not interested in carrying credit card debt just so I can have a phone that is "cool." An extra $30 a month means $720 total by the time the contract is through. Add $150 or so for the phone and you're up to $870! I'm sure there's a few people out there who gave up SERO but should have been paying down some debt instead. That doesn't mean everyone, and for many people paying an extra $30 is no big deal.

If you haven't noticed I'm a tightwad with a palm centro that looks like it's seen better days. Yeah I can check my email and use google maps, but browsing the internet sucks, and the quasi gps isn't so hot. And it really hurts pulling a dated looking p.o.s. out of your pocket that looks like a Motorola brick phone from the 80's. Getting digits with a Palm Centro is like trying to pick up a girl in a Geo Prizm.

So what's a cheapskate to do? I'm really not interested in using a windows mobile phone, or paying $870 over two years for the pleasure of using webOS or android. Using palmOS obviously is not where it's at, so I guess I'll have to continue ranting like a moron until sprint gives me a phone that I actually want to use....

[ucfjoe]

Originally Posted by ur_moated

Yeah right. I'll ride my $30 Sero plan till the wheels fall off, just like every other SERO user that has brain larger than a pea and isn't defecating money.

That was the best first post ever!

I agree with you about SERO, they created it and will live with it for at least the next few years. I hate the point that people make about it only being designed for employees and their friends. If that was the case they would have enforced that point and not put out their "own" employee emails to make it so easy for everyone to sigh up.

I don't really agree about the iphone deal by the time Sprint could get it (3+ years) I think there will be many other phones just as good if not better. Apple did help force an evolution in the smartphone market and I do thank them for that but with Goog, berry, palm (i question its survival), and msft there will be a permenant change and it will be more about the carriers bandwith capabilities.

[ur_moated]

Originally Posted by ucfjoe

That was the best first post ever!

Thanks =)

[kaotic504]

Originally Posted by ur_moated

Imagine Hyundai made a car that was better than a Mercedes in every way, but half the price. There will always be lots of people who will buy the Benz for the prestige, regardless of cost. Likewise, Sprint and Verizon will always hemorrhage customers to carriers who offer the IPhone, just because it is a status symbol.

i think they tried, it's called the Genesis (sedan, not coupe), and they're coming out w/ the Equus. but like you said, people are still going to buy the Benz, b/c it's a Benz. i thought about getting a Genesis and de-badging it, and putting air bags on it. AT&T admitted that the Exclusivity agreement eventually will end, they just haven't set a firm date on it. when it does, all he11 is going to break lose. i can imagine that AT&T is going to lose A LOT of customers. i think Verizon is one of the only networks that can handle the data that all the iPhone customers use up. i'd like to see how Sprint would manage an iPhone on their network as well. but i don't think Sprint would ever get an iPhone b/c Apple is too greedy, they want a nice cut of that plan. you don't get a data plan for the iPhone, you get an "Apple iPhone" data plan a.k.a. "Steve Jobs piece of the pie".

[boomhower]

Originally Posted by ur_moated

Ok, Perhaps I was a little harsh. But I personally am not interested in carrying credit card debt just so I can have a phone that is "cool." An extra $30 a month means $720 total by the time the contract is through. Add $150 or so for the phone and you're up to $870! I'm sure there's a few people out there who gave up SERO but should have been paying down some debt instead. That doesn't mean everyone, and for many people paying an extra $30 is no big deal.

If you haven't noticed I'm a tightwad with a palm centro that looks like it's seen better days. Yeah I can check my email and use google maps, but browsing the internet sucks, and the quasi gps isn't so hot. And it really hurts pulling a dated looking p.o.s. out of your pocket that looks like a Motorola brick phone from the 80's. Getting digits with a Palm Centro is like trying to pick up a girl in a Geo Prizm.

So what's a cheapskate to do? I'm really not interested in using a windows mobile phone, or paying $870 over two years for the pleasure of using webOS or android. Using palmOS obviously is not where it's at, so I guess I'll have to continue ranting like a moron until sprint gives me a phone that I actually want to use....

Just because you are a "tightwad" doesn't make everyone else stupid for wanting either a plan with more features or a new phone. Particularly those on family plans. If you have a higher line plan and qualify for a decent corporate discount it will be the same(with more features) or even cheaper than SERO. Or if you have multiple blackberry's and are tired of relentlessly arguing trying to get BIS for free. Others get a lot of enjoyment out of newer equipment. You may want to put a bit more thought into your first posts instead of making a broad statement calling a lot of people stupid.

[theswami]

Sprint's policy only makes sense.

The bottom line is there are a number of customers who upgraded their SERO plans to other plans in order to get a phone. Of course there are others who left because they could not get the phone they wanted but those customers would probably have left anyway either due to; a) wanting an iPhone or b) wanting better coverage. Sprint may have started the process a little faster by not giving the customer a Pre or Hero.

The equation probably works in Sprints favor because most people are not going to leave and pay more money for the same phone/similar service on another carrier. Sure you get the SERO folks tying up customer service lines trying to get a deal and complaining but for the most part I bet their strategy works in their favor.

The place where this gets tricky for the SERO (and other discounted) plans is this whole "Project Dark" situation. Here they are being undercut on the pricing front and if you assume there are no phone restrictions with those plans then you actually may have a few defections.

SERO was a nice plan while it lasted. It worked to alow Sprint to capture customers it would not have had normally (it did in my case and my wife's) and now they are trying to up-sell those customers. It isn't working here. I left Sprint for other reasons and my wife now has the TP2 on Sero (good to go for another 2 years or longer).

Good for Sprint for trying to improve profitability.

For the SERO customers, keep up the fight but realize your days are numbered but Sprint's may be as well.

[dishe]

Ugh... enough already! Can someone just attempt to activate a Moment on SERO so we can lay this thread to rest already?

I'd try it myself but I've managed to catch some kind of fever, so I'm staying indoors with hot drinks for the day.

[berardi]

Originally Posted by ur_moated

If you haven't noticed I'm a tightwad with a palm centro that looks like it's seen better days. Yeah I can check my email and use google maps, but browsing the internet sucks, and the quasi gps isn't so hot. And it really hurts pulling a dated looking p.o.s. out of your pocket that looks like a Motorola brick phone from the 80's. Getting digits with a Palm Centro is like trying to pick up a girl in a Geo Prizm.

LMAO ur hilarious... hahaha


So what's so bad about windows mobile? theres some decent phones out now like the TP 2 that are pretty nice. perosnally I'm waiting to find out if they release a successor to the diamond

[ur_moated]

Originally Posted by dishe

Ugh... enough already! Can someone just attempt to activate a Moment on SERO so we can lay this thread to rest already?

Word.

[cobak]

Originally Posted by dishe

Ugh... enough already! Can someone just attempt to activate a Moment on SERO so we can lay this thread to rest already?

I'd try it myself but I've managed to catch some kind of fever, so I'm staying indoors with hot drinks for the day.

The point of the post was to point out that no Android phones will work on SERO... it wasn't really meant as a question.

And for the record, I'm fairly certain we are NOT being screwed by Sprint. We began screwing Sprint when we signed up for SERO and are continuing to do it (and yes, they brought the screwing on themselves, but at the time were probably willing to get screwed to gain some customers).

As it's been said before, if Sprint wanted to screw us they could: they don't have to allow us to renew our contracts.

I used to have T-Mobile under their cheapest plan with mobile to mobile added on and you know what? They decided I was using too many mobile to mobile and night and weekend minutes and refused to let me renew my contract without changing my plan to something with a higher price (not that I would have renewed anyway since they overcharged me $100 and refused to fix it). Sprint has every right to do that to us but it isn't and I think they should be commended even if I do want a freaking Android phone.

In the end, you get what you pay for and if you aren't willing to pay the price for a webOS or Android phone then you dont get one. And if you're a tightwad then get a damn dumbphone or a WM phone and be happy because as long as you're on SERO you're still getting a damn good deal.