Sprint Rant

[Sentientbydesign]

I've had Sprint since I was 14. I'm not 24...

A few things to get off of my chest.

Why is it that it took them forever to implement true SMS and now despite numerous pointless upgrades, they still don't offer MMS?

If you get a picturemail from a Sprint customer, DON'T use the "Download to my computer" button. I've just confirmed that two photos downloaded that way instead of using the "Save As" were heavily degraded in quality. Kind of funny since the Picture mail site also offers "Order Prints".

Now on to non Sprint problems. WHY THEY HELL CAN'T MS get WinMo to work correctly? It's a VERY capable OS, but it's buggy as all hell. Don't tell me to get an Iphone because AT&T can shove it as can the single largest communist electronics manufacturer AKA Apple.

One last rant. Wouldn't it be cheaper and more effective to make upgrades to the same handset and make it durable as all hell than to constantly release buggy handsets that must be subsidized due to high manufacturing/tooling cost involved in making a new device every 2 months?

For instance, Apple is smart for using the same case and many of the same parts amongst the 3 versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch.

A more durable touchscreen, replaceable battery, Flash support, LED Flash, Video support, and a quick and dirty sync that doesn't involved iTunes would be a great start.

As would stylus support, access to a better phone network (Sprint or Verizon), and no development restrictions (unless you want to jailbreak).

[telcoman]

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-i...a.htm

Try AT&T

All carriers have bandwith and coverage issues.

My AT&T Blackberry works great.

I also had great coverage when I visited Russia and China as the rest of the world is on GSM. Sprint is not!

Telcoman

[Sentientbydesign]

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-i...a.htm

Try AT&T

All carriers have bandwith and coverage issues.

My AT&T Blackberry works great.

I also had great coverage when I visited Russia and China as the rest of the world is on GSM. Sprint is not!

Telcoman

Way overpriced!!!

My current bill with Sprint is $117.

2 Lines1500 Anytime Nationwide MinsUnlimited Mobile to MobileAny Mobile Any TimeUnlimited DataUnlimited TextUnlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pmSprint TVSprint Navigation <-Sucks the big balls

I have a couple of discounts- $20 monthly credit and 15% off. So the regular price would be just shy of $160 including taxes.

A comparable "IPhone Plan" would be $179.99 + Tax. Putting me over $200/month with 100 less any time minutes, no Any Mobile Any Time, no tethering, and that Annoying GSM Buzzz Pop around unshielded speakers.

I've done my research, Telco. Even a BlackBerry would be about the same price for a "BlackBerry Plan".

[hyperm3]

Way overpriced!!!

My current bill with Sprint is $117.

2 Lines1500 Anytime Nationwide MinsUnlimited Mobile to MobileAny Mobile Any TimeUnlimited DataUnlimited TextUnlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pmSprint TVSprint Navigation <-Sucks the big balls

I have a couple of discounts- $20 monthly credit and 15% off. So the regular price would be just shy of $160 including taxes.

A comparable "IPhone Plan" would be $179.99 + Tax. Putting me over $200/month with 100 less any time minutes, no Any Mobile Any Time, no tethering, and that Annoying GSM Buzzz Pop around unshielded speakers.

I've done my research, Telco. Even a BlackBerry would be about the same price for a "BlackBerry Plan".

Yeah, but at least you wouldn't be complaining about not getting service(or services from circa 1990's).

[smockers83]

It's the way Sprint programs their phones that makes their phones suck. In my personal opinion, Sprint just sucks everywhere. Every single person I've known with Sprint has griped about them about very valid issues.

The best company that used to be out there was Alltel. I had them for years, never had one issue. Never. Coverage everywhere, no dropped calls. Now that I have AT&T with my iPhone, I have some sketchy service...nowhere near the quality of Alletl, but the phone makes up for it. What gets me is that AT&T gets all this money as the exclusive carrier of the iPhone, yet their networks are overloaded and service isn't great. Where's all that money going?

The whole bit between Verizon and AT&T is valid by both parties. Verizon has much greater 3G coverage by geographic size while AT&T focuses more on population centers. However, people travel out of population centers. So, both are right.

[telcoman]

Way overpriced!!!

My current bill with Sprint is $117.

2 Lines1500 Anytime Nationwide MinsUnlimited Mobile to MobileAny Mobile Any TimeUnlimited DataUnlimited TextUnlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pmSprint TVSprint Navigation <-Sucks the big balls

I have a couple of discounts- $20 monthly credit and 15% off. So the regular price would be just shy of $160 including taxes.

A comparable "IPhone Plan" would be $179.99 + Tax. Putting me over $200/month with 100 less any time minutes, no Any Mobile Any Time, no tethering, and that Annoying GSM Buzzz Pop around unshielded speakers.

I've done my research, Telco. Even a BlackBerry would be about the same price for a "BlackBerry Plan".

The I phone does some things better than others.

As does the Blackberry.

Not every cell phone does everything well.

There are tri band and quad band cell phones on TDMA, CDMA, GSM and coverage varies between the different carriers.

Record the latitude & longitude on a GPS where you are having problems and report it to your carrier.

Telcoman

[telcoman]

The whole bit between Verizon and AT&T is valid by both parties. Verizon has much greater 3G coverage by geographic size while AT&T focuses more on population centers. However, people travel out of population centers. So, both are right.

It costs millions to upgrade and support cell sites.

No carrier is going to spend the money if revenue is not there in rural areas.

It is no different with Infiniti dealers. Some complain they have to drive long distances to a dealer. There are quite a few here in New Jersey

Rural areas are just not profitable for any business.

Telcoman

[zozoka1212]

Way overpriced!!!

My current bill with Sprint is $117.

2 Lines1500 Anytime Nationwide MinsUnlimited Mobile to MobileAny Mobile Any TimeUnlimited DataUnlimited TextUnlimited Nights and Weekends starting at 7pmSprint TVSprint Navigation <-Sucks the big balls

Nate,

Why not just use the phone what it is for call? Do you need sprint tv, navigation, unlimited this and that? Especially if it sucks and you are low on money. Why would you support something you don't like? If you give them your money they don't care. My work cell from my company blackberry is just for email when I am not in the office and call. As soon as I leave the company I turn it off till next day I go in.

Just get what you really need and you can actually use it. You save money and will be less disaponted. Cancell those features and save money and the meantime you stop supporting Sprint.

[smockers83]

No carrier is going to spend the money if revenue is not there in rural areas.

It is no different with Infiniti dealers. Some complain they have to drive long distances to a dealer. There are quite a few here in New Jersey

Rural areas are just not profitable for any business.

Telcoman

Wrong, because they do spend that money and the revenue is there. You need to get off your high horse about urban areas and stop looking down on rural areas. Verizon bought Alltel, which focused more on rural areas than the other big carriers. So, Verizon bought the coverage and customers of the rural areas, thus spending billions on them. Verizon wouldn't have bought Alltel if there wasn't money to be made, thus proving your silly idea wrong.

Also, as part of that deal, AT&T gets most of the assets and customers from Alltel due to required divestitures of the deal.

Whether it's an urban area or a rural area, each presents its own problem. An urban area needs lots of bandwidth and capacity available whereas a rural area needs to be able to cover a large area, both requiring large investments in network infrastructure. I would venture to say that it costs more per customer in an urban area than it does in a rural area based on network costs and investments, making the rural market more profitable than the urban market.

[Sentientbydesign]

It's the way Sprint programs their phones that makes their phones suck. In my personal opinion, Sprint just sucks everywhere. Every single person I've known with Sprint has griped about them about very valid issues.

The best company that used to be out there was Alltel. I had them for years, never had one issue. Never. Coverage everywhere, no dropped calls. Now that I have AT&T with my iPhone, I have some sketchy service...nowhere near the quality of Alletl, but the phone makes up for it. What gets me is that AT&T gets all this money as the exclusive carrier of the iPhone, yet their networks are overloaded and service isn't great. Where's all that money going?

The whole bit between Verizon and AT&T is valid by both parties. Verizon has much greater 3G coverage by geographic size while AT&T focuses more on population centers. However, people travel out of population centers. So, both are right.

I've only called into Sprint twice in 10 years about billing errors. Can't say the same about AT&T. I also have very little reception issue. The only two areas that I lose reception are in the subterranean parking garage where we live (2 floors of concrete and plumbing can do that to a wireless signal) and a local toll road that seems to be uncovered by just about all of the cell providers (definitely Sprint & AT&T).

As for the money, I recently read an article comparing AT&T's income increase since the Iphone and their money on investing in technology. It showed that they actually started cutting spending once the Iphone was released.

Yeah, but at least you wouldn't be complaining about not getting service(or services from circa 1990's).

I have those services, I just don't like how they're implemented. Helio (now owned by Virgin Mobile) had a very robust MMS package. Picture, video, and voice messages were sent directly to the recipient's phone. They unfortunately, had a laundry list of other problems, that made me return th phones (including Indian tier 1 support who couldn't speak english).

Nate,

Why not just use the phone what it is for call? Do you need sprint tv, navigation, unlimited this and that? Especially if it sucks and you are low on money. Why would you support something you don't like? If you give them your money they don't care. My work cell from my company blackberry is just for email when I am not in the office and call. As soon as I leave the company I turn it off till next day I go in.

Just get what you really need and you can actually use it. You save money and will be less disaponted. Cancell those features and save money and the meantime you stop supporting Sprint.

Zozo,

I'm not complaining about the $117/mo I spend on my cell phones. I'm complaining about MMS and how they down sample picture mail when you click "download to my computer", yet the display image is at full quality.

I use my cell phone A LOT. When I'm bored, I'll start looking up cooking recipes, science articles, sustainable technology, ebay items...etc. I also, really love text messaging because it doesn't require large amounts of time investment. I can have a conversation that would take 1 hour of exclusive time on the phone via text and only invest a total of 10 mins.

The other features like TV and Navigation (which suck) are required for my phone and my wife's phone. Just like the Iphone or Blackberry require their own plans, my HTC and my wife's Samsung are designed to take advantage of the entire Sprint service and they force you to use this plan.

I've already tried stripping down the plan and just adding on the text messaging and internet, but the Sprint system won't allow it.

[zozoka1212]

I've got it. I am just a type of guy if I don't get a satisfying service I just hand it back or ask for $$$ drop. It works really good for me. But I still don't get it. If you don't like the TV and Navi why would you pay for it. Not hating Nate I just don't get it. LOL Sorry man.

[Poyzinous]

I've got Tmobile. I'm quite happy with it. I get signal in 90% of the places I go to, and I have the Google G1 phone. Navigation is one of the many apps I have thanx to android. I really don't have complaints about tmobile except I wish they would expand a little bit.

[Sentientbydesign]

I've got it. I am just a type of guy if I don't get a satisfying service I just hand it back or ask for $$$ drop. It works really good for me. But I still don't get it. If you don't like the TV and Navi why would you pay for it. Not hating Nate I just don't get it. LOL Sorry man.

I guess it's hard to quantify how much of my bill is actually for stuff like TV and Navigation because they come as a bundle.

[kmckis1029]

Get a Motorola Droid from verizon and call it a day...

900 mins, myfav 5, unlimited everything else, free gps nav from google, full insurance, tons of free apps... for $115 a month after 15% discount...

droid has the same exact hardware as the iphone, just a different OS (Android from google)

Then add verizons nationwide and back road 3G coverage and you have a winner...

(for two lines it'll only be slightly more)

[kmckis1029]

oh and MMS is threaded and integrated like the iphone on thr Droid...

[Sentientbydesign]

Sprint is keeping my business

I called in for tech support on my HTC Touch Pro and told them I wasn't happy with my emails syncing improperly and slowing the phone to a crawl.

They put in an order and overnighted me a brand new HTC Touch Pro 2 ($650 phone). Just got it yesterday. Also, the tech provided the most awesome follow-up I've ever seen. Order was placed on Sunday. She followed up yesterday to let me know that the phone was in CA. Then she said that it should have gotten to by already, so she called up UPS and then me back to let me know that UPS just forgot to scan the package and it was out for delivery.

She called a 4th time to ask if I have picked up the phone once UPS showed it as being delivered, then a 5th time to help me activate it.

She also offered a phenomenal deal to replace my wife's phone for $500 off of the retail price of the phone (no contract).

So despite the lack of MMS (which still annoys me) and the downsampled picture mail, they're tech just helped them keep a customer.

[zozoka1212]

See complaining pays off. Do this with more things. You'll be surprised how much you can save on things.