i wanted a new phone for a while now, but i was locked into a contract with sprint until october. i did not know how i was going to get through the summer without a phone, because i refused to use my phone anymore. it's been laying at the bottom of my purse, turned off, for months now. so i went to sprint to see how much a new phone would cost me.
apparently i was only able to get a $75 discount, and had to wait for a $150 discount come august. so, unfortunately, if i wanted a smart phone, i would have to pay full price which was around $500 - $75. um...no.
if i was going to pay $500 for a phone, i might as well get an iphone. but i couldn't even do that, because i was still locked into that contract, and i was not about to pay sprint even more of my hard earned cash so that they'd release me. so i went up to the customer service agent and asked if there was anything they could do for me.
no. they couldn't.
they did say that if i called customer service, maybe they could do something for me, but there was nothing they could do for me in the store.
ok, fine.
i called customer service and told them that i've been a sprint customer for the past 8 years. i have 4 lines with them, and have never, ever paid a bill late. i explained how much i hated my present phone, and how i needed a new phone now, because i was not able to use my piece of shit phone anymore. (you turn it on, it dies after an hour or two) (the same thing happened with my other ppc 6700, which is why i had it replaced) i was not about to go through the hassle of having it repaired/replaced again. this phone was done. i was done with this phone. i didn't want to touch or look at it anymore. i was prepared to go phoneless until my contract ran out if it meant having to deal with this craptastic piece of junk.
but i also said, that if i had to wait unitl august to get the new customer pricing, i would just wait out the duration of my contract and go over to AT&T and buy an iphone. i said that if they could not do anything for me, a loyal customer that has spent a shit load of money every month for the past 8 years, then i was no longer going to be a customer, and i would wait until all the contracts on all 4 of my lines expired and i would no longer do business with them. i said that i was really not trying to be a bitch (and i swear (e:fellyconnelly) i wasn't) and i wasn't bluffing. i was just being honest. i gave them a choice of either giving me the new customer pricing on a new phone early, or having me move to another carrier.
so the girl i was on the phone with, came up with an offer, saying that she could not give me new customer pricing on a phone, but she would give me a $50 credit on all 4 lines, if i extended the contract for an additional 2 years on those lines.
i was like "yeah, riiiiight, GOOD ONE! but NO THANKS"
so i said no deal and was ready to hang up, and the chick transfered me to the cancellation department, saying maybe they could do something for me.
so the woman in the cancellation department said she was the customer retention specialist, or something like that and said that she was told that i was thinking about leaving sprint. i told her that yes, i was going to let my contract expire and would get an iphone, because i wanted a new phone now and since i couldn't get a deal with sprint, i would take my business elsewhere.
so without any further discussion or deal pleading, she said she'd be happy to offer me the new customer pricing on any phone i wanted. so i told her that i was thinking about the HTC Touch, and within about 5 minutes, it was all done and over with. i should be getting my new phone on tuesday. it costs $250, which is about $250 less than what they wanted me to pay.
i am super stoked. now i will have a new, sweet phone, that is kind of, sort of like the iphone, AND i don't have to wait until august to get it!
here is a pic of what it looks like.
here is their website
here are some quick specs
Key Features
+ TouchFLO� screen technology
+ Windows Mobile� 6 Professional
+ Direct Push Outlook� email
+ Compact at H: 99.9mm, W: 58mm,
D: 13.9mm and lightweight at only
+ Tri-band GSM with GPRS/EDGE
+ 2.0 mega-pixel camera
+ Stereo Bluetooth� 2.0 and Wi-Fi
+ HTC ExtUSB� cable for PC
i'm excited that this has the option for stereo bluetooth headphones. my old phone did not, and it sucked.
on the con side, this doesn't have a qwerty keyboard, but rather a touch screen one like the iphone, that isn't as user friendly as the iphone's.
felly, yeah, i heard the writing/texting part is not so good. that's one of the cons i saw when i read the reviews. they said that the touch typing is not as good as it is on the iphone, and since that is your only choice since there is not qwerty keyboard, you're basically forced to use the stylus (and who wants to do that?)
and tiny, yes it has wifi, but i won't get rid of the data plan, because i want to be able to use it when there is no wifi available. like in my car, at a friend's house, in a store, etc. plus i want the ability to tether my laptop when there isn't any wifi available, or when my connection at home goes to shit.
actually, i don't know if it'll do that. i know my ppc 6700 tethered my laptop, but i never looked into this one to see if it has that ability. but either way, i have to have a data plan. i don't want to be tied to being near a wifi hotspot.
Good job on the deal making! Honestly, the retentions department is the only department that will really give you any sort of deal, and that is only if you have several phones that are in jeopardy. You played your cards right and got a good deal!
the only thing i have tos ay about that phone is that a couple of my friends have it and either a) they don't like texting me anymore or b) they are finding texting on said phone rather difficult.
But I do hope you like it and congrats on the good deal!
Can that device log on to free wifi networks? If it can, then you can ditch your data plan.
:::link:::
That's awesome. That was pretty smart of them to give you the new customer discount instead of losing you.
I would only go back to sprint if they got wimax here in Buffalo and the Nokia 810 with wimax support comes out :::link:::
I love that device. It is definately, the best mobile device I have ever used - if only it had wimax or its own gsm connection.
I think a guy at work has that phone and likes it.
But- does this mean you might actually answer texts now? woot woot!
But yeah- saying 'ok then I want to cancel my account' is usually the kick in the ass they need to give you a deal.
I think you've inspired me to write the nasty letter that I've been composing in my head for a while now...