Sprint already explained that even though it’s in third place among U.S. wireless carriers, it meant to get ditched by about 459,000 of its customers in order to move its network from 2G to LTE. And now it’s gained a significant chunk of new customers by buying up a bunch of spectrum and customers from U.S. cellular in a new deal the company just announced. [More]
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Sprint Stores Still Forcing Accessories On iPhone 5 Buyers
By 11.5.12
The world’s initial bout of iPhone 5 fever has passed, so retailers have stopped playing tricks to take advantage of customers’ insatiable gadget lust, right? Well… no. Not Sprint. Like other readers and even our parent company’s own mystery shoppers, Daniel was told at a corporate-run Sprint store that if he wanted to go home with an iPhone 5, he also had to buy an accessories package. If he didn’t like it, he could go to Best Buy or a different store. [More]
With A Data-Slorping AT&T iPhone And a Data-Sipping Sprint iPhone, I Can’t Win
By 10.26.12
Aaron has a terrifying story of two mobile cell phone companies, 4G LTE networks, and a data-slorping renegade iPhone. He had an unlimited AT&T plan, but got throttled when he ran through five gigabytes in just three days. They couldn’t find the data leak. He switched to Sprint for true “unlimited” access. He didn’t run up any overages, largely because Sprint’s connections are too slow for him to do so. [More]
Sprint CEO On Losing 459,000 Customers: We Meant To Do That
By 10.25.12
The recently announced quarterly numbers from Sprint are not good, with the company losing some 459,000 contract customers at time when many of its competitors are picking up new users. But Sprint’s ever-rosy CEO Dan Hesse wants everyone to put away their mourning garb because this was all part of the company’s grand plan. [More]
Sprint Says It’s My Job To Drive Around To Every Local Store And Find Someone To Fix My Phone
By 10.22.12
Douglas has been a reliable longtime Sprint customer. He liked their service, even through terrible 3G speeds for the last few years. Yet it was how he was treated when his Galaxy Nexus wouldn’t work properly that is about to drive him away from the company. He’s had it. He finds it unacceptable that the company thinks he should have to drive around to different Sprint stores in his area to find one that might deign to look at and diagnose his phone. [More]
What Sprint’s New Ownership Could Mean For Consumers
By 10.16.12
As you’ve probably heard, Japanese wireless company SoftBank is set to snap up majority control of Sprint at some point next year. There has been lots of talk about what this means for Sprint as a business, but little of what it means for Sprint’s more than 50 million customers. [More]
For Hours Of Frustration And Weeks Without iPhone 5 Mobile Data, Sprint Offers $10
By 10.11.12
Who gets to buy an iPhone 5? You may remember reader Luke, who wrote in to back up our Consumer Reports colleagues’ account that Sprint stores were requiring customers to buy an accessory bundle if they wanted to get their hands on the shiny new gadget. After a mixup in activating the two phones he eventually bought (from the Apple Store, with no unwanted bundles, thank you very much) Luke’s data connection wouldn’t work. Sprint’s apology for two data-less weeks? A $10 credit on his bill. [More]
Alaska Airlines Suffers Computer Systems Outage After Sprint Accidentally Cut Fiber Optic Cable
By 10.8.12
Not totally unlike when I yell to my roommate in the other room “Hey! The Internet is out — did you unplug something?” Alaska Airlines suffered a pretty severe computer system outage today after a cable in a Sprint fiber optic network in Wisconsin was cut. The disconnect rendered the airline basically powerless, delaying flights at all of its 64 destinations. [More]
Swap Your Non-Working iPhone For Another Non-Working iPhone, Lose Right To Sprint Refund
By 10.5.12
Gary doesn’t want to be a customer of Sprint anymore. You can’t really blame him. First, the local corporate-owned Sprint store wouldn’t let him have an iPhone 5 without an accessory bundle purchase of at least $80. (Sounds familiar.) That’s frustrating enough, but then he discovered that his phone didn’t really get any data service. At all. Maybe the phone was defective, so he contacted Sprint, who eventually told him to get the phone swapped out at the local Apple Store. When the new phone didn’t work either, he learned that Sprint’s 14-day return window slams shut after you’ve swapped your non-working phone for another non-working phone. [More]
Sprint Won’t Grant Employee Discount, New Customer Threatens Unholy Twitter War
By 10.3.12
Earlier today, we shared the story of a new Sprint customer who signed up because he was offered a 25% employee discount for a company he doesn’t actually work for. As it turns out, it doesn’t matter whether you work for the company or not: Sprint will still resist giving you the employee discount you were promised. That’s what Gerry learned. He works for the cable channel G4, part of NBC-Universal-Comcast-Kabletown, and is entitled to a 25% discount from Sprint. In theory. In practice, there doesn’t seem to be enough proof in the world for Sprint to believe that Gerry actually works where he says he does. Pay stub? No. Badge? No. E-mail address? No. Not enough. [More]
Sprint Salesman Offers 25% Off To Get Me To Switch, Forgets To Mention I’m Not Eligible
By 10.3.12
William assumed that the mobile phone kiosk salesman was acting as an agent of Sprint, trying to get him to switch. The offer was too good to refuse: 25% off, without having to work for a specific employer or any other qualification. They paid an ETF to Verizon and jumped ship. That’s when they learned that the discount wasn’t for just anyone: it was an employee discount, and William didn’t work for the company the salesman had claimed that he did. [More]
Did A Retailer Make You Buy Accessories With Your iPhone 5?
By 9.28.12
As you may know, our parent publication Consumer Reports sends a nationwide army of secret shoppers out into ordinary stores to purchase the items they review, in order to make sure that they don’t receive items that were handpicked for media outlets and triple-checked for flaw. One person dispatched to purchase an iPhone 5 from Sprint reports that anyone who wanted to buy the new Apple gadget was also required to buy an accessory package. [More]
Sprint Says Virgin Mobile Site Isn't Completely Insecure; Blogger Disagrees
By 9.19.12
Earlier this week, we told you about blogger Kevin Burke’s claims that the website for Virgin Mobile (a subsidiary of Sprint) is incredibly vulnerable to any hacker who could write a script to generate PINs. Since then, Sprint has told Consumerist that the site isn’t as much of an open door to hackers as it’s been made to be, while Burke claims that the phone folks are missing the point. [More]
Blogger: Virgin Mobile Accounts Are Vulnerable To Hack; No One Seems To Care
By 9.17.12
A Virgin Mobile customer claims that it’s easy for hackers to access customers’ accounts via the wireless provider’s website — and not only is there nothing customers can do to defend themselves, the folks at the Virgin don’t really seem too concerned about it. [More]
Sprint Is Upgrading Its Network Here, When Should I Upgrade My Phone?
By 9.13.12
Erica and her family are Sprint customers who are eligible to upgrade their phones in a few months, but they have a dilemma. In the market where they live, Sprint’s 4G service is the older WiMax network. An upgrade to LTE is coming…sometime in the next year. They have their choice of phones that can use one network or the other, but not both. Yes, this is the very definition of a first world problem, but it’s a gamble. Do they choose faster data now and being forced to use 3G after the upgrade comes, or the other way around? [More]
Should Sprint Tell Me That I Could Switch To A Cheaper Data Plan?
By 9.11.12
Amy may be the first reader in Consumerist history to complain about being left on an unlimited mobile data plan. She has tethering on her smartphone, which lets her use her phone as a mobile Internet hotspot. Yes, apps exist that can help you get around this limitation. Officially, if you want to tether, you generally have to pay for a data plan that includes it. Amy was paying for a $30/month plan, but learned that she was grandfathered in, and a cheaper plan existed. Sure, the cheaper plan only includes two gigabytes of data, but she never uses that much anyway. It costs $10 less. She wanted to alert her fellow Sprint customers to this change, and complain that the company didn’t let her know she had an opportunity to give them less money in exchange for capped data. [More]
Wireless Carriers Banking On New iPhone To Turn Everyone Into Data Hogs
By 9.11.12
For years, wireless providers have been moaning about their highest volume data users and shaking their fists at the sky for ever having tried unlimited data plans in the first place. But now, with the impending release of a reportedly 4G LTE-compatible iPhone on the horizon, these same carriers are popping champagne corks, hoping that the faster data speeds will nudge consumers into the next level of data hogging. [More]
Sprint To Roll Out 4G LTE Network To 100 Cities Over Coming Months
By 9.10.12
While Sprint may be a distant third place in the wireless wars, the folks in yellow are not going down without a fight. Earlier today, the company announced a plan to roll out a new 4G LTE network in more than 100 cities during the near future. [More]
