Sprint Megathread: Dead Man Sprinting

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Biodome: Nov 21, 2006; Gerry

Hope yall get some more Network Vision roll outs soon. I get 4 or 5 bars of LTE at my apartment and everywhere I go in Dallas. It's not as fast as AT&T or Verizon's but it's still very nice. This is how it should be.

# ? May 9, 2013 20:38

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# ? May 29, 2024 08:17

nate fisher: Mar 3, 2004; We've Got To Go Back

I went to a show in Asheville and for the first time I got to experience LTE. I had a few issues with it dropping back to 3G, but overall what a difference. Now I'm back in Knoxville with no LTE yet. I know you can unofficially pick it up downtown in spots, but I only go downtown to drink.

That said LTE is a game changer (we are just late to the party on Sprint).

# ? May 9, 2013 21:20

RodShaft: Jul 31, 2003; Like an evil horny Santa Claus.

I have TEP and an EVO 3D. I recently had my phone replaced because of a blind spot in the touch screen, and the referb I got kept getting dust under the screen and had "ghost touches" for lack of a better word. I keep my phone in my pocket and one day I tooke it out and it had cracks in the screen over the bottom buttons. I took it back to the sprint store where I had it replaced and they told me it'd be $100 to replace. I'm pretty sure I got a faulty referb, because I had my other EVO 3D for almost 2 years and was way more abusive with no problems, and this one didn't even last a month. Is there a way to get around the $100 for a cracked screen, or am I SOL?

Edit:

TLDR: Can I get around the $100 for a replacement for my Evo 3D with cracks over the buttons on the touchscreen if I have TEP?

I'd like to hold out using my upgrade credit for a Note 3.

RodShaft fucked around with this message at 01:12 on May 10, 2013

# ? May 10, 2013 01:02

fknlo: Jul 6, 2009; Fun Shoe

Nice thread title.

On phone ferrari chat, is anyone elses One getting stuff stuck in the speaker holes? There are a couple on my phone that have something blocking them up now.

# ? May 10, 2013 01:20

TVs Ian: Jun 1, 2000; Such graceful, delicate creatures.

RodShaft posted:

TLDR: Can I get around the $100 for a replacement for my Evo 3D with cracks over the buttons on the touchscreen if I have TEP?

Probably not. If you had gotten it in when it was just dust and touchscreen errors, it probably would have been swapped or repaired. Once it's cracked, that's it, all you can do is pay the deductible. If the cracks are very small (like, a quarter will cover all of them) and you find a very lenient tech, there's a very remote chance of getting it done.

That's why I use a holster, despite the inherent dorkiness. Pockets can be deadly to phones.

# ? May 10, 2013 01:25

fknlo: Jul 6, 2009; Fun Shoe

TVs Ian posted:

That's why I use a holster, despite the inherent dorkiness. Pockets can be deadly to phones.

I always have my screen against my leg because I run into enough poo poo with that part of my body that I figured a busted screen would be inevitable.

# ? May 10, 2013 01:31

Stevie Lee: Oct 8, 2007

fknlo posted:

On phone ferrari chat, is anyone elses One getting stuff stuck in the speaker holes? There are a couple on my phone that have something blocking them up now.

Yep. I had a crumb or something stuck in one of the holes this morning. I tried to get it out with a tack and ended up pushing it further in, so I guess it's there for good.

# ? May 10, 2013 01:34

Teflon Bob: Feb 2, 2004; Wipes down easy!

Stevie Lee posted:

Yep. I had a crumb or something stuck in one of the holes this morning. I tried to get it out with a tack and ended up pushing it further in, so I guess it's there for good.

Vacuum?

# ? May 10, 2013 02:17

Hypnolobster: Apr 12, 2007; What this sausage party needs is a big dollop of ketchup! Too bad I didn't make any.

Teflon Bob posted:

Vacuum?

You'll either do nothing, or somehow find a small enough tip and suck on the diaphragm hard enough to tear/hurt it somehow.

Just live with it.

e: the only non-destructive option I can think of is to lay a piece of tape over the holes, smooth it into the holes so it dimples and then pull it off.

# ? May 10, 2013 02:24

Theris: Oct 9, 2007

Biodome posted:

This is how it should be.

It's what Indianapolis is like now, too. It's weird. In a "wow it's like I have a real mobile provider now" sense. Takes some getting used to.

# ? May 10, 2013 04:35

Ryen Deckard: Jun 28, 2008; My blood is red, white, and blue.

Actually just started getting LTE in Port Charlotte Florida, and I'm seeing network speeds around 29.22Mbps down and 67.58Mbps up.

# ? May 10, 2013 05:13

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

Question for store folks:

This afternoon I picked up a retail-price/non-subsidized SGS4 at a corporate store. I was told that, even though it wasn't a (subsidized) upgrade, they still had to activate it on my account and that I would also be charged an activation (or upgrade?) fee. As this is a SERO line, the activation/upgrade fee (if there actually is any) probably will end up waived. But a few questions:

1. Do stores have to activate phones sold at retail? I can't just walk in and purchase a boxed phone, at some price?

2. Is an activation or upgrade fee supposed to be assessed on retail-price devices?

If "yes", that's fine. But it's the first time I've bought a retail price device, and I had assumed that most of the activation song-and-dance was required as part of the subsidized upgrade process.

In my particular case, I really just wanted to avoid activating the device on my line today I didn't have time to deal with setup. My fallback plan, which was to reactivate my old phone online didn't work out well either as attempting to "downgrade" an SGS4 requires a call/chat to support (which I later did). Is that something that might change in the future too?

ExcessBLarg! fucked around with this message at 06:15 on May 10, 2013

# ? May 10, 2013 06:07

Loucks: May 21, 2007; It's incwedibwe easy to suck my own dick.

I had to pay $36 to "activate" my S4 on SERO. I don't know why you think Sprint would be eager to give up your money, but if you convince them please let us know so I can try to duplicate your efforts.

# ? May 10, 2013 06:15

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

Loucks posted:

I had to pay $36 to "activate" my S4 on SERO. I don't know why you think Sprint would be eager to give up your money, but if you convince them please let us know so I can try to duplicate your efforts.

So the upgrade fee is supposed to be charged to your next month's bill. I was also told this both times I've done in-store subsidized SERO upgrades (which I highly don't recommend per-past posts), and neither time was I actually charged.

I did notice that the store receipt itemizes state sales tax separate from county/municipality, and we have a 6% tax here, so there was a line item for $36.00 but it wasn't the activation/upgrade fee.

# ? May 10, 2013 06:18

Loucks: May 21, 2007; It's incwedibwe easy to suck my own dick.

ExcessBLarg! posted:

So the upgrade fee is supposed to be charged to your next month's bill. I was also told this both times I've done in-store subsidized SERO upgrades (which I highly don't recommend per-past posts), and neither time was I actually charged.

Fair enough. I haven't seen my first post-upgrade bill yet. All I know is that the CSR was adamant. I hope you're right, because that little extra "gently caress you, Customer!" was infuriating.

# ? May 10, 2013 06:23

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

Loucks posted:

Fair enough.

Was this a subsidized upgrade?

So in my experince, in-store subsidized upgrades involving the whole turn on and activate the phone, sign contract, pay, and make sure the customer walks away with at least minimal knowledge of how to use the device, is an hour long process on the average. If you're a SERO rear end in a top hat, it's a two hour long process at minimum. I can understand why they might charge $36 for that, although much of the ordeal is Sprint's fault to begin with.

In my case it was dirt simple, associate asked for my number and PIN, grabbed a device from the back, scanned it, I paid, he handed the box to me, and I was done. It was maybe five minutes. $36 for that is pretty weird, but not so weird that I'd complain about it for the sake of complaining. I just don't know if it's typical or expected.

# ? May 10, 2013 06:31

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

ExcessBLarg! posted:

Question for store folks:

This afternoon I picked up a retail-price/non-subsidized SGS4 at a corporate store. I was told that, even though it wasn't a (subsidized) upgrade, they still had to activate it on my account and that I would also be charged an activation (or upgrade?) fee. As this is a SERO line, the activation/upgrade fee (if there actually is any) probably will end up waived. But a few questions:

1. Do stores have to activate phones sold at retail? I can't just walk in and purchase a boxed phone, at some price?

2. Is an activation or upgrade fee supposed to be assessed on retail-price devices?

If "yes", that's fine. But it's the first time I've bought a retail price device, and I had assumed that most of the activation song-and-dance was required as part of the subsidized upgrade process.

In my particular case, I really just wanted to avoid activating the device on my line today I didn't have time to deal with setup. My fallback plan, which was to reactivate my old phone online didn't work out well either as attempting to "downgrade" an SGS4 requires a call/chat to support (which I later did). Is that something that might change in the future too?

With any of the carriers, you only see an upgrade fee when resigning a contract. It seems you did not do that. You should be fine and should not see a fee.

# ? May 10, 2013 06:32

goku chewbacca: Dec 14, 2002

ExcessBLarg! posted:

stuff

They probably don't have to activate a phone you paid full retail for, but they probably don't want to lose it from their store's inventory without making a commission, either. Try telling them it's a gift for someone else, though I wouldn't be surprised if they ask for that person's number to activate it anyway. My brother was able to upgrade a phone on his line without my presence or providing the account PIN. Commissioned sales is cutthroat.

In a similar situation, I was able to have the SERO/EPRP/Employee support line add a line to my account using an existing (no subsidy) device with no fee. This was after the normal telesales/activations department insisted that there was no way around it, and that I would have to pay another $36 fee when the person was ready to use an upgrade in a few months.

I was also able to get Filipino telesales to waive that upgrade fee by threatening to go to the store to make the purchase. Suddenly, I was going to be charged ~$12 for shipping, normally free, but then they waived that, too.

# ? May 10, 2013 06:43

td4guy: Jun 13, 2005; I always hated that guy.

A fun fact that I just learned from the S4GRU forums: Samsung is expected to release a tri-band LTE SGS4 in the Fall to replace the current 1900MHz-LTE-only SGS4. So the new one will support LTE on SMR800, 1900, and Clearwire 2600MHz.

Ain't it great to be made obsolete in only ~5 months?

# ? May 10, 2013 06:49

Loucks: May 21, 2007; It's incwedibwe easy to suck my own dick.

ExcessBLarg! posted:

Was this a subsidized upgrade?

Yeah.

td4guy posted:

Ain't it great to be made obsolete in only ~5 months?

Ever bought a notebook?

# ? May 10, 2013 06:52

IOwnCalculus: Apr 2, 2003

Loucks posted:

Ever bought a notebook?

Ever bought an HTC phone? :downsrim:

# ? May 10, 2013 08:57

Loucks: May 21, 2007; It's incwedibwe easy to suck my own dick.

IOwnCalculus posted:

Ever bought an HTC phone?

Once:

# ? May 10, 2013 09:03

Duckman2008: Jan 6, 2010; TFW you see Flyers goaltending.; Grimey Drawer

goku chewbacca posted:

They probably don't have to activate a phone you paid full retail for, but they probably don't want to lose it from their store's inventory without making a commission, either. Try telling them it's a gift for someone else, though I wouldn't be surprised if they ask for that person's number to activate it anyway. My brother was able to upgrade a phone on his line without my presence or providing the account PIN. Commissioned sales is cutthroat.

In a similar situation, I was able to have the SERO/EPRP/Employee support line add a line to my account using an existing (no subsidy) device with no fee. This was after the normal telesales/activations department insisted that there was no way around it, and that I would have to pay another $36 fee when the person was ready to use an upgrade in a few months.

I was also able to get Filipino telesales to waive that upgrade fee by threatening to go to the store to make the purchase. Suddenly, I was going to be charged ~$12 for shipping, normally free, but then they waived that, too.

FYI, wireless employees make commission when there is a contract, so forcing someone to activate an outright buy is weird. Because you just don't make money, so it tends to be "buy it and get out" and basically how quickly can I get this guy out of here. So who knows, but usually that wouldn't be a issue. Given phone pricings and markups its rare for an outright buy anyway.

# ? May 10, 2013 11:25

Karma Comedian: Feb 2, 2012

Duckman2008 posted:

FYI, wireless employees make commission when there is a contract, so forcing someone to activate an outright buy is weird. Because you just don't make money, so it tends to be "buy it and get out" and basically how quickly can I get this guy out of here. So who knows, but usually that wouldn't be a issue. Given phone pricings and markups its rare for an outright buy anyway.

May have been a new employee as well. Someone in my company apparently rang out a TEP replacement as a VAD/customer owned new acc because apparently the East Coast doesn't train people for poo poo.

# ? May 10, 2013 11:50

Giblet: Jun 19, 2003; Smooth like whiskey

It's common for sprint to require reps to activate certain devices before they leave the store. In my time there all flag so devices from the palm pre to the I phone 5 had to be activated at the time of purchase.

The is a $36 activation fee on every new device subsidized or not. While this seems really dumb it is in fact the case. The rep doing you a solid by at least telling you. I used to tell people in the hopes they would get mad about it and decide to not but the phone so I could save the inventory for a sale with higher commission.

# ? May 10, 2013 12:59

EbolaIvory: Jul 6, 2007; NOM NOM NOM

ExcessBLarg! posted:

Question for store folks:

This afternoon I picked up a retail-price/non-subsidized SGS4 at a corporate store. I was told that, even though it wasn't a (subsidized) upgrade, they still had to activate it on my account and that I would also be charged an activation (or upgrade?) fee. As this is a SERO line, the activation/upgrade fee (if there actually is any) probably will end up waived. But a few questions:

1. Do stores have to activate phones sold at retail? I can't just walk in and purchase a boxed phone, at some price?

2. Is an activation or upgrade fee supposed to be assessed on retail-price devices?

If "yes", that's fine. But it's the first time I've bought a retail price device, and I had assumed that most of the activation song-and-dance was required as part of the subsidized upgrade process.

In my particular case, I really just wanted to avoid activating the device on my line today I didn't have time to deal with setup. My fallback plan, which was to reactivate my old phone online didn't work out well either as attempting to "downgrade" an SGS4 requires a call/chat to support (which I later did). Is that something that might change in the future too?

Our corporate location requires the device to be activated. We do not sell cold equipment. If its not active it don't leave our store. More so on hot new devices that may or may not be sold out every other day.

# ? May 10, 2013 14:01

Gozinbulx: Feb 19, 2004

Ryen Deckard posted:

Actually just started getting LTE in Port Charlotte Florida, and I'm seeing network speeds around 29.22Mbps down and 67.58Mbps up.

As a fellow Floridian, why the fuzz does a place like Port Charlotte get LTE before friggin Miami? I barely get regular 4G anywhere and 3g is spotty at best in many locations.

# ? May 10, 2013 16:45

Gozinbulx: Feb 19, 2004

ExcessBLarg! posted:

Was this a subsidized upgrade?

So in my experince, in-store subsidized upgrades involving the whole turn on and activate the phone, sign contract, pay, and make sure the customer walks away with at least minimal knowledge of how to use the device, is an hour long process on the average. If you're a SERO rear end in a top hat, it's a two hour long process at minimum. I can understand why they might charge $36 for that, although much of the ordeal is Sprint's fault to begin with.

In my case it was dirt simple, associate asked for my number and PIN, grabbed a device from the back, scanned it, I paid, he handed the box to me, and I was done. It was maybe five minutes. $36 for that is pretty weird, but not so weird that I'd complain about it for the sake of complaining. I just don't know if it's typical or expected.

ExcessBLarg! I've been looking for you in the rooted android thread. You have previously been very helpful with questions about Samsung exynos devices and I was wondering if we could talk a little through email or something so I can ask a few more questions. I PMed you but I guess you don't have them.

# ? May 10, 2013 16:54

that one guy: Jun 3, 2005

If I'm on EPRP can I upgrade at a store or do I need to do it online? I've always done it online but am curious if I could do it differently.

# ? May 10, 2013 17:40

td4guy: Jun 13, 2005; I always hated that guy.

that one guy posted:

If I'm on EPRP can I upgrade at a store or do I need to do it online? I've always done it online but am curious if I could do it differently.

You can do it at a corporate store but it's risky and you have a high chance of a clueless associate messing something up. It is very much recommended that you do it online or over the phone.

# ? May 10, 2013 18:24

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

td4guy posted:

Ain't it great to be made obsolete in only ~5 months?

That doesn't sound too bad. Sprint still has to decomission iDen, and I doubt it will happen quickly. I suppose folks who purchase SGS4s today might miss out on SMR LTE a few months before their next upgrade (if lucky). On the other hand, it's not like the new SGS4s will offer any usefully distinguishing features at the time they launch anyways.

It will be interesting to see what happens on the used market, if people care. I bet most folks will think they just have SGS4s without knowing the difference between the two flavors.

EbolaIvory posted:

Our corporate location requires the device to be activated.

So does that make it corporate policy? Or does it vary on a store-to-store basis? If you happen to know.

It sounds like there's no technical requirement for selling hot devices, but for understandable policy reasons stores don't sell cold anyways. And yeah, I guess retail sales are rare.

Gozinbulx posted:

ExcessBLarg! I've been looking

FWIW taking this offline.

that one guy posted:

If I'm on EPRP can I upgrade at a store or do I need to do it online?

An EPRP upgrade at a corporate store should strictly be easier than a SERO upgrade. For one, they're less likely to screw it up. It's still a pain in the rear end for everyone involved, so online or telesales is really preferred. If there's a particular reason you have to upgrade in store, I'd go in during an off time, and warn the associate early on that it's an employee-referral upgrade.

Also, I think the particular sticking point are the plan code changes required from going from a 3G to WiMAX or LTE device (or WiMAX to LTE). If you're going from LTE to LTE, it might not be as complicated.

Edit:

td4guy posted:

you have a high chance of a clueless associate messing something up.

I won't assume you're using "clueless" in a derogatory sense. But honestly, associates aren't trained to handle employee (referral) lines, and worse, their support line isn't trained to handle them either, which results in confusion all around.

I blame Sprint for making the plan codes more complicated than they probably have to be. Although I guess from my perspective that I really feel bad for wasting an associate's time pushing through a complicated upgrade when there's other first-class-citizen customers around who are absolutely willing to drop dough on tons of accessories (which I am not).

ExcessBLarg! fucked around with this message at 19:25 on May 10, 2013

# ? May 10, 2013 19:21

EbolaIvory: Jul 6, 2007; NOM NOM NOM

ExcessBLarg! posted:

That doesn't sound too bad. Sprint still has to decomission iDen, and I doubt it will happen quickly. I suppose folks who purchase SGS4s today might miss out on SMR LTE a few months before their next upgrade (if lucky). On the other hand, it's not like the new SGS4s will offer any usefully distinguishing features at the time they launch anyways.

It will be interesting to see what happens on the used market, if people care. I bet most folks will think they just have SGS4s without knowing the difference between the two flavors.

So does that make it corporate policy? Or does it vary on a store-to-store basis? If you happen to know.

It sounds like there's no technical requirement for selling hot devices, but for understandable policy reasons stores don't sell cold anyways. And yeah, I guess retail sales are rare.

FWIW taking this offline.

An EPRP upgrade at a corporate store should strictly be easier than a SERO upgrade. For one, they're less likely to screw it up. It's still a pain in the rear end for everyone involved, so online or telesales is really preferred. If there's a particular reason you have to upgrade in store, I'd go in during an off time, and warn the associate early on that it's an employee-referral upgrade.

Also, I think the particular sticking point are the plan code changes required from going from a 3G to WiMAX or LTE device (or WiMAX to LTE). If you're going from LTE to LTE, it might not be as complicated.

Edit:

I won't assume you're using "clueless" in a derogatory sense. But honestly, associates aren't trained to handle employee (referral) lines, and worse, their support line isn't trained to handle them either, which results in confusion all around.

I blame Sprint for making the plan codes more complicated than they probably have to be. Although I guess from my perspective that I really feel bad for wasting an associate's time pushing through a complicated upgrade when there's other first-class-citizen customers around who are absolutely willing to drop dough on tons of accessories (which I am not).

I believe its corp policy. It was covered in COR training that we just Dont offer unactivated devices. Because if a customer is dropping 600-800 on a phone. Why wouldn't they want it active? Only case I can think is a present. And even then we in most cases want to open it up and make sure nothings broken. Because wouldn't it suck to get a new one that's sealed. You leave and open it at home. And then the device has a cracked screen or something. We have no way to say you didn't break it. Ya dig?

# ? May 10, 2013 20:56

Ryen Deckard: Jun 28, 2008; My blood is red, white, and blue.

Gozinbulx posted:

As a fellow Floridian, why the fuzz does a place like Port Charlotte get LTE before friggin Miami? I barely get regular 4G anywhere and 3g is spotty at best in many locations.

Because you guys get literally everything else good before hand.

Actual answer I don't know, I just moved from Orlando and we're getting LTE in Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda before I had it in Orlando, and I lived a mile away from Universal Studios.

Although in Miami you should have LTE around I-95, sensorly reports that there's LTE up and down the coast over there so I don't know why you wouldn't have it. Sprint's been covering the highways here in LTE then working out from there. Got it right off the road from I-75 about a month ago and now it covers a decent area of town.

# ? May 10, 2013 21:12

fknlo: Jul 6, 2009; Fun Shoe

My One has a stuck pixel on the icon bar that's basically next to impossible for me to not notice now. Do I need to take it back to where I bought it or can any Sprint store deal with it?

edit: It apparently has multiple stuck pixels...

fknlo fucked around with this message at 02:43 on May 11, 2013

# ? May 11, 2013 00:23

Cacafuego: Jul 22, 2007

Ryen Deckard posted:

Although in Miami you should have LTE around I-95, sensorly reports that there's LTE up and down the coast over there so I don't know why you wouldn't have it. Sprint's been covering the highways here in LTE then working out from there. Got it right off the road from I-75 about a month ago and now it covers a decent area of town.

Explains why I get it on I-4 in Orlando, but it's spotty everywhere else. Cause a major highway is the most sensible place to get 4G service.

# ? May 11, 2013 02:39

sharkytm: Oct 9, 2003; Ba

By

Sharkytm doot doo do doot do doo; Fallen Rib

Biodome posted:

Hope yall get some more Network Vision roll outs soon. I get 4 or 5 bars of LTE at my apartment and everywhere I go in Dallas. It's not as fast as AT&T or Verizon's but it's still very nice. This is how it should be.

Chump.

I'm astonished at how loving fast, large, and thin this S4 is. Good god, my old Evo is going to be awful to use now (as a media device only)...

Also, GOGOGO LTE!

# ? May 11, 2013 03:19

zer0spunk: Nov 6, 2000; devil never even lived

sharkytm posted:

Chump.

Faster then my 20/3 at home. That hurts a little.

Where are you?

# ? May 11, 2013 04:04

sharkytm: Oct 9, 2003; Ba

By

Sharkytm doot doo do doot do doo; Fallen Rib

zer0spunk posted:

Faster then my 20/3 at home. That hurts a little.

Where are you?

Bourne, Cape Cod, Mass. That's way faster than my 10/2.5 Comcast connection, that's for sure.

# ? May 11, 2013 05:21

Mthrboard: Aug 24, 2002; Grimey Drawer

They must have just lit up a bunch of 4G towers in the St. Cloud, MN area over the past week. Two weeks ago I got a new S3, and all I got was 3G, but last Saturday I noticed the status bar changed to 4G. I thought it was a fluke at first, but Speed Test showed 10 down/3 Up. Driving home, it switched back and forth, but now when I'm at home I can get a reliable 4G connection.

# ? May 11, 2013 06:00

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# ? May 29, 2024 08:17

Biodome: Nov 21, 2006; Gerry

sharkytm posted:

Chump.

I'm astonished at how loving fast, large, and thin this S4 is. Good god, my old Evo is going to be awful to use now (as a media device only)...

Also, GOGOGO LTE!

I've only hit 20 down/7.5 up a few times with 5 bars of LTE. That's awesome.

# ? May 11, 2013 07:55

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