Database Users

Sprint Has No Sense of Humor (Won't Let Me Upgrade Early)

I have the Hero and like everyone else here am drooling over the Evo. Can't upgrade till October though, but it didn't hurt to ask for a little exception from the CEO himself.
Here's a link to my story of trying to upgrade early:
http://bit.ly/gtevo4g
EDIT: Bottom line, if you're not eligible for upgrade, you're not getting an upgrade price. No exceptions. But, they're willing to buy your phone back for about $80 if it's a Hero.

TommyNY said:
But, they're willing to buy your phone back for about $80 if it's a Hero.
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Or you could sell it on eBay for $200 buy-it-now and purchase the Evo retail ($450-200 = $250)
Not much more than a new contract price!

A_Guy71 said:
Or you could sell it on eBay for $200 buy-it-now and purchase the Evo retail ($450-200 = $250)
Not much more than a new contract price!
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... interesting...
I hadn't even thought of that. Although I seriously doubt anyone would pay $200 for a used hero but if so mine is still pristine.
Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm not up for an upgrade till February so for the time being i love my hero and have no complaints except one. Why if ur making a phone would u put only a few hundred mb internal memory on it. I mean i can buy a flash drive for 5 or 10 bucks and it be 4 to 8 gigs. Kinda retarded if u ask me. That and keyboard lag.
Back on subject...if I really wanted to go to evo I'm sure I could call sprint and convince them. I've been with them for 13 years and it's always worked in the past if u threaten to go to metro pcs. I'm sure my account has some interesting notes in it cause I always get my way. Ill debate them until they get tired of me. Morons lmao

A_Guy71 said:
Or you could sell it on eBay for $200 buy-it-now and purchase the Evo retail ($450-200 = $250)
Not much more than a new contract price!
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Your lucky if you get $100 for the hero now. Im not due for an upgrade until november and im sure by then there will be a better phone out than the evo. It's an endless cycle.

nebenezer said:
... interesting...
I hadn't even thought of that. Although I seriously doubt anyone would pay $200 for a used hero but if so mine is still pristine.
Thanks for the suggestion.
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I've read various users on here selling their's for $200 BIN, although this was probably a little less than a month ago. With the ever-looming release of the Evo, this may have gone down..Although I wouldn't assume you would get any less than $150, especially since Best Buy is offering $211 (Last I checked) store credit for it.
Personally, I love my Hero. Running Fresh Toast, I benchmark only 1 mflop less than an N1 with 2.1...Perfectly acceptable to me. I'll pass on the Evo and see what comes after

TommyNY said:
I have the Hero and like everyone else here am drooling over the Evo. Can't upgrade till October though, but it didn't hurt to ask for a little exception from the CEO himself.
Here's a link to my story of trying to upgrade early:
http://bit.ly/gtevo4g
EDIT: Bottom line, if you're not eligible for upgrade, you're not getting an upgrade price. No exceptions. But, they're willing to buy your phone back for about $80 if it's a Hero.
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Click to collapse
I had a similiar issue about moving the upgrade date up, but I was only asking for a month. It took 3 calls and me talking to a supervisor to get them to give me the early upgrade. I think it helped that I was only 5 months away from being with them for 10 years. Either way, it was a real big hassle and we almost told them to stick it......But I held me ground and we did get the ealry upgrade. Ended up betting 2 heros for $99

markus_del_marko said:
Your lucky if you get $100 for the hero now. Im not due for an upgrade until november and im sure by then there will be a better phone out than the evo. It's an endless cycle.
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Yes!! Dual-Core 1.5GHz Snapdragon phones!!! I may just hold out for these. Supposedly the first ones are due out by the end of this year. Contract upgrade time baby!

So sad that I am second guessing the EVO now. I love Top Of The Line stuff, but sadly with cell phones they get snuffed out quickly.
I think my problem is too many addicitions to spread my money around on. I need to get off the Coke and Meth....i've said too much.

Yes, from what I have been told they cannot give early upgrades but they can do other things. If anything, call them and tell them that if you can’t get an EVO you will terminate your contract and pay the fee. They’ll try to keep you with other options. I did this when the Hero came out and they gave me $20/mo off our plan for the next 24 months. Not too shabby. I don’t even feel bad because Sprint will rape you if you let them.
As far as the EVO, I’m waiting until Xmas to see what HTC releases. I would hate to get the EVO, only to find out that HTC rushed it so it could be the first 4G phone and releases one way better in December or the first quarter of 2011.

chfields said:
I had a similiar issue about moving the upgrade date up, but I was only asking for a month. It took 3 calls and me talking to a supervisor to get them to give me the early upgrade. I think it helped that I was only 5 months away from being with them for 10 years. Either way, it was a real big hassle and we almost told them to stick it......But I held me ground and we did get the ealry upgrade. Ended up betting 2 heros for $99
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Man, I have gotten what I want out of Sprint every time I've tried (but I don't think I've ever asked for something unreasonable ) EXCEPT the time I tried to get my upgrade ONE DAY EARLY. Best Buy was doing a crazy sale and I spent 40 minutes outside outside the store on the phone with Sprint to no avail. Luckily the manager at BB was willing to honor the sale the following day and I ended up getting an unheard of deal on 2 hero's and a blackberry curve

i called in right before they released 2.1 and told them i was canceling becasue of the problems with 1.5(lmao) if they didnt reset my upgrade date and they did on the spot no problem

702DROID said:
i called in right before they released 2.1 and told them i was canceling becasue of the problems with 1.5(lmao) if they didnt reset my upgrade date and they did on the spot no problem
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Simple as that? Wish i could talk to the people you did.

Early upgrade for the EVO

I wasn't due for an upgrade for another month but the local Best Buy had some white and black ones in stock, so I called Sprint and they moved my date up a month so I could go ahead and upgrade. This was 21 months in on one line and 11 on the primary line for the upgrades. Just thought if you are due for an upgrade then it might be worth your time to call Sprint and see if they will move your upgrade date so you can get the EVO if you can find it.

You just got lucky that you had a cool rep to do do that for you. I tried and they wouldn't go for it when they first came out. I had to pay an early termination fee for my Touch Pro in order to get my EVO.

When in doubt Sprint will always let you upgrade at least one month early. One thing you can do is call, talk to a manager and tell them how badly your current handset blows and you wanna upgrade. Normally you'll get some grief at first but if you threaten to cancel service and tell them you'll get an iPhone than they submit to your wants.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I was behind for an upgrade when I got mine. I just told sprint my problems with the pre and was really liking the evo, and would be willing to sign another 2 years I'd they could renew my upgrade date. I got my pre like 14 months ago. It helps to tell them that you're trying to decide on the evo and a phone on another network, for me it was the droid.

AcIdC0R3 said:
You just got lucky that you had a cool rep to do do that for you. I tried and they wouldn't go for it when they first came out. I had to pay an early termination fee for my Touch Pro in order to get my EVO.
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If you are with Sprint enough time, you can upgrade every 11 months. not even 12.
And I don't think any other company does that.

baiatul said:
If you are with Sprint enough time, you can upgrade every 11 months. not even 12.
And I don't think any other company does that.
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I've been with Sprint since before it all became digital and the days of the brick phones so if that's not long enough, I don't know what is.

I wasn't due for an upgrade until Sept 1, went to best buy on June 20th and they said I was eligible.......

If you pay over like 120 or 130 a month for Sprint service than you are a premier member. One of the perks of this is upgrades every year vice 2 years. You're also supposed to get priority in store service and you get accessories for like 25% off. There's more, just go check it out on Sprint's site.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

you're lucky. i was 3 weeks early to renew my contract as a premier member, but they would not renew it since i was getting an evo. they wouldn't even sell it to me straight up. i even got into an argument with the manager because i was getting different stories about me upgrading and/or purchasing the phone for full price. they only wanted new lines for the evo.

I had a week to go for my upgrade, but Sprint would not budge. I contacted the retentions department and the rep said the only way they would move my upgrade date up is if I had the BB representative call customer service and tell them that my phone was broke and that I was looking into the evo. Essentially they could replace my current phone and I was only going to keep it for a week and get the evo or they could save some money and move my upgrade date up. The customer service rep didn't resist the move.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

mlee0921 said:
you're lucky. i was 3 weeks early to renew my contract as a premier member, but they would not renew it since i was getting an evo. they wouldn't even sell it to me straight up. i even got into an argument with the manager because i was getting different stories about me upgrading and/or purchasing the phone for full price. they only wanted new lines for the evo.
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This is exactly what I'm talking about. I had to go through BB and open a new line on my account as a family plan. This is where Sprint falls short. Evidently in my area they don't practice what they preach. My Touch Pro broke a week before the launch of the EVO and I was even charged an early termination fee on a broken phone. This alone almost swayed me to go with Verizon but decided to give Sprint one more chance.

I was planning on adding a new line anyway when i was gonna get the evo. So when i went in telling the rep at the store i wanted just a case he asked why i wasnt getting the phone through them, to which i replied. i pre-ordered from best buy . 2 of them (one for me and one for my buddy). The rep asked how much i had put down i told him 50 bucks. he told me he would match that if i bought through them. I kinda hesitated, and told them i had pre ordered 2, to which he answered, we'll match that also. I went ahead and got them from the sprint store. thats not the best part, they gave me all sorts of discount (23% off my phone bill) and when i went to look at my phone bill the new line is already ELIGIBLE for an UPGRADE. and the old line i had (the Hero)is eligible in october, and they told me that i couldnt change main number or id lose the upgrade on the hero, but my evo is now my main line.. LOL i guess i win LOL. when the new phones come i dont have to wait or Early Terminate. HAHAHA

Like free money? Then you might want to call TMob customer service

Apparently several retailers are selling the Vibrant for $99 with upgrade. TMobile has been persuaded by several users on their official forums (including myself) to credit the difference ($100) to their bills.
Post on the T-Mob forums:
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Samsu...o-Walmart-Firefly-Radio-Shack-etc/td-p/421988

hmmm I'll have to try this tomorrow. maybe I'll get lucky.
sent from my samsung vibrant

bahnburner said:
Apparently several retailers are selling the Vibrant for $99 with upgrade. TMobile has been persuaded by several users on their official forums (including myself) to credit the difference ($100) to their bills.
Post on the T-Mob forums:
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Samsu...o-Walmart-Firefly-Radio-Shack-etc/td-p/421988
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Not to put a damper on things, but I work for TMO care in an un-named higher position. Feel free to call, but don't expect that to be the case. There isn't an official "offer" like that going on and if it has happened, it has been a judgment call by the rep and/or sup. But speaking from experience, this kind of thing is rare.
Just want to avoid banging heads against a brick wall.

israel941 said:
Not to put a damper on things, but I work for TMO care in an un-named higher position. Feel free to call, but don't expect that to be the case. There isn't an official "offer" like that going on and if it has happened, it has been a judgment call by the rep and/or sup. But speaking from experience, this kind of thing is rare.
Just want to avoid banging heads against a brick wall.
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Thanks for clearing things up. I know it's the CSR's call, but it has worked for several people on the T-Mo forums, but obviously, it's hit or miss. Anyway, it's worth a try regardless.

what other deals/benefits can we get from the t-mob?

If you've been with T-Mobile for a long time you would have a much easier time getting preferred features.

good chunk of change for u vibrant users!

Been with tmo for like 7 years and they wouldnt sell me for $165

I did this on the relese day... Worked. I did have to call in twice and as I was nearly out of contract they knew I could walk.

When I called on July 13th to get an official confirmation on the release of the Vibrant, I also wanted to disable a 3rd line I had that is no longer in use. the CSR transferred me to another dept (which I later learned to be the Loyalty dept). I told them to disconnect my 3rd line and the reason was that it was no longer in use by my cousin who changed carriers.
The Loyalty Rep was trying to convince me to leave the line open. And seeing that I was interested in the Vibrant, he would be able to give it to me for 99 because that line was out of contract. Since my main line was out of contract, I asked him about that and he said that under my account, any of my 3 lines was eligible for a loyalty discount, but it is only available over the phone.
I called on the 15th and they had to verify what was entered in the notes for the loyalty discount.

I got mine for 99. I cited that I can get it from Amazon, Android And Me, etc. for that price.

I was lucky enough for T-mobile to give me the vibrant for $200 even though I just got a new plan with them around 3 months ago. So I don't think I'll be pushing my luck.

Yeah, I got the vibrant for $200, the new contract price even though I was on my previous contact for only 12 months.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Loyalty refused to credit me 100$ even though I was out of contract before my upgrade, and threatened to leave for Sprint. But they lowered my monthly bill by 20$.

offensive said:
Loyalty refused to credit me 100$ even though I was out of contract before my upgrade, and threatened to leave for Sprint. But they lowered my monthly bill by 20$.
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That'll work. They just saved you $480 over the course of your contract. Not a bad deal, and a whole lot better than $100 credit.

I decided to give CS a call, mentioned I was an Amazon Prime customer and Amazon has it for $99. Ended up getting a $100 credit to my account! Thanks T-Mobile!

called cust serv and it was a no go bc I bought in store.. I tried tho...

A few weeks ago, I placed a call to T-mobile customer loyalty personnel, first line of defend declined to match Costco $100 price. I escalated the issue and politely requested to speak to the supervisor, a few minutes later I got T-mobile to agree on $149 with free 2 days shipping & no activation fee.
I have 8 lines with T-mobile and have been a loyal customer for over 5 yrs. T-mobile CS was fantastic and cordial during the "negotiation".

junkdruggler said:
called cust serv and it was a no go bc I bought in store.. I tried tho...
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Try again... I bought it in-store too.

All this puts you on a 2-year contract right? Even More Plus won't get any of these deals?

Sprint offering early upgrades to some customers

Itching for a new Sprint handset, but your upgrade date is still a ways off? You might be in luck, as a newly-leaked Sprint document has shown that the carrier is offering some customers an early upgrade. According to the doc sent to SprintFeed, there's a silent promotion running now through December 31st that'll allow some Premier customers to upgrade early to any CDMA handset in the Now Network's lineup, including the iPhone. The deal is said to be only available at corporate-owned stores, and before earning the upgrade you'll need to have your account reviewed by a sales representative for specific promo codes.
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, especially considering that Sprint Premier is going the way of the dinosaur and most of the benefits of program are ending once the year is up. If you'd like to see if you're eligible for an early upgrade, mosey on down to your local (corporate!) Sprint store and ask your friendly rep to look into the promo. Just don't forget to come back and let us know how it went when you're done, k?
Source:http://www.phonedog.com/2011/12/22/sprint-offering-early-upgrades-to-some-customers/

I don't know why anyone would re-up their contract at this point. Wait until the LTE phones start coming out, and then re-up.

MakeMeFibonacci said:
I don't know why anyone would re-up their contract at this point. Wait until the LTE phones start coming out, and then re-up.
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Exactly, no point in buying a phone now, then being stuck in a contract when LTE comes out

MakeMeFibonacci said:
I don't know why anyone would re-up their contract at this point. Wait until the LTE phones start coming out, and then re-up.
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Unless they want to get you into a new phone now, then you'll have to pay more for the new phone that comes out next year that you should have waited for, but can't pass up. Sprint knows how your mind works.

Stop posting this people it is false rumor many people have tried today and no luck. Unless your due for an upgrade in the next two weeks
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Fataldesain said:
Stop posting this people it is false rumor many people have tried today and no luck. Unless your due for an upgrade in the next two weeks
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
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Not totally true. I went to the Sprint Store today. I have 3 lines on my plan. Two of them are due to upgrade in March. The 3rd line is due in October 2012. They offered me an upgrade on the Oct. phone because it is the primary line. Don't know if I will cash in, but the offer seems legit. I have been a customer for over 10 years. Maybe that is a reason.

Fataldesain said:
Stop posting this people it is false rumor many people have tried today and no luck. Unless your due for an upgrade in the next two weeks
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Not true! I'm on a family plan with 4 other phones and I was able to upgrade my dad's phone today even though his upgrade isnt coming until next august. They gave us the early upgrade because we are premier members and he is the primary line. The sprint rep told me they just heard about the deal yesterday, and it does indeed go until the 31st.

I can confirm this is real. But the stores i called and went to are all asking for you to either upgrade your plan or buy accessories to do it.
Anyone else running into this?

It's pretty standard to renew your plan whenever you do an upgrade

HipKat said:
It's pretty standard to renew your plan whenever you do an upgrade
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No not renew but upgrade. curently have $129 and they wanted me to upgrade the plan to $149 plan.
Well got some crazy news!!!! i took advantage of the early upgrade and found a store that did not make me upgrade my plan or buy accessories. I think its a store by store discretion type deal with making customers buy accessories and upgrade plans. Also they bought 2 of my evo's for $100 each and all rebates were instant for the phones i got. Sooo i spent A little under $300 and got a 16g iphone 4s for my girl and got the epic touch for me. All and all a great deal and i'm very happy with my new phone
But i'm a little sad to be leaving the evo 4g section of XDA. Gonna take a break from rooting and enjoy stock for a min then be back flashing and learning the epic touch!! Good bye all my evo compadres

Sprint Giving Early Upgrades! (Contract Renew Required)

Sprint is giving out early upgrades (or as they call it "Resetting Upgrade Eligibility") for a price. They've done this for me when the Evo 3D came out, at no charge. But somewhere between now and then they started charging for it. Anyways, I went on chat last week to ask; I played dumb saying, "My friend said [...]", and the guy checked and said "No" because I had more than one year. So I called up yesterday, which happened to be a few days less than a year of my contract left, and the guy checked and said "Yes, I can do that for $45".
How it works is: You wait until you have less than a year left on your contract, at least a day or two, then you call up or chat with Sprint online asking them how much it would cost to upgrade early. They give you a price based on how much you have left. If you decide to pay it (it shows up on your bill), they give you an upgrade on your account, which you can use to get any phone you want, including the EVO 4G LTE or Galaxy Nexus.
The catch: When you actually go to upgrade, they'll be adding another year to your contract. Yes, 1 year. Why? Because even though you're signing a 24 month contract, a contract term cannot exceed more than 2 years. So for me, instead of my contract ending May 2013, if I choose to do this it will end May 2014 when I go and buy my EVO 4G LTE. I've done it before and I double-checked just now with Sprint. If you take the offer, you can sit on the upgrade for as long as you want, and your contract will not be touched until you go to upgrade.
****THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS ETF; YOU'RE NOT BUYING OUT YOUR CONTRACT.****​
Just thought you guys should know. It's not a bad trade at all if you plan on sticking with Sprint anyways! I've heard good things about the EVO 4G LTE and it actually supposedly gets better service than any other Sprint phone out there (data speed wise).
OH! And always always ALWAYS tell them to note your account about it in case you don't want to do it right away. You don't want one rep saying something, and then next time you check they don't know what you're talking about.
Brian H.: A short survey follows this chat. Will you be able to respond yes to the question "Was your issue resolved on this chat session?" The results help Sprint measure my performance.
Customer: Alright. Actually I do have one question if you don't mind
Brian H.: I will be more than happy to answer your question.
Customer: My friend told me that Sprint may give customers an early upgrade if they agree to add another year to their contract. Is that something that's possible on my line (1***) ?
Brian H.: I can check on this for you. One moment please.
Customer: Ok. Because I bought this Galaxy Nexus off contract, but I'm really interested in the Evo 4G LTE.
Brian H.: According to your account I do show that you qualify for a $45 buy up offer to have you upgrade reset.
Customer: for the 1*** line?
Brian H.: Yes that is correct.
Customer: And if I decide to do that, how would I pay? In store? Through my bill?
Brian H.: It would be billed to you and the amount would be $45.
Customer: That's awesome. Would you mind noting my account about that please? You really brightened up my day because I've been really interested in this phone.
Brian H.: I have already have it noted on your account. Would you like me to apply this offer for you now?
Customer: Not right now. I want to wait until the phone comes out before I decide to buy it
Customer: But I really appreciate you helping me out
Brian H.: It was my pleasure.Is there anything else I can assist you with?
Customer: Nope, that's it. Have an awesome day
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Product F(RED) said:
Sprint is giving out early upgrades (or as they call it "Resetting Upgrade Eligibility") for a price. They've done this for me when the Evo 3D came out, at no charge. But somewhere between now and then they started charging for it. Anyways, I went on chat last week to ask; I played dumb saying, "My friend said [...]", and the guy checked and said "No" because I had more than one year. So I called up yesterday, which happened to be a few days less than a year of my contract left, and the guy checked and said "Yes, I can do that for $45".
How it works is: You wait until you have less than a year left on your contract, at least a day or two, then you call up or chat with Sprint online asking them how much it would cost to upgrade early. They give you a price based on how much you have left. If you decide to pay it (it shows up on your bill), they give you an upgrade on your account, which you can use to get any phone you want, including the EVO 4G LTE or Galaxy Nexus.
The catch: When you actually go to upgrade, they'll be adding another year to your contract. Yes, 1 year. Why? Because even though you're signing a 24 month contract, a contract term cannot exceed more than 2 years. So for me, instead of my contract ending May 2013, if I choose to do this it will end May 2014 when I go and buy my EVO 4G LTE. I've done it before and I double-checked just now with Sprint. If you take the offer, you can sit on the upgrade for as long as you want, and your contract will not be touched until you go to upgrade.
****THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS ETF; YOU'RE NOT BUYING OUT YOUR CONTRACT.****​
Just thought you guys should know. It's not a bad trade at all if you plan on sticking with Sprint anyways! I've heard good things about the EVO 4G LTE and it actually supposedly gets better service than any other Sprint phone out there (data speed wise).
OH! And always always ALWAYS tell them to note your account about it in case you don't want to do it right away. You don't want one rep saying something, and then next time you check they don't know what you're talking about.
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Tried this just now and they would not do it. I only have 61 days left on my contract and want to charge me $175 for an early upgrade.

That sucks. But to be fair, that was a year ago and they've changed a lot of policies since then.

Product F(RED) said:
That sucks. But to be fair, that was a year ago and they've changed a lot of policies since then.
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I called retentions and the best I could get was $85 for early upgrade.