Best upgrade price...what's the secret?

[Bob.]

I've been a Sprint corporate customer for over 15 years and am, once again, ready to upgrade one of the 3 phones on my account (all contract periods expired). I have the E4GT Galaxy S2 and am interested in the Note II. However, the upgrade price never seems to go down. ATM, it's $249 to upgrade.

The point of this post:

I'm not expecting free (although that'd be nice :whiste: ), but having to pay $250 to upgrade a phone and also pay a large monthly bill is a hard pill to swallow.

Is there some way to receive a better upgrade price. A magic phrase, special circumstance, etc (aside from threatening to move to another service)?

Thanks,
Bob.

 

[jpeyton]

Did you mean the Note 3? The Note 2 should be close to free at this point.

Best Buy has the Note 3 for $199. You don't need to buy it through Sprint; Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Costco, etc. are all competing for your dollars.

But to answer your question, yes, threatening to leave does work wonders. Call Sprint customer service and ask to speak to account retention, and tell them you're taking your 3 lines elsewhere unless they give you a decent deal on 3 line upgrades.

Final tip: Phone companies care very little about $50-$100 on the cost of a on-contract phone. What they really care about is the 2-year contract itself, which is worth thousands of dollars. So if they give you grief about a line upgrade, drop them like a bad habit.

 

[Zaap]

I'm hoping you mean a Note 3? A Note 2 at $250 for a contract price seems way out of whack. You could probably buy a Note 2 outright for that.

If you meant the N3, then you just have to realize it's a pretty expensive $600-$700 phone, and you may not get it for less than $250+ contract.

Ask Sprint if you qualify for some added discounts, and get them to "see what they can do." I find whenever I go to buy a phone from a carrier there's always some additional "something someone can do" that knocks another $50 and sometimes even $100 off the phone price.

 

[Bob.]

Thanks for your remarks. No, I did mean the Note 2. The Note 3 upgrade pricing is $349.

Sprint has lagged so far behind the 'other guys' in network speed...they never did get 4G up in my area (major large city). Now they have 4G LTE, which they say my ET4g isn't compatible.

As far as threatening to quit, I guess I could do that (I'd have to check Verizon and other's plans first so I'm not making empty threats). However, Sprint's unlimited data is something I'd hate to lose (if I can get speeds that would take advantage of it).

 

[Yuriman]

Food for though: Republic Wireless uses Sprint's network (so it has the same coverage), offers unlimited 3G, calling and texting for $25 per month without contract (LTE is a little more), and you can get a Moto X through them for $300 or add $10 per month to your bill until the phone is yours. Why not get out of a crappy contract while you have the oppotunity?

 

[jpeyton]

Thanks for your remarks. No, I did mean the Note 2. The Note 3 upgrade pricing is $349.

Well, as I said, you can drive to any Best Buy and get a Note 3 for $199, or you can give Sprint a call and twist their arm.

In either case, you should cross-shop the other carriers and see if they're offering a better deal on your actual monthly plan than you're currently getting.

 

[ImDonly1]

Thanks for your remarks. No, I did mean the Note 2. The Note 3 upgrade pricing is $349.

You are either upgrading early or something is wrong. I just checked the Sprint website, the note 2 is $150 and the note 3 is $250.

As others have said buying from Amazon, bestbuy, costco, etc is usually cheaper.
Costco has the note 3 for $230 and bestbuy has it for $200. I would get the note 3 from best buy.
Also check the sprint website for your corporation, they have specific offers for you and usually lower phone costs.
The note 2/3 is probably one of the most expensive phones to get though.

If the note 2 is $150 and the note 3 is $200, definitely get the note 3. $50 difference is nothing when your 2 year contract is going to cost you over $2,000 total over the 2 year period for one phone.

 

[Joe1987]

Try Wirefly

http://www.wirefly.com/plans/sprint?referringdomain=wirefly

 

[Bob.]

Even at best buy the note 2 is $249. But as has been mentioned, the Note 3 is $199 at best buy. As far as Sprint's price, $349 for the note 3 is the upgrade price with me logged into my account and with any of my numbers showing. I guess I'll be talking to them. It's amazing how companies will try to wring every cent out of a long time customer. I guess they don't understand the concept of good faith and loyalty being good business and producing more revenue in the long run. They never seem to learn the lesson of short money.

Thanks to all for your comments. I'm glad I checked here rather than impulse buy. If I'd gone for the note 3, I would have spent $150 more than I had to.