killer sprint PCS deal....1000 mins for $30

[shopbruin]

Sprint PCS is overall pretty decent methinks. I go to school at UCLA and I got killer reception when I used it in the residence halls using a Nokia 6185.

In the Bay Area, I haven't had much of a problem. I have used my phone while driving (and have lived to tell the tale) and all over the place. Even in Downtown San Jose, with our "tall" buildings. A great example: My brother was using his Samsung 3500 at Half Moon Bay, the only person to get reception, while all the PacBell and Cell One people were getting zilch. My mom is with Cell One and getting the worst service, IMO. Aside from Caller ID, she gets nothing else but a ton of minutes she doesn't use. And don't get me started on my dad's Nextel.

I've been with Sprint for almost a year and I really haven't had any problems with them over the phone. Only probs occur when I actually walk into their stores and talk to their stupid CSR's.

As for their deals, their long distance free and clear plans are the best, especially for students that go to school far away from home. They're always having new deals, and I'll bet they'll have another set of deals near Christmas. For their month to month customers, this is where you can make the most of not signing a contract.

 

[emaij]

These guys must own Sprint stock or work for Sprint.

I have been using Sprint PCS for over a year and it is TERRIBLE! I have had tons of problems with their service, including constant dropped calls, terrible reception, and calls that do not complete.. but make it onto my bill.

Their customer service is also TERRIBLE. First of all it's difficult to get through... very time consuming. And when you do get through they make it as difficult as possible to get anything accomplished. I used to call them all the time to try to get things corrected. Now I don't. I just accept it as a cost of doing business with them... maybe an extra 30% or 40%.

I suppose I should switch to AT&T but their service is more expensive and I already own this phone. Eventually I will.

What really pisses me off is their avertising - Free and Clear? What a laugh!!!! And their comparison to analog service is ludicrous. My dad has dual band service and it is 100% better than my garbage free and clear service (should be called expensive and unclear service). I can't hear my calls 50% of the time.

 

[Krunk]

I've had similar problems with Sprint PCS. However, have anyone consider that it might be the phone's problem. I used to have bad reception with my Qualcomm 1960, however recently I bought a Samsung 3500 (a bit more pricy with dual band) and pretty much 85% of my calls go through. I also live in a neighborhood with lots of high voltage wires and that might be a cause of my bad reception too.

Also, just wanted to note that I've gotten my free hands-free kit from SprintPCS. It's really nice!!! Forgot the address but you might be able to find it in anandtech if the deal's still around.

 

[ButtMunch]

That 1000 min offer in available on thier homepage on the bottom corner, but it comes and goes.


I live in Central Florida and go all over Florida. I have SprintPCS and a Nokia 6185 and it works great. I get a full signal inside of almost any building. Their customer service is pretty good to. SprintPCS does work with analog if you have their better phones, Samsung 3500, Nokia 6185, and up. But it just runs down batts faster.

I had AT&T for about six months and all it was is a bunch of crappy reception and dropped calls. Also their customer service is the worst scripted bunch of BS artists i've ever seen.

I know service will very from state to state but SprintPCS seems to have Florida covered.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Digital Edge USA (SW Bell) has a plan for 700 minutes + LD for $30, but my friend recently switched from SW Bell to Sprint PCS cause of shoddy service (Dallas area)

 

[toothfairy]

-good price for the plan
-bad service in OC and LA California like most say
-tried two different samsung 3500's
-wish i could stick with them but &quot;no service...<beep beep>...hello? hello?&quot; really sucks
-have a couple phones on AT&amp;T now. never a problem.

 

[Robbed]

Hate to burst your bubble folks but this plan doesn't include long distance and you do have to sign a 1 year contract. It's not that great of a deal. You can get the free long distance but then you only get 400 minutes (200 anytime, 200 nights and weekend). The 1000 minutes with free long distance would be $39.95, which is still an alright deal I guess. Although.....800 night and weekend minutes, who's going to use that.

rob

 

[llc00ljoel]

robbed,
its a pretty good deal...u ain't bursting anyone's bubble...i didn't hafta sign up for a year...maybe its a regional thing...and in my case, when i signed up for a year, i got an extra 200 mins...for a total of 1200(200 anytime, 800 weekend/nites + 200 more weekend/nites), so maybe its just a deal where i live (suburb outside of houston)...as for who's gonna use 800 mins? ok, so u ain't...but that doesn't mean other people don't...besides, its always nice to have a safety net of mins instead of worrying if ur gonna run out...

hope everyone else enjoys the deal

 

[puffpio]

at ucla i get good reception (except inside buildings damn them!!!)
contrary to what the other person at ucla wrote, in some dorms i got good receptions, and other ones crappy

now i'm in redmond and coverage is great!! full bars all the time even inside buildings.

about two weeks ago i would get no coverage inside concrete buildings (it would goto roaming or no network)
then allasudden, i get full bars at work!! woohoo!! awww yeah

 

[Mysterie]

Hmmm, I have been using SprintPCS for almost three years. I have been thru three phones (Qualacomm 1920, 1960 and a Samsung 3500-hopefully get a 8500 by the end of the year, any deals?). I will admit that sometimes you get bad reception (it's worse in apartment buildings). I do think the CSRs on the phones are horrible (the females worse than the males-I wonder why). I go all over the Los Angeles and Orange county areas with no problems. San Bernadino now that's a big cell phone reception pit, almost all cell phones service sucks there (Sprint, AT&amp;T, and PacBell) I barely get any reception there, but I still get some. I go visit friends at UCLA and everyone is surprised I actually get reception (another pit). I go to chinatown all the time and get reception. I believe the phone is the most important thing to reception. I know that the Qualcomms don't do so well, but the Nokias (both models) and the Samsungs work nice. I get signals from those when the Qualcomms don't have any. Sometimes my whole family gets together at my Grandmother's apartment complex, 3 Qualacomm 1960, 3 Samsung 3500, one Nokia 5170 and guess who can make calls...

 

[shopbruin]

contrary to what the other person at ucla wrote, in some dorms i got good receptions, and other ones crappy

It all depends what Residence Hall you're in. I lived in Sproul my first year and I got great reception. This fall I'm moving into Sunset (Canyon Point) and I know I'm not gonna get any reception because the doors are fire proof and the walls are seriously thick.

On the upside to that, you can blast music at 3am and no one will hear you.

 

[SUOrangeman]

I figured that I better chip in with my Sprint PCS experience. I have used this service with a TouchPoint phone for nearly a year now. IT IS MY ONLY PHONE SERVICE (no land lines in my apartment). 500 anywhere, anytime for $50 has been great. I think I've only gone over my limit once ... and that was for work related reasons. Once in a blue moon I'll get a dropped call, but certainly nothing to cry over. And I have not had to deal with customer service because my service works for me. No real problems that could be fixed by calling Sprint.

-SUO

 

[DaveKnepper]

RossMan might have the right idea.

I work indirectly for voicestream wireless now, I've the cell phone agent for my college since the merger between Omnipoint, PCS One, and Voicestream. The rate plans are pretty decent with lots of options, and the sound quality is guaranteed to be excellent because of the technology.

The one problem is lack of coverage, but if you're in the mid-atlantic or as far as Ohio, you might want to check into voicestream in your area.

-- David

 

[jonnysnakes]

Before you guys jump on this &quot;deal&quot;, realize that in most places,Sprint PCS is SUCK!!! They offer the WORST service possible. Their customer service is incompetent, and their reception is unbearable. I tried them for a year, and their big promise is that they have a new network and that they are &quot;growing&quot;...well, I don't have time to wait until they build out their network. I bought a cell phone and need the service NOW. Getting dropped 40% of the time is NOT a good business model. I called and complained, but they told me the same old story. Best advice? Unless you want a cell phone only for &quot;show&quot; purposes, skip SprintPCS. I am in the LA area, and anybody else who is from LA knows what I am talking about. Try Verizon wireless. Their network is a LOT better!!!

 

[jonnysnakes]

A side note: I think we'll all agree that in the LA AREA, Sprint PCS pretty much sucks. I have heard that it is a lot better in the East, but I haven't gone there recently, so I can't verify. Sprint is also not that bad in Las Vegas. The thing with the LA market is that there are so many damn buildings that it is hard get good reception. Every service drops calls once in a while. I have tried Pac Bell, Sprint, Verizon (formerly Airtouch) AND ATT. Overall, I must say that Verizon and ATT were the best. Pac Bell came second and Sprint dead last. I used it on the UCLA campus and got bad reception or no reception at all (surprise, anybody?). Sprint might work reliably on one lonely spot 23 degrees east of Sproul, but if you go a few feet off, you are screwed! The verdict: for reliable reception and good customer service, SKIP SPRINT PCS (if you are in the LA Area). I have heard that service is better in San Diego, but for me, Sprint is suck.

 

[XxOrgey]

I have used Sprint for the past year in the Houston TX area and throughout E. Texas and Oklahoma. Never had any problems with reception. The service is solid. I was using a 6185.

Now I have a StarTac 7867...changing to the new 'set was a pain--I had to call cust. service 12 times to get someone that knew what he was doing. The 7th accused me of having a cloned phone. Their customer service sucks, but no problems with the coverage and equipment in this area.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Xx - thats why you take it to a Sprint PCS dealer and have em do it for you - I tried doing stuff over the phone and got accused of trying to register a phone that was already registered to someone in New Jersey. (Brand new Samsung SC3500)

 

[2cheap2eat]

I travel throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Sprint PCS is by far the best service in this region. I tried SBC and AT&amp;T, but Sprint was the best in coverage and pricing. I have noticied the coverage and signal strength get much better over the last year.

I think somebody said it right earlier, Sprint PCS is growing like crazy and it is hard to keep up.

In any case, one feature I can't live without now is the wireless web. Since I travel a lot, I use it to get market quotes, place stock trades and even check on my e-Bay bids! Cool stuff. Yeah, the service may suck in some areas (like LA from what I have reading), but they are better than most, at least for my area.

Now, does anyone have any deals on the new Samsung phones, they are cool and the voice-activated dialing is works great. Much better than my old Qualcomm phone.

 

[wlj]

Somewhat off topic: A few folks have mentioned their experiences with AT&amp;T Wireless, as well as comments about how *the phone* can cause someone to have a positive or negative experience with a carrier. I just wanted to add my $.02 to say that yes, the handset definately does make the difference.

I'm an AT&amp;T Wireless subscriber in the Metro DC area, and experienced nothing but missed calls, poor/no reception, and missed messages with my 2 previous Ericsson handsets (LX-100 and LX-788). I was surprised that my friends/co-workers never complained of service problems with their Nokia (516x and 616x) phones. I recently upgraded to a Nokia 6160 handset, and all of my problems have gone away. Never again will I buy an Ericsson phone - they're really pieces of sh1t, despite the some of the &quot;neat&quot; sizes and features.

 

[Long]

It's important to point out that reception is dependent on the handset and can vary tremendously from one handset to another.

My experience:
1. Sprint PCS customer for two years.
2. Used the following phones in this order: Qualcomm 1920, Samsung SCH-1900, and Samsung SCH-2000.
3. Experienced poor reception, no reception, poor battery life, and echoes while talking with the above phones.
4. After the third phone with still poor performance I almost dropped Sprint PCS, but decided to try a Motorola Startac 7762 (single-band) since it was on sale.
5. Incredible! With the new Startac, I suddently was able to get reliable reception at work where it was intermitent and rare before. I even got reception in the sh!tter at work where it had always been impossible before. The echoes went away. And, the battery life went from dying before leaving work to lasting 2-3 days.
6. I was so happy with the Startac I bought a second one ($100 at Circuit City after rebates) and kept Sprint PCS.

I have the $50 plan with 500 anytime/long distance minutes and 500 evening and weekend/long distance minutes. My monthly bill comes out to $51 after taxes since they take off $5 every month for some reason. Overall, I'm happy with the Startac phone, service, reception, and nationwide coverage. I travel so the nationwide coverage and long distance is a plus.

 

[dlin88]

how do u get 500 peak and 500 off peak w/ long dist for 50 bucks??

what deal was it?

 

[Long]

The $50 for 500 anytime/long distance minutes plus 500 evening and weekend/long distance minutes was a promo Sprint PCS had over a year ago. The additional 500 minutes were suppose to be only good for a limited time but they never removed it from my account after that. Also, they take off $5 every month that's described as Home Rate USA Promotion. I guess Sprint PCS has gotten too popular because they no longer offer really good promos like this.

 

[jrichrds]

Long,
I think Home Rate USA discount is if you have Sprint long distance as your home phone provider too. If you don't, then you're just getting an extra $5 per month for nothing.
Christmas time usually brings along the good cell phone promotions. A Sprint CSR also said they'll probably be having some new promotions (doubtfully anything great but better than their standard plans at least) next month.

 

[Gravesend]

i actually signed up for this deal the first time they had it. SPRINT PCS is great in NYC. AT&amp;T sucks arse here. but then again, that was 2 years ago.

Anyway, i told my friend about this deal and he called Sprint CS,
they say that he'll lose the 'free' first incoming minute if he changes his current plan to this one.

Has anyone tried this switch? and did the CS rep say the same thing?

Thanks.

 

[jrichrds]

Yep, he'll lose any features that were present in his current plan if it's not a part of the new plan he's switching to.