Sprint PCS - $$$ towards phone from retention

[savoirfaire]

As you probably know (or maybe not?) when you call Sprint customer service and "Claire" answers, you can just say "retention" even though it's not presented as an option, and you go straight to the people who have the power to cut you deals. The regular CS reps are relatively useless. Anyway, sometimes it takes a few tries to find one willing to help you out, but after my phone conked last week, retention offered me $75 credit towards a new phone. Apprently, this credit isn't that hard to get if you ask nicely. The only downside is that to get it, the phone has to be charged to your account which means you have to buy it at a SprintPCS store. Has anyone had any luck getting the Sprint Store to pricematch to other places? I kinda want to pricematch to Radio Shack for the LG 5350 for $150...

 

[wasupx]

5350 at amazon.com for $100, but no idea on pricematch. Call em up and ask

 

[savoirfaire]

Well, since nobody wanted to help with their experiences...

Went to Sprint Store today and the employee (who was obviously annoyed by all my questions; probably because I wasn't a commission-generating new activation) said that he WOULD, indeed, pricematch to Radio Shack if I had an ad. btw, the LG 5350 for $150 at Radio Shack is a good deal. $50 cheaper than anywhere I can find. PLUS for new activations, you can get an addition $100 back in rebates for a net price of $50. (wasupx: amazon.com has the LG 5350 for $200 minus the $100 in rebates for net price of $100. Radio Shack is still the better deal.)

 

[puppyfriend]

You don't have to buy it at a sprint store. It´s a credit to your Sprint service account so you can buy the phone anywhere and get a couple of free months of service. This has been talked about in a ton of threads. But this is a good bump for the newbies.

David

 

[savoirfaire]

Originally posted by: puppyfriend
You don't have to buy it at a sprint store. It´s a credit to your Sprint service account so you can buy the phone anywhere and get a couple of free months of service. This has been talked about in a ton of threads. But this is a good bump for the newbies.

David

Yeah, they gave me an account credit a few years ago when my contract ended. This time, they said to get the credit, I have to have the Sprint store charge the phone to my account for the credit to appear. What they did is "make a note" on my account that if I charge a phone to it, I should receive a $75 credit. Mebbe I'll call back and see if I can get that changed to a regular credit.

 

[sak]

Originally posted by: savoirfaire
The only downside is that to get it, the phone has to be charged to your account which means you have to buy it at a SprintPCS store. Has anyone had any luck getting the Sprint Store to pricematch to other places? I kinda want to pricematch to Radio Shack for the LG 5350 for $150...

No u dont have to get the phone at the sprintPCS stores..cause i am a Sprint PCS vision expert and work to sell sprints phones in stores like circuit city and best buys.

If you tell the ppl you talk to that the sprint store are being a little B(tchy...and that u want to get the phone from anywhere...
Just tell them to credit ur account. and they will do it..

BTW i dont have to tell this to anandtech forum watchers but obviousl if u are outta a contract. you can get good deals on phones and better non-advertised dealz.

 

[djw]

To SAK: if you are a Sprint rep, here is a question for you: if your not on a contract (i'm not), how often can you dip into the retention well? I've gotten 2 new phones in the past 3 months (1st one was stolen so they gave me a 2nd one when i threatened to cancel). I was thinking about trying to get some more minutes out of them, but i don't want to seem greedy. actually, i don't mind seeming greedy if it will actually get me more minutes.

thanks, djw

 

[kt]

Actually, I don't know how this works. Do they credit your account upfront? Or you have to get a new phone before they start crediting your account with the xx dollar amount of credit that you are supposed to get from the retention plan?