Re: Need advice re: new phone and plans.

schrodinger's cat <sc@invalid.invalid> amazed us all with the following
in news:48t7041lalc7f0rpc2ssnehge0ivp637n5@4ax.com:

> Here's the situation:
>
> My wife and I are currently on a 2 line family plan contract which
> expires in September. The contract is in her name because a couple of
> years ago when we decided that it would be cheaper if we gave up our
> individual plans, my contract ran out first and I joined her plan. We
> have both been SPCS customers for more than ten years. I have Vision
at
> $10.00/month on my line because I use email and text messaging for
> business (and checking sports scores). My wife has voice only because
> she just uses her phone for, well, telephone conversations.
>
> Recently, my wife has started to be bombarded by Sprint reps calling
her
> on her SPCS phone to try to talk her into extending her contract, even
> though it still has several months remaining. They seem to be offering
> nothing more than what we already have in the way of price and
features,
> except for the offer of two free new phones. Coincidentally, her
company
> has been pressuring her lately to upgrade her phone to one on which
she
> can send and receive email, because she is part of an emergency
response
> team.
>
> My LG LX350 does everything I need in terms of email and texting. The
> text messages are mainly incoming to notify me of voice calls, emails,
> or faxes that have been received at my unified message center. I can
> read the emails using Opera Mini, and I can respond either by a phone
> call or by waiting until I am back in my office and can send a reply
> email from my computer, so I rarely have to deal with typing a message
> on the phone's keypad. My wife, on the other hand, may need to respond
> to emails immediately, at any time, from wherever she happens to be,
and
> her messages are by nature long and complex, so she will need a phone
> with an easy to use full QWERTY keyboard. She does not, however, need
> much in the way of bells and whistles, because she uses the phone to
> communicate and nothing more. She has no interest in games, TV, music,
> applications other than email, or web browsing on the phone. (In fact,
> Sprint has told her that she has to replace her ancient Sanyo SCP-4500
> if she ever expects to need to roam again, because it only supports
> analog roaming, and apparently they will soon offer only digital
> roaming).
>
> So here's what we need:
>
> Myself: Fine with the phone and options I have now.
>
> My wife: Simplest available email capable phone with full keyboard and
> decent screen size (her eyesight is not the best).
>
> I would also like to leverage Sprint's eagerness to extend our
contract
> to try to get some concessions on plan pricing. The current family
> plans, it seems to me, are very limited in what they include and force
> you to pay full price for add-ons like internet access. I see no
reason
> why we should have to pay $25/month for Power Vision with a PDA phone
> when Vision at $15/month will suffice for our needs, but Power Vision
is
> the only option listed for those phones.
>
> Questions:
>
> What phones should we be looking at for my wife?
>
> What kinds of 2 line plans might be out there that are not easily
> discovered on the Sprint web site?
>
> Are there any current long time customer reward incentives being
offered
> by Sprint?
>
> Thanks for any feedback.

First a question- what does your bill average every month?

For your wife- you might look into either the Rumour or the Palm Centro.
The Centro is a little more daunting in apperance, but a buddy of mine
loves his. The Rumour has a full slide out keyboard, which is very easy
to use. The screen size is not huge, but adequate.

schrodinger's cat <sc@invalid.invalid> amazed us all with the following
in news:6js9041pgl4ecp2v9jdmej2leomfu2f91l@4ax.com:

> On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:03:41 -0500 The Bob <nospam@bob.com> wrote:
>
>>schrodinger's cat <sc@invalid.invalid> amazed us all with the
>>following in news:48t7041lalc7f0rpc2ssnehge0ivp637n5@4ax.com:
>>
>>> Here's the situation:
>>>
>>> My wife and I are currently on a 2 line family plan contract which
>>> expires in September. The contract is in her name because a couple
>>> of years ago when we decided that it would be cheaper if we gave up
>>> our individual plans, my contract ran out first and I joined her
>>> plan. We have both been SPCS customers for more than ten years. I
>>> have Vision
>>at
>>> $10.00/month on my line because I use email and text messaging for
>>> business (and checking sports scores). My wife has voice only
>>> because she just uses her phone for, well, telephone conversations.
>>>
>>> Recently, my wife has started to be bombarded by Sprint reps calling
>>her
>>> on her SPCS phone to try to talk her into extending her contract,
>>> even though it still has several months remaining. They seem to be
>>> offering nothing more than what we already have in the way of price
>>> and
>>features,
>>> except for the offer of two free new phones. Coincidentally, her
>>company
>>> has been pressuring her lately to upgrade her phone to one on which
>>she
>>> can send and receive email, because she is part of an emergency
>>response
>>> team.
>>>
>>> My LG LX350 does everything I need in terms of email and texting.
>>> The text messages are mainly incoming to notify me of voice calls,
>>> emails, or faxes that have been received at my unified message
>>> center. I can read the emails using Opera Mini, and I can respond
>>> either by a phone call or by waiting until I am back in my office
>>> and can send a reply email from my computer, so I rarely have to
>>> deal with typing a message on the phone's keypad. My wife, on the
>>> other hand, may need to respond to emails immediately, at any time,
>>> from wherever she happens to be,
>>and
>>> her messages are by nature long and complex, so she will need a
>>> phone with an easy to use full QWERTY keyboard. She does not,
>>> however, need much in the way of bells and whistles, because she
>>> uses the phone to communicate and nothing more. She has no interest
>>> in games, TV, music, applications other than email, or web browsing
>>> on the phone. (In fact, Sprint has told her that she has to replace
>>> her ancient Sanyo SCP-4500 if she ever expects to need to roam
>>> again, because it only supports analog roaming, and apparently they
>>> will soon offer only digital roaming).
>>>
>>> So here's what we need:
>>>
>>> Myself: Fine with the phone and options I have now.
>>>
>>> My wife: Simplest available email capable phone with full keyboard
>>> and decent screen size (her eyesight is not the best).
>>>
>>> I would also like to leverage Sprint's eagerness to extend our
>>contract
>>> to try to get some concessions on plan pricing. The current family
>>> plans, it seems to me, are very limited in what they include and
>>> force you to pay full price for add-ons like internet access. I see
>>> no
>>reason
>>> why we should have to pay $25/month for Power Vision with a PDA
>>> phone when Vision at $15/month will suffice for our needs, but Power
>>> Vision
>>is
>>> the only option listed for those phones.
>>>
>>> Questions:
>>>
>>> What phones should we be looking at for my wife?
>>>
>>> What kinds of 2 line plans might be out there that are not easily
>>> discovered on the Sprint web site?
>>>
>>> Are there any current long time customer reward incentives being
>>offered
>>> by Sprint?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any feedback.
>>
>>First a question- what does your bill average every month?
>>
>>For your wife- you might look into either the Rumour or the Palm
>>Centro. The Centro is a little more daunting in apperance, but a
>>buddy of mine loves his. The Rumour has a full slide out keyboard,
>>which is very easy to use. The screen size is not huge, but adequate.
>
> Currently on Fair & Flexible Family Plan, 2 lines.
> $69.99 / 700 shared minutes.
> No charge for second line.
> Unlimited nights & weekends.
> Nights start at 7:00 pm.
> Unlimited Sprint Mobile to Mobile.
> No roaming charges.
>
> Add-ons for my line only:
> Sprint Unlimited Vision Pack @ $10/month.
> 500 SMS Messages @ No Charge.
> PCs Picture Mail @ No Charge.
>
> Total cost $79.99/month

I've heard rumors of them offering a 5-15% discount on existing plans to
some customers. You might call and go that route- I doubt you'll do
much better than what you have for two phones.

Currently on Fair & Flexible Family Plan, 2 lines.
> $69.99 / 700 shared minutes.
> No charge for second line.
> Unlimited nights & weekends.
> Nights start at 7:00 pm.
> Unlimited Sprint Mobile to Mobile.
> No roaming charges.
>
> Add-ons for my line only:
> Sprint Unlimited Vision Pack @ $10/month.
> 500 SMS Messages @ No Charge.
> PCs Picture Mail @ No Charge.
>
> Total cost $79.99/month



After ~10y with Sprint and perfect pay history, our deal
is 1300 minutes with every feature (Power Vision, early
nights, Sp to Sp, messaging, etc.) for $44+tax. I then
share minutes with my wife for an additional $10 per phone.

Every contract date we get new phones; most recently, my
wife's simple phone was free and I paid $150 for my Treo
755p.

In comparison, your situation may be highly negotiable.
Good luck!

Ike