Can SOMEBODY explain Sprint plans?

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

I just called up a Sprint store. I also went online. There are two
kinds of plans - Free & Clear and Fair & Flexible. I asked for the
difference. They told me that there is none except that the Free &
Flexible allows you to pay only $5 per every 100 minutes over your
plan. With the Free & Clear, you pay a lot more.

OK. Gotcha so far. So what would I get with Free & Clear that I don't
get with Fair & Flexible? I was told by the salesperson and her boss
"nothing, that is why 98% go with the Fair & Flexible."

Wait, not so fast. I asked him the same question I asked the junior
salesperson. Why would anyone ever go for the Clear if the Flexible is
the exact same but with better features if you go over your minutes?
He answers "some people don't go over their minutes and don't need
them." This is like an Abbot and Costello comedy. I tried to explain
yet again - why would anyone choose a plan that might cost them more
if it doesn't cost them anything to get a plan that will reduce the
amount of money it costs if they happen to go over their minutes?
After all, if it doesn't cost them anything, why agree to go with the
same plan except agree to pay more if you go over your alotted time?

Pause. He says "If you were offered last year's Lexus or this year's
brand new Lexus, you'd probably take the brand new Lexus and that's
why 98% of our customers choose the Fair & Flexible." I'm about to
have a cow. I asked him who the 2% might be who would choose an old
used car when the same money would get them a brand new one? He said
"well, that's the choice we give people to allow them the opportunity
to choose and the Free & Clear plan is the older plan that we will be
phasing out." So I asked the obvious follow up question... "Given that
both plans cost the same money... why bother even offering the Free &
Clear plan which isn't as good for your customers?"

Stupid question. He answers that many people are on the old plan so
they give customers the option to choose whichever plan they prefer.

Could this get any dumber? So who is to blame for this... the
salespeople in the store or the marketing genuises at Sprint?

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"JSOUL dot com" <tkdREMOVESPAMinthecity@yahSPAMoo.com> wrote in message
news:iqvl519ueuu38lmtip963lhvpa8kk2rfof@4ax.com...
> I just called up a Sprint store. I also went online. There are two
> kinds of plans - Free & Clear and Fair & Flexible. I asked for the
> difference. They told me that there is none except that the Free &
> Flexible allows you to pay only $5 per every 100 minutes over your
> plan. With the Free & Clear, you pay a lot more.
>
> OK. Gotcha so far. So what would I get with Free & Clear that I don't
> get with Fair & Flexible? I was told by the salesperson and her boss
> "nothing, that is why 98% go with the Fair & Flexible."
>
> Wait, not so fast. I asked him the same question I asked the junior
> salesperson. Why would anyone ever go for the Clear if the Flexible is
> the exact same but with better features if you go over your minutes?
> He answers "some people don't go over their minutes and don't need
> them." This is like an Abbot and Costello comedy. I tried to explain
> yet again - why would anyone choose a plan that might cost them more
> if it doesn't cost them anything to get a plan that will reduce the
> amount of money it costs if they happen to go over their minutes?
> After all, if it doesn't cost them anything, why agree to go with the
> same plan except agree to pay more if you go over your alotted time?
>
> Pause. He says "If you were offered last year's Lexus or this year's
> brand new Lexus, you'd probably take the brand new Lexus and that's
> why 98% of our customers choose the Fair & Flexible." I'm about to
> have a cow. I asked him who the 2% might be who would choose an old
> used car when the same money would get them a brand new one? He said
> "well, that's the choice we give people to allow them the opportunity
> to choose and the Free & Clear plan is the older plan that we will be
> phasing out." So I asked the obvious follow up question... "Given that
> both plans cost the same money... why bother even offering the Free &
> Clear plan which isn't as good for your customers?"
>
> Stupid question. He answers that many people are on the old plan so
> they give customers the option to choose whichever plan they prefer.
>
> Could this get any dumber? So who is to blame for this... the
> salespeople in the store or the marketing genuises at Sprint?

The person to blame is .... get ready for it .... YOU!. Did you even take
the time to look over the pricing differences between F & F and F & C? No
plan is right for everyone ... and SPCS offers different levels of plans per
what the individual or families needs. F & F plans require a 2 year
commitment. F & C plans require a 1 year commitment.

You made no mention what your needs, in terms of minutes are. Let's say you
need 700 minutes. With F & F, the cost would be $50 plus whatever other
options you wanted, plus T & S. In a F & C, the cost would be $50/mo, plus
options plus T & S for 600 minutes. If you find 700 AT minutes aren't
enough, you can get a F & C plan for $65 for 1100/mo. minutes. If you found
you needed 1100 AT minutes on the F & F plan, the cost would move up to $70.
These are SPCS corporate coverage area rates I'm listing here.

It's too bad that the salesmen did not tell you of the differences. It's
also too bad that you didn't read the differences yourself, either at the
store or from their website.

Bob

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

Bob Smith wrote:

> The person to blame is .... get ready for it .... YOU!

No, it isn't.

He was trying to get educated on the different plans, and it sounds like the
salesrep was a total goober.

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 00:51:08 GMT, "Bob Smith"
<usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>"JSOUL dot com" <tkdREMOVESPAMinthecity@yahSPAMoo.com> wrote in message
>news:iqvl519ueuu38lmtip963lhvpa8kk2rfof@4ax.com...
>> I just called up a Sprint store. I also went online. There are two
>> kinds of plans - Free & Clear and Fair & Flexible. I asked for the
>> difference. They told me that there is none except that the Free &
>> Flexible allows you to pay only $5 per every 100 minutes over your
>> plan. With the Free & Clear, you pay a lot more.
>>
>> OK. Gotcha so far. So what would I get with Free & Clear that I don't
>> get with Fair & Flexible? I was told by the salesperson and her boss
>> "nothing, that is why 98% go with the Fair & Flexible."
>>
>> Wait, not so fast. I asked him the same question I asked the junior
>> salesperson. Why would anyone ever go for the Clear if the Flexible is
>> the exact same but with better features if you go over your minutes?
>> He answers "some people don't go over their minutes and don't need
>> them." This is like an Abbot and Costello comedy. I tried to explain
>> yet again - why would anyone choose a plan that might cost them more
>> if it doesn't cost them anything to get a plan that will reduce the
>> amount of money it costs if they happen to go over their minutes?
>> After all, if it doesn't cost them anything, why agree to go with the
>> same plan except agree to pay more if you go over your alotted time?
>>
>> Pause. He says "If you were offered last year's Lexus or this year's
>> brand new Lexus, you'd probably take the brand new Lexus and that's
>> why 98% of our customers choose the Fair & Flexible." I'm about to
>> have a cow. I asked him who the 2% might be who would choose an old
>> used car when the same money would get them a brand new one? He said
>> "well, that's the choice we give people to allow them the opportunity
>> to choose and the Free & Clear plan is the older plan that we will be
>> phasing out." So I asked the obvious follow up question... "Given that
>> both plans cost the same money... why bother even offering the Free &
>> Clear plan which isn't as good for your customers?"
>>
>> Stupid question. He answers that many people are on the old plan so
>> they give customers the option to choose whichever plan they prefer.
>>
>> Could this get any dumber? So who is to blame for this... the
>> salespeople in the store or the marketing genuises at Sprint?
>
>The person to blame is .... get ready for it .... YOU!. Did you even take
>the time to look over the pricing differences between F & F and F & C? No
>plan is right for everyone ... and SPCS offers different levels of plans per
>what the individual or families needs. F & F plans require a 2 year
>commitment. F & C plans require a 1 year commitment.

Looking again at the page I looked at there is no mention of a 2 year
commitment for the F & F plan. I found that requirement on another
page when I was browsing and realized it only because you mentioned
it. Thanks.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news3fe7d$2tk$2@ratbert.glorb.com...
> Bob Smith wrote:
>
> > The person to blame is .... get ready for it .... YOU!
>
> No, it isn't.
>
> He was trying to get educated on the different plans, and it sounds like
the
> salesrep was a total goober.

Steve, he didn't even go to the store. He said he called the store. All the
information was listed on the site, and he apparently knew that there were
two sets of plans, and they are fairly easy to understand. The OP should
have dug a little deeper in the web site, as it appears all his questions
could be answered there.

As for the fault, I didn't discount the sales force not telling the OP the
differences. We don't know squat about what salesman, or the length of time
the salesman has been out of training whether the salesman was even taught
about the F & C plans. He could have instructed in his training to push F &
F, as SPCS may be phasing out those other plans.

Bob

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"stevie" <sf@dum.org> wrote in message news:6uR6e.4381$bR1.3449@fe04.lga...
> is it possible to get the $5 'no roaming charges' on the F&F plan??
> "Jerome Zelinske" <jeromez1@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:seF6e.4562$yq6.3724@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> What Steve said plus. There is a third category. We are on the FFF
> Fair Flexible Family plan with three phones. I doubt we will often go
> over the 800 minutes. But the flexible is cheep enough that I am not
> worried.

I don't see why not, as long as your account is in a SPCS corporate coverage
area or an affiliate that offers the $5 option. It's listed as an option for
F & F plans for Charlotte.

Bob

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 12:21:49 GMT, "Bob Smith"
<usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>"Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
>news3fe7d$2tk$2@ratbert.glorb.com...
>> Bob Smith wrote:
>>
>> > The person to blame is .... get ready for it .... YOU!
>>
>> No, it isn't.
>>
>> He was trying to get educated on the different plans, and it sounds like
>the
>> salesrep was a total goober.
>
>Steve, he didn't even go to the store. He said he called the store. All the
>information was listed on the site, and he apparently knew that there were
>two sets of plans, and they are fairly easy to understand. The OP should
>have dug a little deeper in the web site, as it appears all his questions
>could be answered there.

Have you seen the site? The Fair and Friendly or whatever it is called
is "the recommended" and doesn't have all the information you provided
to me in certain areas. They have some really nice graphics but leave
out even the small print. It's difficult to tell what the real
difference is when you want 700 minutes and they cost the same. The
cost is not so different either.

>As for the fault, I didn't discount the sales force not telling the OP the
>differences. We don't know squat about what salesman, or the length of time
>the salesman has been out of training whether the salesman was even taught
>about the F & C plans. He could have instructed in his training to push F &
>F, as SPCS may be phasing out those other plans.

Ah, so I guess actually speaking to people whose jobs it is to explain
the difference between the plans clearly is also the fault of the
customer. I spoke to the salesperson and the store manager.

But wait - if they were instructed to push the F&F plan and phase out
the other one, then maybe they were deliberately trying to push me in
one direction regardless of logic? And I guess that's the fault of the
customer for seeing some of the inconsistency in the message?

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"JSOUL dot com" <tkdREMOVESPAMinthecity@yahSPAMoo.com> wrote in message news:4v0o515qvd4h9esgle76pbf1df01l4qc5p@4ax.com...
>
> Ah, so I guess actually speaking to people whose jobs it is to explain
> the difference between the plans clearly is also the fault of the
> customer. I spoke to the salesperson and the store manager.
>
> But wait - if they were instructed to push the F&F plan and phase out
> the other one, then maybe they were deliberately trying to push me in
> one direction regardless of logic? And I guess that's the fault of the
> customer for seeing some of the inconsistency in the message?

No, but at some point it becomes naive to believe that a salesman or
sales manager will tell you the *whole* story, unslanted by their
ulterior motives.

--
John Richards

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

JSOUL dot com wrote:

>
> Have you seen the site? The Fair and Friendly or whatever it is called
> is "the recommended" and doesn't have all the information you provided
> to me in certain areas. They have some really nice graphics but leave
> out even the small print. It's difficult to tell what the real
> difference is when you want 700 minutes and they cost the same. The
> cost is not so different either.


The cost is not so different? Wow, you can't do math!

The basic price points might start out the same, but as you progress in
usage, you start seeing huge differences in what your money will get
you. For example: both Free & Clear and Fair & Flexible will get you
300 minutes for $35, or 700 minutes for $50. However, the intermediate
price points reap HUGE differences. $65 on F&F will get you 900
minutes... while those same $65 will reap 1100 minutes on F&C. $80 gets
you 1100 minutes on F&F and 1400 minutes on F&C, and so on.

Bottom line: Free & Clear is best suited for heavy users who can
accurately predict their monthly usage and whose calling patterns are
very consistent from one month to the next. If you can do this, you can
save anywhere from $5 to $20 a month by selecting the appropriate F&C
plan and sticking within its limitations instead of just letting your
minute usage tier ride on F&F.

However, there are segments of users whose calling patterns change
drastically from one billing cycle to the next; this is who Fair and
Flexible is targeted for. They will not get the same price breaks as a
more "stable" wireless cusomer who has selected a more fixed plan, but
at the same time, they won't be gouged in overage fees. It's a middle
ground that is acceptable to a wireless user with erratic calling patters.

Now, I learned ALL of this just by going to the SprintPCS website,
punching in my zip code and looking at the plans. In fact it took
longer for me to type out my explanation than it did to for me to
actually understand it. Why couldn't you?


> Ah, so I guess actually speaking to people whose jobs it is to explain
> the difference between the plans clearly is also the fault of the
> customer.

I hate to break it to you, but it kinda IS the customer's fault if they
come into the store, incapable of understanding certain basic concepts
like the value of money and how that relates to the amount paid for an
item or service, and then expects the store salespeople to be able to
compensate for that gap.



--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

stevie wrote:
> is it possible to get the $5 'no roaming charges' on the F&F plan??

Yes. You can get Free & Clear America or Fair & Flexible America. $5/month
extra if you're in a market area owned and operated by Sprint corporate (not a
reseller).



--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

The 700 minute level is the only one where the cost is the same. If
you consistently go over 1000 minutes, a FC plan would cost less.

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"Jerome Zelinske" <jeromez1@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:wo77e.5754$An2.1987@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> The FF does not require a 2 year Advantage Agreement. The N & W
> starting at 1900 does.

Actually Jerome, if you read the below, the two year agreement is required
for the F & F plans or if one takes the 7:00 PM N & W option.

A two-year Sprint PCS Advantage Agreement is required for Sprint PCS Fair &
FlexibleSMPlans and Nights starting at 7 p.m. A one-year Sprint PCS
Advantage Agreement is required for all other plans.

At least that's the way I'm reading it.

Bob

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.sprintpcs (More info?)

"Bob Smith" <usirsclt_No_Spam_@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:x3P6e.5780$sp3.3706@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Steve, he didn't even go to the store. He said he called the store. All
> the
> information was listed on the site, and he apparently knew that there were
> two sets of plans, and they are fairly easy to understand.

Perhaps for you, but it's incredible that you'd suggest a consumer is at
fault for calling a Sprint store to get some clarification on the plans.

> As for the fault, I didn't discount the sales force not telling the OP the
> differences. We don't know squat about what salesman, or the length of
> time
> the salesman has been out of training whether the salesman was even taught
> about the F & C plans.

A good salesperson who is new on the job or doesn't know the difference will
say as much. It's very poor (albeit pretty common) behavior for salespeople
to try to pretend they know more than they do.

> He could have instructed in his training to push F &
> F, as SPCS may be phasing out those other plans.

There's nothing wrong with "pushing" a particular plan, but it's unethical
when that "push" turns into purposely misleading statements (the salesperson
saying "there's no difference!" ), if that's what your suggested occured.

---Joel Kolstad