700P - Sprint or Verizon?

[treome]

I'm a current Verizon customer and want to get the 700p. Sprint seems to offer much more reasonable prices, but I hear a lot of negative things about Sprint performance/customer service. If I switch to Sprint I have to pay the early cancellation fee ($175) so I don't want to make the move if the phone performance will be much worse than Verizon.

Are there any Sprint users in the Philadelphia suburbs that can tell me about their experience with Sprint? I'm most interested in phone performance (dropped calls, clarity, etc.) than customer service info.

Thanks!

[chris]

I'm a current Verizon customer and want to get the 700p. Sprint seems to offer much more reasonable prices, but I hear a lot of negative things about Sprint performance/customer service. If I switch to Sprint I have to pay the early cancellation fee ($175) so I don't want to make the move if the phone performance will be much worse than Verizon.

Funny, I went through the same "internal deliberation" this morning. I gave up waiting for a test unit, so it was between Verizon and Sprint. My Verizon contract (picked up when I got the 700w) ends in January. Verizon wouldn't offer any upgrades, so it's retail price of $619 for the 700p. Sprint is charging $15 for unlimited text messaging and data plans start at $15. $20 gets you the Sprint Power Vision Plus Pack which gives you Sprint TV Plus. $25 adds Sprint TV Ultimate. To be honest, I'm not sure what the difference is between the two.

There is a $10 Verizon text messaging option that offers unlimited In-network and 500 out of network. With a 450 minute plan and unlimited data, the plan is $79.99 or so. Add Text messaging and it's about $89.99.

With Sprint, a similar plan (400 minutes, PowerVision Plus, Unlimited Text Messaging is about $74.99.)
$39.99 Wireless Plan
$20 Sprint Power Vision
$15 Text Messaging
$75 per month

There is roughly a $15 a month savings which is $180 over the course of a year. After a $100 credit from Sprint, the cost of the 700p is $449.

Since I needed one to review for the site, it came down to who had it first and avoiding yet another cellphone commitment (if I could). I placed an upgrade order with Verizon this afternoon, but I'm not counting on it. Palm says Verizon 700p availability is "next few weeks"... Verizon said the same last week... stores don't have them... yet mine is shipping tonight via Fedex? We'll see... My fingers are crossed. I guess I'll find out soon enough. If Verizon doesn't come through, then I'll be jumping on the Sprint bandwagon ($175 lighter).

Are there any Sprint users in the Philadelphia suburbs that can tell me about their experience with Sprint? I'm most interested in phone performance (dropped calls, clarity, etc.) than customer service info.

I heard horror stories about Sprint before and after I got my Sprint Treo 300 (which was quite some time ago and I'm sure conditions have done nothing but improve). I was absolutely thrilled with Sprint. I never had any major technical or billing issues, so really never had to deal with them. When I had my Treo 300, I was travelling quite a bit with work and never had an issue with coverage. I've since switched to Cingular and now Verizon. Cannot comment on Philly coverage, but I had no reservations about going back to Sprint. Not 100% sure, but I believe Dave from Mobility Today is from that area -- you might want to check with him. He's been testing out the Sprint Treo 700p and has a pretty cool video review up on his site.

Sorry for the rambling..hope this helps.
-Chris

[Shady]

I bought a Treo 650 from Sprint, no service at home or office. Returned it 2 days later under the RISK-free period. This was on Feb 15th, 2006.
As of today, Sprint still has not refunded my $390
I've called them over 20 times and every single time they said I would absolutely get the refund check in 3-5 weeks. It's now been over 3 months.
Sprint blames the mess up on the Nextel merger and combining their systems.

Sprint even told me to file a dispite with credit card company since Sprint can't figure out why I haven't gotten my refund yet. What a bunch of jokers.

Service-wise, both Verizon and Sprint are CDMA and work great depending on where you are. I recently signed up with Cingular and am regretting leaving Verizon. GSM isn't rubbing me the right way. The grass was not greener with Cingular.

[Stillrockin]

Shady, judging from your post, you are much calmer over this situation than I would be at this point! I hope you get things resolved soon

[Shady]

Shady, judging from your post, you are much calmer over this situation than I would be at this point! I hope you get things resolved soon

To add insult to injury, there is no way to reach customer service unless you have a current active number.
I've dialed 800-639-6111, 800-sprint1, 888-211-4727, 877-349-4413 and they all kick me out of system because I do not have a current active phone number.

The most unbelievable thing that happened was how rude this person was. After 45 minutes of being redirected and forwarded, I ended up with a guy from Finance. He basically was totalled annoyed at me that I got transferred to him.

I explained that I have been trying to get my refund of $390 back for over 3 months. He actually said "So what" to me!!
Then I asked him where Sprint is located and the legal contact because I am filing a complaint with attorney general office and BBB. He said "V16" I asked him what that means and he answered "what ever"

I wanted to beat the crap out of this guy so bad. Sprint customer service is so bad and so rude, that instead of making me just a mad customer, they have made me a furiated one. This means I will personally pull any strings, share my bad experience, and steer my employees, customers, and everyone away from Sprint.

It's too bad companies with good products will never get a chance to become something better due to crappy customer service. Sprint CS is below bad, they are rude, offensive, and are completely powerless. Sprint should be ashamed of themselves to treat their own employees this way.

[Shady]

By the way, I still have not gotten my $390 back that Sprint owes me from Feb 15, 2006.
They are thieves!
Any lawyers out there?

[Stillrockin]

It sounds like you certainly have a case! If were me, I would probably start with BBB . . . Although I have never used them, I have heard of people getting great results by documenting complaints with them. Once they file against a company, if a company cares even a little bit about their rep, they will try their best to resolve . . . its a shame that you have to go there however.

[Shady]

I just filed a complaint against Sprint through Better Business Bureau .
But I fear nothing will happen. The Bureau processed a total of 19,625 complaints on Sprint in the last 36 months.
Sprint is NOT a member of BBB.
Verizon and Cingular ARE members of Better Business Bureau.

This says something about Sprint.

Attorney General office is next.

I'm not going to roll over and give Sprint $390 they owe me.

[ebbzdrumz]

I totally agree with you on this! I've had Sprint for about 8 years and they are completely ok with NOT helping customers.

[Shady]

After filing a complaint with Better Business Bureau and California Attorney General Office, Sprint actually called me back and was interested in resolving my case.
I was given a full refund the next day.

Sprint's been holding my money since Feb 11th. I finally got it back June 1.
What a bunch of idiots. I will never even consider doing business with Sprint again.

Even though I got the almost $400 back, I still feel outraged at how poorly a company can treat customers. They basically held my money hostage with no interest for over 3.5 months even admitting that they owe it to me but have no way to refund it to me. They even sent me 3 months of statements showing the credit balance.

Sprint blamed it on the Nextel merger and their computers were down, or they would turn it around and say that I had to prove that I paid. I was hung up on over 10 times or transferred to a non working number.

Sprint, the WORST service period. People usually go to jail when they steal other peoples money.