[monkeypaw]

I'm a month past my the end of my 2 year contract. Tmobile sent me a letter saying:

blah, blah, blah "...important customers like you... We are writing today to tell you about some very important changes to T-Mobile's rate plan, which could mean substantial savings over your current plan...

Of course they are just trying to lock me into another 2 year contract, which is completely expected. AT&T swamped me when that contract was ending.

Checking online, Tmobile is no longer inexpensive. I'm $20/month better off just staying with my current plan.

I have the Blackberry Minutes and Mail plan, $59.99 for 1,000 minutes, no nights and weekend minutes, unlimited data and email, and unlimited text messages. They made a mistake offering that plan because it was too cheap, but life isn't fair.

The lowest I can cobble together now is $79.99. I'd get only 500 anytime minutes but unlimited weekends and nights, and unlimited calling to other Tmobile custeroms, so theoretically a better plan. But I don't need those minutes.

Sprint is now my cheapest alternative at $69.99, AT&T $10 higher than Tmobile, and Verizon $20 higher. Even an iphone plan with just a sufficienct 200 texts is $74.99/month.

Hard choice, Tmobile. Stay month to month and be able to switch to any other provider at any time, or pay $20/month more and lock in another 2 years.

[ArgonNJ]

Without cheap rates, there is absolutely no reason to stay with TMO. They have the least amount of coverage and even less 3G.

[monkeypaw]

Originally Posted by ArgonNJ

Without cheap rates, there is absolutely no reason to stay with TMO. They have the least amount of coverage and even less 3G.

Bingo. The trade-off for me was worse network, but lower price. UMA happened to be the only solution at home since I live on a steep slope to the beach with a hill between me and the provider's cell towers. Low price was a bonus and I put up not getting a signal in some places.

But, I bought a house and am moving in 3 weeks. So unless I can get a 9700 and renew the 2 years at $59.99, I have to do some more research.

[NJBlackBerry]

There's a Map for That!

[wabbit]

Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry

There's a Map for That!

"there's a law suit for that!" also

[NJBlackBerry]

Yep - more publicity for Verizon!

[rambo47]

Not only does Sprint offer the cheapest BB data plans around, but they offer discounts of up to 27% depending on who your employer is. My plan is the Everything Data 450 BlackBerry:

450 Anytime Minutes
Nationwide Long Distance
AMERICA - ROAMING
Unlimited Sms Text Messaging
Unlimited Picture Mail
Unlimited Data Usage
Sprint Navigation
Unlimited Sprint Data
Unlimited Blackberry Access
Unlimited Any Mobile, Anytime
Caller ID, Call Waiting, Three-way Calling,Voicemail

After my discount I pay $51/month. What really makes this plan work for me is Sprint's "Any Mobile Anytime" feature that makes calls to ANY mobile phone free and not held against your minutes. So my paltry 450 minutes per month suddenly seems like a lot more. The overwhelming majority of my calls are to other mobile phones, and I haven't even come close to maxing my call minutes.

[turn_key]

I'd have to second rambo's recommendation. I think one of the reasons all the carriers went up is to gouge people for the move to smartphones. I can only imagine what TMO is thinking, but when you look at what iphone users pay, they might be jumping on the bandwagon. Sprint has lowered prices to draw customers in. I did the research when my contract was up and I stayed with sprint because they had the best thing going for the BB at the time, and still does for now.

I've got the everything data family: 1500 minutes with anytime mobile, unlimited everything else, 129.99 for 2 phones, and a 14% discount because I work for the city.

[ArgonNJ]

Originally Posted by turn_key

I'd have to second rambo's recommendation. I think one of the reasons all the carriers went up is to gouge people for the move to smartphones. I can only imagine what TMO is thinking, but when you look at what iphone users pay, they might be jumping on the bandwagon. Sprint has lowered prices to draw customers in. I did the research when my contract was up and I stayed with sprint because they had the best thing going for the BB at the time, and still does for now.

I've got the everything data family: 1500 minutes with anytime mobile, unlimited everything else, 129.99 for 2 phones, and a 14% discount because I work for the city.

If you live in a Sprint coverage area, then Sprint is the way to go. I only switched for the iphone, other then that, I was very happy with their service.

[NJBlackBerry]

I have to ask - our company doesn't use Sprint at all - if Sprint has great coverage and pricing, why are they losing customers every quarter?

Sprint losses and customer defections continue | Signal Strength - CNET News

Not a shot a Sprint - more a question about where the disconnect it?

[jsconyers]

Their plans have recently improved as Rambo stated above. I have the same plan as he stated. However, their customer service is still terrible. That's putting it nicely. I dread calling support for any reason. At work we used to have Nextel, then moved to Sprint. We dropped all of it for Verizon based on the poor support Sprint offered.

[ArgonNJ]

Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry

I have to ask - our company doesn't use Sprint at all - if Sprint has great coverage and pricing, why are they losing customers every quarter?

Sprint losses and customer defections continue | Signal Strength - CNET News

Not a shot a Sprint - more a question about where the disconnect it?

A lot of this is probably Nextel users that were folded in during the merger. Also those who left to get a certain device that Sprint didn't offer.

[turn_key]

Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry

I have to ask - our company doesn't use Sprint at all - if Sprint has great coverage and pricing, why are they losing customers every quarter?

Sprint losses and customer defections continue | Signal Strength - CNET News

Not a shot a Sprint - more a question about where the disconnect it?

The coverage is debatable; sprint isn't the best, and not the worst. I've had several carriers over the past 17 years while working and living in Chicago (with periodic travelling). The worst was cingular: I was lucky to get through a call. Personally, I think the pricing is the best. Verizon comes close but it depends on the discount I would get.

I think conyers and argon hit the issue on the head. Nextel service itself is good, but the phones are horrible. I loved their service but I was going through a phone every few months. I switched to sprint because the phones are more compatible with my wife's hearing aids. Customers leaving for other devices is true for any carrier. I have several friends that did that several times, switching between several carriers and just recently to ATT for the iphone.

Sprint's customer service is the worst. I've always dreaded calling for any reason. I only stayed with nextel for so long because of my repair guy at the sprint store. Luckily I haven't had many problems since changing to sprint, but try solving an issue myself before calling. Since I've discovered the corporate number I rarely call the general 800 number. If they don't like it, too bad.

I think sprint has a host of problems that drives customers away, but as many problems as I've had they've never been severe enough to leave (although I've threatened to do so). It comes down to your own level of acceptable dissatisfaction.

Something else to factor into the lack of customer service is problems with the phone that customers attribute to the carrier's service, or think the carrier is responsible for. How many times have we seen a new BB owner have a "problem" and complained that customer service did nothing for him/her only to find that if he/she read the instructions they wouldn't have had to call in the first place... my 2 cents anyway.

[wabbit]

does t-mobile not allow resigning or extensions of a contract? i know with verizon i had no problems extending or keeping my plan and just sign a new 2year contract for discounted phones.

[caneau]

Originally Posted by wabbit

does t-mobile not allow resigning or extensions of a contract? i know with verizon i had no problems extending or keeping my plan and just sign a new 2year contract for discounted phones.

They do. That's what I just did today with my 9700. I have heard of T-Mobile stores/employees not letting customers do this, though. Your best bet is to shop around until you find a store that lets you upgrade and keep the awesome $60 plan. That plan is the single biggest reason I'm sticking with T-Mobile. With my corporate discount, it's about $50.

[monkeypaw]

Originally Posted by NJBlackBerry

There's a Map for That!

There's a lying map for that. The new house shows well within the "best" Tmobile coverage area, but I had a fair amount of SOS showing up while doing a home inspection.

I used some website to map the locations of nearby towers and it's in the middle of a ring of towers. So can't be more than high medium strength from any provider.

Sprint seems to be the only one who's not lying about the coverage. There's actually a gradation to their map versus a sea of solid color for everyone else.

Regarding renewal of my plan. It does not show as a BB data plan in their system (name notwithstanding). Since they are enforcing a data plan required to buy the 9700, my existing plan does not qualify per the system.

If I try to upgrade to it online, it says I have to add a data plan when I receive the phone.

[kathrynhr]

I was all about T-Mo when I was travelling in Europe more. Now that I'm stateside pretty much constantly and T-Mo is raising rates, there's no reason for me to choose them in an area that's covered well by ANY of the other carriers. :-/