I have been with Sprint PCS for about three and a half years. I must say that throughout this period of time, Spring has undergone many improvements, in terms of both service and coverage. True, a few times I had been really ticked off with them, but that was not enough for me to cancel my service. As of right now, I am quite satisfied with Sprint.

Plans
Sprint has numerous plans, ranging from $19.99 to $149.99 (you can check them out in detail at their website, http://www.spintpcs.com). These include Family plans (share plan minutes between several phones), Free & Clear plans (with included night & weekend minutes and long distance) and several other types. Family and Free & Clear plans require a one or two year Sprint agreement; if you have a plan that does not require such contract, you can cancel any time.

Personally, back in February of 1998, when I first got Sprint, I particularly liked the fact that I was not tied into a contract. Three years later, I figured it was worth it for me to sign a contract with them in return for a better, Free & Clear plan: 200 peak-time minutes + 1000 off-peak minutes + free long distance for $34.99 per month. Additional minutes are expensive (40 cents per minute), but I have never come close to using all of my minutes, so that has not been a problem. Of course, all the standard stuff, like caller ID, three way calling and voicemail, is included.

There is another nice thing about Sprint: even though they advertise many of their promotional plans as "new customer only", if you call their Customer Care and request such plan, they will usually give it to you. I have changed plans at least four times, and three of those times were for promotional plans advertised as only available to new customers.

Coverage
OK, this is Colorado we are talking about--Rocky Mountains and all. Nobody expects digital coverage in a mountain state to be anything but average. I have had a few problems with a weak/no signal back when I had my old phone. Most of those problems were caused by an outdated phone, not Sprint. Now that I got my new Samsung 8500 (see my epinion on this phone), I have had no problems with coverage. The signal is usually quite adequate in the Fort Collins - Boulder - Denver - Colorado Springs corridor. Sprint also has very good digital service in the major ski resorts (Keystone, Breckenridge, etc.) and along the I-70 (my phone worked even inside the Eisenhower Tunnel).

Roaming minutes are extra, but I hardly ever need to use them, since most of the time I don't drive cross-country when I travel. The Free & Clear plan that I have includes free usage of Spring PCS digital network anywhere in the US where they have coverage. So I have used my phone in California, New York, Las Vegas and other places that I have traveled to for no additional charge.

Other Features
Some more expensive plans include Wireless Web; my plan does not have it, so I would have to pay $10.00 per month to have it (I don't really need it; I spent way too much time behind a computer anyway). However, text messaging is free, and I have my Hotmail account set up so that it sends a message to my phone any time I receive an email (it doesn't send the whole email, just the From and the Subject lines). I also receive weather forecasts and news headlines from MSN on my phone--also for free.

Sprint PCS uses real-time billing. You can call *4 from your Sprint PCS phone and hear how many minutes you have used, when the last payment was received, when the next payment is due, etc. All that information is also available from their website. The website is really nice and fairly easy to navigate. You can change plans, add features to your phone, see your billing details, purchase phones and accessories and do many other things that I have never had need for (but it's nice to know it's there).

Customer Service
You can call the Sprint Customer Care from any phone using an 888 number, or you can call them from your Sprint PCS phone by dialing *2 (your minutes will not be used up, they don't bill you for airtime if you call their customer service.) What can I say...wait times can be pretty long during peak hours (up to 30 minutes), so I usually try calling later at night.

In my experience, the CSRs usually have been very nice and helpful. As I mentioned before, they have given me promotional plans that were advertised as "new customer only". One time, my bill was really confusing because I got a new phone and a new plan, and my detailed bill had some strange charges and deductions. So I called the Customer Care for explanation, and the CSR had to stay on the phone with me for almost an hour because it took him a while to figure out why their computer billed me the way it did. All this time, he was very polite and patient, and he made sure I was satisfied with the explanation for all my charges (all of them were legitimate).

Another time, I accidentally did not pay my phone bill for three months. The problem was I had my bill payments automatically deducted from my credit card. When that particular credit card expired, even though I received a new credit card with the same account number, Sprint could not charge it anymore. I did not realize it until almost three months later (I got so used to my bill being paid automatically, I do not really look at it any more). All that time, Sprint had patiently waited for me to get my act together: they did not disconnect my service, did not slap any late fees on my account, and did not report me to a collection agency. Once I realized the mistake, one phone call to Customer Care resolved the problem; and the CSR was very polite and professional (I mean, c'mon, as far as Sprint was concerned, I was nothing but a delinquent account! I wouldn't be surprised if I'd been treated like one. But I wasn't).

Another thing worth mentioning is that there are quite a few Sprint PCS stores in the Denver/Boulder area. A new one has just opened in Louisville, and almost any Radio Shack has a Sprint PCS store (that was the reason I got Sprint PCS in the first place: I was working for Radio Shack at the time). So you can actually receive "live" customer service if you want to speak to a live person face to face.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 34.99/month