How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Cell Phone
Written: Jul 06 '00
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Pros: Flexible service plan, free long distance, terrific website
Cons: Waits for customer service, big holes in the Sprint PCS network
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| cwainwright's Full Review: Sprint Mobile Phone Service in New York |
My first cell phone was just that: an unwieldy, analog behemoth that looked so unlikely a techno-forward acquaintance nicknamed it “My First Fone.”
The long hunt for a new service provider landed me in an even longer line at the Beverly Hills branch of Sprint PCS. Here I found a sort of happiness in a Samsung SCH-2000 single-band flip-phone and—joy of joys—a flexible service plan that lives up to its descriptor.
Caveat Caller: or, a Word on the PCS Network
Sprint would like you, the consumer, to believe that its proprietary PCS network is the point of difference (and a high-quality, crystal-clear point, at that.)
This, frankly, is horse-pokey. When the sound is good, it’s fine. When the sound is bad, it’s as crummy as My First Fone, and in my 13 months as a subscriber, the sound has been bad as often as it’s been good.
Sprint’s other major marketing hook is that as a subscriber to one of their popular Free & Clear Plans, you get free long distance with no roaming charges anywhere on this far-flung PCS Network. This is, in fact, true.
However, since cells were as scarce on my travels to a popular suburb of Chicago as they were in the admittedly remote town of Ada, Oklahoma, I take Sprint’s “far-flung” with a lick of salt, and I’d advise anyone else to do the same. Or at least check the www.sprint.com PCS map c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y before you head out of your local calling area expecting to use your phone on the road. Single-band phone users like myself will be out of luck, and dual-band users (whose phones allow them to plug into other networks’ analog systems when they’re out of PCS range) could be in for an ugly surprise come billing time.
The (Real) PCS Difference: Just Make a New Plan, Stan
What sold me on Sprint PCS after my two years of indentured servitude with AirTouch was Sprint’s flexible service plan. No more signing up for long-term “deals” which depreciate faster than a Chevy Malibu heading out of the dealer’s lot. I can and do shift my service plan from month to month as suits my needs, and there are plenty of service plans to choose from.
How does it work? Well, let’s say you sign up for a $50/500 minutes per month plan on April 1st. You go about your cellular business and as the month unfolds, you realize one of three things:
(a) Hey—I’ve used enough juice on this Sprint PCS phone to turn my brain into a Hungry Man dinner and it’s not even tax day! I’d better slow down or I’m going to talk my way into debtor’s prison!
(b) Hey—according to Sprint’s handy, interactive long-distance network guide on their website, when I visit Aunt Augusta in Ada, Oklahoma next month, I can use my Sprint PCS phone at no additional charge… as a doorstop.
(c) Hey—even though the Screen Actors Guild has been on commercial strike for the past 10 weeks and my agent never calls me, I can still use my Sprint PCS phone every day… as a doorstop.
In scenario (a), you call Sprint PCS customer service, ask to upgrade to the next highest “bucket” plan (in my area, $70/700 minutes) and that very next month, you’re on the new plan. No big surprise—most businesses are happy to take more of your money.
But what if your travel plans take you to some remote outpost off the Sprint map… or to someplace where you really just don’t want people to be able to reach you?
Or—let’s face it—what if you just grossly overestimated your popularity with the calling public?
In that case, you call Sprint, have them switch you to their $5/month Vacation Plan (prorated for shorter jaunts) and you put your phone in mothballs until you're back in town. Or, if you're just an especially starving/out-of-work actor, Sprint can downgrade you to a lower plan for the next billing cycle. Or however long this seemingly interminable strike lasts.
How Sprint does—and doesn’t—work: The Fine Print
Of course, you can’t go changing any old time you feel like it. Well, you can, but trust me, you’ll save yourself gigantic billing headaches if you stick to making your changes on the last day of your billing cycle. Otherwise, you enter a Byzantine world of pro-rating and advance billing unsafe for timorous, non-mathematical souls like myself. I’ve had three different Customer Service Reps explain when and why charges show up on my bill and I still don’t get it. My method for dealing with this involves scrupulous double-checking to make sure I haven’t been billed twice. I never have, but it’s still confusing.
Another potential hitch to signing with Sprint is that you must use one of their Sprint PCS phones. There’s a wide array to choose from, including a fair selection of older, used models both on the Sprint PCS website and e-Bay, but I know plenty of people for whom this might be a deal-breaker, and of all the specials I’ve seen Sprint run, I’ve never seen a trade-in offer.
There’s No Such Thing as a Free Call to the 411 Operator…
…but with Sprint PCS, you will get free voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, 3-way calling and numeric paging to your PCS phone. Calls to 911 are free, too, so you can let the police know someone’s stealing your phone when they’re… never mind.
With the Free & Clear Plan, you also get a choice of one free add-on. I selected free long distance, but you can get free Sprint PCS Wireless Web service for your extra-fancy phone, or extra free night & weekend minutes if you don’t do a lot of long-distance calling but like chatting up the locals of a Saturday night.
Bonuses, Incentives and Other Miscellaneous Doo-Dads
Like most cellular providers, Sprint PCS is constantly running offers to get you in the door. My bonus was a Father’s Day special offer (available to daughters, too) of 300 extra free minutes, which had to be used within the first two billing cycles (no problem using that up whatsoever.) They extend various offers from time to time, all of which are available on their excellent and comprehensive website.
In an effort to own the free world, Sprint also offers each subscriber $10 for each new subscriber s/he brings on board, as well as discounts on Sprint Long Distance for the home or business for Sprint PCS customers.
Lines at the service centers have shortened considerably after what I’m guessing were a heap-load of complaints from customers. Customer Service reps in both the stores and over the phone are helpful, although waits for a phone rep can take awhile. The above-mentioned website really is wonderful: you can check your airtime, buy products or services and pay your bill online with no difficulty.
Of course, signing on with Sprint PCS does make your nifty Nokia with the Minnie Mouse faceplate obsolete. But you can always recycle it on e-Bay.
Or use it… as a doorstop.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50/month
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Epinions.com ID:
cwainwright
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Member: Colleen Wainwright
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 29 members
About Me:
Call me 'the communicatrix.'
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