I originally switched to Sprint PCS 6 months ago, after leaving behind my employer-subsidized Cellular One analog service. At first, I was very impressed - PCS definitely sounds much clearer than analog, and the Sprint PCS rates under this plan (1000 anytime minutes for $99.99/month) basically allow for $0.10/minute calling anytime, anywhere.

Another big plus: no long term contracts. Unlike PacBell, GTE and CellOne, Sprint works on a month-to-month contract as opposed to long term (e.g. 180 day) contracts that are the industry norm. Any month you can change your plan (bigger plan, smaller plan) or cancel your service.

But that's where the fun ends. You definitely get what you pay for. Not long after I started using the service, I started experiencing dropped calls. Along route 101, in my office, even sitting at my kitchen table (hey, I was online using up my only landline phone like, OK?) , calls were dropping. And it's not as if there were any warning -- you're talking, the signal strength meter looks good, the other caller sounds clear and then boom -- you're disconnected! With a brief beep and a message "Signal faded!" your call is gone. It gets annoying, and it happens to me every other day.

Then there is Sprint's pricing plan. At first, it looks great -- I mean, who can argue with no roaming fees and no long distance fees? But the dirty little secret behind Sprint PCS is that you start paying for calls the second you press send. Even if the number you call is busy, doesn't answer or is disconnected, you still pay for the call. Remember too that Sprint bills in 1 minute increments, so a 3 second call costs one minute. A 61 second call costs two minutes.

Another trick Sprint uses to drive up costs to you is their voicemail system. The voice they use for their voicemail prompts is slow and drawn out. Menus that should take 2 seconds to traverse in their voicemail system end up taking 10. I've become an expert in the touch tone codes used to navigate the Sprint voicemail system in an effort to avoid these problems, but it's not easy.

To add insult to injury, Sprint PCS customer service is typical for the industry. It sucks. I've called customer service at least a half a dozen times since getting my phone, at all different times of day. Each time, it took *at least* 10 minutes of hold time before speaking with a human being. One shortcut -- when SprintPCS drops your calls (remember, this happens regularly), just hit *2 to dial customer service (a free call) then hit 3-2-1 to report a dropped call and get an automatic one minute credit to your account.

One plus - SprintPCS has decent Internet integration. You can send SMS messages to SprintPCS phones by addressing the phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com. Additionally, you can view how many minutes you've used on the SprintPCS website. Unfortunately, their site doesn't offer detailed call logs showing which numbers you dialed, nor do they offer you the ability to pay your bill online.

All in all, the SprintPCS service sounds great - very clear, and definitely the cheapest of the bunch (at least from what I've been able to tell). But you get what you pay for -- get ready for dropped calls, poor customer service, and tedious voice mail prompts.





Recommended: Yes