SprintPCS "Radio Shack Special": Good Value, Service On Par
Written: Oct 10 '00 (Updated Dec 01 '00)
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Pros: Affordable, my situation keeps extra costs down, risk-free
Cons: All wireless service is NERVOUS in NYC, 200/800/$30 not advertised
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| NYCattitude's Full Review: Sprint Mobile Phone Service in New York |
200 Peak / 800 Off-Peak for $30 AKA "the Radio Shack Special," without annual contract, is perfect for a twenty-something design professional like me. This plan, as offered by Radio Shack to new users, plus taxes is about $42/mo. This plan works well for me because I am in the office most of the day or in the field where all phone use is reimbursable. Sprint off-peak starts at 8pm instead of 9pm for other providers, and I use the rest of the minutes for social calls. Not surprisingly, Sprint does NOT publish all service plans. It's all word of mouth. Just call up Sprint and ask for a plan that you heard about and they with switch you without much hassle. Of course they will try to sell you a more expensive plan. If you don't know, you betta aks somebody!
On the premise that you must have a cell phone in NYC, it was just a matter of deciding on Service Provider and phone. Choosing the phone has a lot to do with service provider in NYC. In NYC, you're limited to three (now four) major providers - AT&T, Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) and Sprint. Omnipoint who? MCI Worldcom uses the Bell Atlantic network. There is a new service called VoiceStream Wireless - which is supposed to be better technology (GSM), currently used successfully in Europe and Asia. I wish there was more comparative info. Upon initial inspection, VoiceStream is on the pricey side and I suspect that it is Omnipoint in disguise.
Service, in general, is weird on Manhattan Island - maybe it's the tall buildings, maybe it's the cost of real estate for broadcast locations - I don't know. Bell Atlantic has been reported by publications and friends as the best provider for metro-NYC, although the most expensive service. AT&T sucks unless you are doing a lot of travelling around the country - where their service is better and their rates are good. There has been no good, nor any bad news about Sprint for the tri-state area. I decided to take a chance with Sprint.
Sprint's or SprintPCS' major attraction to me is: no contract. Sprint makes it very easy for previously disgruntled users to take new chances. This was particularly agreeable to me because I was locked in an expensive analog contract with AT&T, which just really sucked. Sprint's phones are also reasonably priced. My Samsung SCH-3500 (silver flip) has every feature that you need, and is priced less than Motorola Startac and Nokia 6100 and 8000 series phones, both as provided with contract from Bell and AT&T (and now Voice Stream). Lastly, with technology moving so fast, who wants to be stuck in a contract with yesterday's phone?
With this plan, I believe that all domestic long distance calls are $0.15/min. I don't make a lot of personal long distance calls and when I do for business, it's reimbursed. Roaming charges, used when the phone is allowed to switch to analog, when the digital signal is bad, are expensive. I keep the phone in digital mode only unless I am expecting important calls - usually for business only. With this plan, Wireless web is full priced - whatever it is - regular phone service has to improve vastly before I even go near wireless web. Voice mail, three-way calling and caller ID are free and work fine. In general, voice mail notification is between 0 and 45 minutes, which works fine for me. Travelling underground a lot on NYC's subways probably adds some time onto these figures. If you are getting a strong network signal, your voice mail notification should be instantaneous.
I find that Sprint to Sprint network calls are more successful than Sprint to non-Sprint network calls - calls to people with Verizon or AT&T. I'll get bothersome busy network notifications on such calls. Try, try again. As stated by the doorman of my girlfriend's building, dropped calls when reported can be redeemed for 1 minute of calling time. Not bad, although unconfirmed and I can't really bother with it.
411 service is a little strange because you are not getting local 411 like you would when you call from a payphone or land line - you are getting Sprint's national 411. I guess there's no difference when I am one well-trained monkey talking to another well-trained monkey. The response time may be a little slower and they pick up the calls a little slower as well but at least you get another live monkey, not a recording of a monkey. I forget if you are charged for the call but they connect you for free - excellent if you don't have an extra hand or brain space to take down a number. If I need to make a lot of 411 calls, I usually go to the nearest payphone where it's f-r-e-e.
Customer service is always a little nervewracking. You do not get a specific agent, instead, you get a computer file as complete as the agent can manage. You have to trust that the agent making your report is thorough and that the next agent can understand the report. They do not easily hand you over to a senior agent. Instead they call over a supervisor to aid the agent with the call. Originally I signed up for a standard plan with 500 off peak minutes as an extra. This extra was not showing up on my plan for the first two months of service and my bills were huge - as most of my personal calls are off peak. This situation was eventually resolved after two sittings in complete aggravation. Although I seem bothered by it, I do not believe that anyone would have handled it any better. I got the charges waived and I was able to switch plans without an additional call. Switching plans is a breeze, by the way. The customer service monkey is aptly trained to handle this particular primate's needs.
I only wish that all phone services are better. All my friends and I agree - all wireless phone services still suck. It doesn't matter - Bell, AT&T, MCI, Sprint. They're still not stable enough to get rid of your home phone or land line and be completely digital. It's almost as if the phone companies know it so they can charge you for two services.
It's what makes Sprint a great option - you're not taking much of a chance with it. It's not a big investment, you don't have to sign an annual contract to use it, and if judged on an equal playing field where all wireless phone services still suck in NYC, the SprintPCS / Radio Shack special is a great deal.
I have a Samsung SCH-3500 which worked really well for about 6 months. Now I hate it:
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-7C28-62755EC-39B57134-prod1
If you have had a great phone for 7 months with Sprint that you can recommend, please comment.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 42 incl taxes
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Epinions.com ID:
NYCattitude
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Member: Jackson Ning II
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Want a little a-t-t-i-t-u-d-e thrown your way? Just ask.
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