Originally posted by: patrickj
Let us know how you make out...the A920 is really the only phone that I like as well.
Thanks,
Patrick
Here's my experience:
I printed the Plan Details from the Sprint website ( from the the popup window, that is), and brought that to the store just to be safe. When I got to the Sprint store it was packed! You had to put your name on a waiting list, mine was 11th in line. I ended up being there well over 100 minutes total because of this and what follows.
I finally got called and explained to the young lady (a very friendly Sprint customer rep) that I was there in hopes of getting the Samsung A920 phone with the Sprint Employee Referral Offer 500 plan. She had no idea that there was such a thing as any Sprint employee referral plan. I showed her the print out and said that was the plan I wanted, but I couldn't order online or via phone because they were out of the phones online. Being unfamiliar with the employee referral process the girl asked the manager for help. The manager was also very friendly. She too was not familiar with employee referrals, but she was willing to help. The manager had the girl start my contract while she (the manager) called whomever they call for help. She finally got a person at Sprint that was familiar with the plan, it took her several calls and tranfers. That person had the store set me up as a basic 300 minute plan and then told them to give her my number. Once I was setup on that plan I was then transfered to the Employee Referral Offer 500 plan. It was pretty easy in the end. But because none on the store employees knew of referrals, and the first 5 or 6 people at Sprint also did not know, it took quite some time.
The store manager saved all the stuff she did so they would remember for future customers like me. She said she was going to print 100 or so copies of the plan and encourage the employees to get friends to sign up. In the end the manager was actually quite happy I showed up because she and the employees learned a lot helping me out.
As far as what was required of me, note that they never asked for an actual employee name or referral. They saw the print out and took my word that I had been referred. I got the last A920 in the store. This store is not far from where the Patriots play, so the players all shop there (Sprint is an official NFL sponsor). I'm told they bought up a large number of their best phones in the last 2 weeks. The store was out of A940's and A900's, as well as bluetooth headsets and many other accessories. So in the end all I got was the phone and what came with it. They had no accessories for it but memory cards. But seeing the memory cards aren't reduced I didn't bother. I'm hoping somebody else sells them cheaper. They get $69.99 for the 512MB card along with a fullsize SD adapter so you can pop the card in an SD reader. BestBuy gets the same price. Gotta check the Egg later and other places.
I hope this helps. The bottom line for me was I got what I wanted at the store! The employees, by the way, couldn't believe the details of the plan. 500 minutes for $30 a month, plus no activation fee (a $36 savings!) and free Power Vision blew them away. That and the free calls to Sprint AND Nextel phones. Plus if I refer somebody I get $25 and they get $25 too.
So, thanks OP! Thanks so much! I'll write back some other time if I can and report on the phone and service.