Do not ever use Sprint! An epic tale of poor customer service.

[Oakenfold]

Been with Sprint since the Evo, decided to upgrade to a nice iPhone 5 and Galaxy S-III only to find out that the phones aren't backwards compatible with WiMax? Seriously is it that hard to make a dual protocol phone? What genius allowed that idea in non-LTE markets? Let me guess the same one that bought these devices...

Anyhoo...After figuring out the madness that Sprint is involved in I couldn't take the lack of 4G with a new device. I returned the phones within 3 days.

Sprint insists on charging activation fees even though I returned the phones within Sprints 3 day return period. They had the audacity to tell me the phones were activated while they were still being shipped by UPS. I located the tracking confirmation and provided it to them...they have submitted my request to have the fees waived once again....this has been going on since Black Friday.

I kid you not. I will never do business with Sprint again. I am considering evangelizing at their retail locations what idiots they are and crappy customer service they have.

Cliffs-
Sprint sucks.
Oak is really really mad that he talked with Sprint instead of playing World of Tanks tonight.
Do not use them.
That is all.

 

[Fritzo]

Sprint is dumping WiMax for LTE. They're supposed to have LTE coverage in most major cities by mid next-year. Also, their 3G network is actually really good- 1-2Mb is pretty common. I would have just kept the phones.

 

[Oakenfold]

Sprint is dumping WiMax for LTE. They're supposed to have LTE coverage in most major cities by mid next-year. Also, their 3G network is actually really good- 1-2Mb is pretty common. I would have just kept the phones.

That's been their PR statement for a long, long time. I had to laugh at the press release today. It used to be we're really improving our WiMax service...I just couldn't wait to upgrade any longer..these Evo's are getting long in the tooth for me when looking at an S-III.

 

[SparkyJJO]

I have an old WiMax phone. LTE makes it feel outdated and sad

Work pays for the phone so I can't really complain.

 

[postmortemIA]

WiMax is dead end technology. No phone maker wants to waste time supporting it.

 

[Lemon law]

On one hand I agree 100% with our OP in Oakenfold from the perspective of my personal experience. Especially when I tried Sprint 3G. I could get stellar 3G service between the hours of 2:30 AM, and 7:AM. As for the other 20 hours or so, I was lucky to stay connected or get even dial up speeds. Simply because Sprint executives went cheap and failed to provide sufficient front or back haul capacity to allow their towers to support a fraction of their existing customers. Then they bet on the wrong WIMAX horse as I wonder if Sprint management is smart enough to be allowed to live.

Still I have to remember that what is true in my location may not be true for others.

 

[RockinZ28]

Sprint is dumping WiMax for LTE. They're supposed to have LTE coverage in most major cities by mid next-year. Also, their 3G network is actually really good- 1-2Mb is pretty common. I would have just kept the phones.

That's not what the data I've seen indicates, always shows Sprint has the slowest 3G and 4G speeds out of the main 4.

I have Sprint on my company IPhone4. 3G is absolutely useless around L.A. If I need to send an email with pics from company email, I tether to my LTE Verizon S3.

 

[ElFenix]

On one hand I agree 100% with our OP in Oakenfold from the perspective of my personal experience. Especially when I tried Sprint 3G. I could get stellar 3G service between the hours of 2:30 AM, and 7:AM. As for the other 20 hours or so, I was lucky to stay connected or get even dial up speeds. Simply because Sprint executives went cheap and failed to provide sufficient front or back haul capacity to allow their towers to support a fraction of their existing customers. Then they bet on the wrong WIMAX horse as I wonder if Sprint management is smart enough to be allowed to live.

Still I have to remember that what is true in my location may not be true for others.

sprint's backhaul for an entire tower used to be a pair of T1 lines. which is nothing. and required massive amounts of effort to expand if a tower got crowded.

they're upgrading the backhaul to fiber and microwave per the 'network vision' plan. that allows them to easily add capacity on the backhaul if the tower needs it.

as for wimax, that wasn't a dumb move on their part. they had spectrum space that had a primary term and a secondary term, just like an oil and gas lease. what that means is that, in order to keep the lease, they had to provide service on the spectrum. LTE wasn't ready so the only thing they could roll out was wimax.

 

[Dari]

Before upgrading to those two phones, did the OP do any research? That could have alleviated a lot of problems.

 

[Anonemous]

sprint's backhaul for an entire tower used to be a pair of T1 lines. which is nothing. and required massive amounts of effort to expand if a tower got crowded.

they're upgrading the backhaul to fiber and microwave per the 'network vision' plan. that allows them to easily add capacity on the backhaul if the tower needs it.

as for wimax, that wasn't a dumb move on their part. they had spectrum space that had a primary term and a secondary term, just like an oil and gas lease. what that means is that, in order to keep the lease, they had to provide service on the spectrum. LTE wasn't ready so the only thing they could roll out was wimax.

Yea, basically Sprint had the spectrum and they had to use it or lose it. They chose Wimax and rest was history. Pretty excited about network vision. LTE speeds around me are around 10-25Mbps.

 

[Anonemous]

That's not what the data I've seen indicates, always shows Sprint has the slowest 3G and 4G speeds out of the main 4.

I have Sprint on my company IPhone4. 3G is absolutely useless around L.A. If I need to send an email with pics from company email, I tether to my LTE Verizon S3.

LA has both LTE (downtown and some parts) and Wimax from Sprint. Their 3G was ok (1Mbps) at least it was better than SD (.3-.5Mbps).
LTE in Los Angeles

WIMAX in Los Angeles

 

[Fritzo]

That's not what the data I've seen indicates, always shows Sprint has the slowest 3G and 4G speeds out of the main 4.

I have Sprint on my company IPhone4. 3G is absolutely useless around L.A. If I need to send an email with pics from company email, I tether to my LTE Verizon S3.

My company is a Sprint MVNO. They optimized their 3G network about 6 months ago and added a bunch of compression/acceleration. Their 3G is actually rock solid now (faster than some DSL connections in fact ). Their main problem is coverage...outside of major cities coverage isn't that great.

 

[phucheneh]

[insert company] has terrible customer service. No one should ever use them.

There, I just gave a thorough review of every telecommunications company in existence.

Seriously. Try to find one single large wireless, cable, internet, ect company without a plethora of horror stories and report back.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

sounds like the OP just needed to do research on phones

Caveat Emptor

 

[CZroe]

Been with Sprint since the Evo, decided to upgrade to a nice iPhone 5 and Galaxy S-III only to find out that the phones aren't backwards compatible with WiMax?

"Backwards compatible?" That would be "side compatible." You see, the industry didn't pass WiMax on their way to LTE 4G... they went one way and Sprint went the other. If WiMax was getting any support in the major phones then it would validate Sprint's investment and they wouldn't need to roll out LTE.

Seriously is it that hard to make a dual protocol phone?

It's not a protocol out of many that can be carried over the same network technology. It's an entirely different and incompatible technology. You wouldn't expect a Verizon iPhone 5 to fall back on HSPA+ when there is no LTE. It will fall back on CDMA 3G.

What genius allowed that idea in non-LTE markets? Let me guess the same one that bought these devices...

Allowed WHAT in non-LTE markets? Allowed you to buy an iPhone 5? AT&T customers get nice fast HSPA+ outside of LTE coverage areas and that is more than enough to hold out. I am in the Atlanta Greater Metropolitan Area and my brother doesn't get LTE on his iPhone 5 in our city but we both get HSPA+ (I'm using a Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY 4G). At this point expecting LTE anywhere other than downtown in a major city is unreasonable. The only reason you don't have HSPA+ to fall back on is because Sprint doesn't have a compatible GSM network (see the Verizon example above).

Anyhoo...After figuring out the madness that Sprint is involved in I couldn't take the lack of 4G with a new device. I returned the phones within 3 days.

There's a reason Apple refused to make a CDMA phone for so long. It's slow, not common worldwide, lacks features, and is an entirely unacceptable fall-back for a 4G device.

Sprint insists on charging activation fees even though I returned the phones within Sprints 3 day return period. They had the audacity to tell me the phones were activated while they were still being shipped by UPS. I located the tracking confirmation and provided it to them...they have submitted my request to have the fees waived once again....this has been going on since Black Friday.

I kid you not. I will never do business with Sprint again. I am considering evangelizing at their retail locations what retards they are and crappy customer service they have.

Cliffs-
Sprint sucks.
Oak is really really mad that he talked with Sprint instead of playing World of Tanks tonight.
Do not use them.
That is all.

Wait for LTE or get a better phone on a different carrier. Don't act the customers on other carriers haven't gone through a similar transition. Away from the Interstate, I didn't get 3G in Newnan for the first couple years of owning a 3G phone.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Should have went with Tmobile. The only decent wireless co out there.

 

[ultimatebob]

That customer service sucks, but you probably should have done your homework on those phones before ordering them.

 

[Oakenfold]

Totally agree with you guys, I should have researched the phones. I have no concern admitting that. However, for an average consumer that knows way less about technology that logic doesn't add up. It's no way to run a business (those that work in IT Management and on the Business side of the house should understand this).

I had to ditch them because realistically I see through their statements about LTE coming to my city this year and know it's probably going to be a year or longer (that and Sprint's 3g service here is horrible, their 4g was okay when I could get it). Again, they did this all during WiMax development.

Just wanted to give the community a head's up on my experience with them, I can't believe how bad the customer service is. It makes paying the Verizon bill much easier..

 

[highland145]

The only real way to get your point across.....

 

[Exterous]

LA has both LTE (downtown and some parts) and Wimax from Sprint. Their 3G was ok (1Mbps) at least it was better than SD (.3-.5Mbps).

Oh good - I'll get to experience what decent speeds are like for a short time before going back to my shit speeds here.

 

[Exterous]

Just wanted to give the community a head's up on my experience with them, I can't believe how bad the customer service is. It makes paying the Verizon bill much easier..

If I were you I would just call back and speak with someone else. Their service is really hit and miss. I once got told by chat that I had to call them even though my complaint was that neither my wife's or my phone was getting any service at all. The chat rep just couldn't seem to understand that I can't call them if my phone isn't getting any service. I ended the chat, started a new one and in less than three minutes I was told the tower in my area was down and would be back up within 3 hours

 

[dank69]

Sad to see Sprint still has shit CS. Had problems with them years and years ago. They fucked my credit rating. Had to get the government involved to make them fix it.

 

[Saint Nick]

Sad to see Sprint still has shit CS. Had problems with them years and years ago. They fucked my credit rating. Had to get the government involved to make them fix it.

What the fuck? What happened?

 

[Fingolfin269]

I agree you should have researched but I also understanding the thought process. I had an EVO 2 years or so ago. So it would never occur to me that if I were still with Sprint that upgrading from an EVO to a GS3 would result in losing Sprint's version of 4G until they roll out LTE. It makes sense technically but I can understand not really thinking about it up front.

 

[mike2fix]

So, you are saying that Sprint is not an Oakenfold approved trader.

Hey Doug.