Sprint New Phone Charges

[wizlaw]

Sprint is now imposing a very weasely charge of $36.00 to change or upgrade phones for existing customers. I bought a new Sanyo 5300 from Costco and when i called to activate this phone, Sprint said they would charge $36.00 to activate this phone. I even talked to a supervisor who refused to waive the charge. She said she would waive it only if I agreed to a 1-Year contract renewal.

This seems rather fraudulent since I changed phones from a Samsung A500 which kept on turning off on me..so I am changing phones due to faulty equipment.. Any ideas.. I was planning to call the president or something..

[larry]

Why are you saying this is a new charge? It has been this way for a long time now. If you activate your phone online instead of through customer service there might not be a charge. At least there was no charge for me a couple of months back.

[wizlaw]

I tried to do it online and it gave me an error message. The last time I changed from the Samsung N400 to the Samsung A500 back in January 2003 there was no charge.. Just to reiterate, this is not a activation charge for a new customer but an "activation" charge for a existing customer who is looking to upgrade or cross grade equipment.

[budney]

wizlaw - Larry is correct about the charge its not new. But it just depends on who you talked to at CS. Most won't charge you the fee, but someone who is ____ or just starting might. Most cell providers have this fee. When I was with Verizon I was charged there $35 fee for activating a new phone on an existing contract once or twice. But most of the time it was waved. You should of told them that you tried to activate the phone on there site. Most people have the fee waved when they mention that to CS.

[larry]

Sprint actually gives you a break on the price of a new phone (compared to some other carriers who charge you full price) so they try to make a little of that up by charging this activation fee. Keep in mind that Sprint eats part of the cost of the new phone so if someone keeps switching phones while in the middle of a contract they can lose money.

[TProphet]

You have a couple of options:

1. They should have waived the fee anyway, since you bought the phone at Costco. If you buy the phone at Costco, you don't pay activation. Of course, Sprint representatives may not all know this. So I'd recommend you go back to Costco and talk to the Sprint representative in the warehouse. More likely than not, they can take care of the situation on the spot.

2. If this is not convenient, you may be eligible to change to a corporate plan that doesn't have an activation fee. Employees of many companies can receive a discount through Sprint PCS. Ask for "corporate activations," and you'll get the department that can help with this. Incidentally, Verizon now offers a 13% discount for members of King County Credit Union, although I don't recommend the Verizon America's Choice plan if you're thinking of switching carriers.

[wizlaw]

Wow you guys are so knowledegeable..Thanks so much.. I will ask the sprint rep at Costco tommorow..

[cdd543]

All you needed to do was let them know that online activation was down and they will waive the fee. Had the same issue last week when I bought a 5300 from costco as well.