OT? - Voicestream v. Sprint

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by thomas, Jun 10, 2002.

  1. thomas

    thomas Well-Known Member

    I have been a satisfied customer of Sprint PCS for a couple years. I need to add a second phone for my son. His girlfriend is moving south (down where PsycDoc is) to go to school and they will be spending a lot of time on the phone.

    She is getting Vociestream because of all the minutes they offer (it is a lot, and they are anytime minutes). We have a couple choices. One, I can add him to my Sprint account. That will cost me about $40 a month more. She will have to call him at home most of the time because otherwise he would burn up all of the Sprint minutes. That is inconvenient.

    Second, he can get Voicestream. They have unlimited free minutes between two Voicestream phones, so they can talk all they want without burning any minutes. If he does this, I will switch also to Voicestream. I do not want two different plans.

    The cost for Voicestream will be about the same as Sprint for me. The minutes are much better on Voicestream than Sprint. If I add him to Sprint. I have to sign up for another year and a lot of the benefits that were free will now be charged for. I can pay an extra $15-20 a month to keep these services or I can drop them. Plus, Voicestream will give me two new phones at no cost. With Sprint, I will have to buy a new one.

    Here is the problem. I went to epinions to check on Voicestream. They got terrible ratings. Does anyone have any experience with them? I am reluctant to change. Or, have they gotten better?

    I have looked at all the other plans and none meet my needs. It is either Sprint or Voicestream.

    Thanks
     
  2. charlieslex

    charlieslex Well-Known Member

    I used to have Voicestream for my company. Too many dropped calls and horrible CS. Now, we have Nextel excellent CS, free incoming 24/7, free unlimited walkie/talkie, free weekends and after 9pm and time rounds to the second. they are a little more expensive for some, but I use the walkie about 1800 minutes a month and phone about the same or more. I think its about $90 a month. I have guys all over Texas and the walkie works about 95% of the places. Charlie
     
  3. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    We have VOICESTREAM...4 lines...

    Wife and oldest got it first (2 lines)...1.5 years ago...I said DON'T give them SS#...pay them a deposit...she paid $1,200...FAST FORWARD 11/2001...youngest wanted one...so we got 2 more lines...got charged another $250.00 deposit (ALL TO SAVE F.I.C.O. POINTS)...

    Now they have $1,200 + $250...then the computer says we have to pay another $250 for line 4...ok...NOW THEY HAVE $1,700 DEPOSIT...

    FAST FORWARD...

    I ASKED FOR THE $1,200 + THE OVER-CHARGED $250...THEY SAID IT WOULD TAKE 3 MONTHS...I said how long would it take to put the $1,450 AS A PAYMENT????
    72 HOURS (AFTER CONFIRMATION)~~~DO IT!!!

    SO NOW I HAVE A BALANCE CREDIT BALANCE OF >$1,000.00 ALL TO SAVE SOME F.I.C.O. POINTS!!!

    Now I asked for the FINAL $250 to be refunded as a payment...we will see what happens...

    AS FAR AS THE SERVICE OTHERWISE...were happy...$69.95 + $10.00 each for the 3rd and 4th phones..."LOCAL" COLORADO/WYOMING. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FREE LONG DISTANCE...FREE ROAMING FROM LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA (WORKED FINE)...800 SHARED MINUTES FOR MON-FRI CALLS.

    FREE VOICESTREAM TO VOICESTREAM CALLS...

    Not sure if it will work in every state (ROAMING WISE)
     
  4. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    Wife and youngest will be in LA...I'll have them call from SALT LAKE CITY on SATURDAY...they have a stop-over...

    Planning on MAINE SUMMER 2003...MIGHT BE REAL SPOTTY RECEPTION???
     
  5. thecatslai

    thecatslai Well-Known Member

    I have voicestream. I used to have Sprint. I have had one dropped call with my voicestream phone in one year. I had dropped calls with Sprint weekly so for me Voicestream is a huge improvement. I wonder if it matters where you live.

    My husband and I have the family deal. We pay $70 per month and have unlimited calls to each other.

    I never paid a deposit. I couldn't afford to let someone sit on my money interest free to spare a couple of points. Sprint asked me for a deposit and refunded it after one year. Voicestream approved for up to 4 phones with no deposit.

    Kim
     
  6. ohnostuck

    ohnostuck Well-Known Member

    WARNING!!!!!!

    I saw you said that you were going to add your son on to your account, please be aware that it will start a NEW contract with Sprint. I had them and I could not use the phone at my house or anywhere within 2 miles. I was forced to wait the year out to avoid that cancellation fee. BTW- I am using this phone in Ann Arbor, the same place that I purchased the phone.
     
  7. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    RECEPTION...WON'T work inside some businesses...
     
  8. JacquiG

    JacquiG Well-Known Member

    I've had Voicestream since April - they are the only carrier that can service my Treo in this area. If I had any other choice, I'd drop them like they constantly drop my calls. I don't think a day goes by that it doesn't happen. I've only dealt with customer service once, and the rep told me I would have to order separate data service (iStream) for my web access. NOT! Thank goodness for the old "call back and speak to someone else" advice.
     
  9. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    Since MOST of my calls are to "HOME" (CALIFORNIA) SATURDAY/SUNDAY or to the WIFE AND KIDS...I don't use much of the 800 min.
     
  10. c5kirk

    c5kirk Well-Known Member

    I had Sprint for several years... just switched to Voicestream about 2 months ago. So far I love it. With Sprint I used to drop calls several times a week and this is in Overland Park, KS. where Sprint is headquartered. Since switching I have only had 1 dropped call. Just got back from a trip to the Southwest (Phoenix, San Diego, Las Vegas) and never had a problem getting a signal (although I noticed it was usually on the Cingular network which has an agreement with Voicestream so there are no roaming fees charged when on their network).

    I do miss my Sprint phone (Samsung 8500). Couldn't find a comparable phone for use with Voicestream, but just went with the free Nokias and have had no problems with them. As far as price goes Sprint can't touch the deals that Voicestream offered. Even called Sprint before switching to give them the opportunity to offer me a better deal and the best they'd do is adding 500 Sprint to Sprint minutes for $5/month instead of $10/month.

    Overall very happy with Voicestream service and pricing.

    Kirk
     
  11. Kelly

    Kelly Well-Known Member

    I think it will depend on the area that the phones will be used the most.

    Here's my take on PCS. If the coverage area is new, expect dropped calls. As the company expands the PCS coverage area, the frequency of dropped calls decline.

    I sold both of these services. It was the same story. When one of them launched in the area. The complaints of dropped calls were overwhelming. The company put up more towers and offered dual band phones. The dropped call complaints started to decline but then started the roaming fee complaints. They then began changing roaming rates, long distance fees, and enlarging home areas til the complaints became manageable.
     
  12. rick

    rick Well-Known Member

    I too switched from Sprint to Vstream about 4 months ago. I really like Voicestream. Had some dropped calls with Sprint, none yet with V stream.
    Every cell company has some dropped calls and dead spots IMO.
     
  13. Slayer

    Slayer Well-Known Member

    i have Sprint. Retention gave me an offer I couldn't refuse when I threatened to cancel due to outrageous fees they charged me for overage: Refund of all overage charges, 300 courtesy anytime minutes for the remainder of that month, 1800 anytime minutes + 3000 nights & weekends + wireless web for $74.99 thereafter. Of course, they include long distance and no roaming anywhere on the sprint pcs network. (my previous contract was 1000 anytime +3000 n/w for 74.99 + 5.00 wireless webb. I did my homework, and could not find a better deal. I do drop calls occasionally, but the rep told me to dial *2 to get a drop call credit of $0.5 for each drop call every time it happens. It's a hassle, but well worth it.
     

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