BARYE

are you saying that sero users are not going to be offered the pre -- why ??

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cckgz4

What is SERO?

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letsgoflyers81

So far the only phone that people have been forced to switch their plans for is the Instinct. It's possible they could try it with the Pre but nothing's been said about it yet.

SERO = Sprint Employee Referral Offer. They're very cheap plans with lots of features. They were originally intended for employees to allow certain people to get them but Sprint opened it up to everyone if you had certain e-mail addresses. I have a $30 plan that give me 500 anytime minutes, nights and weekends at 7pm, unlimited M2M, data, roaming, SMS, etc.

cckgz4

OHHH. No wonder y'all don't wanna let that go LOL

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PalmHead

I hope we get rewarded for being loyal Palm and Sprint customers and we get the Pre without any changes in our SERO rates. I checked out the replacement plan for SERO last night (just doing a little scouting in preparation for the Pre). The cost of the basic plan is approx $60.

I was just reading another post on TC that said the Instinct did not require a plan change. I don't know if that's true, but I suspect it is. I think you just needed unlimited data -- which SERO has.

Anyway I figure I can always pay more for the phone as long as I can keep the less expensive monthly fees. I'm hoping that's the worst case scenario cause I want one!

PalmHead

From a business standpoint Sprint has to make a profit (or at some point we'll all be on Verizon). IMHO in general, if they make the purchase price cheaper, the plan is more expensive. If the phone has limited availability and is desireable then both prices may be higher.

I'm hoping that, as in the past, there's enuf shared info on here that we can all get the Pre at a satisfactory price. Thanks to all who share so willingly on here.

bender29

It really sounds like all the pricing hasn't been worked out yet and there are ongoing negotiations between sprint and palm.

But I can't give up my SERO plan for this device, but I would try every backdoor way to get it

That said, I don't think I'd jump ship from Sprint even w/o SERO. Got sick of Verizon crippling phones and their high plans. Tmobile is a non-option. Neutral on at&t - dont care for iphone.

Sprint's network is just fine for my usage and area. As for poor CSR, I've only called in once (to port my number), and never again. And, if I ever needed to, there's always sprint ecare.

gideon213

If I'm forced to buy SE, that's a deal killer for me. Paying 40 more dollars a month equals 480 dollars a year MORE, or at the conclusion of your contract, 960 dollars just for the privilege of having the phone? It ain't that cool, sorry. That thousand bucks is much better spent elsewhere for me.

I hope they don't go this route.

MaggieScratch

As has been pointed out in several other threads, there already IS a range of plans. All include unlimited data and texting with different amounts of anytime minutes--450 minutes at $69, 900 minutes at $89, and unlimited minutes at $99.

http://nextelonline.nextel.com/NASAp...itRegionAction

Simply Everything -- $99, unlimited everything

Everything Data -- unlimited data/messaging/direct connect, $89 for 900 anytime minutes, $69 for 450 anytime minutes.

Whether one of those plans will be required I do not know, but as has been said--if you're not getting a data plan, why are you getting this device? The always-on, thinking-ahead aspects of the device won't work quite the same way on intermittent wifi. It's a new paradigm, really.

gideon213

My wife and I have two phones, she a centro, me a 700p... we pay 80 bucks for unlimited data and text for both our phones, and more minutes than we ever come close to using, and we're happy with that. Looking at the current plans to get equivalent to what we have, would be at least 120 if not more. That works out to an extra 960 bucks to use that phone over the course of the contract.

There's no technical usability reason I would need a simply everything plan for that phone. A data plan makes complete sense, but not a simply everything. The concern exists because of the deal with the samsung instinct.

adjmcloon

I hope not, I sure would like to come back to Palm but I'm not giving up my SERO. I squeaked my wife and daughter on just before they ended it. I would happily extend my contract but not if I have to pay for a SE plan...I'll just keep the jailbroken Iphone I have for work on At&T and let the personal Sprint plan expire. Surely they won't force the issue..both Sprint and Palm need a lot of sales. I can't seem them shooting themselves in the foot with a few thousand customers, especially when many of them are long-time subscribers.

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intro

well, i checked in with sprint today and i finally switched over to a SE plan it was only 20 dollars more than what i currently pay, and i want to say that i gained 900 minutes for anytime aswell :]

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-intro.

though

i have been with sprint since 1997 and like others on here have said, i WILL NOT change to a higher dollar plan just to use this phone, nor will my wife. i have the 800w and she has the 700p. i would gladly pay more for the phone, but NOT more for the monthly bills...

please sprint, don't punish your long-term, loyal customers by making them pay higher monthly fees just to use a new device. let the ship jumpers, if anything, pay for the current/new plan prices...

Joad

If Palm can punish THEIR long-term customers by leaving out an emulator, why not Sprint? Business can't see beyond the next quarter - idiots like us that have stuck with them both for that many years are just taken for granted by them as suckers that'll accept whatever they do to us. Churn and burners get the good deals and attention.

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CGK

As it should be, that's how a company makes money - You think Palm makes any money off the people who are still using treo 650s? That's hard business reality for you. The other reality was sending palm into history...

Disaster

I wonder how much a cell phone company needs to get from a customer to break even? It's going to depend on how large your fixed costs are vs. how large your customer base is. At some point it should cost very little more, per customer, to make money. This is where Sprint is at a huge disadvantage to AT&T and Verizon, both which are larger.

For me personally, the days of paying $80-$100 a month for a phone, +$1000 dollars a year are OVER. I have 4 phones in my family on the SERO plan and one on a Tmobile $45 a month plan. Heck, in a pinch, you can do a VirginMobile phone (barebones) for $100 per year, and I did, when my kids were younger.

Even knocked my home phone down from $70 to $30/month with unlimited long distance by going to VoIP. Might even go cheaper eventually, but liked the reliability and ratings of AT&T's CallVantage plan.

With this recession hitting America (and the world) hard, over the next few years I can see a lot of people reevaluating where their money goes.

aero

Well "pointing that out" is less than half the story. Maggie, most Sprint customers are NOT on those plans. You listed only the current and sure to be changed at some point, Simply Everything" plans. Missing in your list are all the Family plans, Free and clear plans, Sero palns and others that the majority of customers are on.
Sprint completely changes the name and and feature sets of plans about every 18 months. You don't need to get rid of you old plan when they change their marketing then or when you sign a new contract.

There are likely millions of customers on Sprint paying about $50 a line for unlimited data and text. For them Paying $500 to $1000 more over the two year term of a contract to get the same service is an issue. (I am not even counting the million on Sprnts massive SERO marketing campaign paying even less at $40-$45 with unlimited data).

That "only $20"is a $500 increase including your increased taxes over your contract term.

You are a perfect example. You are like half the long term Sprint customers. It costs Sprint several hundred dollars to get new customers, you are quite profitable to Sprint as you probably sue a half hour of customer service every two years, cost them zero in marketing (marketing and account setup per new customer per line is about $200, with retail prices set at $200 markeup from wholesale cost, actual handset subsidies costs range an whopping average of $20) per new customer is slated.

You mention the Instinct from experience. This was used and attempted to be used by Sprint in order to force people to move off of good minutes/unlimited text/unlimited data family plans to high priced plans .

We don't know yet what Sprint will do. I find the thread title by the OP to be very misleading because nothing is clear. But Dan Hess specifically mentioned ARPU and those high priced Simply Everything plans that would double the monthly costs form most families with two or three lines --as Sprint very recently (this summer) tried with the last Phone Sprint directly tied to the iphone (in an announced 200 million dollar adverting campaign against Apple!) with the Instinct

Disaster

...but only "pennies a day..." :-)

aero

I am starting this thread because another thread on the issue has an unfortunate title taking a specific position that could turn out to be very misleading.

The issue of what plans will be required, and whether Sprint will do with the Pre what was done with the prior handset Sprint directly tied to the iPhone, the Samsung Instinct, will be a serious matter to many people on extant unlimited text/unlimited data plans that are considerably cheaper than the Simply Everything plans.

Here is the speculative but strong evidence that this will happen:

Sprint's head, Dan Hesse's emphasized this from the very first words he used about the PRe, which did not talk about features, specs etc, but about profit for Sprint: he mentioned ARPU (average revenue per user) and then followed immediately with the mention of Simply Everything.

The last and only other handset Sprint tied to the iPhone in marketing comparisons was the Instinct. Some people got the Instinct on other plans through accident, discussions with retentions/executive services or loopholes, but almost everyone was told unequivocally that they needed to upgrade to more expensive Simply Everything.

Evidence against the requirement:
Some standard kitchen sink blanket footnotes found on several models, including models with no requirement as well as the Instinct.

There is no right and wrong to this question at this point. Sprint is probably deciding whether to force this on existing customers. Even after announcement they may informally allow it, or may even change official policy sometime after launch.

But it does go to the real price of the device. Many are focused on the speculation as to the list price. My personal recommendation is people should look at the cost over 24 months of a typical contract and cadence of handset subsidy.

Let's use this thread to discus evidence sourced directly to Sprint, or by serious publications to Sprint concerning this issue.

Please avoid discussion about whether SERO customers (and I am not one) deserve to get it or not. Sprint has a right to try and get whatever it can and to try and upsell whoever they can.
But there are also many people, not on $30 sero with data, but in the $40 to $60 per line with unlimited data range, who are not interested in paying $70 or $100 per month ($300 to $1000 more per line over two years) for whom good information will be helpful

meyerweb

You said the magic word: Retentions

Sprint is hemoraging customers. They're not likely to do anything that would drive an existing customer away. They may try to force new customers into an SE plan (of which there are several flavors), but I doubt seriously they're going to force existing customers to change plans to buy this phone.

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