Thoughts on Sprint PCS

This post is completely off topic, but I feel like I have to get it out there for people who are just sick of looking at $$$$ cell phone bills.  If you think about it, a family of four will probably spend upwards of $2500/year on cell phone service! 

So I’ve been on Sprint now for about 2 months.  At first it was a bit scary jumping ship after having been on Cingular for several years and of course no one in our area had Sprint (that we knew) so we had no idea how well Sprint would work out for us.  But I knew I had to switch since we were paying $180 for myself, my mother, and my sister (Cingular) plus another $140 for my wife, her dad, and her sister (Verizon) at a total of $320+ which was just insane.

I ended up eating the cancellation fees of $175 with Verizon to bring my wife over to Sprint since I figure that I would make that up over less than a single year just by switching to Sprint (I would only have to save $15/mo over 12 months by switching, but I’m saving more like $40/mo).  With 4 lines now on Sprint, TWO of which have unlimited data, insurance, and 300 text messages, the total cost is $180 after all taxes and surcharges.

So here’s my two month conclusion: Sprint is the real deal (okay, maybe it’s a bit early to proclaim that until I get my rebates back for my phones).

• When I’ve called, I’ve always been able to reach a live customer service representative within 3 minutes (just have to navigate through the menus, maybe 4 deep). 
  
• Customer service has been top notch in my opinion (I mean, no worse than expected).  I was promised a credit for my activation fees by the salesperson in the store, but it wasn’t reflected on my first bill.  However, a single call to customer service cleared that up right away. 
  
• The online tools are also well done, useful, and complete. 
  
• Phone service is okay – no better or worse than Cingular in my house (there is a weird dead spot around my house).  I have noticed that where we do get a full strength signal (which is pretty much anywhere but my house), the voice clarity is exceptional.
  
• Did I mention unlimited data (fast, too) for only $15.00 a month?

The thing that seals the deal for any family thinking about this plan (up to 5 phones) is that extra lines cost pretty damn close to the advertised $9.99.  For someone like my mother, who doesn’t use text or data services, after surcharges, she comes in just a shade over $14.00, which is awesome.

On the other hand, I’m still getting raped by Verizon on my sister in law’s and my father in law’s Verizon bill: $110 this month!  No overages!  And my father in law didn’t even make one call from his cell phone!  What?!?