Sprint referral "rewards" is pretty lame

This is the graphic from an email I received from Sprint (Yes, I'm a Sprint customer).

What I find amusing is once again Sprint thinks so lowly of its customers...especially long LONG time customers like myself. A $25 gift card is not worth the time or effort to even just ask a friend to join Sprint. If Sprint wants people to really refer someone, they really need to up their ante.

Hell, almost ten years ago when I first got on DirecTV, they gave me $50 per referral ($10 a month off my bill over five months). Not only did I get $50 but my referral got $50 disbursed the same way. Fast forward to the present and DirecTV is offering $100 per referral...of course, disbursed $10 per month for ten months only for the referrer...BUT the friend only had/has to sign a minimum one-year contract whereas Sprint requires the two-year service contract!

So, who is giving the better deal for a referral? Now it's not exact science comparing a satellite provider with a cellular provider but you get the point.

I just don't see that $25 is incentive enough to refer a friend to Sprint. If I just happen to know of someone that is going/moving to Sprint, then sure I'd ask them to say I referred them, get my $25 and not split it with them. Otherwise, I'm not wasting my time!

A cheaply priced replacement battery for HTC Evo Shift

The other day, I was Googling for a replacement battery for my HTC Evo Shift. My current batter doesn't seem to be fully charging and then the phone also doesn't show the correct charge of the battery. It'll show orange but then I'll pop the battery out, put it back in and turn on the phone and it'll show green at half charged. It never shows fully charged even after having it plugged in overnight.

So, that's why I want to get a new battery versus a new phone and versus getting it from Sprint. The replacement battery at Sprint is like $45 plus tax. I don't want to spend that much on a replacement battery since I can probably upgrade to a newer phone soon (if I decide to) and I'm sure the upgrade would be anywhere from free to $100 depending on the phone.

Enter Google. I searched and it gave me a few store listings with various prices, actually a wide range of prices. I saw a few for around $3-$5. It got my interest but also piqued my curiosity on why it was $3. I was thinking of one of those cheap Oakley sunglass sites that show $200 Oakleys for $25 today but then the website is gone the next day. I had some Visa gift cards that I would use for purchasing versus my ATM or Credit Card because I didn't trust them but then they disappeared and I was glad I didn't trust them AND didn't purchase anything.

Anyway, that's why I was curious about this website. I clicked on two links for a $2.99 battery and a $3.30 battery. I decided to email the second website/company (www.everydaysource.com) because when I searched for the battery it had the following in the product title:

Standard GENERIC Battery for HTC EVO 4G / Evo Shift 4g / A9292 / Supersonic HTC Hero (Sprint)

However, when I looked under the 'Compatibility' tab it did not show the Evo Shift 4G. I was like, "Why?" and then I decided to email them. I found the 'Contact Us' page and it had two emails: one for sales and general information and the other for customer service.

I assumed that sales and general information would be the place to start since my question was about a product description versus needing customer service for a product I have already ordered or received. I sent this email on September 18, 2012 around 10:47 a.m. I never received a reply even though their 'About Us' page says,

With a specialized and dedicated customer service department, EverydaySource.com® offers a buying experience that cannot be matched.

I guess that doesn't automatically correlate to a 'specialized and dedicated' sales and general information service.

I realized yesterday that I had not received a reply and thought I'd forward my original email to the customer service email address. I sent it at 10:53 a.m. on September 26 stating that I previously emailed "sales" with no reply in eight days so hopefully would get one from customer service.

I received a reply that night at 10:42 p.m. Stating that the link I posted in the email for the product is dead. This is the link below

http://www.everydaysource.com/product/standard-generic-battery-for-htc-evo-4g-evo-shift-4g-a9292-supersonic-htc-hero-sprint-htc-imagio-xv6975-htc-ozone-xv6175-htc-snap-s511-sprint-htc-snap-s521-s522-htc-tilt-2-htc-touch-pro2-sprint-t-mobile-verizon-gsm-t-mobile-dash-3g/83765?esprcggbadtf120917=sc+gb+83765&utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_search&utm_campaign=google_base#ItemDetailTab

Did it work for you? Yes?! It still works for me. I don't know why it didn't work for the customer service representative. Maybe she doesn't know how to copy and paste a link if it's not automatically hyperlinked in the email. Who knows!

Luckily, I was still awake and I got the item # from the link that was supposed to be dead and replied to the email. I received a reply at 3:50 a.m. on September 27 (I was not awake at this time) stating,

"This battery can not work with Evo Shift 4G. If you have any questions, please let us know. Thank you for your cooperation."

I have one question, "Why does the product title state 'Generic battery for HTC Evo Shift 4G' but customer service tells me it does not work with the Shift 4G?"

I knew there was something screwy with it being $3.30. That's what we call shady business people! People not as smart...er...inquisitive as me would just buy the battery. Then they'd have to try to contact their sales and/or customer service to return the battery that doesn't work with their Evo Shift 4G. I'm sure sales/customer service would give them a hard time or some people would just say, "Screw it! I'm only out like $5 total." Bullshit! I'm like the paper boy from the movie Better Off Dead:

"I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!!!

Random I know. But so now I'm still stuck with a half-charging battery for my Evo Shift unless I suck it up and pay the $45+ for the battery from Sprint.

Is technology making us dumb?

I just upgraded my cell phone from a Blackberry 8310 to an HTC Evo Shift. I won't go into the details of the phone and all but I will say this, "It's different...way different!"

The point of my post is that continuously improving technology is dumbing us down—at least partially anyway. It could be just me but I doubt it. I agree it's assisting us to do better, greater, things but I think it's dwindling our brain power, specifically our memorization skills.

Switching phones has made me realize this.

Quick, tell me the phone number of a person that you talk to only once or twice a day.

Can't do it can you? Don't lie!

I can recall my wife's cell number in lightning speed. Not just because her number has the same first six numbers as mine but also because I call it ALL the time from my office phone or our house phone when I don't have my cell phone near me. I can dial my house number without pause because I dial it all the time from my work phone. I can call my office phone because I use it to check my work voice mail. They are all in my cell phone contacts list butI can dial them from memory.

Everyone else is on my cell phone I know their number as Stephanie, Shawn, Keith, Andy, Trey, etc. Have you tried punching in "T-R-E-Y" into a land line? It doesn't dial Trey's number nor does "A-N-D-Y" or "K-E-I-T-H" dial their respective numbers.

Now granted, I don't call these people often but I think it is often enough that I should have their number memorized by now if I was actually dialing it instead of selecting their name from my contacts list on my cell phone.

The worst (best?) story I have is the following: I am sitting at my desk working away at my computer. My office phone clicks - I don't like the ringing so there is a setting that makes the phone sort of click instead of ring. I look at the display and it's a number that seems familiar but I'm not totally convinced I know it. I don't answer it because my phone is part of a phone tree we used to have and I get the randomest, dumbest callers looking for information when it is now all on our website. Anyway, the phone clicks for 3-4 times and stops. About 10 seconds later, I hear it click again. I see it's the same somewhat-familiar number. I think to myself, "This caller really wants to talk to someone." I let it "ring" and stop once again. About 10 seconds later, my cell phone vibrates. I look at the display and see that it's my youngest calling because it has the name displayed. I look at the number and it's the same number that was calling my office line. How stupid am I that I don't even fully recall my own child's cell phone number?

So, I'm going to try a new tactic. I decided I'm going to try and dial the numbers of people I'm going to call instead of hitting Contacts->Name. I've tried it a few times and it's difficult because when I start to type the number it automatically reflects the numbers I have saved and shows the match possibilities. Most all of the time it's the exact person and I'm tempted to just reach my thumb up a few inches and click the name. It's like sticking my tongue to a 9-volt battery—I know what will happen but I can't keep from doing it.

Anyway, that's my thought and I'm going to attempt to get my "memory" back. Or at least practice using it a little more. Maybe it'll help in my studies...I'll take anything to help in that area!

Sprint HTC Evo 4G

My wife has talked me into getting her the HTC Evo on the Sprint network. We have had Sprint for a long, long time and I have never really been disappointed by it's call service and quality. There is the once-in-a-while static calls that I dial the number and/or answer a call and it's nothing but static. It's easily fixed by hanging up and calling again. Not efficient if it's a 911 call but it happens so few and far between that it's a non-issue right now.

I must admit the Sprint customer service is between 5-7 on a scale to 10 but it's not completely horrible. It is beneficial that the mobile service is pretty damn good that I don't have to call customer service. The only times I have called is to get my phone service, complain about why I'm getting a charge as a long-term customer that new customers are not getting or to remove that stupid-ass, fucking-retarded activation fee of new phones. It's used to be $15 and I think it's something like $30 now but I'll be damned if they will keep that charge on there for as long as I have been a customer.

Oh crap! I went off topic.

So, the wife is getting an Evo. We stopped by the local Sprint store and put in an order. The phone is a pretty hot item right now so they didn't have any in stock and there are none available online. The store guy said a shipment was coming in Tuesday, today, of nine phones and four were already reserved. For a $50 deposit, he could reserve one for her. We did. Then as we drove around, we wondered if other stores might have them in stock. We check two in close proximity and both were out as well. She was bummed because she wanted to play with it over the weekend. Oh well. Didn't happen and Jay wasn't a replacement for the playing. :-(

A quick side note: As mentioned, I've been with Sprint for a long time. As such, I'm what they are calling a premier customer. I don't know if that rates me with someone who has 2+ years of service compared to my 10+ but it does make me sound special (I just don't feel it). We've only had our current phones for a year but as a premier customer I can upgrade in a year with the same pricing as a new customer. So the Evo will cost me $299+tax out of pocket. Yep! Ho-ly shit! It does have a $100 mail-in rebate because of their 30-day money-back guarantee which is pretty cool but I don't know how cool because I've never used it. So then the phone will have cost only $199+tax. Oh, and the $10 "premium data" add-on for the 4G which I'm sure is available in Dallas but I hear it's not widely available like in Podunk.

She'll pick it up tomorrow and we'll see how she likes it. I'll see if I can get some hands-on time with it and give my opinion as well. I've played with a coworker's Evo a little bit but not enough to get an in-depth view/feel. So far, I know it's similar to the iPhone but it is slightly bigger. The battery usage is atrocious but so was/is the iPhone. I'm a little put off by the everythings-touch versus tactile because I'm used to a BlackBerry Curve. Of course, I used to have a Samsung M or A 900 flip phone and when I changed to the BB Curve I didn't like it much either but I eventually loved it after getting comfortable with all it's functionality.

The wife doesn't use her BlackBerry Curve to quite the extent I do and I mentioned that she would have too much phone in the Evo and it would piss me off if she didn't use it for all it's worth OR answer the damn thing when/like she should. For instance, she turns it off or on vibrate before teaching her class and then...it's fucking silent for all purposes since it's in her purse because she doesn't turn the ringer back up/on after. It pisses me off to no end to call and call and call and she not hear/feel her freaking phone because she's retarded. Yes! I called her retarded. She likes it when I do. Okay, she doesn't but I think many thousands of people would agree with me that her actions are retarded!

Enough on that and I'll see if I can get some play time and review the Evo when we get it.

Replacement Blackberry

I had to get a replacement for my Blackberry Curve. The keyboard wouldn't work. Even though I could receive calls, emails and texts, I could not answer, read or reply to them.

Sprint store ordered a new one since they couldn't figure out the problem. That was last Friday. They said they'd call me when it came in, either Mon or Tue this week. They called me Monday to say it was in...on my cell number which I could not answer. And I took out the battery because the tone was left on "loud" so I couldn't know when they called anyway. That was the only dumb part on Sprint's part.

Anyway, I checked my vmail early Tuesday morn thinking they should have it by then. That's when I got their message. I went during my lunch and all was dandy.

It turns out that the restore function on the BB desktop software worked like a charm for my un-synced with Outlook numbers and contacts BUT it didn't restore the phone to "just like your current phone's status" as the customer service guy said. I had to re-download most of the applications I use or could remember previously downloading like FaceBook, GoogleTalk, Pocket Express and one or two others. That's not too big a deal except it is time consuming.

I had to reset my email on the Blackberry sight because it seems the specific phone is tied to the account you set up. That was loads of fun and no one tells you about this. Thank goodness for Google!

I did notice that the BB phone software seems to have been upgraded compared to my previous phone. The interface is slightly different, like the icons are different. Some of the software is different too, like FaceBook--which I don't particularly like, but I thought I had the latest of all the software I used. Shows what I really know.

Anyway, the new phone looks good (no scratches and such) and works pretty good too. The only thing I noticed so far is that the battery seems to lose charge quicker than before. It could be the new software (BB or any others)...I don't know. I doubt it is the battery as it wasn't a problem in my old phone.

Well, that's my "Sprint story" and it wasn't a negative one...for once!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Samsung A900

My new BlackBerry is pretty cool with all the things it can do that I couldn't do or couldn't do easily with my Samsung A900 but...

What I do miss is something so simple and it really has no practical need.

On my A900, when a call would come in it would show the state from which the call was originating. Now again, this isn't a huge deal but I have relatives in many different states. When a number I'm not familiar with shows I can sometimes guess who it might be (someone I know or some random call) based on if I have a relative or two there.

It was a useful thing to me since so many random calls are made to me from missed keyed dialing, solicitations or valid family/friends calls.

All the BlackBerry does is flash the number...and caller ID, photo and/or ring tone if the number is in my address book. That's a little boring and so yesterday!

;-P


Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Testing emailing from my new SPIFFY Blackberry

A week or so ago the wife and I upgraded cell phones and the plan. I can dig all this unlimited data/web/internet. Now if only I could get used to this smaller "full-size" keyboard I'd be good to go.

So, there was the test. I'm gone!

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Discount Cell Phones from Sprint

I think I paid $4.99 for this in an eBay auction but I share it with whoever wants it for free because that's the kind of guy I am. I'm not sure if this actually works as I just got the information and haven't put it into practice as of today - September 8, 2006 at 8:09 p.m. So without further adieu...

How To Get Discount Cell Phones from Sprint

This step-by-step plan works!

Nextel/Sprint is a business (like all businesses) and they are in it to make money. However, they are able to provide their product for a lot cheaper if you where to go to get it. This can be accomplished in less than 5 minutes on the phone! No rebates to mail in or anything! This is not a scam!

Here is the Step-by-step plan for how to get the phone 50-80% off!

Step #1: Get to the right department

• Dial 1-800-SPRINT-1 _1-800-777-468-1
• Press 1 for English
• Press 2 for Existing Customer
• Press 2 for “Other Service Needs”
• Press 2 for Nextel or 1 for Sprint
• Press 4 for Customer Service (Sprint Customers ask for Retention Department)
• Press 3 for “Disconnect Service for one your numbers”
  
  (note: don’t worry about this step…keep reading)

Step #2: Talking with the Retention department You will speak live with a Customer Service agent and tell them that you are thinking about disconnecting your phone service (IMPORTANT NOTE: They get paid money to retain you!). They have to ask “Why do you want to disconnect your phone service?”) Tell them that “I want A NEW PHONE AND Nextel/Sprint is trying to charge me an activation fee and charge for shipping and I have found similar phones cheaper with other cell phone companies.” (Do some quick research so that you are not lying.)

NOTE: Did you know that Home Depot has the same unwritten rule? Most people do not take advantage of this, but if you find the same product for cheaper somewhere else they will match and even beat the price! But what do most people do: Pay retail all day long without even thinking about it. This is perfectly legal and they are allowed to offer you a cheaper price because they want your service and believe me they are still making a profit on the phone! They will ask you which phone you were interested in and they will give you a DISCOUNTED OFFER! They will place the discounted phone on your next bill and ship you the phone! This model has been done over and over again with good success! Back-Up Plan! If you are nervous about this approach (as I originally was) remember this: if they are not giving you what you want, just tell them “you know what, let me think about this first. I’ll call you guys back.” Then, hang up and call right back in!

Step #3: Wait for Your Phone! They will send it free overnight by FedEx! Give it a shot! It really works! There you have it! You will never pay full price for a cell phone again!

*Additionally, try this method more than once if you do not get the offer you want the first time. Each sales rep treats each call differently.

REMEMBER: Cell Phone companies make their money off of you monthly, but they will take your money for the cell phone too if you let them!

Well, that's the instructions I got...good luck and leave me a note to let me know if it worked for you.