I had such high hopes for Sprint when SoftBank first purchased them – the Japanese company known for getting things done and its ‘take no prisoner attitude’ seemed to be exactly what Sprint needed to bail them out of this hopeless abyss they seemed to be falling down. However, Sprint’s then current CEO, Dan Hesse, was a more methodical and practical thinker – he did not work well with Sprint’s new owners and he recognize the warning signs (saw the writing on the wall) and stepped down as CEO.
My hopes were again lifted when they hired their new CEO, Marcelo Claure (shown above) – a true entrepreneur with a great business mind to know what needs to be done to rescue Sprint and turn them around. But so far, it seems like Sprint keeps stepping on the toes of their existing customers and tripping over their own feet. While aggressively pricing plans to compete with T-Mobile and offering to reimburse up to $350 if you come over from another plan, there were many caveats on Sprint’s new plans. Claure said back then in a statement that, “Sprint is offering the best value to data-hungry consumers. Period. We are doubling the high-speed wireless data because today’s customers rely so much on their smartphones and tablets.”
Kevin Kunkel, Sprint West region vice president, told our source that “We wanted to go with plans that were head-to-head (with the competition) and take the gloves off” and noted that “it is a “new day” for Sprint with new rates, a new CEO and an improved network.”
Sprint’s latest fiasco occurred with the launching of the new iPhone 6 – they were going to let existing customers lease the new device for two years at only $5.00 a month, rather than $20 a month. It seemed like a great deal to the customers at the time, but turn out to be anything but a great deal – most would have been better of spending the $20 a month and taking advantage of the $50 a month iPhone plan, which includes unlimited everything. The majority of Sprint’s unlimited plans begin at $70 a month, so you add the $5.00 for the new iPhone and you are over the $70.
Initially Sprint only offered the lower rates to new customers, although the current lease offer applies to both new and existing customers, so now everybody that wants too, can sign up for the $70 iPhone plan for no money down and have unlimited everything. The only catch is at the end of the two years, the device goes back to Sprint. The loyalty credit for $360 I mentioned in the title runs through January 15.
I want Sprint to succeed, not because I have any great love for them, but because I love competition, and with Sprint and T-Mobile around, I am hoping that it will help keep Verizon and AT&T in-check. I was expecting much more from Sprint’s owners and their new CEO…hopefully they will get this mess turned around, sooner, rather than later. Please hit us up in on our Google+ Page and let us know what you think about Sprint…as always, we would love to hear from you.