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Tthomas612

macrumors 65816
Aug 24, 2013
1,309
285
Same thing happened to me I had at&t and T-Mobile sounded like such a good deal went to them was the worst week ever for cell service went through a bunch of ******** and finally got to go to Verizon and haven't looked back. Both T-Mobile and sprint suck. That being said all 4 of the carriers offer 14 day return so I'd just cut my losses like I did and go back to having good service. T-Mobile ended up waiving my $385 bill after arguing with them for about 3 hours.

I can agree with you on Sprint, but saying T-Mobile sucks is highly subjective. Google “Network Reliability tests.” Then tell me t-mobile sucks. Just because they may not have been great for you in your area does not mean they suck. T-Mobile has over 72 million subscribers ... and they have cam in first or second in network reliability for the last 3 years now...

While sprint comes last... don’t have to believe me ... just google.
 

Brandonjr36

macrumors 68000
Sep 12, 2016
1,624
563
Joplin
I can agree with you on Sprint, but saying T-Mobile sucks is highly subjective. Google “Network Reliability tests.” Then tell me t-mobile sucks. Just because they may not have been great for you in your area does not mean they suck. T-Mobile has over 72 million subscribers ... and they have cam in first or second in network reliability for the last 3 years now...

While sprint comes last... don’t have to believe me ... just google.
Not saying T-Mobile sucks for everyone but I had no service more then I had service. If I left the city service was non existent. And I'm grateful for T-Mobile cause they made Verizon bring unlimited data back.
 

wolfedude88

macrumors 6502
Feb 21, 2013
365
160
Indiana
I can agree with you on Sprint, but saying T-Mobile sucks is highly subjective. Google “Network Reliability tests.” Then tell me t-mobile sucks. Just because they may not have been great for you in your area does not mean they suck. T-Mobile has over 72 million subscribers ... and they have cam in first or second in network reliability for the last 3 years now...

While sprint comes last... don’t have to believe me ... just google.

Then you go and say the same thing, lol. Just because they finish last doesn't really mean a thing. Verizon might be the best overall, but suck for some people. Just like Sprint might be the worst technically and still be great for some. It just depends where you live.
 
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Tthomas612

macrumors 65816
Aug 24, 2013
1,309
285
Then you go and say the same thing, lol. Just because they finish last doesn't really mean a thing. Verizon might be the best overall, but suck for some people. Just like Sprint might be the worst technically and still be great for some. It just depends where you live.

Yeah I mean all carriers depend on where you live. I'll just say Sprint is worse than the other 3 carriers REGARDLESS.

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are way ahead of Sprint... Of course yes it depends on where you are, but Sprint's claims of being within 1% is bull. I was a Sprint customer since 2003 and finally in 2015 I had had enough.

T-Mobile is miles better for customer service, Service, Network reliability ... Pretty much anything Sprint does T-Mobile does better.
 

stanman64

macrumors 6502a
Jul 9, 2010
793
873
So I was with Verizon and decided to take advantage of the Spring 1 year free unlimited offer. Thought what do I have to lose? The service is absolutely awful...at least where I live. I consistently get 1 or 2 bars everywhere and typically 1 indoors.

Data is slow as balls can't load Facebook or Instagram feed and music keeps buffering. Does anyone know if there's a wait time before you can switch to another carrier? I literally got the Sprint service yesterday and I'm ready to leave

Sorry to hear you're having so much difficulty with Sprint. I actually just switched from Sprint to Verizon this past Friday.

I didn't have as bad reception as you are with Sprint, but it was enough to be annoying. I've had much better data speeds and overall reception so far with Verizon. As for getting off Sprint... most carriers now don't lock you into a contract with the service, but the devices instead. So if you got a new phone from Sprint, you could potentially either (1) give it back and switch (probably a small fee involved), or (2) pay off the remainder of the phone's cost in full, and then take it just about anywhere.

Warning though if you want to go back to Verizon: Sprint phones don't play nice on Verizon's network - Verizon will tell you it's not compatible, even though the phone will work just fine. You'll just have to finagle with Verizon to get them to activate it's SIM.
 
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jbachandouris

macrumors 603
Aug 18, 2009
5,928
3,086
Upstate NY
UPDATE 2:

Finally got the number ported over. Got $200 in bill credits and $100 in accessories so I got a bunch of cases for my phone. Glad I got this resolved. :)
So nice to read a happy ending on this forum as it's not always the case.

I had Sprint when I first returned to NY from FL. AT&T was not yet in my area, so they cancelled my service and then charged me. I didn't have awful service with Sprint, but at the time they were all I could afford with me credit.

I was with Verizon for around 10 years. I switched to AT&T for the iPhone and haven't switched back. Their service is good in Upstate NY.

My brother has Sprint and has had them for years. He moved to Greenville, SC and his coverage is REALLY bad now. I can't understand why he stays with them as his job is delivery driver and you kinda need to make calls to work. Oh well....
 

fartnugget213

macrumors member
Apr 6, 2017
82
61
My brother has Sprint and has had them for years. He moved to Greenville, SC and his coverage is REALLY bad now. I can't understand why he stays with them as his job is delivery driver and you kinda need to make calls to work. Oh well....

Stockholm syndrome! Haha

I also use AT&T in Buffalo/NYC and it's been awesome to me. No complaints.
 

rzc16512

macrumors regular
Jun 3, 2015
170
85
My guess…

Two or so years ago Claure comes in and starts to make change things for the better. That's when "Cut your bill in half" comes along.

The time was up last year for those customers, and particularly iPhone for Life customers. All of a sudden, the bill is no longer "half" off but full price.

It's one thing when you aren't paying a lot for spotty coverage and bad customer service. It's another when you're now paying full price.

As I predicted then (at least to myself) those customers bailed.

The "cut your bill in half" promotion might've already ended but the "50% offers" don't expire until 2018. However, we were one of the 50% off accounts that already bailed. Left for Verizon a few weeks ago (our carrier from 2003-2014, then att until Jan 2016) since our rates on sprint we're gonna go up anyways and Verizon was offering us $200/line to switch which would pay off our leases (I owned my phone outright and the other lines had ~$200-$300 left). We haven't looked back. LTE EVERYWHERE now and speeds fast enough that we don't have to check our coverage ahead of time before going somewhere.
 
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Wide opeN

macrumors 68000
Aug 27, 2010
1,763
1,035
Georgia
I think it's generally accepted that Sprint is below par.

I had a similar experience where I had a brain fart nearly 3 years ago and joined Sprint. It was a s**t from beginning to end.

Long story short I ported out 3 weeks after joining.
 
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Bart Kela

Suspended
Oct 12, 2016
865
593
Searching...
UPDATE 2:

Finally got the number ported over. Got $200 in bill credits and $100 in accessories so I got a bunch of cases for my phone. Glad I got this resolved. :)
Next time you think about switching carriers, find some friends who use different cellular services, invite them over, and ASK THEM HOW RECEPTION IS AT YOUR HOUSE. Then ask them if they are generally happy with service around town. Do this BEFORE you switch so you don't have to suffer the same pain you had this time around.

At work, you can ask your colleagues or even your IT department. The latter will know which carriers work well at the company's location(s) and which ones suck because they have to support company-issued cellphones.
 

bushman4

macrumors 601
Mar 22, 2011
4,141
3,893
Sprint operating on 2G & 3G. They never were any good even in the days of the clam shell dumb phone. I remember being in NYC where service should be great and with Sprint it was spotty at best
 

noobinator

macrumors 604
Jun 19, 2009
7,332
6,997
Los Angeles, CA
Whenever I ask somewhat what provider they have a know they are going to say Sprint when they kind of look embarrassed and say it real quietly.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
29,608
28,371
Sprint operating on 2G & 3G. They never were any good even in the days of the clam shell dumb phone. I remember being in NYC where service should be great and with Sprint it was spotty at best
They were fine for us up until 2011. That's when the network started to break down. Then I got my first LTE capable iPhone and only had 3G for the first year of a two year contract.

That's what made me really start paying attention to wireless carrier networks and their technologies.

But up until that point I had no reason to pay attention to Sprint because it did everything I needed.

Even today they are good in a lot of areas where I live. It's just those aren't areas I frequent very much!
 

bufffilm

Suspended
May 3, 2011
4,227
2,536
It's been a while since I heard someone say they were with Sprint.

I bet they are more popular with the prepaid customer. That's my guess...
 

EM2013

macrumors 68020
Sep 2, 2013
2,490
2,326
Fastest download speed I've gotten with Sprint here in Houston.
 

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bufffilm

Suspended
May 3, 2011
4,227
2,536
Fastest download speed I've gotten with Sprint here in Houston.

I don't set much with tests like that.

For example, Verizon is middlin' (in speed) where I'm at. I'm not rushing to leave them though.
 
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