$$ Dear Sprint

Dear Sprint:

First let me say I am a loyal subscriber. For the record I am a lifelong fan of both the Buffalo Bills and Boston Red Sox so as far as sticking through the “tough times”, I got that down. Way too well…..

It has been 8 (or more) years now that I have been a subscriber. You got me when you purchased my beloved Nextel, which at the time in my humble opinion had the best customer service (comparable to today’s Direct TV). I stuck with you through the “let’s offshore customer service to nations filled with people who do not understand or speak English” phase. I stuck with you through the “you’ll never get an accurate bill” , “do you want cell service, like, everyday?” and the “we got three year old phone models no one else wants” ones too. Through the years, though I may have bitched, complained and threatened to leave, I never did. But alas, I may have reached the end.

You see, things change. Needs change and yet, some things remain constant.

Let’s first talk about change. My life has changed in those 8 years and now requires me to be “connected” and mobile constantly. In that vein I need a device that both allows that and allows me to work on it (I do not carry a laptop around). My current device, the HTC Hero is good, not great. I need great.

Great, would be an iPhone (ATT), Motorola Droid (Verizon) or your lovely EVO. That is about it for devices that would fit my needs. For some reason, you do not want me to have an EVO. I have tried. I went to the local Sprint store in the Solomon Pond Mall here and they had one. However they would not sell it to me because I wasn’t a “new account”. You explained this to me that is wasn’t an “official” Sprint location and thus could essentially do what they want. HINT: If they carry your devices, use your logo and call themselves your name, you BETTER have control over what they do.

No problem, I’ll just go online and order one. Problem, is is ALWAYS sold out online. Now, I get the whole “create demand through scarce supply” meme ala Apple. Problem, when you are on version 4 of the EVO it is a tactical decision that might work. On version 1, it is f’ing annoying and implies you still so not have your shit together.

So what to do? Well, I can just throw in the towel on 8 years (like hundreds of thousands of others have) and go with the iPhone or the Droid.

BUT, what about the termination fee?

Now we get to “some things remain the same”.

EVERY other person I do business with rewards loyalty. Cable, internet, auto, satellite (I get a free receiver upgrade annually) , grocery store, even my landscaper and handyman do. Everyone except my cell company. Well, I do get $75 after a year towards a upgrade but lets do some math.

See I have a $150 termination fee that is prorated so now ~$75. Right now I can get an iPhone for $199 or a Droid for the same by switching carriers. If I want your EVO, I gotta fork over $449. Even after my termination fee, I come out WAAAAYYYY ahead by switching. If I stay, your $75 credit is but a dent in the final tally. If I stick around for another year, the $150 upgrade bonus I’ll get still leaves me behind the curve. In other words, you are actually forcing me to switch. It is a simple economic decision. Why are you doing it? Don’t you like me anymore?

I get it, 4G network vs 3G. Millions of us however do not live in a 4G area so, it means, um, nothing?

There is a saying, “if you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got”. Translation, take care of your current loyal subs, it will go a long way to stop the subscriber evaporation you have seen the past 4 plus years.

I’ll even go one step further. Rather than just bitching, I’ll offer a solution. You top phones ought to be available to you loyal subscribers at a material discount. It would both stop them from hopping and promote stability in your subscriber base by keeping them around to achieve the “loyalty” discount. I get loyalty “pre-sale” events all the time. You know what? They work. Offer “x” number of 2yr. + subscribers (or 3yr. or 4yr…pick a #) the ability to order the EVO @$299. It is still more that you are giving it to new people to. I would have bought it and this conversation would be moot. If every “hot” phone was available reasonably (by reasonable I mean near prices what new people pay for it) we would not look elsewhere for one…..really, we wouldn’t.

So where do we go from here? I don’t know, honestly have not made a decision yet. I do know this, eventually all loyalty gets tested and stretched. My Red Sox did it when Jimmy Williams left Pedro in to pitch vs the Yankees in 2003 and my Bills did it this year with Mularky/Williams/Jauron/Gailey etc as a head coaches. I have 42 years invested in both of them though so I stick around.

You, only 8 and you have yet to give me a Marv Levy/Jim Kelly or 2004 & 2007…..get the point?