Develop Bugs

[update2] T-Mobile has no love for the Galaxy Nexus users,but I finally beat the man

[I win after all after a call to retention][see further down for new developments] Each month I get my data throttled, I have to spend an hour or so on the phone until they'll open a service request ticket for some upper level honcho to press a button and clear up the problem in 5 minutes.
This time I upgraded my data plan to 10GB, but the throttle would not release. After the hour of my dealing with script following drones, a higher level support tech asked me what kind of phone I had. When I replied Galaxy Nexus, she gleefully replied that "our contract with you states we don't have to support 3G for you since you didn't buy one of our [crappy over priced phones] from us. In fact, I'm supposed to disable your 3G service. Even if you have a iPhone 4S." (Um... WHAT? iPhone? Now you're just trying to insult me.)
Just when I thought all hope was lost, my mobile muse rescued me with divine inspiration. "Oh really?" I smirked, "I just stuck my SIM card in my wife's T-Mobile Sensation™ and I'm still getting throttled. Can you support me now, biatch?"*
...
"Why yes sir, I'll be happy to open up that ticket right away... Let us know when service is actually restored and we'll comp you for the throttled coverage."
LAWYERED!
* DISCLAIMER: I did not actually say biatch

Lol. Its in a sensation *****! U ever get it fixed?
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium

That's awesome. 5 cool points for using "lawyered".
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

stumpyz9 said:
Lol. Its in a sensation *****! U ever get it fixed?
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the usual, "Your service request will be processed within the next 3 business days" reply. Apparently when I upgraded, they failed to remove the 5GB red flag on my account. Generally, my service requests go through the first business day. As I called on Saturday, I expect they'll get to it today... At least that's what usually happens.
Incidentally, they let me upgrade to 10GB for $40/month for three months, and threw in T-Mobile hot spots (whatever those are). It took me three phone calls of hemming and hawing before I got offered this, but it's there.

Nice superior intellect overcomes corporate bull crap I love it

Tmobile customer service might not be stellar but it's usually better than most other carriers.
Don't confuse the poor customer service reps with red flags like I'm using a device not sold/supported by Tmobile.
Just tell them you're using a phone that they sell/support and keep the distractions to a minimum.

This isn't a T-Mobile problem, its more of a problem with American carriers in general. They're wary to have to do anything involving a device they "don't support". Its unfortunate but kinda how it is.
Just keep on doing your thing. May I suggest going prepaid? You won't get good CS with an unlocked phone anyway, might as well not pay for it.

How do you know when you’re being throttled? I have their 5GB plan, but never use that much.

BinkXDA said:
How do you know when you’re being throttled? I have their 5GB plan, but never use that much.
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When you hit 5GB, you'll receive a pop up and/or SMS telling you you're being throttled for the rest of the period.
Your data speeds will also reduce to about that of EDGE, topping out at about .5mbps down / up. The icon in your status bar will still say 3G or H and you'll keep low ping times, but the speeds will be reduced.

I got sick of T-Mo and switched to StraightTalk prepaid. $45 per month for unlimited everything and I have yet to be throttled.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

jlczl said:
I got sick of T-Mo and switched to StraightTalk prepaid. $45 per month for unlimited everything and I have yet to be throttled.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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That's because Straight Talk doesn't throttle. They just cancel your service lol. And they do it a lot sooner than 5GB.
I agree Straight Talk is a great deal, but it's not the same as T-Mo when it comes to data. T-Mo is 100% up-front about when they will throttle you, and they'll never cut your data off or charge overages.

martonikaj said:
When you hit 5GB, you'll receive a pop up and/or SMS telling you you're being throttled for the rest of the period.
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Thanks. I didn't realize they'd actually notify you.

BinkXDA said:
Thanks. I didn't realize they'd actually notify you.
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Yep. In about 15 months as a T-Mobile customer I've only gone over 5gb maybe 2-3 times, but only actually been throttled once. That one time I was throttled, I was notified instantly.

martonikaj said:
This isn't a T-Mobile problem, its more of a problem with American carriers in general. They're wary to have to do anything involving a device they "don't support". Its unfortunate but kinda how it is.
Just keep on doing your thing. May I suggest going prepaid? You won't get good CS with an unlocked phone anyway, might as well not pay for it.
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Click to collapse
Yeah i don't understand this either. They are so worried about getting you to get one of "their" phones. Even if your not using their phone, your still paying for their service. You buy a phone from them, they get a few hundred in profit one time. But if they provide good service, they don't need to rely on selling you a phone because they'll be making money on the service they're selling you. I guess the carriers forget that they are providing a service, it doesn't matter what you use the service on they should support it.
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium

Funny I had the complete opposite happen to me I called T-Mobile about slow data issue when I was in Las Vegas two weeks ago. The tech guy I talked to was real helpful and knew the GNex and was more than happy to help me. His biggest worry was that I called from my GNex and that if for some reason we would get cut off. But everyone has different outcomes when dealing with customer service. I will say that T-Mobile is light years ahead of Sprint, they just suck.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

keith.mcintyre26 said:
That's awesome. 5 cool points for using "lawyered".
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Lol hey myspace guy
Sent from my Apple Mac 2 in 1983

So I'm still throttled. I called back today and they now say that no matter what, they cannot lift the throttle until the end of the billing cycle. They WERE, of course, happy to take my money to backdate a data plan increase, however. How sleazy.
I call this utter and complete bull****. As a programmer and dba, I refuse to believe it's impossible to lift a throttle before the end of the cycle.
I'm now being held hostage to creeping data by my contract.
Screw you, T-Mobile.
Time to figure out my exit strategy.

Call back and ask to talk to accounts and billing so you can cancel
Sent from my iPhone smashing Galaxy Nexus

tanman1975 said:
So I'm still throttled. I called back today and they now say that no matter what, they cannot lift the throttle until the end of the billing cycle. They WERE, of course, happy to take my money to backdate a data plan increase, however. How sleazy.
I call this utter and complete bull****. As a programmer and dba, I refuse to believe it's impossible to lift a throttle before the end of the cycle.
I'm now being held hostage to creeping data by my contract.
Screw you, T-Mobile.
Time to figure out my exit strategy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know exactly how you feel ..this happen to me last month ..I got throttled last month at 5 gigs ..so next day I call upgrade to the ten ..told me within two hours my data would be back to normal speeds..one day later still slow as hell ..anyways I call tech ..they ask " what phone you have " I say "gn" they say the can't do tickets for that ..so I put my sim in a sensation 4g and a T-Mobile vibrant ..still slow ..long story short I had to wait till my billing cycle over to get my speeds back..hang in there man ...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

tanman1975 said:
So I'm still throttled. I called back today and they now say that no matter what, they cannot lift the throttle until the end of the billing cycle. They WERE, of course, happy to take my money to backdate a data plan increase, however. How sleazy.
I call this utter and complete bull****. As a programmer and dba, I refuse to believe it's impossible to lift a throttle before the end of the cycle.
I'm now being held hostage to creeping data by my contract.
Screw you, T-Mobile.
Time to figure out my exit strategy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is definitely BS. They did it for me when I upgraded to the 5GB plan.

Returning phones with no ETF?

Hi, I posted this question in the general xda section, but no one has replied so I am hoping someone here can respond.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1811329

use a 3G roaming prl and download a TON of (legal) torrents. It might take 2 to 4 months, but they will drop you from service.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Or....you could be civil about it. Call care, and plead your case, nicely. They have been known to allow customers out of a contract without and etf so long as the equipment gets returned, ask them if they'll make exception for you and let you do that
EDIT: never mind, I read your original post. I do think it's unreasonable to expect to not have to return the phone and not pay an etf either. Regardless of the amount you paid for the phone, you did enter a contract, and sprint ate a lot of money up front when you signed that contract.
If you feel so strongly about it, though, just cancel and eat the etf cost, and you should more than make up for it by how much you can sell the phones on eBay.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I've been a Sprint customer for 10+ years and I've had almost zero complaints until these dang smart phones became the mainstream thing to have. Back when I had my Samsung Instinct the speeds were GOOD. For example, tethering was around 1.5mb all day long. By the time I got the EVO 4G though, things went down the toilet. Smart phones got super popular and Sprint simply couldn't handle it.
To top that off we got slapped in the face with a $10 dollar premium for 4G, oh excuse me "premium data" that doesn't even work for most of us. I have no 4G here and I' lucky to get 50kb's on 3G. I get 1.2mb on the Verizon PRL though.
I'd been using the 11115 PRL and toggling between Sprint and Verizon when I needed more speed but I've recently switched to the 00002 PRL in hopes of getting dropped. I shouldnt HAVE to toggle to Verizon to make my phone work.
I've complained to Sprint, they simply do not care. I bet they will start to care when I plug my phone in this weekend and pick some random Blue-ray sized files to torrent over 3G.
Can't wait to get over to AT&T or Verizon. I loved Sprint when it worked. I'd rather have a 5GB cap that works then unlimited that doesn't. Who cares about unlimited if you can't use it?
The plus side to having them boot me is I can keep my Epic Touch and resell it to help re-coop some of the money I feel I got scammed out of dealing with Sprint now that they don't seem to want to fix their network or compensate those of us who are/were loyal customers and are sick of this slow non-usable network.

Great...another thread for people to come in and post about how crappy Sprint's speed is and to teach people how to screw Sprint and the other millions of Sprint users that don't have problems (like me) by forcing your phone to roam and download tons of data.

amen sister.
I'm almost 1 year into my 2 year contract with sprint and I cannot wait until I can get out of it. I signed on because of unlimited data, which is great because I get 4g at work, but if I'm not at work or near one of the sp****ly placed 4g towers, I'm screwed.
*Edit* LOL it starred out "a" "r" "s" "e" in spar sely
---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 PM ----------
tgruendler said:
Great...another thread for people to come in and post about how crappy Sprint's speed is and to teach people how to screw Sprint and the other millions of Sprint users that don't have problems (like me) by forcing your phone to roam and download tons of data.
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do you have 4g wherever you go in your city?
My problem is that there are 6 4g towers placed around cincinnati and if you're not withing 1-2 miles of it, no 4g for you. Then, because we are a fairly dense market, the 3g speeds suck and the phone is almost useless.
Sprint does suck. Sprint has fallen so far behind the competition that i'm shocked that anybody ever renews a contract with them.

Yeah my service with sprint (virgin mobile) ain't great but hey I pay $25 a month for service. You just can't beat that!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

It I was paying $25 a month, I wouldn't ***** but I'm paying $108ish and I feel like I'm being kicked in the balls.
Being a 10+ year Sprint customer who has seen the service go down the drain, I have every right to complain because I know how it used to be before they decided to add all these new smart devices but not add new network to back them up.

squshy 7 said:
Or....you could be civil about it. Call care, and plead your case, nicely. They have been known to allow customers out of a contract without and etf so long as the equipment gets returned, ask them if they'll make exception for you and let you do that
EDIT: never mind, I read your original post. I do think it's unreasonable to expect to not have to return the phone and not pay an etf either. Regardless of the amount you paid for the phone, you did enter a contract, and sprint ate a lot of money up front when you signed that contract.
If you feel so strongly about it, though, just cancel and eat the etf cost, and you should more than make up for it by how much you can sell the phones on eBay.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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Yeah, I have no plans of using the Verizon PRL and get kicked. I have been in touch with customer service and it is getting to the point where they might let me out without ETF. I did not know that they would request the phones to be returned so I am trying to decide 1) if that's reasonable, and 2) if it is, then if it would be cheaper to pay ETF instead.

Tell them to refund your $200.00 dollars and you will be glad to return it.
I would be annoyed if on top of paying for the crap service they also wanted the phone back.

tgruendler said:
Great...another thread for people to come in and post about how crappy Sprint's speed is and to teach people how to screw Sprint and the other millions of Sprint users that don't have problems (like me) by forcing your phone to roam and download tons of data.
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Click to collapse
Agreed as well. If you sign a contract, man-up and fulfill your side of the agreement.

I totally do NOT agree with that. If you sign a contract and the provider can't provide what has been promised, the contract should be void.

kdoggy said:
I totally do NOT agree with that. If you sign a contract and the provider can't provide what has been promised, the contract should be void.
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What exactly did they promise? They specifically do not promise any speed, ive looked.

I agree with u op. Sprint speeds have gotten a lot worse for me as well. My phone is not usable unless I'm on wifi. Its ridiculous. BUT u did sign a contract and you had two weeks to try it out. Hope it works out for u.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

The attitude of well it sucks but i did sign a contact that specifically does NOT make any speed promised etc is exactly why we keep getting screwed.
Considering I'm paying $108 dollars a month, $10 of that being for "premium data", it should at least WORK. On my phone, its unusable off wi-fi. No joke, sites can take up to 2 and 3 minutes to load and that is IF it loads. Normally something times out.
That is a load of crap, hence why I'm currently forced roaming on Verizon.

kdoggy said:
The attitude of well it sucks but i did sign a contact that specifically does NOT make any speed promised etc is exactly why we keep getting screwed.
Considering I'm paying $108 dollars a month, $10 of that being for "premium data", it should at least WORK. On my phone, its unusable off wi-fi. No joke, sites can take up to 2 and 3 minutes to load and that is IF it loads. Normally something times out.
That is a load of crap, hence why I'm currently forced roaming on Verizon.
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Click to collapse
If it is so bad that you cannot even use it, you need to call Sprint, and keep calling them until they either fix it or they let you out of your contract because they are not living up to their obligation to the contract. Coming on XDA and crying about it will get you nowhere. This is a development website, not a ***** fest site about the provider. Take this **** elsewhere.

I'm going to stop this before it goes any further. Sorry your speeds aren't up to par (mine aren't either), but you will need to find another way than discussing here. Contracts are contracts, no way around it. Just call and call until you get the answer you want. This will turn out to be a war and we do not need that here as we have enough of that already.

Sprint Customer Service is about as useful as a football bat!!!

I have just about had it with Sprint's horribly inefficient and poorly capable Customer service representatives. I have been having the issue of no network connectivity.......well excuse me, not no network connectivity, extremely poor connectivity. My speedtest.net speeds are consistantly lower than 10kbps. When I tell this to the customer service people I'm told that the service in my area is showing up green and I should be experiencing the best service that Sprint has to offer. I understand what's going on. I know that it's because of the network visioning upgrades and they're replacing the towers. However, the last thing any customer wants to hear (after paying the $200/month bill (I have multiple lines with Sprint)) is that there's nothing wrong and it's the device's fault. I have been to the store as instructed by the technical support.....nothing's wrong with the phone, it's the network. All I have to say is that Sprint really needs to better train their support staff to not only be more knowledgeable about what's going on but also how to deal with unhappy/unsatisfied customers. I've worked in customer service industries for the majority of my adult life and I know how aggravating it is to deal with unruly customers. But at the end of the day it's their J O B!!!!! If they can't do it then they need to find another line of work.....that's what I did! :victory:
Anyone else have issues with Sprint's customer service?

Sprints cs is actually the best one of the carriers. If you had to deal with Verizon cs, you'd cry.

Ascertion said:
Sprints cs is actually the best one of the carriers. If you had to deal with Verizon cs, you'd cry.
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Click to collapse
I will concede to that point. I just recently came from Verizon and their customer service was absolutely unbearable!
The lure of unlimited LTE and the Galaxy SIII was just too much for me to resist so that's why I jumped ship from Big Red. I just wish that I would have been told up front that when they upgrade the network it would result in significant down time. I specifically asked that question when I switched and I was told that I shouldn't experience any hiccup in service.....just the superb service that Sprint customers have come to expect from their service provider........

A football is pretty darn useful in my neck of the woods. Get out more.
Sent from my billion dollar GalaxiPhone S3.

JohnnyEpic said:
A football is pretty darn useful in my neck of the woods. Get out more.
Sent from my billion dollar GalaxiPhone S3.
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Click to collapse
HAHA, well I figured that a football bat could serve some purpose......just like customer service.......but only sometimes, on very special occasions, like every other Tuesday but only on leap years! :silly:

Its hit and miss. One out of 3 try's and you get someone who speaks English well enough to understand. But the fact is, who of any company's have good customer service? I had a number to Sprint that got me to someone very nice and smart that spoke clear every time. AAA+ CS. Its was like a back door number. The phone would ring once and there they where. That number doesn't work anymore but it was so nice! 877-775-4886. If anyone has the replacement number to it, PM me please!!

I dunno, I've had to call them 4 times since I started using Sprint just short of 2 years ago. First time was because of an order screw up, which was actually my fault. Wanted to return the stuff. The csv rep sent me to a store, the store told me they didn't take returns and to mail it all back. Called them again, and the rep I talked to said the store was clueless, then overnighted a box to me to mail the returns back. 1 FAIL, 1 WIN.
Then last month I had to activate 2 S3s, each seperately. First rep was awesome, friendly, knew exactly what she was doing. Then I called again that night, and got some middle aged woman who managed to help me without issue.
In comparison, I have to call Comcast countless times because the cable stops working, boxes break down, internet goes AWOL, etc. I once had service reps at my house all day long several days in a row because they couldn't fix an issue with the internet.
My Playstation 3 died from a YLOD (overheating) despite being in the open. Sony rep told me they didn't care, but if I wanted it fixed I could send it to them and pay them to fix it. Nevermind the fact Microsoft has fixed my 360 several times without asking questions. Only issue I had with Microsoft was they once charged my credit card $10 for a subscription I had canceled, and they refused to refund me. Also gotten plenty of freebies from Microsoft.
So by comparison... Sprint is pretty decent imo. But like all customer service, it's the luck of the draw. It's a job. Some people take it seriously, others cringe when they have to answer a call.

i am in VA beach and we are getting the network vision updates now as well as LTE next month (if they dont delay it) and i get ~1.82 mbps (average; also using speedtest.net app) and my fastest was 2.04 mbps
EDIT: of course on 3G and those are my download speeds

jamcar said:
i am in VA beach and we are getting the network vision updates now as well as LTE next month (if they dont delay it) and i get ~1.82 mbps (average; also using speedtest.net app) and my fastest was 2.04 mbps
EDIT: of course on 3G and those are my download speeds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a heads up, be prepared for your service to go straight in the toilet. If you experience ANY issues at all, make sure that you contact Sprint and get them to note that you're having issues. This way you can get your account adjusted appropriately once the complete upgrade is done and the service has been restored.

Football bat. Now that had me laughing on the crapper.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium

dennistpm said:
Football bat. Now that had me laughing on the crapper.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
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Eli could have used one against the Bucs at the end.

My T-Mobile story

I've had T-Mobile & a GS3 for 30 days. Works great in the city. This last weekend I went to my wife's family's house to do some hunting and spend time at their cabin. We go there a couple times a month... which I would consider to be quite often. T-mobile was basically nonfunctional. Couldn't even send a text. Phone didn't say "No Signal"... but nothing would even work, network wise. According to the coverage map, it should work. So today on my lunch I speak with a woman over T-mobile support chat. She sounded pretty optimistic that they would take care of me, but I had to call in.
I got home from work and called in... the lady understood my issues and got me over to retention. The lady in retention wanted to know where it was I was struggling with service... so she looked it up on her end. She looked it over using words like "sketchy" and "I can see it probably wouldn't work indoors" and "well, Sir, it's a cell phone... it's not going to work everywhere." She was almost snippy with me... despite the fact I was 100% calm and overly polite. She would give me no leeway since I was outside the 14 day return policy. She only offered paying full term fees or transferring to a family member. CDMA providers in the area have pretty good service. I simply want to return everything and jump over to CDMA. No hard feelings!
Does anyone have any advice or know someone with a little clout within T-mobile? This is going to be a rough two years if not....

I think if it's such an issue pay the 250 termination fee and move on. Research should have been done prior to signing up or test signal issues within the 14 days you had. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

fatboy547 said:
I think if it's such an issue pay the 250 termination fee and move on. Research should have been done prior to signing up or test signal issues within the 14 days you had. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
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I hear ya. As mentioned I did check the maps. In reality what is a person supposed to do? Take a car tour of everywhere they might go within their 14 day "trial period"?

There are two biweekly periods in a month you said you go there a few times a month which is at least 3....
Does the place have internet? Wifi calling is awesome. Every single carrier map shows my house having service but it doesn't. Only wifi calling can work here.
I'd try calling again. If a supervisor refuses, then get the unlock code and sell your phone to someone with ATT. You'll probably make money.

To be honest there is nothing you can do. For starters that's not your home address so T mobile does not care because that's not your address on your bill, secondly and very sad to say say you're out of your 14 days even if that was your home address T Mobile would not let you out of a contract without paying the ETF. That's one ****ty thing about T Mobile they are notorious for things like that, once you're outta your 14 day trial if you have no service at your house the only way to get out of the contract is pay your ETF.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

How much did you pay for the phone? If it was 199, see if you can sell it for like 500. Use 250 towards termination fee and the rest towards a new phone on cdma.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

sipple31 said:
I've had T-Mobile & a GS3 for 30 days. Works great in the city. This last weekend I went to my wife's family's house to do some hunting and spend time at their cabin. We go there a couple times a month... which I would consider to be quite often. T-mobile was basically nonfunctional. Couldn't even send a text. Phone didn't say "No Signal"... but nothing would even work, network wise. According to the coverage map, it should work. So today on my lunch I speak with a woman over T-mobile support chat. She sounded pretty optimistic that they would take care of me, but I had to call in.
I got home from work and called in... the lady understood my issues and got me over to retention. The lady in retention wanted to know where it was I was struggling with service... so she looked it up on her end. She looked it over using words like "sketchy" and "I can see it probably wouldn't work indoors" and "well, Sir, it's a cell phone... it's not going to work everywhere." She was almost snippy with me... despite the fact I was 100% calm and overly polite. She would give me no leeway since I was outside the 14 day return policy. She only offered paying full term fees or transferring to a family member. CDMA providers in the area have pretty good service. I simply want to return everything and jump over to CDMA. No hard feelings!
Does anyone have any advice or know someone with a little clout within T-mobile? This is going to be a rough two years if not....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually in the same situation. I hate there coverage but love the speeds and plans. I was looking for a pay as you use it SIM card to use whilst in no coverage areas.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

jaytxvo said:
How much did you pay for the phone? If it was 199, see if you can sell it for like 500. Use 250 towards termination fee and the rest towards a new phone on cdma.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a bad idea......... may look into this.
elesbb said:
I'm actually in the same situation. I hate there coverage but love the speeds and plans. I was looking for a pay as you use it SIM card to use whilst in no coverage areas.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... the Wi-Fi calling is nice if there's good Wi-Fi around. I spend a lot of time in the outdoors, though.

The only other option which might not help for your situation is that they can provide indoor cell phone repeaters. If you ask nicely I think they might even comp one for you. That would help if you were having trouble in the cabin, but not outside but I don't think that's the case from some of the comments you made. On the other hand, a cell phone repeater with remote antenna mounted on the roof might be just enough to bridge the gap at least while you're in the cabin itself.
And when you're outside - shouldn't you be communing with nature?

flarbear said:
The only other option which might not help for your situation is that they can provide indoor cell phone repeaters. If you ask nicely I think they might even comp one for you. That would help if you were having trouble in the cabin, but not outside but I don't think that's the case from some of the comments you made. On the other hand, a cell phone repeater with remote antenna mounted on the roof might be just enough to bridge the gap at least while you're in the cabin itself.
And when you're outside - shouldn't you be communing with nature?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny you say this! We actually just put in a Wilson repeater system at the cabin. Works excellent when your inside... but that isn't very often! Even then the CDMA rocks the GSM.
When we're hunting we use cell phones as a primary mode of communication. The Wisconsin DNR makes two way radios illegal while hunting... but you can text or make phone calls legally. Kind-of a dumb rule this day and age, right? :silly:

That's the stupidest rule I've heard of lol. I wonder if you can use wifi calling while tethered to a friends phone. You should use the buddy system anyways
Maybe you can build a pringle can antenna?

Before you go paying EFT.. try posting on a cell swapper site and see if someone will take your plan, maybe even pay something for your phone.

papabear said:
Before you go paying EFT.. try posting on a cell swapper site and see if someone will take your plan, maybe even pay something for your phone.
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Click to collapse
Didn't know these kind of sites existed... thanks!

One of the bad things about T-Mobile is their spotty coverage. In a big city its great and so-so in a smaller city. You get out in the boonies and is very hit or miss, mostly miss....
Sorry man.
Sent from a galaxy far away!

JesseMT4G said:
One of the bad things about T-Mobile is their spotty coverage. In a big city its great and so-so in a smaller city. You get out in the boonies and is very hit or miss, mostly miss....
Sorry man.
Sent from a galaxy far away!
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Click to collapse
My thoughts exactly. And I definitely spend time in the boonies.
Anyhow... my phone sold on Craigslist for $400. Had a ton of interest. $200 to ETF and $200 towards what I paid for the phone. All in all i'm only out $50 and the service for the month. Ordering Verizon today. I definitely don't like their new plan structure... but in my case you just have to go with what works best in your next of the woods. Looked at Sprint because of their better plans... but they are like the roaming Nazis. If you go over 300 meg of data or a certain fraction of your plan's minutes on someone else's network they will drop your a$$. Happened to my brother. One day they just called and said were turning off your service tomorrow. You roam too much... get a different carrier.
Thanks for all the tips guys. I'll be around... just in a different section of the forums. Still going to get a GS3! :good:

This happened to me with Verizon a few years back. About a month into service problems started to occur. Even the sales reps verified the issues. I called corporate every 5 or so days to report dropped calls and no data signal issues. After about 6 months of swapping phones they offered to let me go without an ETF.

sipple31 said:
My thoughts exactly. And I definitely spend time in the boonies.
Anyhow... my phone sold on Craigslist for $400. Had a ton of interest. $200 to ETF and $200 towards what I paid for the phone. All in all i'm only out $50 and the service for the month. Ordering Verizon today. I definitely don't like their new plan structure... but in my case you just have to go with what works best in your next of the woods. Looked at Sprint because of their better plans... but they are like the roaming Nazis. If you go over 300 meg of data or a certain fraction of your plan's minutes on someone else's network they will drop your a$$. Happened to my brother. One day they just called and said were turning off your service tomorrow. You roam too much... get a different carrier.
Thanks for all the tips guys. I'll be around... just in a different section of the forums. Still going to get a GS3! :good:
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Click to collapse
Did not realize they still did that crap. Almost a decade ago, if you roamed 50% or more they dropped you, and made you pay eft.

papabear said:
Did not realize they still did that crap. Almost a decade ago, if you roamed 50% or more they dropped you, and made you pay eft.
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Every carrier still does this. You might not have to pay the ETF but they will drop you.
Sent from my SGH-T999

joshnichols189 said:
Every carrier still does this. You might not have to pay the ETF but they will drop you.
Sent from my SGH-T999
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yeah I don't doubt that! This is the sole reason I didn't get sprint. 300 meg?! That's nothing in today's world. A good carrier needs to be a little bit lenient on the roaming business in order to provide adequate coverage.

Sorry to say but the cabin sound like its in the middle of nowhere. Any mountains around, that will make it worse? My gf parents live in the "boonies" and neither of us get a signal (she has Verizon, I have Tmo).

Trying to get out of Sprint with roaming

I've been using some serious roaming data with Sprint trying to get them to cancel. Currently I've used 4gb of roaming data, in a previous month I used 2gb of roaming. Does anyone know how long it takes to get the termination? Will this termination be my single line or my whole account with three lines?
I really cant wait to get the hell away for Sprint; they are a piece of **** company.

Pay your etf simple
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2

Takes a while so enjoy sprint meanwhile

No thanks
-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Pay your etf simple
Sent from my SPH-L900 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
I'm not going to give Sprint any extra money for their lame service. They changed my email to text function without notifying me; when I asked about it they told me it was a network upgrade causing me to get delayed email to text functions. Turns out they now block email to text mesaging. This is the primary function I need on my phone for my job as a firefighter.
When I asked Sprint about this, they told me too bad. So screw them and I'll roam away till they cancel me. Thanks for your helpful advice though.

firemanwill28 said:
I'm not going to give Sprint any extra money for their lame service. They changed my email to text function without notifying me; when I asked about it they told me it was a network upgrade causing me to get delayed email to text functions. Turns out they now block email to text mesaging. This is the primary function I need on my phone for my job as a firefighter.
When I asked Sprint about this, they told me too bad. So screw them and I'll roam away till they cancel me. Thanks for your helpful advice though.
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Click to collapse
Sprint often update the small details on our contracts/service and almost every time there are parts of the change that qualify under our agreement as something that effects you negatively.
Keep up to date on Sprint news and wait for such a change... you have l 30 days after a change in which you can amicably part ways.
Also I keep hearing about "airaves" or something like that... I guess they'll set you up if you are in a coverage zone with no coverage.
Hope it helps. Gl
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 05:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 PM ----------
PhAkEer said:
Sprint often update the small details on our contracts/service and almost every time there are parts of the change that qualify under our agreement as something that effects you negatively.
Keep up to date on Sprint news and wait for such a change... you have l 30 days after a change in which you can amicably part ways.
Also I keep hearing about "airaves" or something like that... I guess they'll set you up if you are in a coverage zone with no coverage.
Hope it helps. Gl
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just read this post I quoted and that sounds like it would qualify.
Read the Sprint User agreement and remember that it is a two way agreement that they are bound to honor.

Airwaves and agreements
PhAkEer said:
Sprint often update the small details on our contracts/service and almost every time there are parts of the change that qualify under our agreement as something that effects you negatively.
Keep up to date on Sprint news and wait for such a change... you have l 30 days after a change in which you can amicably part ways.
Also I keep hearing about "airaves" or something like that... I guess they'll set you up if you are in a coverage zone with no coverage.
Hope it helps. Gl
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
---------- Post added at 05:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 PM ----------
I just read this post I quoted and that sounds like it would qualify.
Read the Sprint User agreement and remember that it is a two way agreement that they are bound to honor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with airwaves is they are basically using your home network connection for free to make up for their crap network. This works great for them and will provide better network service in my home; I'm just not interested in patching their network at my expense.
This also does nothing to fix my email to text messaging that they lied to me about. I checked my bills back for the previous 15 months and didnt see anything about a change in their agreement. Is this in the news and updates section or do I need to go over Sprints general terms and conditions every month with a microscope and compare to the previous month? I would assume they would be obligated to highlight or make a special area of changes.

ive seen people get kicked off for 5 gigs, and people who use 10 gigs of roaming and no cancellation. theres a thread here of a person who used 97 gigs of roaming in a month and hasnt been kicked, and its been about a month or so since he used that data. so my best guess is that it depends on who looks at your data usage and if they wanna kick you off or not.
while i used to say just pay the etf, now i can kinda see why people wouldnt wanna give another dime to sprint. Pretty soon im going to t-mobile with a nexus 4. 500 minutes a month, unlimited everything else, better service, speeds, etc and all for about $25-$30 cheaper then what im paying now. Sprint has some dark times ahead of them if they dont get their act together

firemanwill28 said:
The problem with airwaves is they are basically using your home network connection for free to make up for their crap network. This works great for them and will provide better network service in my home; I'm just not interested in patching their network at my expense.
This also does nothing to fix my email to text messaging that they lied to me about. I checked my bills back for the previous 15 months and didnt see anything about a change in their agreement. Is this in the news and updates section or do I need to go over Sprints general terms and conditions every month with a microscope and compare to the previous month? I would assume they would be obligated to highlight or make a special area of changes.
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Click to collapse
I'd recommend you read the terms of your contract.
My understanding was that if they changed anything that effects your ability to reasonably use what you pay for in the first they should have first notified you of the change, and then you should have had a chance to wiggle quietly out of your obligations... but my interpretation may be too liberal.
Any Sprint employees reading should chime in with any corrections
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Sprint customer service???
PhAkEer said:
I'd recommend you read the terms of your contract.
My understanding was that if they changed anything that effects your ability to reasonably use what you pay for in the first they should have first notified you of the change, and then you should have had a chance to wiggle quietly out of your obligations... but my interpretation may be too liberal.
Any Sprint employees reading should chime in with any corrections
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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Yeah, I'd love to hear a resposne from Sprint on this. They seem to keep beating around the bush or accidentally getting disconnected when they dont have an answer; then not calling back. I get pissed even thinking about how ****ty I've been treated by Sprint. I'll continue to drag them thru the mud till I'm out of their grasp. Till then roam on and wait.

firemanwill28 said:
Yeah, I'd love to hear a resposne from Sprint on this. They seem to keep beating around the bush or accidentally getting disconnected when they dont have an answer; then not calling back. I get pissed even thinking about how ****ty I've been treated by Sprint. I'll continue to drag them thru the mud till I'm out of their grasp. Till then roam on and wait.
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Click to collapse
Tell me about it.. somebody other than myself has access to my sprint account and consequently, my phone.
Sprint says it's "not possible" but submitted it to the "Fraud Department" anyway.
I'm waiting for the call back within 3 days from weeks ago.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I think what the commenter who mentioned the airave meant was that they'll likely send you an airave before canceling your service.
Remember, cancelling your service is more of a last ditch effort on our part.
It is true that you should be able to wiggle out of contract should they decide to change it, but that is likely very subjective; the changes that would allow as such likely fit into certain "categories". I.e, jacking up your rate would probably qualify, but discontinuing a minor service probably does not (not minor to you, of course, but you are most definitely in the minority of people who actually took advantage of that service). Though, this is some conjecture on my part, a rep would probably offer a better answer; I'm a technician, I don't deal with contracts.
Now as far as you trying to get kicked off (which I won't officially condone), it's generally not determined by a set gross amount of data used while roaming, but rather a large majority percentage of your total data used per month. The number needs to be high, sure, but it won't do you any good unless it accounts for something like 90%+ of your data usage.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Thanks, Sprint still sucks ass.
squshy 7 said:
I think what the commenter who mentioned the airave meant was that they'll likely send you an airave before canceling your service.
Remember, cancelling your service is more of a last ditch effort on our part.
It is true that you should be able to wiggle out of contract should they decide to change it, but that is likely very subjective; the changes that would allow as such likely fit into certain "categories". I.e, jacking up your rate would probably qualify, but discontinuing a minor service probably does not (not minor to you, of course, but you are most definitely in the minority of people who actually took advantage of that service). Though, this is some conjecture on my part, a rep would probably offer a better answer; I'm a technician, I don't deal with contracts.
Now as far as you trying to get kicked off (which I won't officially condone), it's generally not determined by a set gross amount of data used while roaming, but rather a large majority percentage of your total data used per month. The number needs to be high, sure, but it won't do you any good unless it accounts for something like 90%+ of your data usage.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Thaks for the information and perspective from the technical side. Yes, this may seem as a little issue from Sprint's side, but in fact its the number one reason I have and carry my phone. As a firefighter I'm on call 24/7 and when the **** hits the fan we get notified by "email to text" or group texting. When Sprint took this away, they took my response to my community away after hours. Still they could not give a ****.
I'm not "trying" to get kicked off but with recent Sprint network changes; for the worse in my area, my phone is roaming a majority of the time. I will not allow Sprint to use my home network to patch their POS system with an airwave. What I will continue to do is use my data eventhough its roaming most of the time. Currently I've used 4GB or roaming and 800MB of non roaming data. I hope this cost Sprint and they cancel me; in the meantime I'll continue to spread the word of their ****ty service, both customer and network. In the end it will cost them more money and lost customers than if they would have let me out of the contract due to a change THEY made, that disrupts my service.

firemanwill28 said:
I've been using some serious roaming data with Sprint trying to get them to cancel. Currently I've used 4gb of roaming data, in a previous month I used 2gb of roaming. Does anyone know how long it takes to get the termination? Will this termination be my single line or my whole account with three lines?
I really cant wait to get the hell away for Sprint; they are a piece of **** company.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Consume more than 10GB
2. It will take a lot of time and more if you are a good costumer.
3. Only your line the other 2 stay.
Tip: Pay ETF
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

squshy 7 said:
I think what the commenter who mentioned the airave meant was that they'll likely send you an airave before canceling your service.
Remember, cancelling your service is more of a last ditch effort on our part.
It is true that you should be able to wiggle out of contract should they decide to change it, but that is likely very subjective; the changes that would allow as such likely fit into certain "categories". I.e, jacking up your rate would probably qualify, but discontinuing a minor service probably does not (not minor to you, of course, but you are most definitely in the minority of people who actually took advantage of that service). Though, this is some conjecture on my part, a rep would probably offer a better answer; I'm a technician, I don't deal with contracts.
Now as far as you trying to get kicked off (which I won't officially condone), it's generally not determined by a set gross amount of data used while roaming, but rather a large majority percentage of your total data used per month. The number needs to be high, sure, but it won't do you any good unless it accounts for something like 90%+ of your data usage.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Actually, this is a much more informative, concise, (and probably far more accurate ) than any other department that I've dealt with.
That's one thing I've learned ...if you aren't talking to one of the techs you may as well be talking to a squirrel..
(No offense to any Sprint account reps, I'm sure I've just been unlucky)
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

firemanwill28 said:
I've been using some serious roaming data with Sprint trying to get them to cancel. Currently I've used 4gb of roaming data, in a previous month I used 2gb of roaming.
I really cant wait to get the hell away for Sprint; they are a piece of **** company.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
firemanwill28 said:
I get pissed even thinking about how ****ty I've been treated by Sprint. I'll continue to drag them thru the mud till I'm out of their grasp. Till then roam on and wait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
firemanwill28 said:
Thaks for the information and perspective from the technical side. Yes, this may seem as a little issue from Sprint's side, but in fact its the number one reason I have and carry my phone. As a firefighter I'm on call 24/7 and when the **** hits the fan we get notified by "email to text" or group texting. When Sprint took this away, they took my response to my community away after hours. Still they could not give a ****.
What I will continue to do is use my data eventhough its roaming most of the time. Currently I've used 4GB or roaming and 800MB of non roaming data. I hope this cost Sprint and they cancel me; in the meantime I'll continue to spread the word of their ****ty service, both customer and network. In the end it will cost them more money and lost customers than if they would have let me out of the contract due to a change THEY made, that disrupts my service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As it is clear what your intentions are, Will, I'm afraid I'm going to close this as it serves no real purpose and it will clearly cause a flame war. (Believe me I'm not a fan of Sprint service either.) Wish you the best of luck, and more importantly, thank you for your service as a fireman. :highfive: