“We have some ‘[Sprint] Dealer News’ that says ETFs will be changed to $350 starting September 9th,” Joe Fedewa reports for SprintFeed.
“The document states that this is only for ‘advanced’ devices such as smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and notebooks,” Fedewa reports. “This will go into effect on contracts signed after that date.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: The rumor mill is in full spin that Apple’s iPhone is coming to Sprint this year. See related articles below.
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Sprint’s mysterious October 7th event fuels iPhone speculation – August 30, 2011
Sprint shares surge on Apple iPhone news – August 23, 2011
WSJ: AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint to get iPhone 5 in mid-October, say sources – August 23, 2011
I’ve said it before: Apple should buy T-Mobile and use it as the platform on which to create a truly modern, high performance wireless network.
Ooops – how embarrassing. I get first post, and what I write was intended for another topic. Sorry.
I don’t understand why Sprint would up their ETF if they’re getting the iPhone.
They’re going to want to screw you for having made the wrong choice of phones and leave you miserable with your Android junk. Doubly so I might add.
The $350 ETF is to lock-in those who purchase iPhone 5s.
Sprint has to subsidize the iPhone by paying Jobs-knows-how-much to Apple.
Miserable, greedy bastards. The same goes for all the mobile carriers.
Didn’t Verizon do this too shortly before getting the iPhone?
$350 is not that bad. All three major carriers here in Canada (Rogers, Telus and Bell) are much higher:
$20/month left on contract (max of $400) for the phone plan. $10/month left on contract (Max $100) for the data plan.
So if you have 20-36 months left on your contract your looking at a $500 ETF… Hell it was $300 back in 2007.
Interesting! If a company changes any terms to an existing contract, I do believe by law you can choose to not agree to the new terms, and your contract is then terminated. If people catch onto that, this will surely backfire. Anyone know about this legal loophole?
“This will go into effect on contracts signed after that date.”
This does not affect existing contracts, only customers who get buyer’s remorse after the see the new hotness. Also, since there is usually a 30-day period in which you can cancel (AT&T has one) with only a restocking fee for the phone, this is more likely an answer to some other company’s future attractive plan/option. And since anyone who would’ve switched from Sprint already probably has by now, they might be privy to some information about future competitive projects that are not publicized as yet.
Or maybe they are just finally bringing their early cancellation fees in line with the rest if the industry, and there us no need to read any more into it.
This does affect current contract owners. I am eligible to get a new phone at the subsidized price several months before my contract ends. Since they changed the terms of the ETF I may not want to now get my “iPhone” through Sprint. I have to now wait out the rest of my contract to change when it was implied that I’d be able to renew my contract early and get the new phone. I did not agree that the new terms would be so onerous and they never implied that change would come. I feel there is some wiggle room here for a loop-hole even if it is a stretch. I will certainly attempt to argue it.
Notice also that the change comes Sept 9th, more than 30 days before the alleged release of the iPhone. Normally you have 30days to take advantage of any contract changes, however if you wait until the iPhone is released to make hay about it you will be beyond your 30 day grace period and out of luck. Sneaky Sprint, real sneaky.
Great. Sprint discovers yet-another way to screw their customers. It’s their corporate culture.