Best Buy Discounting Sprint Hero to $99.99 with New 2 Year Agreement

The Moment’s price has been dropped to $100 while the HD is down to $130

So does new 2 year agreement mean only new accounts or can I renew my current contract at this price?

Yeah, I’m reading that those prices are for new subs, upgrading subs will be paying the old prices

F1 on November 15th, 2009, 12:50 pm

Well the price adjustment did not take too long,
SPRINT has reduced the Hero price to $99.99 for new accounts at BB the so called exclusive retailer of Hero, however in tradition of greed, SPRINT is still charging it’s loyal customers, the ridiculous $179.99 for the “upgrade” sign up, in a show of continued customer appreciation !

Maybe with continued account losses, SPRINT CEO Dan Hesse is planning to get rid of CSR altogether, and in the process justify giving himself a raise for next year.

Thank You

Sure enough, if you go to the $99 page and then click upgrade, the price suddenly changes to $179. THIS IS *BS*! I’m an out of contract Premier customer and am willing to sign a 2-year warranty, but I have to pay almost twice the price as a new low-end customer? I DECLARE SHENANIGANS!

Yeah, this is unbelievable. I am willing to renew my contract another 2 years and possibly switch to a more expensive plan since they force you too and yet they still want to charge the willing loyal customer more? I understand they need to get new customers and this is a good way of attracting them but what good is it in getting 2-3 new customers when you loose 5? Sprint is doing great things when it comes to technology and staying ahead of the game but technology doesn’t pay the bills, LOYAL CUSTOMERS DO! No wonder that verizon with all the blocks they used to have on their phones they still stayed on top when it came to customer service and KEEPING their customers. GOOD JOB SPRINT! ANOTHER COUPLE THOUSAND LOYAL CUSTOMERS JUST LEFT!

All the whiners, you do realize this is Best Buy’s doing and not Sprint. Buying this or any of the other reduced phones Sprint will be the same as new subs, but have read that some people have gotten that lower price with some prodding of the price match policy.

That is true. This is Best Buy adjusting the price. But then again it shows how Sprint is worried more about trying to pump as much money as they can from their customers than they are about making the service better. I mean look at Verizon, only $99 for the same phone. Most cell phone companies are already loosing money for subsidizing phones, the difference is they offer better service after the sale to the customer unlike sprint.
But you do make a point don louie. Its bb that is setting the price to $99 not sprint. Its just sad when other companies have to help sprint to gain new customers.

Numbers don’t lie

At 1.000.000 account losses per quarter, the daily loss breaks down to in excess of 10.000 accounts, per day!

let us just say:

Average account income: $50 per month X 3= $150 quarterly
Annualized losses: $150.000.000 X 4= $600.000.000
2 year contract losses: $ 1.2 Billion

SPRINT Stock 52 weekaverage: <$3
CEO Dan Hesse 2008 paid: $14.000.000

Thank You

JJ, you’ve been touting vzw’s better prices and better service for a long while. Not getting the new sub price at Best Buy ought to be the last straw, let us know how the Droid/Eris is treating you

I don’t think I ever said that the verizon prices were better. If I did then that was a mistake. What I have said in the past is that if your going to pay more then you should get a service that is worth the extra cost. That is where verizon falls. They offer better service even if it is a little more expensive.

Well you and F1 don’t like the Everything mandate for the best phones, the soon to be defunct PAM now that Best Buy has the nerve to make a different set of better prices for new subs. Get that better coverage, it’s calling you

I already have switched-sort of. I got straight talk by porting one of my lines from sprint already and I love it. It runs on the verizon network and works awesome. Of course I’m not the one using it but when my sprint phone doesn’t get a signal I can use that one. My other 2 lines are fine for now. Only $30 each with unlimited data and text and I can still use my diamond and touch pro.

With all due respect jj, this is definitely BestBuys doing. I mean, u can rip Sprint all u want and in many cases it is warranted but not in this case. As far as gouging its current customers in regards to handset pricing, I really dont see it that way. I dont know if u realize this but Verizon just raised their early termination fees to $350(while Sprint left their etfs’ the same), yet nobody seems to be making a big deal about that(just an example)……..

@ bottomline

Just for the record, I actually did, on two ocassions, I guess I am an equal opportunity observer! lol

“Verizon just raised their early termination fees to $350(while Sprint left their etfs’ the same), yet nobody seems to be making a big deal about that(just an example)……..”

F1 on November 5th, 2009, 8:51 am

Sheer madness!!

An overreaction gone overboard, hence a hasty policy,
all VWZ had to do, was to ad a clause in the contract of the “BOGO”, instead, they are throwing out the Baby with the bathwater!

After two years:
$350- (12 months X $1O X 2 years)=> Balance of $110 ??!

Thank You

F1 on November 16th, 2009, 8:31 am

I wonder how this can be a smart business move, changing the ETF on older units which are sold post Nov 15th, if so why don’t they just give the consumer the option to take the unit back upon early termination,
and call it even, if the consumer refuses to fullfill their obligation within a reasonable time, say 48hrs drop off period, subsequently charge them, rather taking the chance of alienating or confusing potential new costumers?

This excessive policy is just another example of when bad laws and policies only hinder the good people, the crooks have it always their way, because they are at least one step ahead of the respective administration!

Thank You

@ F1
Ok, sorry about that….. I didnt read that thread only cuz a friend of mine had told me about it. So theres a perfect example of how a company can deliberately do something screwed. Not to say Sprint hasnt done anything screwed, just not in regards to the Hero pricing. Just my opinion……..

Bottomline
I have already said that bb is the one adjusting the price. I understand that already. Thats old news.
About the $350 etf fee: I don’t have too much problems with the etf of any company. The way I see it, if someone is happy with their service they won’t be canceling the service which means the etf will never affect them. That is why you try out a service for 30 days. If you like it you keep it if you don’t you cancel. If you wait till half way in your contract to decide then that is your problem.
People always tell me everytime I sign a new contract “Why would you that. I will never get under a 2 year contract”. A contract is the only way you can get such a great price on a phone. Plus, my current cell phone provider gets good coverage in “most” of the areas that I use my phone and I have no issues with coverage.
That is why I don’t think the $350 etf is such a big deal.
Plus last I heard, most people with verizon were happy with their service and etf won’t affect them too much.

@ jj
Thats great to hear that yur happy with yur service & not concerned about them raising yur etf. I, for one, completely disagree… Granted, the 30 day grace period is sufficient time to know if u like the service or not, but what about other unforseen, mitigating circumstances that can(and do) occur. Off the top of my head, I can think of several, like losing yur job, getting yur hours cut back at work, a family emergency(just to name a few), whereas u would be unable(financially) to honor the 2 year commitment. I know several people that either had to downgrade their plan or cancel their plan for very good reasons, none of which had anything to do with how good the service was. Hence, the lower the etf, the better ! One never knows what tomorrow brings…….

@jj
However, if u dont mind paying the new elevated etf, “fantastic”…..

bottomline
You make a good point about unforseen occrrunces. But there are things that can be done in this case. If you can no longer pay your bill because you lost your job then you can put your account on hold for a small fee till you get back on your feet. As for changing to a lower amount plan, that won’t renew your contract or warrant the etf charge. I think sprint and verizon both offer a vacation mode where you can pay just $15/month and keep your account frozen till you activate it again. Either way most companies will work with you when you have a financial disaster like you mentioned. I myself had one of those and they made arrangements with me to help me out.
But again you make a good point and for some people the new etf is horrible. As for me it doesn’t bug me too much. In all my years of having cell phone service that has never been an issue for me.
So if the etf is too high then don’t get a smartphone or lg versa type phone and you’ll be fine or go to a company that has a lower etf. Let’s just hope sprint and att don’t follow suit.

I hope the FCC mandates through U.S. Congress, a consumer’s bill of rights, whereby a one year maximum is set for ETF, also by setting up a control mechanism, regarding the absurdly inflated non contractual prices of the devices,i.e $700 for the iPhone, $500 for Hero?!

Make them more affordable, within reason and not out of control by greed, hence the consumer is not taken hostage by the industry lobbyists, and actually be free to leave, after the minimum of one year, or only at point pay an ETF!

Remember:

1.The rest of the world does not charge for incoming calls!
2.There is no such thing as Toll free numbers!
3.Landline features,i.e call blocking, true caller id etc, simply do not exist!
4.The Industry wide price fixing needs to be stopped:

AT&T/iPhone @ $69.99
SPRINT/ Hero etc @ 69.99
VZW/ Droid/Eris etc @ 69.99

Minimum $70 required plans are outrages, consumers should have a choice to buy a device with or without Cell minutes or Data, just like on USB and PCMCIA devices and Netbooks.

The Industry falsely advertises to have $30 Data plans, and yet when one attempts to purchase/activate the device they require a minimum of $70 !

$70 x 24 months= $1680! + taxes +admin Fees= over $2000!!

In 5 years that amounts to $5.000, and in 10 years to $ 10.000, over the lifetime ten’s of thousands of dollars, that is not including the device costs!

Today cellular services are a sub par utility, not a luxury, it is no longer the 1980’s!!
Think about it, would you pay $1000 (per individual), per household in one year to the DWP?

Thank You

Good point. The $70 minimum is outrageous. Especially knowing that most of the customers that companies get are not new to cell phones, they are just moving from one cellphone company to the other. I hope congress does do something about this. I have already filed a complaint with fcc and bbb when they wouldn’t allow the hero to work on my unlimited data plan and sprint has contacted me and wants to speak to me. So we will see what happens with that conversation. I hope they give me a good solution that we both can work with otherwise my next thing is contacting my local congressman.
In the end if the money guzzling cell phone companies win then I will just stick with my plan and go buck wild with my data usage.
But I really like your point f1. If net neutrality is being forced on cable companies they should do the same with cell phone companies especially with 4g just around the corner.

There is no price fixing, you all are just crying because of plan changes necessary for specific phones.

don louie,
I understand there is no price fixing (or at least no real proof) But you say the price changes are neccesary for specific phones? Your kidding right? How is the here any difference from the TP2 from the Diamond from the palm pro? All those phones access the same network the same way and you can use the same amount of data on all of them.
So your telling me that certain types of laptops require a price increase from your Internet provider just because they are newer or different OS.
Good ONE! Keep thinking that way. Cell phone companies love people that think that way. “oh thats the way they want it so it must be right”
Good for you.

I have the 1500 minute everything family plan. Can I get this phone for $99 if I add a new line of service? Thanks in advance.

@ Don Louis
Hope this sheds some light for you:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Price fixing is an agreement between business competitors to sell the same product or service at the same price. Historically, such a group of businesses in price fixing was referred to as a cartel.

In general, it is an agreement intended to ultimately push the price of a product as high as possible, leading to profits for all the sellers. Price-fixing can also involve any agreement to fix, peg, discount or stabilize prices. The principal feature is any agreement on price, whether expressed or implied. For the buyer, meanwhile, the practice results in a phenomenon similar to price gouging.

Price fixing requires a conspiracy between two or more sellers; the purpose is to coordinate pricing for mutual benefit at the expense of buyers. Sellers might agree to sell at a common target price; set a common “minimum” price; buy the product from a supplier at a specified “maximum” price; adhere to a price book or list price; engage in cooperative price advertising; standardize financial credit terms offered to purchasers; use uniform trade-in allowances; limit discounts; discontinue a free service or fix the price of one component of an overall service; adhere uniformly to previously-announced prices and terms of sale; establish uniform costs and markups; impose mandatory surcharges; purposefully reduce output or sales in order to charge higher prices; or purposefully share or “pool” markets, territories, or customers.

Generally, price fixing is illegal, but it may nevertheless be tolerated or even sanctioned by some governments at various times, particularly among those whose countries are developing economies. See also Collusion.

In neo-classical economics, price fixing is inefficient. The anti-competitive agreement by producers to fix prices above the market price transfers some of the consumer surplus to those producers and also results in a deadweight loss.

In the United States, price fixing can be prosecuted as a criminal federal offense under section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[1] Prosecutions may be handled by the U.S. Department of Justice or by the Federal Trade Commission. Many State Attorneys General also bring antitrust cases and have antitrust offices, such as Virginia, New York, and California. Private individuals or organizations can bring their own lawsuits for triple damages for antitrust violations and also recover attorneys fees..[2]

Colluding on price amongst competitors, also known as horizontal price fixing, is viewed as a per se violation of the Sherman Act regardless of the market impact or alleged efficiency of the action. In August of 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that vertical price fixing by a manufacturer and its retailers, also known as retail price maintenance, is not a per se violation.

Under American law, exchanging prices among competitors can also violate the antitrust laws. This includes exchanging prices with either the intent to fix prices or if the exchange affects the prices individual competitors set. Proof that competitors have shared prices can be used as part of the evidence of an illegal price fixing agreement.[3] Experts generally advise that competitors avoid even the appearance of agreeing on price.[4]

^ Antitrust Enforcement [1]; National Association of Attorneys General Antitrust Project [2]; Art Publishers Association, Bulletin: Be Careful About Antitrust Law (Feb. 2000). [3]
^ Antitrust Law Developments (2002); Art Publishers Association, Bulletin: Be Careful About Antitrust Law (Feb. 2000). [4]

Example:

June 16, 2009 2:24 PM PDT
AT&T and Verizon deny price-fixing accusations
by Marguerite Reardon (@ CNET)

Executives from the nation’s largest phone companies went to Capitol Hill Tuesday to defend themselves against allegations that they’ve been fixing prices on text messaging.

Executives from AT&T and Verizon Communications testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, saying their companies have not been involved in a conspiracy to hike text messaging rates. And they argued that competition is alive and well in the wireless market.

The hearing was called in response to a letter sent in September from Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) to the four major U.S. operators–Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA–asking them to explain why their text rates had all increased to 20 cents per message. Kohl noted in his letter that these rates marked a 100 percent increase since 2005.

Shortly after the letter was sent, about 37 separate class action lawsuits were filed against wireless operators alleging price-fixing on text-messaging services.

Both AT&T and Verizon have denied these claims. And the companies came to Capitol Hill to clear their names.

“Especially in light of this litigation firestorm, we want to make it perfectly clear that AT&T sets the prices for all of its products on a unilateral basis,” said Wayne Watts, general counsel for AT&T, in his written testimony. “There is no evidence to support an accusation that anyone at AT&T engaged in any inappropriate, much less illegal, behavior as alleged in these lawsuits.”

Watts also noted that none of the lawsuits name a time, place, or person involved in the collusion, and all but one of the suits filed cite Kohl’s letter as the basis for its allegations.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuits point to the fact that all four major U.S. carriers now charge customers 20 cents to send and receive a text message if they don’t have a monthly texting plan. In his September letter, Kohl pointed to the 20 cent per text price tag and asked if this price hike really justified the cost of the service.

In his letter, Kohl also suggested that the wireless industry is not competitive enough. He noted that the four carriers combined currently serve more than 90 percent of wireless subscribers in the U.S.

AT&T and Verizon executives dispute that they have colluded to fix prices on texts, but they also deny that texting rates have increased. Instead, they claim that prices have fallen for text messaging as a result of robust competition.

Verizon’s general counsel, Randal Milch, said in his written testimony that there are more differences in text-messaging prices among wireless competitors than there are similarities. And he noted that most Verizon Wireless customers subscribe to a texting plan, and as a result they “pay less than a penny per message,” a reduction of almost two-thirds since 2006.

“As the result of the price cuts, usage has grown six-fold,” he said.

Milch also called claims that the wireless companies were improperly setting rates “absolutely false.” And he said that “market evidence shows fierce competition, not collusion, in text messaging and wireless generally.”

The CTIA, the trade association representing wireless carriers, also said that competition in the wireless market is thriving.

“The U.S. wireless industry is the most competitive and innovative in the world. Third-party organizations and influentials–from Consumer Reports Magazine to former Vice President Al Gore–have echoed this statement,” Steve Largent, head of the CTIA, said in statement.

Despite these claims, Kohl said he is still concerned about the state of competition in the wireless market, according to a report from the Dow Jones Newswire. Specifically, he pointed out exclusivity deals for popular cell phones, such as the Apple iPhone or the Palm Pre, that limit some consumers’ ability to have access to those devices.

Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie.

Thank You

@ Tim

Ask Customer service to transfer you to “Retention”, they will do it for you, if you lay out your case nicely.

Good Luck

What can you do?

I hope the following reference material can help one understand these complex strategies,and their fall out,according to the “Antitrust Division” :

http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/primer-ncu.htm

As I said before:

The Industry wide price fixing needs to be stopped:

AT&T Service Provider/ iPhone device monopoly @ $69.99=450 minutes
SPRINT Service Provider/ Pre device monopoly @ 69.99=450 minutes
VZW Service Provider/ Droid device monopoly @ 69.99=450 minutes

Is there a pattern starting to emerge?

Consumers should have a choice to buy a device with or without Cell minutes or Data, just like on USB and PCMCIA devices and Netbooks.

The Industry falsely advertises to have $30 Data plans, and yet when one attempts to purchase/activate the device they require a minimum of $70 !

Keep in mind that the Industry has it’s own two prong approach, whereby on one hand, utilizing high end paid corporate legal council, assisting them to manouver around these laws and keeping them out of trouble, while on the other hand their Industry lobbyist are busy counceling/bribing the legislators to “work” their magic.

That is why it has to get really obvious, before the FCC can take any action at congressional level, and the Industry knows it, entities such as the BBB are of no power, but at best serve as a methodological tool of reference regarding future evidenciary case documentation!

The good news, it is slowly but surely getting there.

Thank You

F1 is back to being a pompous crybaby with JJ along to cosign

donluie,
Good one. I love your insightful and smart comment. I wish more people on phonenews would give great comments like yours. Keep it up. That comment really helps people to…..I’ll have to think about it a little since it is so full of meaning and would like to apply it to its fullest. Thanks for helping all of us here on this site with your great tip.

President Ronald Reagan, described the Internet,
as “the Information Super Highway”, as with any “Highway”, any “Driver” has access to it. Which brings us to the joy of “Freedom of Speech”,
as it is demonstrated here so vividly, and it can be expressed more eloquently:

“Great Spiritis have always encountered violent opposition from Mediocre Minds” “Albert Einstein”

Thank You

well you must really be happy now sprint customers best buy just lowered the phones another 30 dollars for the cyber Monday sale. HTC Hero is now 69.99 all went down 30 except the palm went up to 99.99