does anyone use sprint canada?

[PalacePrincess]

hey,

does anyone here use sprint canada (for their regular phone line), or have any past experience with them? they have an offer going on right now that is almost impossible to refuse, and i'm thinking of switching over... so i'm just wondering what other people's experiences with sprint have been, to see if switching over will be one of those really good ideas or really bad ideas.

thanks!

[MamaPink]

yeah, i don't use 'em.

[Jay Funk Dawg]

I was thinking about it; but I've got them doing my sympatico, so it was going to be too much work to switch. I imagine that if it's a sweet deal go for it.

[badams]

Here is a list of questions that you may want to ask of any alternate local service provider:

1. Do you have a written service guarantee?

2. What is your response time if my service goes down?

3. Do I have to pay anything in advance or commit to any long term contracts to receive the prices you promise?

4. Who will I call for Repair service?

5. Who will I call for Directory Assistance? Will you provide an annual directory?

6. Will I be able to choose my long distance carrier?

7. What disruption in service can I expect, if I switch service providers?

8. Can I change service providers at any time, without penalty,if I am not satisfied?

9. Exactly what services are included in my monthly fee? Can I cancel any or all of them anytime?

10. If I cancel any services, will my monthly rate go up?

11. Will you ensure that all my directory listings remain as they are today?

12. Do you provide a 911 emergency service?

13. Do you offer Calling Card services or Call Me services?

14. What are the charges?

15. If I move, do you provide a free reference of calls?

16. Do you offer High Speed internet and cellular service or do I have to call somewhere else?

Currently I work for Bell but will be leaving at the end of this year. Bell does has its faults but I do know that 70% of our customers that leave for an alternate local carrier return within 1 year.

[Ms.Huxtable]

All very good questions Badams. I use Bell Canada at home and at work we use Sprint Canada. I'm in the corporate housing industry so about 300 of our units have residential Sprint Canada phone lines and long distance service. I am the person who deals with all telephone related issues and I am in contact with Sprint whenever necessary. I have to tell you I LOVE THEIR SERVICE! I am so damn frustrated every time I have to call Bell Canada and speak with that twit of a computer "Sofia". Sprint Canada has people answer their phones and I have yet to come accross one that isn't polite, knowledgable and accommodating.

Sprint Canada is much cheaper to. Gotta like that.

[Douglas]

corporate accounts usually = better service

I'm not saying that Sprint doesn't offer that sort of service to all clients, but it just doesn't seem like a reasonable comparison (ie: home use/corp accts).

I have been happy with Bell for all my telephonic years, and I doubt that I'd ever budge

[PhishyK]

Dude, just use YAK!

5c a min - USA and Canada. Dial 10-10-945 before any LD call. No I don't work for them. It's just cheap.

[badams]

Douglas you are 100% right.

Bell Business and Residential are completley different animals. Business accounts are handled in a more personal manner. If the account is large enough it will actually have a specific individual assigned to it.

Ms Hux you are 100% right.

Bells residential customer service is lacking. The automated "Emily" is a pain in the ass. The problem is this company has gotten so big they have forgotten how to provide proper customer service. New reps are forced on the phones without proper training. I could go on for days about the problems in Bell and that is why I'm leaving.

Sprint hoever is MUCH smaller than Bell in Canada and doesn't face the same problems we have.

Oh and YAK, a % of that comes to Bell so we don't mind people using it at all

[AdamH]

PP - Bell local with Yak for long distance has been pretty good for us. Our phone bills are around $40 bucks after tax, and that's with both sets of parents living outside of Ontario, plus all the friends in other cities that we harass when we're drunk.

[PalacePrincess]

hey everybody,

thanks for all the useful information. that's a great list of questions badams, i'll be sure to look into all of that. ms. hux, what you have to say about their customer service is inviting, and is definitely making me more comfortable about this.

douglas, up until right now, i was very firmly planted in the "why switch from bell canada? works for me!" ground. i remember a friend of mine telling me she used sprint for her home phone (i've asked her about this too, she gives thumbs up), and thinking that was so weird anyone would use anything other than bell. heck, they've had such a monopoly on the phone business, i honestly didn't know there WERE other companies you could get residential lines from!

it's the cost of sprint that's really making me lean towards switching. with bell, for the standard phone line, call answer, and call display (name and number) my base rate or whatever is about $48.90 per month (which has absolutely skyrocketed since i first got my phone). i'm on the first rate long distance savings plan, which is $4.95/month, and that includes one free hour during evenings and weekends, and anything beyond that hour is $0.10/min. even with this plan, i'm spending about $35 a month in long distance (on average). so that means with bell, my monthly bills are about $84.

sprint has a special offer right now that expires on thursday, i believe, that right now is available to residents of kitchener only (i don't know if that's true, but that's what they told me :. anyway, the offer is that you get the basic phone line plus two features (in other words, the exact same thing i have from bell right now) for $25.00 a month -- the "special" part of this offer is that is the rate i will be charged for as long as i have a sprint phone line. in addition, they have a few different long distance packages, the one i recall is $0.05/minute (evening & weekends) with no monthly fee. (there's some other one too that's $1 per month with a certain number of minutes & i forget how much minutes are on top of that). with the $0.05/minute plan, and talking the same amount of minutes i do, that's still only about $18/month. which means, my total phone bill each month is going to drop to about $43 from $84. that's quite a savings... and i even get to keep my own phone number.

the sprint people are supposed to be calling me tonight... hopefully they'll catch me when i'm home because i'm really leaning towards this!

thanks again for the info, guys.

(oh, i don't even have a computer at home, so the internet thing isn't a concern)

[AdamH]

I would still suggest the Bell plus Yak thing. no switching, no plan at any time, and Yak is 5 cents a minute at any hour of the day. As I said with the same features you have and lots of Long Distance Calls, my last bill was $43.69.

There's bound to be a hidden cost in Sprint's game somewhere...if not a startup fee than a "regular" price that kicks in eventually?