When word got out that the Sprint would require customers to carry a $70-per-month plan if they wanted to rock an Instinct, folks were a bit worried about whether or not their SERO plans would keep them from activating. (For those who don’t lurk phone forums, SERO is intended as a discounted plan set for those with friends/family that work for Sprint. In practice, it’s a discounted plan for anyone who can track down a Sprint employee email address)
To the surprise of many, the Instinct activated just fine on the SERO plan. No sneaky workarounds or trickery needed - it just worked. Unfortunately, it wasn’t supposed to work. Only those on the $99 SERO Unlimited plan were supposed to have been allowed.
Hoping to grab the “Worst Reaction of the Week” title, Sprint has decided to essentially push the blame onto the customers. Rather than eating the loss as a system error they should have covered from day one, they’re calling up SERO/Instinct customers and giving them an ultimatum: Change plans, or give us the phone back.
Losing money sucks, but once the customer is signed and out the door, it’s on the lap of the company that allowed the screw up to slip through. Sprint has yet to respond, though a number of customers have confirmed the situation.
[Via Phonenews]
Come on, if you are not a Sprint employee, but you impersonated one (in practice), then you don’t think that’s on the wrong side of the argument?
Comment by jeff — July 1, 2008 @ 6:11 am
@1 SERO plans are for friends/family of Sprint employees, not just the employees themselves. Who’s to say you aren’t somehow indirectly friends/family of someone and just don’t know it?
Comment by Kevin H — July 1, 2008 @ 8:22 am
Also, Sprint has gone on-record saying anyone can sign up for SERO… you don’t need to know a Sprint employee. They confirmed that’s just a marketing gimmick.
And, Sprint has also released special emails allowing the public to sign up using the SERO web site, such as savings@sprint.com
Comment by Christopher Price — July 1, 2008 @ 12:17 pm