I am glad that I found your blog and I will be emailing you within a few days because I also have my own Story with Sprint that i'd like to share it with you. I am also going to need your advise as of how to proceed. Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you...

Got off the phone with the customer satisfaction team earlier this afternoon. They basically repeated AndroidSpin. I spoke with the initial CSR for a little. After getting nowhere, she referred me to her manager. Got nowhere with the manager, so I was bumped to the manager's manager. He kept repeating "premium data experience" over and over again and basically had a circular response to my questions, iterating between how websites load faster and how websites look better.

For his "how websites load faster" argument, I countered that Dan Heese, the CEO of Sprint assured customers that they would not get charged extra for 4g. No rebuttal, only the "premium data experience" bullshit.

For his "how websites look better", I asked him why is Sprint charging an EXTRA $240 over the life of a 2 year contract, Verizon and Tmobile do not charge extra for the Droid Incredible and Google Nexus One, aside from the bigger screen and wimax radio, are very close in hardware specs to the Evo. No rebuttal, only the "premium data experience" bullshit.

We kept at it for a good 5 minutes and his argument was "you knew about the $10 fee when you bought the phone".

So, if I buy the phone at full retail price... can I just use it on my existing plan? Seems like then I would be paying for all that extra goodness up front wouldn't i? I don't have the patience to sit through a chat session and grill the customer service rep on this, but it seems like if I pay full price for the phone there couldn't be any justification for charging me $10/month "for the hardware".

So, if I buy the phone at full retail price… can I just use it on my existing plan? Seems like then I would be paying for all that extra goodness up front wouldn’t i? I don’t have the patience to sit through a chat session and grill the customer service rep on this, but it seems like if I pay full price for the phone there couldn’t be any justification for charging me $10/month “for the hardware”.

You must pay the $10 even if you buy it outright. If the phone is on your plan, you MUST have the $10 Add-on.

Jouche, phones like Iphone and Blackberry require data and has "separate plans," but it's not an additional charge. It's not like you're paying X amount for data service and then Y amount for the blackberry or iphone charge.

With AT&T, you don't purchase $30 unlimited data plus another amount just to use the iphone. The blackberry has its own data charges, but again, not an additional charge.

Julie - 3G has already been included as "TRULY UNLIMITED" in all data plans that Sprint has for mobile phones. Simply Everything, Everything Data, Business Essentials, Business Advantage, and any data add-on plan has been offering unlimited data in 3G since inception. There has NOT been an unlimited 4G in a mobile phone until now, however to group 3G and 4G data being unlimited in that $10 fee is wrong and incorrect as one already has unlimited 3G data on the REQUIRED Everything Data or Simply Everything plans.

Its my understanding that other carriers charge more for certain types of phones like the Iphone.

Blackberry also has its own seperate plans, I don't know if theres a fee to use the blackberry however.

But whatever, the Admin has a point and a very good one. "Premium Data" is confusing if it is to explain the monthly fee supposedly for the hardware of the phone. Why not just say "Premium Hardware"?

Stopped into a Sprint store today to check out the phone. Nice first impression. When I asked when 4G was going to be available in my area , I was told by the end of the year. I then asked What the 10 dollar fee was for.

Wow!

First of all, no mysterious "level 3 supervisor" would make that disclosure. Second, how on earth would a customer service supervisor be privvy to all the behind the scenes discussions that led to the decision to charge the $10 extra dollars. That is senior level product management stuff and there is not a cance in hellthat a customer service supervisor would know abut it. Lastly, it coud be that the $10 charge is for the resources needed to build out the first 4G network and keep it humming as tens of thousands of new subscribers come on and start pushing and pulling data on truly "Unlimited" plans. I think somone made up the supervisor thing and the blogosphere ran with it.

Sprint Fail makes the key point - is this fee indefinate? If so that means this is a phone who's hardware costs more and more the longer you choose to use it. Not a good deal Mr. Sprint, not a good deal at all. It's clear this is a slimey attempt to gouge cash, and is not related to any additional expense incurred by you. Hardware related charges should be one time fees unless the equipment itself is leased.

The Customer Service Manager was mistaken. It is unfortunate, but it happens. The $10 MRC is a premium for what Sprint expects (and rightly so) will be increased data use on both 3G and 4G networks that the users of the EVO will drive. This is still a great value compared to competitors that don’t even have 4G and also cap data use. Did you realize that customers with an EVO have TRULY unlimited 3G and 4G data on the Sprint networks? As far as Sprint loyalty to their customers goes, you really can't find better value than Everything Plans with Any Mobile Anytime that also provides new device pricing every year since customers enjoy the benefits of Sprint Premier.

The Customer Service Manager was mistaken. It is unfortunate, but it happens. The $10 MRC is a premium for what Sprint expects (and rightly so) will be increased data use on both 3G and 4G networks that the users of the EVO will drive. This is still a great value compared to competitors that don’t even have 4G and also cap data use. Did you realize that customers with an EVO have TRULY unlimited 3G and 4G data on the Sprint networks? As far as Sprint loyalty to their customers goes, you really can’t find better value than Everything Plans with Any Mobile Anytime that also provides new device pricing every year since customers enjoy the benefits of Sprint Premier.

Thank you for your comments. May I ask what department of Sprint you work for? Your comment is stating that Sprint expects increased data on the 3G and 4G networks. You also state that the EVO customers have "TRULY unlimited" 3G data use... does that mean other phone users do not have unlimited data usage?

I also understand that there is a value of the Everything Plans with Any Mobile Anytime, but I'm not talking about phone plans.. I'm asking Sprint to clarify what "Premium Data" means. If my chat was skewed by a Customer Service Manager that was mistaken, and AndroidSPIN's phone conversation with a Sprint Level 3 Supervisor was also... mistaken, then what does Sprint.com's "Premium Data" feature mean by a "wicked fast CPU" and "oversized" screen? How is that not "HARDWARE"?

Here is the direct link: http://shop.sprint.com/en/stor...

So they actually came out and said it is for the hardware? Wouldn't this be like shooting themselves in the foot as hardware != premium data, I honestly cant think of a way to spin that so its true. Only way would be if the hardware of the phone allowed for a special data that you could not get on any other phone and the only one that it has that others don't if 4g but they have specifically said it is not a 4g fee. You could watch high quality youtube videos(if you know how) you could tether many phones, you could do anything this phone can do to some extent on other phones other than 4g.

All cellphone providers subsidize hardware costs for phones in their plan. BUT the $10 add-on fee being misrepresented on their website as "Premium Data", that add's nothing to your experience, is subsidizing the cost of the phone, is a first. I think it is a bad way to market it. All Sprint needs is a lawyer to come along and challenge Sprint to prove what "Premium Data" is. And when they can't come up with a good explanation, they would be forced to change the fee or remove it. Unfortunately, with our court system, this could take years... Now I'm hoping that Sprint doesn't pull this crap on the next Android phone to come out AND removes the fee!

...and if it is for hardware, the next question that must be asked of Sprint is "How long will the $10 fee be charged for users of this device?" If you sign a new 2 year agreement will it end after that period of time? What happens to users who purchase the phone outright? Why can't Sprint disclose when, if ever, it will end?

Please explain the fee!