Ok I have been using Sprint for the past two years and I am billed an addition charge (outside of my monthly contract amount) for using my cell phone outside the Sprint PCS network. This is called Roaming charges.
I originally signed up for Sprint becasue of the large network they have. When I have traveled to either Las Vegas, Ocean City MD, or Ft. Lauderdale I have always been in the network and only lost minutes when I made calls. However there are times when I am in more rural areas where Sprint does not have service. The charge is about .39 cents per min.
In the past, friends that had other services were charged for roaming when in the same areas because they were outside their local calling area. However some of them had regular service in parts of Up State NY when I did not. FYI, I am in NYC.
Now I see advertisements from other providers that state “NO ROAMING CHARGES”. Is this true? Can you make a call from ANYWHERE in the US, either inside or outside your calling area or providers service area and not be charged? It seems like there might be a catch to this. I could ask the providers themselves but I figure I would get more honest answers here.
Changing cell phones providers is a pain in the ass but I feel it would be worth it if I can a) increase my mins at a lower rate (yes the ads are better than what I am paying) b) not worry where I am because I am only losing mins.
Can anyone help clear this up? I understand this may also vary by the service so I would like to try to get insight from three or four different service users. I notice everyone seems to offer free long distance so I don’t think that is an issue. Right?
I’d like to know the answer to this as well. A deal with ample minutes, free long distance AND free roaming would win me over to getting a cell phone again.
well, as a longtime customer of sprint myself, i have to point out that the plans are often insufficient, the service contracts too long, the customer service surly, and the network spotty-
on the upside, they have a beautiful thing called a “customer retention department” whose job it is to prevent you from taking your business elsewhere. when i called i was out of my service contract already and all i had to say was “i’d like to close my account” they asked why and i said “i don’t get nearly enough anytime minutes for my money and i’m not willing to give up my 8pm night minutes”
they immediately offered me several thousand more minutes, and let me keep the 8pm. many of my friends have had their monthly bills reduced, more minutes added, extra charges refunded, and various other stuff. you never really know what that department is authorized to give you unless you ask- as a rule though, all of my friends with sprint who have gone through this have received most if not all of their requests.
if your service contract is not yet expired, just add it to the list of things that you are outraged about- like as not they will make extra efforts to calm your ire
good luck with sprint and all their customer service minions!!!
Thanks for the advice panache. I will keep that in mind. Did you have to renew your contract with Sprint? Mine expired 10 months ago (I had a one year contract). I like the thought of being able to change anytime I want right now. Did they add to your daytime mins as well? I have the 8:00 pm night mins too and I don’t want to give that up either. So far I haven’t exceed the mins in my plan but I have come close a few times.
Another option that some of the others are offering is text messaging. I believe ATT and T Mobile offer this. With Sprint you can use it but it will either cost you 10$ extra a month and mins used are deducted or use it at will but be charged roaming. Its not something I plan on using too often but it would be nice to know I can w/o getting charged.
There is roaming and there roaming. There are two things that are commonly called roaming. With the verizon contract I have there is specified a home area. Going out of this is called roaming. Using my phone with another company’s network that is also called roaming. I can easily see no roaming meaning the first case. No extra charge if you use the phone outside of your home area but still use the company’s network. Roaming agreements between companies are complex so I would think it could be hard to make a blanket statement about roaming to all other networks that your company has agreements with.
Thanks Gazpacho. AFAIK, Sprint does not have contract with other networks. You are either on the Sprint “Nationwide Network” or you are roaming.
So if you leave your “home calling area” you are billed for roaming even if you are still on the Verizon Network? It does make more sense if this is what they referr to with No Roaming but it is not clear. This would pretty much be the same as Sprint now.
Does anyone out here have total no roaming as the ads seem to imply?
Full disclosure: I work for Verizon, but not the wireless group.
My wireless plan is with AT&T, but I have to go roaming whenever I am in the subway, even though there is an AT&T central office & tower a few hundred yards away. My friend (who has Verizon) does not roam when in the subway. I suspect & believe that Verizon pays WMATA for exclusive rights in the underground stations & tunnels. Sneaky bastards.
I know I haven’t answered anything, but it pisses me off and I wanted to share.
I can’t believe that AT&T would be willing to offer me a “no roaming” plan unless they simply absorbed Verizon’s charge to them for picking up my subterranean calls.
I know that your digital phone from AT&T will not roam to Verizon’s Digital service no matter how much AT&T would pay Verizon. They do not use compatible technology. Are you roaming in analog mode in the subway?
There certainly are plans without roaming charges – I have one myself. The tradeoff is that airtime is commensurately more expensive. However, anywhere in the U.S. I go, if my phone can connect to the local network, there is no additional service charge. Beyond the number of minutes included in my package, a flat rate continues to apply
My plan through US Cellular has no charges for roaming nationwide. I’m charged a flat rate ($35 monthly) for 200 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend minutes. The catch is, the night and weekend minutes can only be used from the local calling area, and the fine print says they reserve the right to terminate your service if less than 50% of your minutes are used while roaming.
There’s digital, and then there’s digital. If your phone is TDMA or GSM (AT&T, Cingular…) then it isn’t going to work in areas with only a CDMA network (Verizon). It’ll drop down to analog mode.
I believe Sprint PCS uses similar technology to CDMA, but only operates on one frequency band (1900 MHz). “Tri-mode” phones can use analog, 800 MHz CDMA, and 1900 MHz CDMA PCS… which means a Verizon phone can use Sprint’s network, but a Sprint phone can’t use Verizon’s network.
I use the America’s Choice plan from Verizon, which they say means I don’t pay any roaming charges. And indeed, I’ve used my phone in Spokane, San Jose, and Philadelphia with no roaming charges.
I had to download a new PRL (preferred roaming list: tells the phone which networks to use) to sign up for the service, and I’m supposed to do it again if I ever see a roaming indicator. I don’t know if it really does cover every square mile of the US, but it’s worked so far.
