Sprint-Nextel has been an underdog among mobile phone providers. Maybe due to its such status, it has to try harder, and they have won me easily.

I fulfilled my 2-year contract with AT&T Wireless a while ago, and it was well overdue to upgrade my phone by August 2009. The easiest way to upgrade would naturally be through AT&T Wireless without service interruption. When I talked to them on the phone about a mischarge on my bill, they offered very little help regarding a phone upgrade while refusing to remove the mischarge. I called their local store about 10 times before hearing a human voice. When I went to the store to try to look and feel the available smartphones, I saw few selections and waited for 15 minutes without being served due to understaffing or the busy hour. I went to the nearby Verizon Wireless store, and the outcome was very similar - few selections and a long waiting time. After giving up and on my way home, I spotted a Sprint store and went there without hesitation because I had already started considering Sprint after researching online. I received enthusiastic and very informative help, making me decide to switch to Sprint on the spot, though I did not purchase the phone from the store.

I purchased HTC Snap, a smartphone, from LetsTalk.com with a 2-year contract for $75.99 on 2009-08-14 and received it on 2009-08-21. HTC Snap without a contract costs $520. The phone was supposed to be activated and ready to use with the phone number transferred from my previous carrier, AT&T. It did not work out of the box. I went online and chatted with their technical support. The help was effective, friendly, and patient. The problem was resolved fairly quickly. I also set up my account for paperless statements and bill-pay online fairly quickly.

Sprint service has the following pros:

1. Very good signal quality.
2. The most inexpensive plan with unlimited data ($70/month).
3. Discount of 10% for credit union members.
4. Free GPS navigation with excellent quality and rich features (complete to my surprise).
5. Numerous video channels from news to entertainment.

(originally written on 2009-08-24)