SPRINT SERO PROGRAM

Here are the details to get you started. If you have any questions, contact me, and I’ll clarify.

Credit goes to Malyshka at SD and MobilePro at FW. This summary is copied from their websites.

I) WHAT IS SERO? SERO = "Sprint Employee Referral Offer"

SERO is a heavily discounted plan for friends and family of Sprint employees. There are currently 3 different plans available:
(INDIVIDUAL PLANS ONLY- No family plans with SERO)
1: Sprint Employee Referral Offer 500 for $30 per month
2. Sprint Employee Referral Offer 1250 for $49.99 per month
3. Sprint Employee Referral Offer 2500 for $99.99 per month

Special Summary Added on April 5th, 2008
There are a few different things that have happened in past few weeks or so. I think it is excellent move for Sprint, but bad for those adding multiple discounts, not our fault as Sprint systems seemed to allow double / triple dipping in terms of discounted plans + discounts and crazy % offs :

1. All new Corporate discount additions now need a corporate email ID where Sprint sends an email and we need to follow through those links.

2. SERO plan does not allow Corporate discount on the new billing system. Which pretty much means that all new accounts on SERO will be on new plan and would not be able to add the Corp discount on SERO

3. This is still YMMV it seems --> Some people are able to use the email address in OP some are not -->From HoFo (horwardforum) people are confirming that all new SERO plans now would work only after the Sprint employee confirms adding you on SERO plan. This means the fake / real email addresses that we used to be able to use till now will now get an email from Sprint. When the Sprint employee confirms back via the email etc.

So, the way I see it is this :
1. Those currently on SERO are OK in terms of still being on SERO plan
2. Those on SERO + Corp discount will be OK only until they are on old billing system. But as soon as they are switched to new billing system, they will loose the Copr discount
3. This is still YMMV it seems --> Some people are able to use the email address in OP some are not -->New people trying to get SERO will need a real email address of Sprint employee would would really need to vouch for you
4. New people trying to add Corp discount will need their real work email IDs, so phony employees, and I am sure many were able to before, won’t be able to get Corp discount.

I just summarized from what I understood. Please correct as required.

TAKING ONLINE ORDERS NOW ( www.sprint.com/sero )- CAN ALSO CALL 888-882-4030 and enjoy free classical music during the day
Note: savings@sprintemi.com will get you into the site. However, there are reports that actually signing up with that email address sometimes gets you the Sprint Basic 200 plan instead. Others report that savings@sprintemi.com does not work when ordering over the phone.

Helpful insight should you choose to go with sprint.
Sprint Drops Complaining Customers

^^ Actually, the people they terminated were scamming Sprint for free services

UPDATED REBATES
FREE TEXT now until 5/31/08 [may be extended]

New $50/100 Phone/PDA/Data Card Rebates Expires 9/3/07
New rebate expiring 11/3/07 PDF Here
Sero-specific rebate Jan-Feb 2008?

Use one of the following codes to get $50 off your first or second bill:
SAVE50 EXP. 6/17
POWERUP EXP. 6/17
50RWC40

You can mention the code when you sign up or e-mail eCare at ecare1@cc.sprintpcs.com after you get your phone.

DOES NOT WORK FOR FAMILY PLANS. YOU CANNOT SHARE MINUTES WITH SERO.

II) WHAT IS INCLUDED WITH SERO?

- Unlimited Sprint Vision or Power Vision (Vision for Vision phones, Power Vision for Power Vision phones)
- Unlimited Mobile to Mobile
- Unlimited Sprint Picture Mail
- Unlimited Roaming
- Unlimited Text (Per SERO website: "Unlimited text messaging included with all plans through 2/16/08")
- Unlimited Nights & Weekends (Starts @ 9PM if signed up before 12/03/06, 7 PM for those after)(6 PM nights & weekends for $10/month).
- Nationwide Long Distance- Crystal Clear Calls
- Voice Mail
- Caller ID
- Call Waiting
- Numeric Paging
- Three-Way Calling

III) HOW MUCH LONGER WILL SERO BE AVAILABLE?

We do not know. Some rebates and perks have deadlines.

The Sprint Employee Referral Offer is for new customers only. However, existing Sprint customers who are out of contract and renewing a Two-year Subscriber Agreement are also eligible for this offer. Sprint Employees who are currently employee liable and receive the 23 percent discount are eligible to swap their plan by calling the Employee Accounts Group at (888) 876 8381.

Unfortunately, new Sprint customers are able to port their number from their existing carrier to Sprint when they sign into the plan but existing customers cannot port numbers from an existing Sprint account. Therefore, existing customers still in a subscriber agreement are required to activate a new line of service with a Two-year Agreement and are issued a brand new phone number. Furthermore, an existing customer may cancel the account early but a termination fee is required if the existing account is within the contract period.

An existing customer who has fulfilled the term agreement is treated like a brand new customer and is issued a brand new phone number.

Some have had success keeping their phone number by first porting it to a pre-paid phone, and then porting it back to their new SERO phone. Others have had some success with being persistent with customer care.

IV) WHAT IS THE $25 REFERRAL DEBIT CARD I KEEP HEARING ABOUT?
If you just got your new phone, you can dial #REF (#733) and enter the phone number of the person who referred you to the SERO plan (any fellow SDer on Sprint will do). Both you and the person whose phone number you entered will then each get a $25 gift debit card from Sprint. If you need someone’s number as a ’referer’, contact any of us here to help you out. You can get up to $300 in referral gift cards per year. Note that even though you have 30 days to see if you want to keep the service without termination fee, you only have 15 days to apply for the Referral Rewards Program from the time you initially sign up. You can refer anyone else 1 day after ordering your service and up to 12 times per year.
There are reports that this no longer works with SERO accounts. When you call, it will say this account is not eligible.

V) CAN I PRICE MATCH MY SERO PHONE WITH A PRICE I FOUND AT OTHER STORES?
This seems incredibly hard to do. Some have succeeded in getting a service credit by being persistent. inPhonics (a division of wirefly who handles all SERO plans) will NOT price match other stores, not even Sprint’s advertised prices!! If you absolutely want to get that phone for free at say BestBuy or some other store, you could buy it there and hope a CSR will convert your plan to SERO. This is definitely not the easy way of doing things, but some have had success. Be aware though that there is a good chance that you will be haunted by collections if you change your phone and/or plan after buying your phone at BB, CUSA, etc. See point 4.2

VI) CAN I USE MY PHONE TO TETHER?
A few phones can indeed tether undetected. Some of the smart phones (like the Palm 700wx/p) can tether after downloading some simple software found HERE.

VII) WHY IS MY PICTURE MAIL NOT WORKING?
Sprint usually neglects to enable Picture Mail (usually $5 per month but included as FREE on a SERO plan) when you sign up for SERO.

VIII) CAN I WATCH TV ON MY PHONE?
There are a limited amount of TV channels available on Sprint TV. You can stream live TV through ORB. Or, if you have a windows enabled phone (such as the 700wx) you can use slingbox to watch any TV program you can watch at home directly on your phone. Sprint has also some TV programming available for other phones, but this is not free of cost. No Sprint TV, Telenav GPS, Picture Messaging for PPC-6x00, Treo 700wx, Motorola Q or any other Windows Mobile phone.

IX) HOW CAN I FIX MY TEXT MESSAGING/PICTURE MAIL PROBLEM WITH MY 700WX? WHY CAN’T I SEND PICTURE MESSAGES WITH MY Q?
If you have a 700wx, you are not able to text to people who are on the Verizon or T-Mobile network until you install a patch. No Picture Messaging for Motorola Q, but PPC-6x00 have hacks available to be able to send MMS.

X) ARE THERE ANY OTHER DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE?
If you have at least 5 lines, you can qualify for a 5% discount. YMMV. Program Overview: The iDen Equipt for Business Program offers access, activation and data discounts (5%) to accounts with 5 or more active subscribers. Access and Activation discounts are applied via the following SOC Code: BUSEQUPT

XI) HOW DO I PORT MY NUMBER?
If you are currently with another subscriber (not Sprint), porting is easy. Just do not rely on inPhonics to do it. Just order your phone through inPhonics, and once you get your phone dial *2 and ask for "Tier 2 Porting Support". They should be able to port your number immediately. Do NOT cancel your other subscriber’s account until your number is ported (also make sure you are out of contract or you will be charged an early termination fee). If you are already with Sprint, it is much harder to port (refer to post #1, point #6 "If I already am a Sprint customer"). You can port a number at any time, as long as you have current ownership of the number you want to port.

XII) I EXCHANGED A PHONE WITH SPRINT AND NOW I SEE A CREDIT INSTEAD OF A CHARGE. DID I JUST GET LUCKY?
Unfortunately not.

XIII) I HEARD SPRINT JUST RELEASED A NEW EMAIL CLIENT. HOW DO I GET IT?
Sprint Mobile Email is available now for download at no additional charge to Sprint data subscribers on select Sprint and Nextel phones (started November 30, 2006). Additional features of Sprint Mobile Email include:
The ability to compose messages while outside data coverage, such as on an airplane, and save them for later sending.
The ability to view other folders such as sent messages, deleted messages and drafts.
The option to enable push mail notification to automatically synchronize the user’s mailbox whenever a new message arrives. Standard text messaging rates apply when this option is enabled.
The option to enable mail alerts to receive an audible alert whenever a new message arrives. Standard text messaging rates apply when this option is enabled.
See sprint.com for download instructions.

XIV) HELP! IT SAYS SERO IS NOT AVAILABLE IN MY AREA, NOW WHAT DO I DO?
Unfortunately, SERO is not available in all areas. If you are located somewhere where you know Sprint has good service, you can get around this limitation by using a different address. When you do that though, you will be limited to the area code of the address that you select.
Message edited by: UncleRico on 2006-12-23 14:28:04 CST

XV) $50 SPRINT UPROMISE BONUS
Upromise offers $50 per new line of service with Sprint with a maximum of $250 in a 2 year period. All you have to do it log into your Upromise account then under the other services heading there is a link to the Sprint offer. Enter your new phone number(s) within the first 60 days after activation and the bonus should appear as pending then funded within a month or two. Upromise funds can be set up to tranfer into a 529 account or pay off a student loan quarterly. If you are not able to make use of either of those don’t worry - fill out one of these forms and at the end of the quarter Upromise will send you a check! The program details say Sprint Employee Value Program are not eligible, so YMMV, but but it worked on my SERO plan.

If you’re already a customer, be careful about calling customer service too much:
Sprint Drops Clients Over Excessive Inquiries

Helpful numbers:

Employee Customer 888-876-8381
another # that can access your account: 877-541-5705
or, dial *2, it’ll take you to the customer service that can access your account
866-860-6241 is one of the quick response ones

Comprehensive List of Sprint Toll-Free Phone Numbers - Ripped from SD
1-888-715-4588 Activations
1-866-516-8519 Activations (w/o hold time)
1-866-207-7913 Retention
1-877-775-4886 Retention
1-866-818-1802 Buisness Retention
1-888-876-8381 Employee Accounts
1-888-211-4727 Customer Service (with hold time)
1-877-909-4806 Customer Service (with hold time)
1-800-658-7564 Customer Service (w/o hold time) - EXPIRED
1-877-822-7505 Customer Service (w/o hold time) - EXPIRED
1-888-788-4727 Business Customer Service
1-877-812-1223 Business Customer Service
1-866-581-9266 Business Customer Service (w/o hold time)
1-866-588-9907 Power Vision/Internet Support - EXPIRED
1-866-818-1944 Power Vision/Internet Support (Tier 2) - EXPIRED
1-888-547-8119 Collections
1-888-876-8381 Employee Customer Service (Includes SERO customers)
1-877-577-3574 Ensemble Customer Service
1-866-519-5698 Executive Services (For when things get really messed up) - EXPIRED
1-888-347-8988 Executive Services (For when things get really messed up) - EXPIRED
1-817-215-3070 Executive Services (For when things get really messed up) - EXPIRED
1-888-788-0788 Fraud Department
1-888-312-0050 National Business plan
1-877-688-1969 Porting Department (P2K Only)
1-800-477-4127 Rebate Line (Get the status of your Sprint rebate)
1-866-519-5698 (Or directly at 817-215-3070) Sprint PCS Corporate HQ/Executive Services/Escalations
1-888-253-1315 TeleSales - Phones & Accessories and Customer Service for Phone & Online orders
1-877-228-2257 Vision/3G Wireless Web Support Department - EXPIRED
1-877-888-1518 Password 4357# (HELP#) WLNP Priority Help Link - Help dealing with WLNP port problems
1-888-788-0788 Fraud Department
1-800-865-7786 Internal Marketing Opt-Out (Tell Sprint you don’t want your contact info to be shared with other Sprint divisions for marketing purposes)
1-888-226-7212 International Roaming
1-866-412-8513 Ensemble Accounts Customer Service

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First, log in on sprint.com, then...

(NOTE: For any of the "Current Usage" information, such as Data or Texting, you must use it before it will show up on that screen.)

Plan Details Page To Confirm SERO (Two Types):

Type 1 - If you are on the older P2K system, the description will be as follows:

Sprint Fair & Flexible Plan

* Adjustable Anytime Minutes
* $30 Minimum Monthly Charge
* AMERICA - ROAMING Included
* Nationwide Long Distance Included
* Unlimited Night & Weekend Mins. Included
* Nights: M-Th 7PM-7AM Wknd: F 7PM-M 7AM
* Unlimited Vision Access
* Unlimited Mobile to Mobile
* Caller ID, Call Waiting
* Three-way Calling
* Voicemail

NOTE: Unlimited Vision Access can mean Vision or Power Vision (i.e. Unlimited Data). Unlimited Texting will be displayed ONLY in the "Current Usage" section. Unlimited Data will NOT be displayed in the "Current Usage" section.

NOTE: Picture and Video Mail are NOT displayed as included anywhere. You can either test it on your phone or email e-care to confirm, but it is normally automatically added with SERO.

Type 2 - If you are on the newer Ensemble system, the description will be as follows:

SERO F&F 500- $30.0
Plan Features:
Sprint Fair & Flex
Caller ID
Adjustable Anytime Minutes
Call Waiting
Three-way Calling
$30.00 Minimum Monthly Charge
Voicemail
Nationwide Long Distance Included
Unlimited Night & Weekend Mins. Included
Nights: M-Th 7PM-7AM Wknd: F 7PM-M 7AM
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile (pcs to Pcs)

NOTE: Unlimited Data (i.e. Vision or Power Vision) will be displayed ONLY in the "Current Usage" section. Unlimited Texting will be displayed ONLY in the "Current Usage" section.

NOTE: AMERICA - ROAMING is NOT displayed as included anywhere. You can email e-care to confirm, but it is normally automatically included with SERO.

NOTE: Picture and Video Mail are NOT displayed as included anywhere. You can either test it on your phone or email e-care to confirm, but it is normally automatically added with SERO.

NOTE: If you are on the new system, you have *very little* chance of getting a corporate discount applied to your account. You can try emailing ecare from your account and *may* get lucky, but probably won’t. Sprint supervisors know to disallow it on SERO accounts now even if a CSR says they’ll do it.

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