@Red_Flag: that hasn't been my experience...but you cannot seriously expect a CDMA network to provide services for GSM phones... it just does not happen (but it can go the other way around)

@waystland:

PS im NOt sprint but TELUS same thing and same stupid customers that want something for nothing.

OMG. the Cell company BUYS the phone from the maker for the FULL amount!
say the Moto w385 it costs us(the dealer) 299.00 for the phone, you want it on a 3 year plan the cost is $0.00 so they "give you a discount" but make it up through the term.
if you dont want a term buy the phone for 300.00 and get a month to month plan, then you can do what you want and stay as long as you want ther is NO ETF on M2M contracts!!!!!
put it this way you DONT GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING!!!!
your lower price is paid back.
If you already have a phone and com in to me i will set it up on a M2M plan... and charge you 25.00-50.00 set up fee, our dealership does not work for free and i get commissions for the set up.

I guess I'll just be satisfied in making Sprint earn my business everyday from this point forward. I'm not going to sign any new contracts unless they have something that is comparable to the iphone.

Cuts both ways.

Should've been retroactive for 6 months.

That picture is the ancient Sprint phone that I still use!

Whatever happened to the idea of just taking the $200 divided by 24 months = $8.33 a month and taking that off the beginning ETF each month. Or taking $10 off each month, $200 to $0, no games.

if you don't want a contract, BUY THE PHONE AT FULL PRICE. Simple. No ETF's. No headaches. Leave when you want. You can't expect a company to give you a phone at a significantly lower price and then let you duck out of the contract without them making some of their money back. It's business.

Realistically, the chart shows that they make all the money back on phone subsidies within 18 months. Trying to get $50 for the last 6 months of the term of the contract reeks of kicking you in the ass on the way out. Either slide it down by $10 per month over the last 6 months until it's $0 or stop an ETF @ 18 months. I guarantee the last month, they'll try to get the $50 first, and then only let it go if you complain.

Let me sum up - service contracts are crap, and people shouldn't stand for it. Buy an unlocked phone and activate - and don't use Sprint.

Now lets say I purchase just this phone for myself, and my contract gets extended. Does this now mean I'm on the hook for $600 ETF if I decide to cancel within the 5 months?

@logicalnoise:

Why is this annoying if you clearly have no desire to go to any other plan?

annoying since I just resigned with them(I hate verizon's BS, T-mobiles network sucks in the chicago subs and AT&T is a joke. Plus sprint had a good deal on teh HTC touch which was a good buy IMO. oh well I knew what I was signing up for.