Sprint to ditch mail-in rebates starting March 27th

By on Mar 23, 2011 at 6:31 PM
Exclusive March 23, 2011

BGR has learned that Sprint will be getting rid of mail-in rebates on its phones and other devices beginning March 27th, and we have confirmed with Sprint that mail-in rebates will be a thing of the past — at least for a limited time. A Sprint spokesperson confirmed to BGR that “Sprint will temporarily replace mail-in rebates in most channels, including our company-owned retail stores, with instant savings.” It all goes down on Sunday, March 27th, and it will continue for “an unspecified period of time,” the Sprint spokesperson told us. Sprint just seems to be rocking and rolling these days, huh?

Thanks, Mike!

Tags:
, , , , , , , ,
35 Comments

Related Articles

  • http://www.searingarrow.com AlienSix

    how about “forever and a day” Instead?

  • Anonymous

    How. . .2002 of them.

    • Anonymous

      ATT isnt doing this….. so I don’t follow.

    • Yesyes

      neither does verizon, t-mobile may be the only one that does not do mail in re-bates (i just checked their website)

  • Patriot1096

    Yeah, now if they would only release the Epic’s EC05 froyo update they promised would happen a few days ago.

  • John

    man i wish vzw would wise up & do this too.

    so pointless

    • Anonymous

      waste of time and a stamp.

    • Steve jobs

      VZW has already done this when they git the iPhone.

      • Monique

        Yes, vzw is already doing this. Move along.

      • Yesyes

        the iPhone does not come with a rebate… just a subsidized contract price **facepalm**

        i just looked at the Verizon website under smartphones or feature phones they still as of 1227PM EST have mail in rebates. Hell my pops is waiting on one right now.

    • Anonymous

      Verizon has been doing this forever. If you went to the store, the OG Droid was $300 on contract but with a mail-in rebate for $100, whereas over the web the savings were instant. It made sense to carry the online instant savings to real life so they did just that sometime last year..

      • Anonymous

        Not always. For most of the last year, VZW had mail in rebates online, with almost no instant discounts. Two years ago, when I upgraded online, I got two mail in rebate $100 Verizon debit cards.

        I like it much better this way.

  • http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/vendor/1111 Eric at Ebscer

    Would like to see everybody do this. There shouldn’t be any need for paperwork just to get a sale price.

  • http://twitter.com/endlessct9a John C.

    It’s a cash-flow play. The fact that they’re getting rid of this points to possibility of a somewhat unhealthy balance sheet and they’re just trying to book forward revenue by trying to entice new subscribers.

  • Cer

    Sure, rocking and rolling, and taking away everyone’s annual upgrade who is not a Gold Premier member on April 1.

    Really poor coverage on the change to the Premier program by all the mobile phone blogs, including BGR. Everyone should be up in arms. On March 31 I can get any Sprint phone for the new subscriber price, and then on April 1 I can’t. It’s ridiculous.

  • http://profiles.google.com/jonsarik Jonathan Sarkarati

    About fucking time. The only reason I ever step foot in a Best Buy is to get a phone and not deal with these stupid rebates whenever I get a Sprint phone for the fam.

  • http://profiles.google.com/jonsarik Jonathan Sarkarati

    About frelling time. The only reason I ever step foot in a Best Buy is to get a phone and not deal with these stupid rebates whenever I get a Sprint phone for the fam.

  • Anonymous

    My guess on WHY cellular carriers do the mail-in rebate is this: They position themselves so that they save more on those that forget to send in the rebates (or send them in too late) vs. the cost of handling and processing the rebates.

    This is old-school and I’m glad Sprint is doing away with the mail-in rebates.

  • Anonymous

    good this is the only reason i go to best buy and radio shack, instant savings>mail in bull shit, this is 2011.

  • Lechero

    or they could just get rid of the savings all together and you dont save anything and this way you dont have to waste your precious time filling out 30sec worth of paper work to get your $100+

  • http://www.sprint.com/4g Wireless Praying Mantis

    I work for corporate Sprint in one of their retail stores and I think this is a great sales tool we will be able to present in order to keep potential customers as well as our existing customers who are considering new service with us as well as adding an additional line of service to their existing account.

  • Anonymous

    Well, well, well………I could have completely avoided the torture I endured trying to have Sprint process my EVOOOO rebate, after all….

    Source:

    Me!!!!

    I spent roughly 8 weeks trying to track down and recover a rebate that took 4 months to finally arrive because Sprint failed to process it correctly twice even though my rebate submittal form was 100% correct and submitted before the July 24, 2010, deadline;

    1) the first check had the wrong address,
    2) the second check had the wrong name,
    3) the third (correct) check finally arrived November 17; it took more than 120 days
    (Rebate should have taken anywhere from 6-8-10 weeks)

    More importantly, it wasn’t the time it took or the stupid $100 bucks (which is an insignificant amount) but, in the latter two months between checks #2 & #3, respectively, I had to place at least 10 calls to either Customer Service or the Rebate Center to follow-up on the status since I realized that their automated Website Rebate Status System tool was also not showing updated information, only once did I speak to an American rep’ in TX; the other 9 were in either Singapore, Indonesia or Malaysia, and (I think) India, I even spoke to reps’ in Canada and Dominican Republic.

    In the end, ultimately, it wasn’t the rebate taking four months and it definitely wasn’t the voice or data service or even the number of calls I had to place but, it was my personal experience with Sprint’s Calling Centers that led me to cancel my EVOOOO but, fact remains, all brought on buy a F**k’d up rebate.

    I wouldn’t go back to Sprint at this point, not because of the voice or data service but, because I like it on those rare occasions when I do have to call Customer Service for whatever reason to speak with an actual American and not be subjected to an idiot in a foreign country where English is not the native language. With Verizon, I know that if I do have to call Customer Service, I definitively know that I would speak to a Michelle, Ann, Keisha, Daniel, Jessica, Ervin, Leshaun; all stateside continental U.S.

    • Amber Lamps

      I ain’t reading all that.

    • Anonymous

      The vast majority of Sprint’s CSRs now seem to be located in the U.S., FYI. Oh, and what exactly makes foreign CSRs whose first language isn’t English “idiots?” You come off as the far bigger idiot here.

      • http://twitter.com/neurojava neurojava

        Thank you bud. I was going to write exactly the same thing…:)

    • Mitchyb

      Really you are the idiot for canceling your account and paying an early termination fee, over a rebate. Should have filled it out correctly, or asked a your sales rep for help. I sell sprint, and it’s not hard to deal with most call centers. And at my store, we would have taken care of it for you. Glad you moved on to verizon where you will be paying more over the term off your contact then just “(an insignificant $100)” good luck crybaby!

  • dodgerjoe11

    Sweet! Now come on HTC Evo 3D.

  • Jouten

    I am so happy right now! I think I will go and buy a Sprint phone now (3/27)! I’m thinking HTC Arrive or MAYBE another Android device…

  • Anonymous

    Sprint is really trying to take over, Go Sprint

  • Anonymous

    Sprint keeps getting better and better!

  • Abk1011

    yeah its true. I know someone who works in corporate store. It may only be temp….but will see how it goes.

  • tx_dbs_tx

    Eliminating the mail-in rebate at this time and with the release of the new EVO 3D this summer = WIN!!! This will be a very good move by Sprint. It will certainly attract new customers as well as encourage existing customers to renew their contracts or add new lines of service. This isn’t a coincidence, Sprint has a plan and this is just another attractive incentive to switch to Sprint where you get completely unlimited data, cheaper plans that include a lot more for your money. Doing away with the rebates may or may not last, we’ll have to see how this turns out. I think it will stay for quite some time.

  • Caz

    Too bad it only lasts until 4/16 … as our internal Playbook says =

  • Anonymous

    Sprint seems to be doing everything right. I love it when a company goes through one of these phases.

    Hey Sprint, I am coming over just as soon as you release the EVO 3D

  • @j_nathaniel

    Good, now people can past the actual advertised price.

blog comments powered by Disqus