Sprint PCS Info - Exising Customers Are Phone Buyers Too

Update: Some have jumped to the conclusion that we alleged a Sprint sales manager at the national level issued this. We did not say that there was an order given to do this from any authority above the regional level. However, there is evidence of coordination in adopting this policy. We hardly ever received reports of such activity until EV-DO launched, and now we are hearing reports of being denied the ability to purchase devices on a daily basis. There were shortages before, there are shortages now. Thus, we raised the quesiton of how this incorrect policy was adopted so widely, so quickly (hence the "as far as we can tell"). We have clarified the policy, and there has been no error in our reporting.

There has been a lot of recent miscommunication to Sprint Stores in regards to new phone releases. As far as we can tell, stores that have been instructed to not sell new phones (such as the MM-A900) to existing customers due to low supply are doing so against Sprint policy. It appears that someone high-up did not read the merger master playbook about how cold phone sales are to be handled identically. At a time when someone would want to stuff a phone under a Christmas tree, being told they can't buy a phone and activate it later is well, wrong.

There are some exceptions, it is common affiliate market policy to hype commissions for sales reps by holding supplies of new phones for existing customers. Their rational? They're not part of Sprint, they can do what they want.