RELEASE DATE from Sprint Customer Service April 15th or 16th

Make sure you go back to the store and tell the rep you spoke with to have it notated in the account... that way it wont be a she said he said situation:foot:

Oh I will believe me..I've lost it with several of their reps.:embarassed:
As far as service, call quality and features Sprint is the best for me unfortunately their actual customer service lacks, well when you call anyway.
I prefer to deal with folks at the store.:laugh3:

I just called again myself and they told me the standard answer... "before June 30"- for some reason I was connected to Tier 2 CSR manager and I trust his remarks... he said he was looking forward to the release as well and he has never seen such a tight lipped highly controlled Hype machine...

If anyone calls Sprint or goes into the store and a CSR tells them the date of the release, I suggest calling back and reconfirming or getting the name of the district manager or store manager that you heard it from and confirm with them...

Also get the name and CSR's number incase upper management want to know. I don’t like rumors... Please try and confirm before we bring a date to the forum

I agree, spreading bogus rumors won't make anything any better. But, I will say, I'm very optimistic that we won't have to wait until June now that I see that Sprint is already putting the Pre in official ads. Working in a corporate environment, I know my company doesn't start advertising something until it's pretty close to being available. Last thing they'd wanna do is get people hyped up by showing it off and then tell them they can't have it for 3 more months... then again, maybe Sprint is that boneheaded.. who knows LOL

Hey Lynx,

I don’t think anyone here is spreading rumors, I hope. I think everyone is super excited :laugh3: I totally agree to not take their information as factual until we have something that is concrete... When I called it was funny to hear it was pushed back and then told maybe within a month...


What I find most interesting in all of this so call April release is that their Tier 1 CSR's have some information on release date, whether is factual or not, and when you get to the higher level is the same statement as Palm. One of the things with a Multi level CSR system that sucks is that all the relevant information is not disseminated uniformly. SO you get people who tell you one thing and others don't know anything. I think is cool people are calling and getting different dates or information. It at least makes for some discussion and speculation... I was getting tired of looking at the same videos and info (that is so not true...lol).

It's possible that the reason we don't have a concrete date yet is because Palm doesn't want to put a final release date on an unfinished product. While "the first half of 2009" is a pretty general guideline, setting a date puts pressure on the developers, which might cause them to cut corners and half-ass things on the phone, lowering the overall value. And you know as do I that a half-assed Pre would kill us as well as Palm.

So take your time Palm, but don't keep us waiting too long!

I agree that we will probably not have to wait until June but I can't imagine it will be April 15th. My guess for the contest was April 30th but I think that is just wishful thinking.

Or perhaps this is an attempt by a person (or persons) to get Sprint to set the record straight? If the internet can be used for good, why not for bad? Why not pigeon-hole a company (i.e. Sprint) into a tight spot where they have no other choice but to announce the REAL price (in an effort to protect themselves from the outcry) and a real date?

Don't fall for it Sprint - release the date on YOUR timetable!!!

ronny b.

Just thought I'd point out that we have a celebrity in our midst. Inittowinit's post has been referenced in some stories:

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Palm-Pre-Launch-Date-april,news-3759.html

There was another website too, but I can't find it now. Anyway, congrats.

Funny this site was labeled as ET and not EPre. Eh, whatevs.

I think I saw a few mentions of his post in some tweets too.

I am just Skeptical that’s all... I want the phone out yesterday, but I also believe in some evidence as well

I want to ask inittowinit if he tried calling sprint back since last Saturday?
Did you get any similar responses?

I've worked for publicly traded companies before (I work for a privately held firm now) and I've seen posts from many people who just don't have a clue.

If the Pre were the best thing since sliced bread, wouldn't Palm have the phone in the media's hands for reviews prior to release. I can tell you from working on product launches that you start building the hype in a huge manner BEFORE launch.

The average cell phone buyer doesn't have a clue what the Pre is. Sprint and Palm will have the propaganda machine running at full steam before the phone hits the shelves.

That has yet to happen, which means no Pre next week.

Doubtful of the 15th

I talked with my rep at the Sprint store yesterday. He said delegates have been chosen but they don't have the Pre to the delegates yet.

He also said they have not been trained on the Pre yet nor do they have training dates announced yet.

He said look for it next month. This guy has sold me many phones and I trust him. He told me he would call me as he knows when it will be available, even if he doesn't have it to sell to me yet.

I really wish it would come out next week but I am doubtful. I just want it to work correctly when it gets here even if this means waiting until June.

May sounds very plausible to me. Since the Pre has been showing up in newspapers/magazines and a commercial, it seems logical that we'll probably see a mid to late May release. That's barring any unforeseen issues

It should be noted the post that started this maelstrom was his first and, so far, only contribution to the forums. I'm not saying that postcount = credibility, but it makes using him as a source all the more sketchy.

Best,
.

I can't believe how many news articles were written quoting the start of this article. Most CSR that aren't geeky and obsessive compulsively checking the news are going to know the real release date after any of us.
Every time I see a "tax day release" email my heart grows only to be immediately crushed when I open it and read a user on a forum predicts tax day.

Training???? LOL. What are they going to tell the reps, how to turn on the phone and program it for a specific number??

Sorry for the sarcasm, I know you are trying to be sincere and helpful with your post and the frustration is certainly not directed at you. My experience with Sprint is that their knowledge of Smartphones has been very, very limited.

It did not take me much time to figure out more about Windows Mobile than the overwhelming majority of Sprint reps ever knew.

We'll see how good your reps' info is. Could be accurate.

I'm pretty sure any comments from customer service reps about a specific date are not going to be accurate. I can't imagine any company allowing the reps to give out a real date w/o a more formal announcement from Sprint or Palm first.

I'm also assuming you have all signed up for the email from either Palm or Sprint to "tell me when it's available"... I'll believe it when I get that email or see an ad w/an actual date on it. Otherwise, no sense in believing any other dates that get thrown out there... it just gets everyone all excited only to be let down again b/c we still have to wait.

That being said, I think the release date is getting close and if Palm is smart, they'll give themselves at least a month's head start before the new iPhone is released at the end of June.