How to Get the Best Price on a Sprint Phone Upgrade Under Contract

Approach customer care online or by phone instead of visiting your local store representatives. Local store reps are not usually able to give you better deals. Use the cell phone bill to find the Sprint customer service number and call them.

Plan to upgrade your Sprint phone under contract around the end of the month. Take advantage of the situation when reps are desperate for commissions on activations. Reps don't make any commission on the prices of the phones, but they always give discounts on phones. When you buy a new phone, add a few accessories and return them later if they don't appeal to you. This way you can get the best price on the phone upgrade.

Call the Sprint customer service and ask them for a better upgrade price. Visit the Omio website (see Resource 1) to compare phone prices. Mentioning your phone usage details and the Omio website prices to the Sprint customer care rep will usually net you the cheapest upgrade packages. Explain to the rep that your contract price is too expensive. Push them for a better deal by asking for a better contract price and any available special discounts.

Cancel everything in the contract which is not required. This is something referred to as "customer retention." Call the Disconnections department and tell them that you would like to cancel the contract. The retention specialists will propose an offer -- let's say, unlimited texting, calling plans, upgrades, etc. Sprint will never want customers to cancel and that is why its reps will do what it takes to keep customers happy. Be persistent.

Buy the phone at a retail price. Sprint offers discounts based on "time served" off of retail phone prices. If you want to upgrade your phone while under a contract, you may get a discount only if you have purchased the phone at a retail price.

Show the reps that your account does not have an outstanding balance and that you are a long-time customer. This will be an incentive for the rep to give you a better deal on your contract.

Tell the customer care reps that there are defects in your phone that were not caused by you, if this is the case. This will gain you several discounts and credits based on the specific defects.