Sprint Offers Minimum $200 Trade-In Credit To Lure T-Mobile Customers

T-Mobile CEO John Legere has made it a point to attack industry heavyweights like AT&T and Verizon on a regular basis, often with profanity and inflammatory language. T-Mobile’s various “Uncarrier” initiatives have been designed to siphon off customers from its larger rivals, and 2014 proved to be especially fruitful, as the company was able to add 8.4 million customers.

More recently, Legere has made it a point to go directly after Sprint’s third place position in the U.S. wireless market. While T-Mobile fell short of securing the third place spot during 2014, it is starting off 2015 with yet another promotion that reminds of the line often repeated by so many used car dealership: “Bad credit? No credit? No problem!”

Sprint has been relatively quiet as T-Mobile has courted customers with programs like Data Stash and Smartphone Equality, but it is hitting back today in full force with a trade-in program which specifically targets T-Mobile customers. The program, which will run through April 9, will give T-Mobile customers a guaranteed $200 trade-in when they trade-in their cell phone and come to the Sprint wireless network. However, customers can get up to a $350 trade-in credit depending on the condition and type of phone that is traded in. The credit can be used to pay the billing balance on a customer’s new Sprint account or to pay off the early termination fees associated with ditching T-Mobile.

“Our industry-leading program gives customers a clear and immediate financial incentive to turn in their old phone,” said Chad Lander, director of Sprint’s buyback and phone trade-in program. “We’re able to target customers, like those from T-Mobile, offset any termination fees, and provide a far superior offering.”

Sprint is feeling the heat from a surging T-Mobile, and 2015 will definitely be a neck-and-neck race between the two companies for the third place position. This new buyback promotion is definitely a nice perk, but we feel that Sprint is probably going to need a lot more ammunition to fight off Legere this time around.