European style RMA

You know how on every carrier in the US, if something goes wrong with your phone within the first year, and it's not your fault, you can use your warranty and just bring it in to a store and they will swap it out with a new one?

Well... in an unprecedented cost-cutting measure, last September, Sprint did away with this measure. Now you are blackmailed into signing up for equipment protection for that to take place. If you don't pay your monthly blackmail fee, you have to pay the nerds in the back $35 to "diagnose" your phone. How did I find this out? Well... I found it out the hard way when the speaker on my EVO crapped out and blew out.

I said to them... WTF dude this is some kind of blackmail? I'm not paying for this garbage, are you familiar with everyone else's policies? To which he said if I don't wanna pay $35, I need to contact HTC directly, you know how they do in Europe... (then the fucker tried to convince me that other carriers work the same way, but that didn't fly too well with me)

Essentially, instead of X amount of money going to pay for in-store swaps (if for nothing else then to match Apple), Dan, the Genius, Hesse decided to employ 3-5 nerdy dorks in the back "to repair and diagnose your phone".

Well Dan, at least you are tackling America's unemployment problems head on!

P.S. I ended up paying big brown $28 to ship this thing to HTC in Texas. They fixed the phone and sent back the original (TIMES ARE TOUGH RIGHT?). And I was without phone for 2 weeks. I guess you got me Sprint. You Win. Joke is on me.