Photon for free from Sprint - Motorola Photon 4G

I walked into a Sprint store at lunch today. I was just looking at the Photon and mentioned that BB had it for $99 plus trade in money for my Evo. They countered with $125 for my Evo so it would be $75 for the Photon. I said it is still cheaper at BB. So then they said even up trade plus a case for my Evo. So, I walked out of the store with a Photon and a case for no money. I didnt even bring my wallet with me. That was awesome! Just wanted to let everyone know that you still can get the Photon from a corporate store for gratis.

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pinch55 said:
I walked into a Sprint store at lunch today. I was just looking at the Photon and mentioned that BB had it for $99 plus trade in money for my Evo. They countered with $125 for my Evo so it would be $75 for the Photon. I said it is still cheaper at BB. So then they said even up trade plus a case for my Evo. So, I walked out of the store with a Photon and a case for no money. I didnt even bring my wallet with me. That was awesome! Just wanted to let everyone know that you still can get the Photon from a corporate store for gratis.
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I tried to get a corporate Sprint store to match the Bestbuy $99 deal. I also said I would buy a HD dock and Car Dock if the matched the Bestbuy price on the Photon.
The sales rep said they couldn't do it. I even brought a printout showing it was available just 3 miles down the road at Bestbuy for $99.
I asked to see a manager. He went and got the assistant manager and I asked him for the same deal as above. He also said he couldn't do it. I expalined that I am a Gold Premier Sprint customer with 5 lines on a business account. I've also been with Sprint over 12 years.
He said that it didn't matter. He couldn't do it.
I was amazed that a corporate Sprint store couldn't match a 3rd party retailer even after I said I would also buy an additional $130 worth of accessories.
I'm very disappointed. I ordered it from Bestbuy and I'm suppose to pick it up in the morning.

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People do not understand the difference between buying a phone from a corporate store and a third party store. The difference from buying a phone in an actual corporate store is the customer service that they get. Im a manager at a sprint store, its true that it might cost you more from buying it from us but you will definitely get your moneys worth. The customer service and the experience is pretty much what you are paying for... when you buy something at best buy or radio shack, you are just like buying from a retail store (luckys, walgreens, etc) when you buy something the cashiers just ring you out, just like at best buy, they just ring out the phone and give it to you, heres your phone have fun with it.. if you buy it from an actual store you're like buying it from like a bmw car dealer. You will be helped and get assisted by a consultant, we are the experts on these phones, we get trained hours of hours, we know the phones inside and out. Before you leave we make sure your emails are set up, we teach you how to make a call, send a txt msg, etc... we make sure before you leave you are an expert and you are using your phone to its full potential, we make sure you are getting your moneys worth. I have a customer who bought an evo 4g from radio shack, its been 3 months, she came to me and asked why her phone always dies so quick, 3 hours after she unplugs it, its already dead.. i ask where she got it and she said she got it at radio shack because it was free,i looked at her phone and her bluetooth is on, wifi is on, 4g is on..she didnt even know what the toggle widgets are for...worst part she ddnt even know about the android market...i helped her out and explained to her everything and all the cool features she can get, the end of the day, she was very happy and told me next time she gets a phone she will get it from me, she might pay a lil more but she will know how to use her phone fully so its worth the money
I'm not saying do not buy phones from best buys or radio shack, there are always pros and cons, for people like us here who already knows mostly everything about androids we might want to buy it there because were just searching for a better price...but for majority of people out there who doesnt know anything about these devices, its definetly worth buying it from a corporate store, they will get the customer service and the knowledge they will need to use these new devices. Its worth the extra money. Hope yall fellas understand why it cost more in a corporate, its the experience and the customer service that you are paying for
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bienperezii said:
People do not understand the difference between buying a phone from a corporate store and a third party store. The difference from buying a phone in an actual corporate store is the customer service that they get.
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You obviously do not work in the corporate store in my area. Not sure they even know what customer service is. Lying to customers, now that they know how to do.

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bienperezii said:
People do not understand the difference between buying a phone from a corporate store and a third party store. The difference from buying a phone in an actual corporate store is the customer service that they get. Im a manager at a sprint store, its true that it might cost you more from buying it from us but you will definitely get your moneys worth. The customer service and the experience is pretty much what you are paying for... when you buy something at best buy or radio shack, you are just like buying from a retail store (luckys, walgreens, etc) when you buy something the cashiers just ring you out, just like at best buy, they just ring out the phone and give it to you, heres your phone have fun with it.. if you buy it from an actual store you're like buying it from like a bmw car dealer. You will be helped and get assisted by a consultant, we are the experts on these phones, we get trained hours of hours, we know the phones inside and out. Before you leave we make sure your emails are set up, we teach you how to make a call, send a txt msg, etc... we make sure before you leave you are an expert and you are using your phone to its full potential, we make sure you are getting your moneys worth. I have a customer who bought an evo 4g from radio shack, its been 3 months, she came to me and asked why her phone always dies so quick, 3 hours after she unplugs it, its already dead.. i ask where she got it and she said she got it at radio shack because it was free,i looked at her phone and her bluetooth is on, wifi is on, 4g is on..she didnt even know what the toggle widgets are for...worst part she ddnt even know about the android market...i helped her out and explained to her everything and all the cool features she can get, the end of the day, she was very happy and told me next time she gets a phone she will get it from me, she might pay a lil more but she will know how to use her phone fully so its worth the money
I'm not saying do not buy phones from best buys or radio shack, there are always pros and cons, for people like us here who already knows mostly everything about androids we might want to buy it there because were just searching for a better price...but for majority of people out there who doesnt know anything about these devices, its definetly worth buying it from a corporate store, they will get the customer service and the knowledge they will need to use these new devices. Its worth the extra money. Hope yall fellas understand why it cost more in a corporate, its the experience and the customer service that you are paying for
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You've clearly never been to the Sprint store in Jackson, MS!! They didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. I had to educate four of the employees on their phone selection. What the differences were in the Photon and the Evo (aside from looks) and had to explain what rooting and unlocked bootloaders were. They seemed disinterested in helping anyone...even though I bought a total of 400$ worth of equipment from them, they acted like they could care less. I also had an appointment and waited about an hour to be serviced, meanwhile they serviced every walk-in that came in after me. My experience with Sprint "service" has been weak at best. I'd fully recommend going third party store....better deals, better treatment (at least at my local BB), and overall the only way I'm ever going to get my equipment anymore.

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SO here's a NOOB question for you guys. I have a sprint store with repair center near by that's actually owned by Imobile or something like that. Since this is owned by another company I'm assuming that this is NOT an actual corp store correct? I'm hoping I can get them to price match.
Also yeah... I don't shop anywhere for the customer service, because there is no such thing anymore unless you're buying a BMW or something along those lines, if I want to be informed about what I'm buying, I research it myself. It's all about scoring the best price.

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bienperezii said:
You will be helped and get assisted by a consultant, we are the experts on these phones, we get trained hours of hours, we know the phones inside and out.
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Really, is that why I have to tell the Photon designated "expert" at my local store the features of this phone? The guy is nice as can be and I always go back to buy phones from him, but not because he knows the phones so well. I went in after 3 days of owning my Photon to buy a screen protector and I knew more about the features on the phone than he did. He doesn't even own the phone and the store made him the Photon Specialist.
bienperezii said:
Before you leave we make sure your emails are set up.
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Wrong again. The store set up email on my Evo 4G on launch day and haven't set up a phone since. I have bought another EVO 4G, Epic 4G, 2 Evo 3Ds and the Photon during that time and was never asked to set up my email.
Nice try though.

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HYDE1000 said:
Really, is that why I have to tell the Photon designated "expert" at my local store the features of this phone? The guy is nice as can be and I always go back to buy phones from him, but not because he knows the phones so well. I went in after 3 days of owning my Photon to buy a screen protector and I knew more about the features on the phone than he did. He doesn't even own the phone and the store made him the Photon Specialist.
Wrong again. The store set up email on my Evo 4G on launch day and haven't set up a phone since. I have bought another EVO 4G, Epic 4G, 2 Evo 3Ds and the Photon during that time and was never asked to set up my email.
Nice try though.
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On his defense, they are supposed to do that. Sadly like in all jobs you have lazy employees. For instance, at Best Buy, we are also supposed to set up everything and demo an app or a feature for you (unlike what he said) and good stores do it very well (like mine) yet stores poorly run probably don't.
Even still all it takes is one bad experience and all stores and employees are casted as idiots.. For the most part, it SHOULD be a walk out working experience IF the employee cares about his work.
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I always buy my phones from the same corporate store. I had pro lens with my moment and 3 months after I bought it the manager switched me out for a EVO. The EVO was great, bought the new EVO 3d and 3 weeks out of my 30 days the same store switched me into a photon after a ton of problems with my 3d. First day I had the photon it started rebooting like crazy, the same store gave me another photon. I think if I had all these problems at best buy they would tell me to pack sand. Best buy wouldn't even repair a camera for me that bought the insurance on and was clearly broken.
Bottom line, sprint corporate store did everything they could to make sure I had a properly working phone and im a happy camper.
Sent from my Motorola Photon using Tapatalk

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HYDE1000 said:
Really, is that why I have to tell the Photon designated "expert" at my local store the features of this phone? The guy is nice as can be and I always go back to buy phones from him, but not because he knows the phones so well. I went in after 3 days of owning my Photon to buy a screen protector and I knew more about the features on the phone than he did. He doesn't even own the phone and the store made him the Photon Specialist.
Wrong again. The store set up email on my Evo 4G on launch day and haven't set up a phone since. I have bought another EVO 4G, Epic 4G, 2 Evo 3Ds and the Photon during that time and was never asked to set up my email.
Nice try though.
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Yes its true im not going to deny, some employees are jusy lazy and dont want to do their job right...but like what i said, guys like us here in xda would more likely buy it at a third party because were looking for the best price, we dnt need the customer service because we already know the phone. Sadly We know so much about the phone we make the employees look like idiots when we ask questions like rooting and all those stuff. Employees are only trained to certain extent, enough to answer basic questions for customers. In conclusion, guys like us here would benefit more from buying it in a third party store, but new comers and noobs like parents who is just about to start with a smartphone would benefit more from buying from a corporate because employees there are more educated with their product compare to those guys at best buy or radio shack.
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The past few years have definitely been better, for me at least, as far as customer service....until now.
/begin rant
We are Corporate-Corporate members. 9 lines, ALL OF WHICH ARE CURRENTLY UP FOR RENEWAL.
Ordered Photon through my Dedicated Care Rep and received it in the middle of last week. I see over the weekend that Best Buy is offering them at $99. I call my rep back and ask her about a price match. She said she could not do that. BB was also offering the screen protector with the phones. Even paying a restock fee, which I was willing to do at the time since it was my choice, I thought it would be in my best interest to return the one I had. She said I could just return the one I had to a corporate store and buy the one from BB.
I go to corporate store on Tuesday morning of this week.(~12 miles away) They do the return and charge me $35. I call BB to make sure they have one in stock and the sales rep says to check back with her during the day to see when my upgrade resets. She informs me over the phone about 4 hours later that it has reset and I head to BB.(~10 miles)
I get there and she has left for the day. The sales rep I deal with tells me that my upgrade has in fact NOT reset. He gets Sprint on the phone and 20 minutes later the reset is in. He hangs up and starts the sale.
Couple minutes later, he tells me the system won't let him sell me the phone. Again, he calls Sprint. 25 minutes later I'm told that I am outta luck and that BB can not sell phones to corporate corporate members. Noooo. That's not information that would have been useful earlier, WHEN THE OTHER REP WAS LOOKING AT MY ACCOUNT.
I go home PISSED. Email my Dedicated Care rep. She is out of town and I am given a different rep to deal with. I call her Tuesday afternoon. She tells me she doesn't know why BB told me that, they should be able to sell me the phone. She asks me if I want her to send me another. I ask her to credit my account the $35 restock fee for the run around I was getting. She asks to call me back, to get approval. She calls back and says that she can credit the acct. I ask her if I could just go to a Sprint store and re-purchase the phone at the original $199 price I paid and put this whole issue to rest.(to keep me from having to wait until the next week for the phone to arrive) She says that would be fine and apologized for my troubles.
I get to Sprint store Tuesday evening and they tell me they can not sell me a phone but they could order it over the phone for me! I call Dedicated Care from right there in the Sprint store and get a different (my 3rd) Dedicated Care rep. She tells me that I should never have been told to return my original Photon to a store (not even a Corporate store), that I should never have been told that I could purchase a device from anyone other than my rep, unless I let a store order it but why in the hell would I drive to a store to have them order a phone from someone that is in my current phone's contact list?
Again, I am asked if I would like her to mail me another. I tell her to take the nearest phone to her, turn it sideways and....well, I wanted to say that.
I tell her to forget it and just make sure my account is reset, both upgrade and contract obligations, and I will just hold off and weigh my options at this time.
I'm mean...holy cow! 3 Dedicated Care reps, 2 Best Buy sales reps and 2 Sprint reps on the phone at BB. Does information not get pushed down to the folks that are actually moving phones?
I will prbly end back up with the Photon. I really did like the phone but I didn't want to give them a sale at the time and am holding out hope that my personal Ded. Care rep realizes that my business has ZERO contractual obligations with them at this time and will offer me something to make up for it.
/rant. Sorry for length. It was very therapeutic though.

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newalker91 said:
Being a corporate sprint store doesn't make them miracle workers, it's actually quite the opposite. Said stores are direct representatives of the corporate offices, which requires them to follow regulations to a T. These employees have little to no flexibility in their ability to bend the rules for customers, and if they were they are a thousand times quicker to get fired than someone at, for example, Best Buy. They are bound to making you do mail-in rebates, pay sticker price and whatever else the corporate offices feel like narcing on at that moment. Quite frankly, if I were lucky enough to work at corporate I would be doing the same thing they are so I dont jeopardize my very well paying job.
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I work at a corporate store and i must say its nice to see someone that gets it. Believe me if i could change the price of the phone i would. I get paid on phones so why in the hell would i turn away a sale if i had the means to keep it.

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Well, the OP said it was a corporate store that gave him the deal. I've read of other people that said corporate stores discounting phones but know you guys say it can't be done or if it is the sales person could loose there job.
Sprint is willing to loose a sale to bestbuy (Sprint has to give Bestbuy the contract renewal bonus) but can't take care of a LONG time customer.
I've pretty much got to be one of there best types of customers.
1) Been with Sprint/Nextel about 12 years.
2) 5 lines all with unlimited data yet I average only about 1.1gb of data a month combined between all 5 unlimited data lines.
3) All 5 of my lines use less than 400 anytime minutes a month and usually less than 1200 total minutes combined a month.
4) I've never returned a phone for any reason (I see some peopel have indicated that they have had multiple bad phones and I wonder how many of them are full of crap) I've never returned anything, thus not costing Sprint.
5) I've never asked for nor received a "credit" of any sort by complaining about service/coverage/droped calls etc...
6) I've had insurance on every personal phone of mine (1 of the 5 phones) that I've had for the last 10 years or so. Yet I've never made a claim, ever!
I don't need customer service. I need a phone at a decent price, I would of thought Sprint could of done that for me. I guess not.
BTW: I did get my Photon today from Bestbuy. What pleasent experiance. I ordered it online last night for instore pickup today. I got my email this morning saying it was ready. I walked into Bestbuy and 10-15 min. later I walked out with my new phone. No mumbo jumbo trying to "set up" my phone for me. I just wanted a new phone and that is what I got.

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bienperezii said:
People do not understand the difference between buying a phone from a corporate store and a third party store. The difference from buying a phone in an actual corporate store is the customer service that they get. Im a manager at a sprint store, its true that it might cost you more from buying it from us but you will definitely get your moneys worth. The customer service and the experience is pretty much what you are paying for... when you buy something at best buy or radio shack, you are just like buying from a retail store (luckys, walgreens, etc) when you buy something the cashiers just ring you out, just like at best buy, they just ring out the phone and give it to you, heres your phone have fun with it.. if you buy it from an actual store you're like buying it from like a bmw car dealer. You will be helped and get assisted by a consultant, we are the experts on these phones, we get trained hours of hours, we know the phones inside and out. Before you leave we make sure your emails are set up, we teach you how to make a call, send a txt msg, etc... we make sure before you leave you are an expert and you are using your phone to its full potential, we make sure you are getting your moneys worth. I have a customer who bought an evo 4g from radio shack, its been 3 months, she came to me and asked why her phone always dies so quick, 3 hours after she unplugs it, its already dead.. i ask where she got it and she said she got it at radio shack because it was free,i looked at her phone and her bluetooth is on, wifi is on, 4g is on..she didnt even know what the toggle widgets are for...worst part she ddnt even know about the android market...i helped her out and explained to her everything and all the cool features she can get, the end of the day, she was very happy and told me next time she gets a phone she will get it from me, she might pay a lil more but she will know how to use her phone fully so its worth the money
I'm not saying do not buy phones from best buys or radio shack, there are always pros and cons, for people like us here who already knows mostly everything about androids we might want to buy it there because were just searching for a better price...but for majority of people out there who doesnt know anything about these devices, its definetly worth buying it from a corporate store, they will get the customer service and the knowledge they will need to use these new devices. Its worth the extra money. Hope yall fellas understand why it cost more in a corporate, its the experience and the customer service that you are paying for
Sent from my MB855 using XDA Premium App
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I manage a Best Buy Mobile store and while I'm not going to say you don't provide great customer service in your store, it's inaccurate to state that Best Buy Mobile doesn't provide quality service as well. We perform all the services you stated, for free, in addition to having better prices and impartial service in a non-commission sales environment. Not all consultants or stores are created equally, and I'm sure there are good/bad Best Buy Mobile's just as there are good/bad carrier stores, but to say that you're the only store that provides quality service and goes above and beyond for customers is wrong.

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pfroo40 said:
I manage a Best Buy Mobile store and while I'm not going to say you don't provide great customer service in your store, it's inaccurate to state that Best Buy Mobile doesn't provide quality service as well. We perform all the services you stated, for free, in addition to having better prices and impartial service in a non-commission sales environment. Not all consultants or stores are created equally, and I'm sure there are good/bad Best Buy Mobile's just as there are good/bad carrier stores, but to say that you're the only store that provides quality service and goes above and beyond for customers is wrong.
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if you're trying to say that Best Buy goes above and beyond for customers then you are dead wrong.
Best Buy is the worst electronics store i've dealt with, even Comp USA is better to deal with than best buy.

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DualSportDad said:
if you're trying to say that Best Buy goes above and beyond for customers then you are dead wrong.
Best Buy is the worst electronics store i've dealt with, even Comp USA is better to deal with than best buy.
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Like I said, not all stores or employees are equal. But I see it every single day. A company does have to keep an eye on it's bottom line in order to stick around, and sometimes the requests of our customers are so far beyond profitable that we couldn't stay in business if we met them, but in my experience the average day to day experience for customers in my store is very positive.
I have been around long enough to see some douchy things but they are definitely not the norm.

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pfroo40 said:
Like I said, not all stores or employees are equal. But I see it every single day. A company does have to keep an eye on it's bottom line in order to stick around, and sometimes the requests of our customers are so far beyond profitable that we couldn't stay in business if we met them, but in my experience the average day to day experience for customers in my store is very positive.
I have been around long enough to see some douchy things but they are definitely not the norm.
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i bought a lot of stuff from best buy at one point all around the same time. it was a wide range of things from computer hardware, camera, Sirius satellite stuff etc. i bought the extended warranty on everything. the items that did end up needing to be repaired were denied. i called corporate, the warranty company everything, i was told to go pack sand.
i should have known what a total POS company best buy was when i bought my camera and when i got home and tried to use it it wouldn't turn on. i took it back and they didn't have the same model, you wouldn't believe how much trouble i had to go through to get a replacement camera. i mean the camera was literally about an hour old.
i never had any request that were unreal, i just wanted my stuff working and i paid for the warranty on all of it, and even the one hour old camera was a pain to get resolved. with sprint i bring a phone back months later and they do their best to make sure that i get a properly working product. i pay for the extra warranty and i have used it once to get a speaker replaced on my evo and no questions were asked the phone was fixed in less than an hour, even with my phone rooted with CM7 on it.
a little extra: my friend just bought a evo at best buy for $1. they talked her into some sort of best buy tracking software (or what ever the hell the program is) that cost her $40, and then a screen protector that is a pile of crap vinyl distorted looking thing and a really, really really cheap silicone case for i think she said another $40. the person at the store didn't help her try to understand her phone at all. the next day she went back to try to get help setting up her e-mail and best buy told her to call sprint for help or go to their store and have them show her how to do it.

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DualSportDad said:
i bought a lot of stuff from best buy at one point all around the same time. it was a wide range of things from computer hardware, camera, Sirius satellite stuff etc. i bought the extended warranty on everything. the items that did end up needing to be repaired were denied. i called corporate, the warranty company everything, i was told to go pack sand.
i should have known what a total POS company best buy was when i bought my camera and when i got home and tried to use it it wouldn't turn on. i took it back and they didn't have the same model, you wouldn't believe how much trouble i had to go through to get a replacement camera. i mean the camera was literally about an hour old.
i never had any request that were unreal, i just wanted my stuff working and i paid for the warranty on all of it, and even the one hour old camera was a pain to get resolved. with sprint i bring a phone back months later and they do their best to make sure that i get a properly working product. i pay for the extra warranty and i have used it once to get a speaker replaced on my evo and no questions were asked the phone was fixed in less than an hour, even with my phone rooted with CM7 on it.
a little extra: my friend just bought a evo at best buy for $1. they talked her into some sort of best buy tracking software (or what ever the hell the program is) that cost her $40, and then a screen protector that is a pile of crap vinyl distorted looking thing and a really, really really cheap silicone case for i think she said another $40. the person at the store didn't help her try to understand her phone at all. the next day she went back to try to get help setting up her e-mail and best buy told her to call sprint for help or go to their store and have them show her how to do it.
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If your warranty claims were denied they were probably caused by something that is explicitly not covered by the warranty. (Accidental damage, water damage). Two versions of most plans are offered, one covers accidental, one doesn't. The camera you purchased sounds like it was the last one in stock. Even big box retailers have a limited quantity of product they keep in the store and have to be replenished. We don't charge $40 for tracking software. The phone locating and remote lock software is included with the optional accidental damage warranty on phones, the other $30 is to allow her to sell back the phone for up to $300. We don't carry $40 silicone cases, silicone cases are $20. The screen protector is fine, Zagg brand, it just looks like crap if you don't install it right, which she probably chose to not have us do because we guarantee the install and she could have it reinstalled if she isn't satisfied.
Email they should have offered to set up and should not have turned her away. I'd suggest having your friend mention it to their manager so they can correct the behavior.

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kgbcapthowdy said:
I work at a corporate store and i must say its nice to see someone that gets it. Believe me if i could change the price of the phone i would. I get paid on phones so why in the hell would i turn away a sale if i had the means to keep it.
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I concur.... I hate seeing people walk because BB or RS offer the exact same phone for a fraction of the price that we do. I wish we had the capabilities of price matching. People have a very bad misconception of the power that we as corporate stores have.
It's actually pretty sad because shortly after, they normally walk in the store stating "BB or RS or Sam's or insert random store here told me to come here to get my contacts transferred over" and like the corporate tool that I am I must oblige even though you didn't bother to buy the phone from me at all. Then as soon as I try to upsell on the opportunities that were stolen from me, I'm told "Oh well RS or BB has that cheaper"...