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So,
I am about to upgrade to my first smartphone from my trusty old nokia flip phone. Naturally, android is my OS of choice and i am now deciding on hardware. Here is where it gets tricky... I am a member of an AT&T Family plan. I am trying to avoid spending big bucks while still getting a good phone. My two choices seem to be the HTC Inspire 4G and the Motorola Atrix. It seems i can get the inspire for 69.99 from amazon wireless, but the Atrix remains at 149.99. Does anyone know the best price i can get an Atrix for on a family plan???
thanks for any advice,
I believe RadioShack has them for 79.99 right now. I could be wrong but even if it goes up it's 149.99
You can try adding a line and keep the new phone for better pricing. Then just rent out the extra line. That's what i did. I charge my friend 30 bucks and only pay 10 a month for his line.
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Best Buy has the atrix for 49.99
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thanks so far
well,
radioshack is a bust. I am a "added line", so upgrading to the atrix would have been $200+.
I have thought about the adding a new line trick but i really don't think the person that is the head of our plan will go for that.
I am going to checkout bestbuy in person later today. They only have a generic upgrade price on their website, not different ones for individual plans, family plans, and added lines like all the other AT&T distributors seem to have. Perhaps this is good news. I will update this thread with whatever i find.
Any other suggestions in the meantime?
Costco (not sure if changed) but I had early upgrade (18month+ mark) family plan atrix for 129.99 when everywhere else was either 150- $200 for family plan upgrade
The inspire upgrade was even cheaper at like $20 bucks
I second the Costco recommendation. They do a great job, and have a better return policy. And they give a cheap belt clip pouch as well.
From one cloud to another.
Got mine at Costco for $119 back in March.. came with the belt clip(now using otterbox Defender), and a car charger which I liked.
The last time I went to Wal-mart they had the Atrix for 78.88.. And I think Sam's has it close to that price too. They just revamped their cellphone area in the two local Sam's clubs here..
Good Luck
chronsbons said:
well,
radioshack is a bust. I am a "added line", so upgrading to the atrix would have been $200+.
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Click to collapse
Not sure what the sales person you spoke to was smoking. I've worked at Radioshack for 3 years and we've never charged different prices for "added lines" on AT&T. If you're eligible for an upgrade, you get the upgrade price. It doesn't matter if you phone is line 1, 3, or 5, the price is the same.
Now, we have in the past charged different prices for lines 3-5 on T-MOBILE but, well, the keyword there is T-Mobile.
EDIT (but not really, because I caught it before posting): Oh, I see what you saw. The Radioshack WEBSITE charges more for added lines on a family plan. Pricing does not work this way in the STORE. The online phone orders are fulfilled by a third party for our website, so they have their own rules regarding those things. If you upgrade to an Atrix in a Radioshack retail store, you will get the phone for $79.99.
Got mine at Sam's last week for $74.99.
Thanks all!
Thanks for all the info!
I now understand that in-store prices and online prices varry greatly and as a result will probably be picking my phone up from Best Buy, RadioShack or Sam's Club. I did all my shopping on the websites of the respective businesses which produced very high prices for smart-phones on family plan upgrades. Oh how i miss the days of Newegg and Wirefly ruling the smartphone pricing game.
I will be off to AT&T then best buy and the shack after work to decide between the atrix and the inspire and subsequently pick one up.
Special thanks to darkkterror for the insider info that cleared things up.
Awesome Result!
So,
After all the effort of trying to find the cheapest price for the Atrix in my area i bought it at the AT&T store. But wait... it gets better. I went into AT&T after i got off work to play with both the Atrix and the Inspire to help me decide which phone i preferred. Atrix won. At that point i asked the employees that worked at the AT&T store which one they preferred and 3 out of 4 had the Atrix. The deal was sealed. I then proceeded to tell one of the saleswoman that i was going to head out to BestBuy or RadioShack to buy the phone because it was cheaper at those locations. To which she responded; "oh, we do price matching!" I didn't even have to leave the store and i picked up the Atrix for all of $25 before tax. I don't even know why she gave it to me for that price, which sounds more like price-match/2.
I think the key to this story is what i overheard while i was being rung up at the cash register. Apparently stores in the same area compete for most sales. But they don't compete for most profit brought in, oh no, that would make far too much sense. Instead they compete for most devices sold! Thus making the price that they charge you for the phone irrelevant to the people ringing you up at the cash register. Definitely a good bit of knowledge to have when haggling with sales reps.
When i got my 3d yesterday the rep told me that after the 23rd of July there going back to mail in rebates .
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james873 said:
When i got my 3d yesterday the rep told me that after the 23rd of July there going back to mail in rebates .
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
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Big deal, stick to Radioshack or Bestbuy and they honor it on the spot. I used to dread getting a new phone when I only went to the Sprint store...for many reasons...that wasn't even one of 'em. Not to mention no restocking fees to worry about.
That and the Sprint store near my house is staffed by potentially the most inept bunch of fools I've ever seen. I've gone in for screen protectors and stood in line for 20 effin' minutes while the entire store piled up with more people...there was only one person in line in front of me...fully staffed store...and it was like nothing was moving at all. It's amazing that they get anything done at all.
Sure, I could have left, but I was ironically entertained at how awful the experience was. I just had to see how far it went on for. I'll never go back there again...for anything...
daneurysm said:
Big deal, stick to Radioshack or Bestbuy and they honor it on the spot. I used to dread getting a new phone when I only went to the Sprint store...for many reasons...that wasn't even one of 'em. Not to mention no restocking fees to worry about.
That and the Sprint store near my house is staffed by potentially the most inept bunch of fools I've ever seen. I've gone in for screen protectors and stood in line for 20 effin' minutes while the entire store piled up with more people...there was only one person in line in front of me...fully staffed store...and it was like nothing was moving at all. It's amazing that they get anything done at all.
Sure, I could have left, but I was ironically entertained at how awful the experience was. I just had to see how far it went on for. I'll never go back there again...for anything...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah same here. They need to just wipe out everybody in the corporate store near me and start over.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Must vary greatly then. My local store has great staff. Knowledgeable, courteous, and really the best customer experience I've had in years! I went to Best Buy just 2 days prior to the 3vo launch and was told I'd have to pay full price minus a measly $75. Apparently at Best Buy, you don't get the premier silver full upgrade override, $125 line porting credit (my wife was still with AT&T), and a 10% discount for being a AAA or credit union member. Best Buy knew nothing about ANY of those deals and I would have been screwed royally had I bought from any place other than the Sprint store. They overrode my early upgrade and made it a full upgrade, gave me the $125 porting credit for the second phone, the 10% discount on my monthly bill, and I walked out with two 3vo's... FREE after all the discounts. I would have paid over $500 at Best Buy and I bet Radio Shack too.
Not to mention the fact that when I brought back one of the 3vo's to exchange it due to the crooked screen problem, they let me sit down in the repair room with the new one, boot it up, and evaluate the screen for dead pixels and to confirm it wasn't crooked before I even made the exchange.
This is probably one of those things where service varies greatly depending on your location in the U.S.
Mike
Hello,
I too prefer purchasing my Phones from the Sprint Store and was so excited when they had done away with Mail in Rebates. It is greatly disappointing that they have reverted. Another advantage to purchasing from the Store is you can Bill directly to your Account. I hated having to send the Rebate for my 4G to El Paso, TX and waiting 6 Weeks for it to come.
Cheers,
JJ
mikeyxda said:
Must vary greatly then. My local store has great staff. Knowledgeable, courteous, and really the best customer experience I've had in years! I went to Best Buy just 2 days prior to the 3vo launch and was told I'd have to pay full price minus a measly $75. Apparently at Best Buy, you don't get the premier silver full upgrade override, $125 line porting credit (my wife was still with AT&T), and a 10% discount for being a AAA or credit union member. Best Buy knew nothing about ANY of those deals and I would have been screwed royally had I bought from any place other than the Sprint store. They overrode my early upgrade and made it a full upgrade, gave me the $125 porting credit for the second phone, the 10% discount on my monthly bill, and I walked out with two 3vo's... FREE after all the discounts. I would have paid over $500 at Best Buy and I bet Radio Shack too.
Not to mention the fact that when I brought back one of the 3vo's to exchange it due to the crooked screen problem, they let me sit down in the repair room with the new one, boot it up, and evaluate the screen for dead pixels and to confirm it wasn't crooked before I even made the exchange.
This is probably one of those things where service varies greatly depending on your location in the U.S.
Mike
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Click to collapse
I'm sure everyone's experience will vary greatly from place to place...but my Sprint store is worth avoiding. Typically I get my phones from Radioshack 'cuz I'm buddies with the chicks that work there. They hook me up with deals, I hook them up with nerd advice and help. One of them wanted a rooted Evo, so, we swapped Evo's and I used hers to trade up to the NS4G, and then up the the E3D (again). The only reason I went to Best Buy is 'cuz RS doesn't get the NS4G. Too bad the radio on that phone is the worst I've ever seen cuz otherwise it's an amazing little single core phone.
I've heard nightmares from all around. The RS always gets all discounts applied, and then some. The Best Buy also had absolutely no trouble giving me up reverting me back to Gold status....but BB aren't my buddies...YMMV from store to store of course, but, aside from the mall Sprint kiosk and 1 manager at the corp store I have never dealt with a Sprint employee that knew what the hell was going on...
mikeyxda said:
Must vary greatly then. My local store has great staff. Knowledgeable, courteous, and really the best customer experience I've had in years! I went to Best Buy just 2 days prior to the 3vo launch and was told I'd have to pay full price minus a measly $75. Apparently at Best Buy, you don't get the premier silver full upgrade override, $125 line porting credit (my wife was still with AT&T), and a 10% discount for being a AAA or credit union member. Best Buy knew nothing about ANY of those deals and I would have been screwed royally had I bought from any place other than the Sprint store. They overrode my early upgrade and made it a full upgrade, gave me the $125 porting credit for the second phone, the 10% discount on my monthly bill, and I walked out with two 3vo's... FREE after all the discounts. I would have paid over $500 at Best Buy and I bet Radio Shack too.
Not to mention the fact that when I brought back one of the 3vo's to exchange it due to the crooked screen problem, they let me sit down in the repair room with the new one, boot it up, and evaluate the screen for dead pixels and to confirm it wasn't crooked before I even made the exchange.
This is probably one of those things where service varies greatly depending on your location in the U.S.
Mike
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Click to collapse
That's crazy. I have the horrible backlight bleed around the buttons and a damn crooked screen, and I asked a rep at the store where I bought it from (corporate store) if I could exchange it for a new one because of the backlight bleed, of course she said no. On top of that, I couldn't even open a box of another one and power it up without activating it, just to see if it had the bleed or not.
I was really pissed.
Sprint is going back to MIR but this time around its a little different. All phones under the price $149.99 will have a $50 mail in rebate. So the 3vo and the new Motorola phone will still be instant.
Sent from that one guy with that one phone
correct, from what I read on on sprintusers, the 3vo will not be impcted with instant rebates
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.
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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Click to collapse
Do you like phone?
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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.
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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Click to collapse
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.
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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Click to collapse
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.
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.
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
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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Click to collapse
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
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
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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Click to collapse
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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"...
I have a Dell Streak...even though it is running 2.2.2, I LOVE it.
I wanted to take a look at the SGS2 just to see if it was as good in person, as
it has been in the press.
Stopped by a blue shirt store (Best Buy), strolled around looking for it. Couldn't find it. Finally a drone asked me if I was looking for anything. Said, yes, but you don't have it. Told her and she said, "oh, we have them, we just didn't bother putting them out". LOL No display for the device, nothing. I said do you even have a non working one. Oh, I guess I have one behind the counter, but with the new iphone coming out....I just turned and walked away.
Best Buy has become such a joke. About all it is good for, is going into the
store to actually HOLD something in your hand, then buying it from Ebay or
Amazon for LESS.
Stopped by a corporate death star store and saw a FUNCTIONING one. Wow! Fast, smooth, BRIGHT. If it wasn't for the smaller 4.3" screen vs the 5" screen I have on the streak, I would have gotten one right then. If the Note comes to the shores before 2012, I'll get one, or just bite the bullet and get the SGS2.
Kind of hard going back to a smaller screen when you get use to a 5 incher.
Yeah Best Buy has gotten bad. I went to make a simple exchange of Infuse for Galaxy S II and left those crappy headphones home by mistake and she wouldn't let me exchange. There was another Best Buy on the way home, stopped in there and the guy didn't even ask about the headphones. They were sold out at 12:15 though so I had to get a return and go to AT&T to get the phone.
The pricing in there is ridiculous. They are butt raping people, 40 dollars for a 6 ft HDMI cord? Get out of here.
war eagle said:
Yeah Best Buy has gotten bad. I went to make a simple exchange of Infuse for Galaxy S II and left those crappy headphones home by mistake and she wouldn't let me exchange. There was another Best Buy on the way home, stopped in there and the guy didn't even ask about the headphones. They were sold out at 12:15 though so I had to get a return and go to AT&T to get the phone.
The pricing in there is ridiculous. They are butt raping people, 40 dollars for a 6 ft HDMI cord? Get out of here.
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Every B&M store has those prices for HDMI. It's sad, really.
There is no such place called "BEST BUY"...Only "Worst Buy"...
There is no best buy only Zuul...
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ljwnow said:
There is no such place called "BEST BUY"...Only "Worst Buy"...
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Boy you got that right!
Sometimes when I need a hard drive or something RIGHT NOW to fix a down piece of gear, I'll stop there to get it. Hearing the "lies" they tell people sometimes just makes me want to yell RUN! QUICK! Before you get ripped off!
My local Best Buy store got 2 in stock today for AT&T. 2?! Luckily, my regular AT&T store had plenty so I got one there. Slightly harder still was finding a screen protector. After 9 months out of contract I'm back, but it's all good.
You guys must be going to some shady best buys. The one i go to they know me by name and always know what im in for before i even ask for what i want. They also price matched AT&T for me this morning and gave me 10% off for my whole purchase because im a rewards member. Me and Best Buy are friends. lol
serialtoon said:
You guys must be going to some shady best buys. The one i go to they know me by name and always know what im in for before i even ask for what i want. They also price matched AT&T for me this morning and gave me 10% off for my whole purchase because im a rewards member. Me and Best Buy are friends. lol
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They got your number for sure. Worst Buy is THE devil. Betcha by the end of next year they will have gone the way of Circuit City.
Cozmo1 said:
My local Best Buy store got 2 in stock today for AT&T. 2?! Luckily, my regular AT&T store had plenty so I got one there. Slightly harder still was finding a screen protector. After 9 months out of contract I'm back, but it's all good.
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Both best buys near me got two each, and one of them is always being slammed by tour busses. I don't know why so many best buys are only getting 2 GS2s each but thankfully I got one of those two so I'm happy.
Sent from my ATT GS2
We got only small quantity of gs2 cause of at&t. We were told that they wanted them because of the extra add on packages and accessories. We are considered second to corporate att . That went over employee news. We can do something called a instant ship though. Which takes about 1 biz day. Cause we basicaly get it from a near att store. lol
but what American wants to wait lol
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avengeryarr said:
Both best buys near me got two each, and one of them is always being slammed by tour busses. I don't know why so many best buys are only getting 2 GS2s each but thankfully I got one of those two so I'm happy.
Sent from my ATT GS2
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My local Best Buy only had two also, both sold. I got mine from AT&T just around the corner.
They also only had two Samsung Galaxy 8.9 Tablets, a couple weeks ago. I bought one of them.
Haas360 said:
We got only small quantity of gs2 cause of at&t. We were told that they wanted them because of the extra add on packages and accessories. We are considered second to corporate att . That went over employee news. We can do something called a instant ship though. Which takes about 1 biz day. Cause we basicaly get it from a near att store. lol
but what American wants to wait lol
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Does the Best Buy package come with the HDMI adapter? My box doesn't have one but I read in a review that AT&T was including it free.
brianlp, i purchased at Best Buy and it didnt come with the HDMI.
I love the best buy in Fairview heights IL. They only had 2 let me pre-order and then gave me 32 dollars off the phone bought my captivate off me for 112. Everyone was super nice and always have been.
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AT&T didn't package crap with this phone. No HDMI adapter, headphones or anything that came with the infuse for 50 more bucks. Oh well they did include the dual core processor lololol
thehavock18 said:
I love the best buy in Fairview heights IL. They only had 2 let me pre-order and then gave me 32 dollars off the phone bought my captivate off me for 112. Everyone was super nice and always have been.
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That's where I went!!
I'm in O'Fallon, IL
Maybe BB doesn't want to be "stuck" with a bunch of GS2's this close to the "all important" iphone5's. All the iSheep will be standing in line again saying I want an iphone 5 LOL.
Haas360 said:
We got only small quantity of gs2 cause of at&t. We were told that they wanted them because of the extra add on packages and accessories. We are considered second to corporate att . That went over employee news. We can do something called a instant ship though. Which takes about 1 biz day. Cause we basicaly get it from a near att store. lol
but what American wants to wait lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using cm7
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Haas360 said:
We got only small quantity of gs2 cause of at&t. We were told that they wanted them because of the extra add on packages and accessories. We are considered second to corporate att . That went over employee news. We can do something called a instant ship though. Which takes about 1 biz day. Cause we basicaly get it from a near att store. lol
but what American wants to wait lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using cm7
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That's what the BB guy told me. He said he could get me one from another store, which I assumed was another BB. I asked him when would they get another shipment, and he said Thursday's is when the truck came in. I said thanks, then drove over to AT&T.
Best Buy can be a PAIN, I will readily admit that. However it can really depend on the service. I tend to get really good service at my local Best Buy. And since we recently bought a new home and upgraded out TV, fridge and washer Dryer, I had a BUNCH of reward zone points. So I pre ordered my GS II at BB. when I got there they where great, they returned my $50.00 pre order to my card. Price matched the "rumored" $148.88 Wal-Mart price, and did it all pretty dran quick too. My total OOP for the phone was $1.88. So while I can agree that in many cases BB isn't the best, currently I am a fan.
I have not had an issue with Best Buy. I had gotten my Nexus S there, now my SGS II and everything went smoothly. They even price matched WalMart for me.
I see that Target is currently offering this phone for $80 with contract extension. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to buying via Target? Will it cause any problems with warranty coverage or anything else?
Thanks for insights,
Craig
I can't see any problem with them. Just like purchasing from WM, Costco, or Amazon.
I'm really surprise that the price hasn't been dropping to $50 range.
The only thing is that you might have to pay full retail tax. Definitely should ask.
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Thanks everyone! Will likely pick one up tomorrow. If I wanted to buy a decent case, where am I likely to find one in person (as opposed to internet)?
Wow this phone is really dropping in price. I still remember when I first got it for 200 dollars.
Costco. 80 bucks. Tax on 199.99
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I bought mine from Target back in December.. Was able to get a price adjustment after the phone dropped $50 the following week, so hold on to your receipt till it expires.
They also offer a good insurance program that's $15 down, and covers 2 months off the bat, then is $7.99 every month after that, It also gives you a free battery every year.
You have to keep up with your bill payments and can not use another phone for 3 months or you'll get charged full retail for the phone. Campare this to Wirefly's 6 months (when I got my old Aria over a year and a half ago), and it's actually pretty lenient.
Bonus fun fact: Target Mobile is actually owned and operated by Radio Shack.
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Not sure if this matters, but I purchased my GSII from Target and took out the insurance through AT&T a couple days after I got the phone I broke the screen, did my claim all went fine, when my 30 days was coming near I was thinking that I wanted to return the phone and wait for another phone. Since I filed a insurance claim and got a new phone, the numbers changed, so the return was not possible. Just wanted to let you know, I know the odds of what happened to me would be pretty low, but just something to think about =D
Got mine from Target a couple weeks ago..no problem. Never heard of that 3 month rule stated in post 7. I call BS on that. Technically you can sell that new sgs2 and put your sim in any device you want without them upcharging for getting the sgs2 on an upgrade price.
fldude99 said:
Got mine from Target a couple weeks ago..no problem. Never heard of that 3 month rule stated in post 7. I call BS on that. Technically you can sell that new sgs2 and put your sim in any device you want without them upcharging for getting the sgs2 on an upgrade price.
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I'd "read" the receipt that target provided you with before you go and do that, sport.
"If the device and it's wireless service are not continuously in service for 90 days after the original purchase date and the device is not returned to the retailer, I agree that the retailer may charge my credit card an unreturned merchandise fee equal to the device's non activated price minus the activated price I paid. "
It's a contract you have with target mobile.
I wouldn't go around suggesting things that could cause people to owe a lot of money just because you hadn't "heard" of it.
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josh84 said:
I'd "read" the receipt that target provided you with before you go and do that, sport.
"If the device and it's wireless service are not continuously in service for 90 days after the original purchase date and the device is not returned to the retailer, I agree that the retailer may charge my credit card an unreturned merchandise fee equal to the device's non activated price minus the activated price I paid. "
It's a contract you have with target mobile.
I wouldn't go around suggesting things that could cause people to owe a lot of money just because you hadn't "heard" of it.
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Doesn't say that on my receipt....."sport".. Get my drift? You bought the device..you own the device..you can even sell the damn thing without opening the box. Nobody can force you to use your sim card in it. Gimme a break.
fldude99 said:
Doesn't say that on my receipt....."sport".. Get my drift? You bought the device..you own the device..you can even sell the damn thing without opening the box. Nobody can force you to use your sim card in it. Gimme a break.
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I work for a wireless retailer. And authorized dealers have strict policies. Most only Get paid if you retain your contract with its features you signed up for, for 180 days (such as Wirefly and amazon!) Costco doesn't, neither does best buy. But target must have another way around it. I would be careful because wirefly and amazon have it in the fine print that they will charge you full retail if you change things.
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fldude99 said:
Doesn't say that on my receipt....."sport".. Get my drift? You bought the device..you own the device..you can even sell the damn thing without opening the box. Nobody can force you to use your sim card in it. Gimme a break.
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Unless you sign a contract stating otherwise...
Make sure you're reading ALL of the white and black thermal paper receipt that the rep gave you, that's your contract with target mobile, not the one with AT&T letter head.
If you bought it online, I don't know what you tell you, other than read everything that was sent to you, even seemingly unimportant fliers. Wirefly had their stipulation typed on a cheaply printed, thin piece of yellow paper that I almost threw away.
I guess the moral of this story, is for everyone to be aware that when you buy a contract phone through a 3rd party retailer, you're signing contracts with two parties;the carrier for the service, and a limited one with the retailer for the phone.
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