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Hello everyone,
I have one hell of a story to tell about one boy, two phones (the htc hd2 and the samsung vibrant), and one freakin' committed customer service team (T-Mobile's). OK, so I'll begin my story of how I ended up with a brand-new Vibrant for essentially 350 bucks. Bear with me here, it's a bit long. So, I originally purchased an htc hd2 way back in mid-June for 300 bucks on Craigslist. The phone ended up being defective because of a hardware issue, and because it happened to be under the "buyer's remorse" period, at least the way T-Mobile saw it, I was able to return it by mail for a brand new one for free. I was surprised when I called to learn that T-Mobile didn't require a single piece of information to verify that I was the original owner of the phone, all they saw was that an htc hd2 had magically been activated on such and such a date. So, I returned that hd2 and recieved a new one in a couple of days, which ended up being just as buggy as the last one, so I decided to abandon the hd2 altogether in exchange for the Samsung Vibrant. I called T-Mobile customer service today to setup the exchange for the vibrant, which would cost me 50 bucks since the hd2 cost 450 and the vibrant costs 500, and I was FINALLY told that they had no record of me ever buying an hd2 (I wonder why, lol). I then explained to them that I wasn't the original owner of the phone and that I had bought it from the original owner, but that the phone had been purchased only a few days before they sold it to me. They told me at first that I would have contact the original owner and get the 450 bucks credited back to there account. The only problem was that I had no way of contacting the original owner, and that they had switched carriers almost immediately after purchasing the hd2. After about four hours, and many many phone calls later, I called t-mobile one last time to explain my situation, keep in mind that I was totally honest the entire time, I reached a very nice customer service rep, and after explaining what had happened to me, and after speaking to her supervisor for over ten minutes, she told me that even though they almost never do this, that they would "take my word for it" and send the vibrant, no questions asked, for basically 50 bucks. I was over the moon considering that less than 5 minutes ago I had thought that I had thrown away 300 dollars. I would like to give some major props to T-Mobile's customer support, never in a million years would I have expected a customer service team work so hard to keep a a customer happy. Talk about going the distance. Well, that's my story. Tell me what you think, and what your experiences with them have been like.
Peace, bobofosho12
I got mine for $164 and i wasnt even due for a full upgrade. Got my phone around august. Even my sister which is due for a full upgrade has to pay more. So i think im super lucky except for the tax and all that
Alex530 said:
I got mine for $164 and i wasnt even due for a full upgrade. Got my phone around august. Even my sister which is due for a full upgrade has to pay more. So i think im super lucky except for the tax and all that
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Yeah, its an online Special. However i Would Suggest your sister to call T-mobile and ask to be transfered to the Loyalty Department to get hers. because she will get a good deal as her contract is up...... They will give it to her at full Discount and provide her with a data plan of $24.99 a month. instead of $30.00 like you got... and she wont have to pay no upgrade fee's whatsoever.
Alex530 said:
I got mine for $164 and i wasnt even due for a full upgrade. Got my phone around august. Even my sister which is due for a full upgrade has to pay more. So i think im super lucky except for the tax and all that
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Same here. I renewed my contract last year, so did my GF. We both are eligible for full discount so I jump on it right away.
I hate buying ANYTHING with a contract, I know that even though I might pay through the nose up front, i'm saving tons more than I would if I had a contract for two years. I just generally buy an "almost" brand new phone on someplace like Craigslist and then I return it to T-mobile and get a brand new one for free, hence what I did with the hd2. Just my strategy though.
minogue said:
Yeah, its an online Special. However i Would Suggest your sister to call T-mobile and ask to be transfered to the Loyalty Department to get hers. because she will get a good deal as her contract is up...... They will give it to her at full Discount and provide her with a data plan of $24.99 a month. instead of $30.00 like you got... and she wont have to pay no upgrade fee's whatsoever.
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I have the 24.99 data plan and i will thanks for the info
my story on getting the vibrant new WITHOUT a contract for $133. Please note, this cannot be duplicated anymore as the "loop hole" has been caught and closed. I noticed this post on slickdeals.net the 2nd day it had been posted:
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2132124
So basically costco has the cell phone kiosk's which sell tmobile and a few other carriers. as we know, T-mobile offers and "even more plus" program with is NO contract. also as we know that if we went to tmobile and got a vibrant with this even more plus program is $500.
BUT for the first 3 or 4 days that costco sold the vibrant they were selling it for $250 with the "even more plus" plan or $99 with contract. EDIT( this $250 price was a wholesale price they were offering)
so went there and bought 2 samsung vibrants for 250$ each plus tax. ended up being about $540 by opening 2 new lines on the "even more plus" plan. note that this is different then the "even more" plan which is a contract. Even though "even more plus" is not a contract, costco would not sell the phone without an actual plan but thats ok because this "even more plus plan is no contract because normally you pay full price for the phone.
so then because the "even more plus" plan is not a contract, I called t mobile and told them that I want to cancel the even more plus plan and that I paid full price for the phone. (which i did pay costco's full price). they canceled the plans over the phone on the first try without any hassel (some people had a little trouble canceling)
So then i sold 1 on ebay for $485 including shipping and kept one for myself. After paying shipping, ebay listing fees, selling fees, and paypal fees. I came out basically paying the difference which is only about $130 for my new, NON contract vibrant
keep in mind I already have a tmobile contract from my mytouch, so i just put the sim card in the new vibrant and was good to go.
Costco and Tmobile both caught on to this within days, and now it went from 250 to 479 the day after i got mine.
so i basically ended up paying $130 for a New Vibrant, not subsidized, and non contract even less then if I had signed a new 2 year contract.
If so many people had not ONLY gotten this deal just to sell all the phones on ebay and craigslist, the deal probably would have lasted a little longer. (i just sold 1 to offset the cost of buying one for myself)
so keep in mind, this deal is now dead, and no one has had success trying to replicate it since the price change because costco and tmobile had caught on quickly.
Im still under contract with tmobile for another year because i bought mytouch last year. Wife's phone is still eligible for an upgrade I can use later this year
I got mine for $100 after $50 mail in rebate. I bought mine at Costco warehouse . It included the car charger, a carrying case and a Bluetooth headset.
still cant beleive you guys didnt just spam these forums spreading the good news on the price. so sad.
well thankfully, i got mine on bing cashback and so the phone might end up being $350 for me.
oh what i could have done with $100 extra, sigh
by the way did you need to be a costco member to get that price or could anyone get it?
I actually got mine for free, but in an extremely roundabout and lucky sort of way.
Got a Samsung Behold II with a new contract at the beginning of June for free from Letstalk.com. I won't rehash all the ridiculous problems I had with the phone, as it's fairly legendary at this point.
Had even more problems after the now infamous 1.6 OTA update, took my problems to T-Mobile corporate, and after 2 weeks worth of emails and phonecalls with their director of customer relations they basically convinced Samsung to toss me a Vibrant to make me happy enough to go away and leave them alone.
I sort of rode out the "perfect storm" here and was just in the right place at the right time. Still, this is the best free phone I've ever had!
Got mine for the same price as Alex.
i got mine for $534 after tax!
Just wondering, i've tried googling and I haven't found anything specific.
I got my Evo June 4th through Sprint so it was easy to throw the $7 a month insurance plan.
Now Im wondering, if I do upgrade in the future from a different store such as RadioShack, Wirefly, BestBuy, is it still possible to throw the TEP $7 a month on the new phone even though it's from another retail store?
Am I stupid for not wanting to put insurance on from the other stores instead of Sprints? I've had a good experience with Sprint when my evo power button stopped working. They said they had no more evo's in the warehouse and next-day aired me a brand new one.
Or... are the in-house (wirefly, BB, Radioshack) protection plans better?
Edit: Reason I ask are for the killer deals other stores have. For instance the Photon 4G at BB for $99 upgrade, where sprint has it for $199 upgrade
My name is David Keith Sims. Give Sprint my name. They hate me! They charged me $20+ for a phone call i made from +44 (United Kingdom) they saw my evil side!
Sent with Photon 4G "Neo"
bigblueshock said:
Just wondering, i've tried googling and I haven't found anything specific.
I got my Evo June 4th through Sprint so it was easy to throw the $7 a month insurance plan.
Now Im wondering, if I do upgrade in the future from a different store such as RadioShack, Wirefly, BestBuy, is it still possible to throw the TEP $7 a month on the new phone even though it's from another retail store?
Am I stupid for not wanting to put insurance on from the other stores instead of Sprints? I've had a good experience with Sprint when my evo power button stopped working. They said they had no more evo's in the warehouse and next-day aired me a brand new one.
Or... are the in-house (wirefly, BB, Radioshack) protection plans better?
Edit: Reason I ask are for the killer deals other stores have. For instance the Photon 4G at BB for $99 upgrade, where sprint has it for $199 upgrade
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It does not matter if you get your phone from a retail store its all Sprint at the end of the day. I purchased my Evo at Best Buy and another at Radio Shack. Now Best Buy offers a monthly insurance for I believe $10 which offers full replacement and upgrade protection. You have to just check around and see if those outside protection plans work better for you.
I have insurance through Best Buy and I just cashed in on my cracked screen this this past week. It took about 4 days to get a replacement (Labor Day holiday). I had a loaner phone in the mean time. When I finally got the phone, it was in better shape than that one I had...THUMBS UP!!!!!!
Just bought my phone yesterday & have 14 days to decide if I want opt in with Sprint's insurance plan.
I did so because I wanted to see what other "alternative" insurance competitors had to offer.
Ensquared seems to be pretty good but some things to take into consideration before choosing them:
Monthly premiums are less: $4.91 vs. Sprints $8 which comes out to $58.99/yr. vs Sprints $96/yr. And with Ensquared you pay the whole plan fee up front.
Ensquared's deductible is $75 BUT it's my understanding that there is a $35 admin fee for the first claim and a $25 admin fee for the 2nd & 3rd claim (wtf!!!).
So with Ensquared it comes out to $110 for the 1st claim & $100 for the 2nd & 3rd claims (admin fees included), whereas Sprint has a $100 deductible for 3 claims within a 12 mo. period & no admin fees (I think)
Both Ensquared & Sprint cover up to $1000 on each claim.
On Ensquared's 1 yr. plan you can file up to 2 claims within a 12 month consecutive period, their 2 yr. plan covers up to 3 claims BUT the 2 yr. plan asks for an up front payment of $99.99 which comes out to $4.16/mo. or $49.99/yr.
Sprint also allows one the option to cancel at anytime & receive a prorated credit of your unearned premium, not too sure about Ensquared.
So taking everything into consideration we can see that Ensquared's monthly premiums are lower BUT when filing a claim it costs more.
When calculating all the numbers between the two on a 1 yr. plan basis & using 2 claims within that year. Ensquared comes out to $268.99 & Sprint comes out to $296 (but you have one more claim left)
In the end I'll probably go with Sprint for 3 major reasons: The biggest is no admin fees, the 2nd is a higher number of allowed claims given within each plan period & the 3rd is the ability to recomp any unearned premium.
If anyone here has experience with both can you please post any additional pro's & cons between the two including the level of customer service.
Thanks.
I pay the $8 insurance on both of my phones. It is really nice being able to walk into a Sprint store and walk out one hour later if you have an issue. When I had my OG Epic, my screen went bad. I brought it in and they not only replaced the screen but also the keyboard and battery cover. It was like getting a new phone.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
JohnCorleone said:
I pay the $8 insurance on both of my phones. It is really nice being able to walk into a Sprint store and walk out one hour later if you have an issue. When I had my OG Epic, my screen went bad. I brought it in and they not only replaced the screen but also the keyboard and battery cover. It was like getting a new phone.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
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This is where having the insurance doesn't seem to make sense... I don't carry it, but if my screen goes bad, I wall into a Sprint store, pay $35, and they replace the phone under manufacturer warranty. Only down side is it sometimes takes a day store a replacement to arrive.
In your case, you had to pay $100, or the cost of repair, right?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Maybe I'm wrong, but as I understand it, any insurance claims require you to send the phone to Asurion. I don't believe the Sprint stores handle any insurance claims.
EL TEJANO said:
Ensquared's deductible is $75 BUT it's my understanding that there is a $35 admin fee for the first claim and a $25 admin fee for the 2nd & 3rd claim (wtf!!!).
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Where did you read that the first claim has a $35 fee? First claim is $75, after that it's $100. So for one year it's $60 and two claims ($75, $100). 2 year it's ($75, $100, $100)
mzaur said:
Where did you read that the first claim has a $35 fee? First claim is $75, after that it's $100. So for one year it's $60 and two claims ($75, $100). 2 year it's ($75, $100, $100)
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I read it on their page, unless it was for a different type phone. Either way it's still ridiculous.
I don't have Sprint. Ensquared is considerably cheaper than my options with AT&T. Even compared to Sprint's TEP, if something happens after 12 months, that's 96+100= $196 for replacement. With Ensquared it's $135 if you have 1 year plan and $175 with 2 year plan. Not ridiculous at all.
I was going to stop my Sprint insurance last week because I baby my phone and nothing ever happens. Then my phone stops working. After 45 mins the tech couldn't bring her back to life so they swapped it out right then and there. Usually they order one and it takes a day to get there but I got lucky. Lesson learned it's nice having Sprints insurance. lol
Dalmus said:
This is where having the insurance doesn't seem to make sense... I don't carry it, but if my screen goes bad, I wall into a Sprint store, pay $35, and they replace the phone under manufacturer warranty. Only down side is it sometimes takes a day store a replacement to arrive.
In your case, you had to pay $100, or the cost of repair, right?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
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The $100 is only for lost/stolen phones when you go through Asurion. I have taken phones into the Sprint store and got them fixed or replaced without paying anything since I have TEP. A friend of mine that is a fireman and does construction on the side breaks his phone a few times a year and never pays for repair or replacement. Think on his latest phone he switched to Best Buy's insurance and then switched back to Sprint's after his first claim with BB. They sent his phone out for a month before finally agreeing to replace it. Sprint he has never waited more than 2 days.
blkhwkz said:
The $100 is only for lost/stolen phones when you go through Asurion. I have taken phones into the Sprint store and got them fixed or replaced without paying anything since I have TEP. A friend of mine that is a fireman and does construction on the side breaks his phone a few times a year and never pays for repair or replacement. Think on his latest phone he switched to Best Buy's insurance and then switched back to Sprint's after his first claim with BB. They sent his phone out for a month before finally agreeing to replace it. Sprint he has never waited more than 2 days.
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the $100 insurance claim also applies to broken screens w/more than a 1/2 inch crack. My wifes EVO dropped a few months back and the screen is nearly shattered. Only way to fix it is to file insurance claim and pay deductible. Sprint stores wont even touch it. Good thing for her is its still usuable and shes waiting a couple months for an upgrade.
Call your home insurance. We're with Amica, and when we asked them about additional coverage for our electronics, they said we could insure all of our electronics (2 cell phones, ipad, 2 Touchpads, computers, etc.) for ~$50 per year. This would be used for worst case scenarios, such as losing your phone, or breaking it beyond repair.
If you have an issue like a bad screen, broken camera, defective microUSB port, etc just take it in to Sprint and pay the $35 to have it repaired. The only way the $8 TEP program is beneficial is if you're very clumsy and/or your phones seem to always break.
I work in a metal fab shop and my phone speakers go out a lot so 8 bucks a month is a good deal for me.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
thaprinze said:
Call your home insurance. We're with Amica, and when we asked them about additional coverage for our electronics, they said we could insure all of our electronics (2 cell phones, ipad, 2 Touchpads, computers, etc.) for ~$50 per year. This would be used for worst case scenarios, such as losing your phone, or breaking it beyond repair.
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Well I'll agree that $50 per year to cover your electronics is good but is there a deductible that must be met first?
I just dropped my Dinc and shattered the screen. I am beyond bummed out. I know I can buy a replacement screen and replace it myself relatively inexpensively but I also have insurance on the phone. I went to Asurion's website and started a claim, going as far as entering in my credit card info, but they won't tell me what phone they're going to send me. I'd really rather not pay the $99 deductible not knowing what I'm going to be getting. Anybody else have a similar situation that may know what the replacement phone is? I don't think its very fair for them to just send whatever they want, undisclosed, for a higher deductible than what they had originally told me. HELP!
Just got off the phone with an Asurion agent and she informed me I would be getting another Droid Incredible. For a $99 deductable, I think I would rather just find a replacement screen and fix the one I have. Anyone replace a screen on their Dinc before?
I had this same problem until I discovered that my Inc happened to be covered under extended warranty (this was about a month ago)
Assurion offered me the Inc2 for the 99 deductible, altough this may have been just because the Inc1 was out of stock. Id call a local Verizon retailer (NOT an official VZW store, one of the authorized resellers like Wireless Zone or similar) and see what options they have available.
Adreaver said:
I had this same problem until I discovered that my Inc happened to be covered under extended warranty (this was about a month ago)
Assurion offered me the Inc2 for the 99 deductible, altough this may have been just because the Inc1 was out of stock. Id call a local Verizon retailer (NOT an official VZW store, one of the authorized resellers like Wireless Zone or similar) and see what options they have available.
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They probably rebuilt your old one and are trying to unload it on me for that $99 deductible!
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda app-developers app
The rules of the Samsung rebate say that it requires a copy of the pre-order receipt as well as a copy of the trade-in receipt. The Verizon location that I went to did not give me a receipt showing that XXX device was traded in. The receipt that the Verizon local store provides just shows a store credit for X amount of dollars in the form of a gift card being credited to your account. After getting home I called the Verizon store back and two different reps including the manager told me that this is how they print receipts for trade-in transactions and that is the only receipt that they can possibly give me.
With all this being said I don't see how I can possibly get approved for my rebate from Samsung when the only receipt from them that they tell me that I can possibly get only shows a gift card amount that could've come from anywhere, the rep did tell me that if Sam somewhere to call and provide the information on the receipt they could pull up a file showing that A trade-in was done I just don't think Samsung will go through all that hassle. any feedback on the situation would be appreciated
Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk
I printed out the trade in receipt at the time I did it online, it lists the device, trade in amount, and your trade in confirmation #. I assume I will also get an email once the trade in is approved and accepted, I will just submit both.
fillyo said:
I printed out the trade in receipt at the time I did it online, it lists the device, trade in amount, and your trade in confirmation #. I assume I will also get an email once the trade in is approved and accepted, I will just submit both.
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When you do it in the store unfortunately you don't get any of that stuff. Literally all they handed me was a receipt that showed that a $200 gift card balance was applied towards my account that $200 was my trade-in value
Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk
Can't you just apply the $200 gift card, that you said Verizon gave you, to the purchase of the Note 4?
I don't understand. You got $200 from Verizon, you're not going to get $200 from Samsung too.
The 200 I got from them was based in the value of my phone , had nothing to do with the note 4 . The value of my phone would have remained the same regardless of whatever I purchased. The Samsung promotion was the only reason I even choose a Samsung product if that is the case I will just take it all back and use the 14 day policy and get everything back
The guy at Verizon said it was a $200 rebate. Regardless of what was traded in.
Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk
rexxcastle said:
The 200 I got from them was based in the value of my phone , had nothing to do with the note 4 . The value of my phone would have remained the same regardless of whatever I purchased. The Samsung promotion was the only reason I even choose a Samsung product if that is the case I will just take it all back and use the 14 day policy and get everything back
The guy at Verizon said it was a $200 rebate. Regardless of what was traded in.
Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk
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Samsung only gives you the difference of your trade in to equal $200. So if your phone was worth $200 you aren't getting anything from samsung.
If your phone was worth $14 dollars like my trade in was then samsung is giving me $186 to make the total trade in equal $200.
edit: Good luck getting your phone you traded in back if thats the plan you are going with.
Piercing Heavens said:
Samsung only gives you the difference of your trade in to equal $200. So if your phone was worth $200 you aren't getting anything from samsung.
If your phone was worth $14 dollars like my trade in was then samsung is giving me $186 to make the total trade in equal $200.
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Oh ok , looks like the Verizon reps are relying on straight up lying to people now just to get a sale will go cancel my order after work thanks a lot
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