Honey and I get our cell phones for free on the internet, usually from LetsTalk.com or wirefly.com. The current contract is up and I wanted to get a new phone….and I had my eye on the SLVR from Cingular.
The thing is that I did not want to sign a 2 year contract with ‘am I Cingular or am I AT&T?’ because we have had really good experiences with T-Mobile. We call around but do not have much success with getting a better plan for the money so with a sigh I say we will stay with T-Mobile.
Now my problem with T-Mobile is that they do not have the prettiest phones around. I so absolutely ADORE the SLVR but T-Mobile does not have it. I call up customer service and tell them with a heavy heart that I will take the T509…even though it is not the phone I really have my heart set on. I would have preferred the Plum but it is not available at this time as an upgrade.
T-Mobile’s representative tells me I can get the phone with a one year extension for $200. After I recover from the fit of apoplexy I say what do I get for a two year extension. She says I can get the phones for $40.00 plus shipping. I say how about giving me a $40.00 rebate for being such a good customer. She says that is the lowest price they can give me so then I say I will be canceling the account. She just says okay without any hesitation. I ask if they are willing to lose a customer over $40.00 and she says there is nothing she can do.
I am transferred to someone else who listens to my story and miraculously there are two phones available for FREE if I am willing to wait 7-10 business days for shipping. Plus if I can wait that long then I will also get free shipping.
But wait! This offer is only available for 72 hours so I need to act quickly! Well Mr. Customer service man …..I was not really going to cancel (I do not tell them this) because I am getting a great deal on my plan.
I sigh and say well if I am really going to get this then I guess I can live with it *while doing happy dance inside* so go ahead and extend my plan and I will take the phone.
I call back later to make sure everything is still showing up on my account as we agreed and lo and behold I am also getting two free leather cases and car chargers….which were previously ‘unavailable’. Ah..the plot thickens.
So to wrap up…I got the phones I wanted for free (saved $40.00), will not be charged for shipping and got a bonus goodie out of the transaction.
Ah, very sneaky.
I am with Cingular, and I have a RAZR. I am exceptionally happy with the RAZR, but I’m not doing cartwheels over Cingular.
I seem to drop a few more calls than my friends do. And I never seem to have as many bars.
Of course the RAZR has a tiny little built-in antenna, so that may contribute, but still, it would be nice to not drop my carrier every time I pass up certain intersections.
What I like is the free mobile-to-mobile, and since most of my family is on Cingular, it pays to stay where I am.
No Jagular, I was not being sneaky…T-Mobile was trying to be sneaky. You see how easily they found they could give me the phones for free PLUS give me a bonus for staying….that means it was possible all along.
But I still want the SLVR! I think it is much prettier than the T509…but oh well I will take that for now.