s/o smartphone rec: add a line or upgrade at full price?
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Anonymous
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i'm the poster in need of a smartphone with a new but related question re: price.
here's the deal: 1. i'm not due for an upgrade with verizon until Dec 2012 2. i really can't justify (or easily afford) paying full retail for a smartphone 3. i thought i could just sign a new contract in order to take advantage of the prices listed for new 2-year, but it turns out that's against the rules. so my question is: is there any reason why i couldn't just add a line to my family plan for said smartphone? i need it for work, that's the only reason why i'm shopping for a smartphone even though i'm not eligible for an upgrade. of course i'd rather just have one (smart)phone rather than 2 devices, but full retail is a dealbreaker for me. is that a dumb idea, or would that be an easy way to solve this problem? thx again |
Anonymous
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same here. your early cancel fee is about 250, right? It drops 10 bucks a month until your contract is up. You will pay more but not full retail if you do one of the following it will save you 150-200.
1. Cancel service completely with verizon and pay the 250. Then sign back up again using the 2yr contract special price on the phone. You will get a new number. or, if you want to keep your number... 2. Sign up with another carrier and port the number and get the special pricing on a new contract from them. |
Anonymous
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Can't you buy a used Verizon-compatible iPhone, and then just get Verizon to switch over service to that phone? I know there are tons of businesses that sell used iPhones on ebay or at various other websites. Lots of people are selling their old iPhone 3's and 4's to upgrade to 4S, so now you can buy from them. Yes, you need to do a little research to make sure you're buying from a reputable place, but it seems like this is a good option for you. The decision you need to make is whether you're just buying a cheapo short-term device for 12 months until you're eligible for upgrade from Verizon, or instead a longer term device.
Note that I've never actually done this before myself, so you'd want to call Verizon and coordinate with them to make sure the switchover will be seamless. |
Anonymous
| If you need it for work, why isn't work paying for it? Might have room for negotiation there. Unless you're self-employed... |
Anonymous
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9:12 -- excellent suggestion. thanks! then it's just a question of activating a new device, and there's no issue with the contract or my plan (except for adding the data package, of course)
9:15 -- work will only reimburse me up to $100 since i'm not on the short "smartphone-required" list, i'm only on the "it would be nice if you had one" list. but after a few too many frantic calls from my boss on weekends (when a smartphone would have allowed me to see and respond to the emails as they came in, thus mitigating much of the frantic energy wasted on stupid work emergencies), i'm willing to take the plunge! |
SAM2
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I think that's right. But like I wrote, I've never actually done it before, so you definitely should call Verizon first to make sure this will work. I'm guessing they'll charge you some $30 changeover fee or something, just because they can. If you go this route, would you mind reporting back here on how it went? I'm curious how smoothly it works since I might be doing the same thing at some point down the road. |
Anonymous
| Yes pls report back if 9:12 works! |
Anonymous
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You can get the iPhone 3 unblocked and contract free for $375. If work gives you $100, it's $275. They should be able to help you to get it set up with your current sim card. It's an old phone but should keep you over water until December when you can upgrade to a newer phone.
Maybe see if that would be an option... |
Anonymous
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There are used "Apple MC678LL/A iPhone 4 32GB Verizon Smartphone" for $290 and "Apple MC676LL/A 16GB Verizon Wireless iPhone 4 - Black" for $260. Since they are Verizon phones, they shouldn't need to be unlocked.
I've gotten used Iphone 3 and 3Gs for around $100-$130. I buy ATT branded though, so maybe Verizon is higher? |
Anonymous
Where are these used verizon phones? |
Anonymous
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Could you get a new line with verizon and just change the numbers. A line is about 9.99 without data.
Does anyone have tmobile? |
Anonymous
| I have tmobile. I purchased a used ATT iphone and (if you google it you can figure out how to get it to work, I won't go into detail on this forum). |
Anonymous
Oh, geez, I'm sorry, I forgot the link! I buy them from cowboom.com. |
Anonymous
| I am the pp (12:08, 17:22 & 17:23). You can find out about what smart phones will work with your plan and how to get them cheaper on howardforums.com. |
Anonymous
oP here -- i was thinking of doing exactly this. can't really think of a downside...? |