greggebhart.....i thought that was the case as well, but when the pearl came out i had a corporate tmo store in the mall refuse to sell me one at full price. i then called another store and they said that store was full of douchebags and even made me a better deal than full price. he told me to buy the pay-as-you-go version for 349 and it had a 100 rebate, PLUS a new sim card with like 100 minutes on it. So i guess it just really depends on the store management, not even corporate policy.