Trying to buy 8700c from Cingular store without a plan or service

[diesel]

I live in nyc and I keep getting turned away from the cingular stores due to some cingular company policy that prevents retail stores from selling the unit to someone who doesn't have an account or is not looking to have service with cingular......how are the others buying it retail for $450 (to get it unlocked) without getting service or having an account?

Do you think i could buy one, activate service then within 30 days cancel.......and keep the unit (and pay the penalty....what is the penalty) or will they make me return the unit?


Eric

[greggebhardt]

If you read the conditions on the Cingular site there are penalties, they spell them out in detal. If you wait over the 30 days there will be a ETF.

Why don't you go and just buy one outright on eBay, there are lots for sale and by good dealers.

[nb_mitch]

Or if you are going to pay the penalty, buy it for $199 from amazon ;)

[tfaz1]

I must be one of the lucky ones. I walked into my local Cingular store, bought an 8700c for $399 and walked out.

Try going to Cingular and telling them you're buying it for a friend/family member for Christmas. Say that he/she is a Cingular customer and really wants the BlackBerry. Perhaps they'll buy your story and let you pay retail.

Otherwise, I believe that you can start service and cancel. The fine print states that you will have to pay "full retail" if you don't return the phone. I would only be fear that they might try to say full retail is $500 or more. Buyer beware...

[SnDmN]

I walked into a Cingular store on Saturday. They have signs that say $399 w/1 year, $299 w/2 year and $450 no contract or obligation. First store I went to had 3 and they were on hold. They called another local store and they had 6 available for sale. Off I went to the next store...

I told them I would like to purchase as a gift. The sales associate asked if the person I was buying for had Cingular, I said I believe they do (LOL). She rang it up and placed her card on the outside. Said to have them give her a call and she would help activate it if needed. I paid the $449 price, went home, purchased an 8700C unlock from Adam at gsmphonesource and have been using it for the past few days!

[diesel]

yeah i tried the "i'm buying this for a friend for Christmas routine" but they keep saying they can't and they say that i could just purchase a cingular gift certificate so they can come in and buy it....lol

maybe it's just a new york thing, you know hard to pull a fast one on new yorkers........ebay isn't an option cause they really inflate the prices on ebay......rather buy it from cingular so in case something is wrong with the device i can always exchange it as well

[richard371]

It is a New York thing. It worked for me in SF. I feel good when I get away with something from them as they are the worst company I have ever dealt with.

[gold23]

I just bought the 8700c. Walked into a Cingular store, they couldn't give me a break off the retail since my contract was not eligible yet. Went to the office, called customer service. Told them that the $400+ number made it a no-brainer to go to another carrier (all I wanted was a Blackberry that worked with my car kit, I told them). Came back and said they would put a note in my account allowing me to purchase the 8700 for $399, and that they would add a $50 credit to my account to make it $349. I said fine, went back to the Cingular store and found a relatively confused sales clerk. After explaining the credit, he accessed my account and misread the info- he gave me the phone for $349 and handed me a $50 rebate.

So...it seems I got the phone for the $299 price. Happy either way.

[diesel]

I just bought the 8700c. Walked into a Cingular store, they couldn't give me a break off the retail since my contract was not eligible yet. Went to the office, called customer service. Told them that the $400+ number made it a no-brainer to go to another carrier (all I wanted was a Blackberry that worked with my car kit, I told them). Came back and said they would put a note in my account allowing me to purchase the 8700 for $399, and that they would add a $50 credit to my account to make it $349. I said fine, went back to the Cingular store and found a relatively confused sales clerk. After explaining the credit, he accessed my account and misread the info- he gave me the phone for $349 and handed me a $50 rebate.

So...it seems I got the phone for the $299 price. Happy either way.


yeah but you're a cingular client already.................

wondering how i can get it without getting the service along with it

[SnDmN]

I am on T-Mobile. The 8700C works like a champ. Did you try calling Cingular sales to see if you can buy one without obligation over the phone? Might be worth a shot.

Best of luck in getting it.

[nb_mitch]

.... After explaining the credit, he accessed my account and misread the info- he gave me the phone for $349 and handed me a $50 rebate.

So...it seems I got the phone for the $299 price. Happy either way.

If you get the rebate, then you would be at $249 :)

Reading the fine print on their site, there is an early cancelation fee of $150 for most of the world and $240 for NY, FL and a few other states. So, I would try somewhere else. Have you tried calling the 1-800 number and ordering online?

[tyrnight]

I walked in and they were sold out.. so I called up the customer service # and voilla.. I got it WITHOUT a plan.. (I am currently in another contract..).. I told them I wanted it straight out.. and they said no problem. got it 3 days

[Sparkomatic]

So Cal is the same. I've tried to buy phones before outright and the response after telling them I already have service and am not renewing a contract ranges from out of stock to can't sell to me cause they're saving them for new contracts. I like the out of stock comments... especially when I called before and someone said they had the phone in stock.

[ramson]

can i get my phone unlocked by gsmphonesource.com remotly if i am in the bahamas. And if so would they charge more

[dmoney5150]

I will unlock any Cingular/AT&T Phone

Blackberrys $25 email me ..bundys@<hidden>

[ramson]

i was wondering if the gsmphonesource.com can remotly unlock my 8700c even though i am in the bahamas

[nb_mitch]

As far as I know, they just send you the code, so it doesn't matter where you are.

[tfaz1]

i was wondering if the gsmphonesource.com can remotly unlock my 8700c even though i am in the bahamas

Yep. Adam @<hidden> GSMPhoneSource is awesome! He'll send you an email with the unlock code and instructions. Well worth the money.

[itai]

if you don't want to buy one and pay for it to be unlocked, or cingular wont sell you one, i have about 16 8700cs available to sell. i say about, because a few are on eBay right now, and not sure if all will sell or not. I am asking $425 a piece, and that includes shipping. Any takers?

email me at emailmeathotmail@<hidden>

[infernox]

If you read the conditions on the Cingular site there are penalties, they spell them out in detal. If you wait over the 30 days there will be a ETF.

Why don't you go and just buy one outright on eBay, there are lots for sale and by good dealers.

I agree. If you are having that much trouble, just eBay it. There are many reputable dealers on there. Another thing that I thought of before was... sign up with Cingular for 1 yr and buy their "refurbished" one for $199 and cancel the contract and pay the ETF.

[hailer]

Yeah I got my BB 8700c off eBay at a good price. For a brand new device you are looking at $300 plus shipping off eBay and for a used one maybe $150-$200 plus shipping. Not sure about unlocked phones but do a search or just pay to have someone unlock it when you get the phone.

I have Cingular and am not continuing my contract so I had to get one without a plan.

Remember when buying a cell phone off eBay only buy from a powerseller with lots of good reviews and make sure you ask lots of questions as to what you are exactly going to get.

[jdjleo]

Ill give you an insight on the mystery of why it can be difficult to purchase a device, even at full retail price, from a store:

Inventory.

Alot of times we dont have many of these on-hand. If we only have a couple and someone wants to buy one outright we wont sell it. Too much risk of a customer coming in and wanting to add one or upgrade and add the data plan and then us not having it. Blackberry/PDA plans are a very high pay rate.

[DallasFlier]

ebay isn't an option cause they really inflate the prices on ebay......
Huh?? Have you looked on eBay? I bought one there a month ago for $286. Certainly a LOT less than I could have bought it for without service or a contract from Cingular. What makes you say that "they really inflate prices" on eBay??

[quillhill]

Huh?? Have you looked on eBay? I bought one there a month ago for $286. Certainly a LOT less than I could have bought it for without service or a contract from Cingular. What makes you say that "they really inflate prices" on eBay??

Yes, the prices were inflated because this thread was started in December around the time the device came out and was short on supply while high in demand.

Zombie threads...grr.

[jdjleo]

if you don't want to buy one and pay for it to be unlocked, or cingular wont sell you one, i have about 16 8700cs available to sell. i say about, because a few are on eBay right now, and not sure if all will sell or not. I am asking $425 a piece, and that includes shipping. Any takers?

email me at emailmeathotmail@<hidden>

This n00b necro'd the thread to try and advertise. What a dirt merchant....

[Brad00111]

This n00b necro'd the thread to try and advertise. What a dirt merchant....


Ha Ha, n00b, haven't heard that one since my Counter Strike Days.......ahh college :)

[thatboiwes]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry 8700c: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

yeah i tried the "i'm buying this for a friend for Christmas routine" but they keep saying they can't and they say that i could just purchase a cingular gift certificate so they can come in and buy it....lol

maybe it's just a new york thing, you know hard to pull a fast one on new yorkers........ebay isn't an option cause they really inflate the prices on ebay......rather buy it from cingular so in case something is wrong with the device i can always exchange it as well

Not all e-Bay prices are inflated. I baught mine from there a week or 2 after it's release and it only cost me $369. It was brand new, never been opened and wasn't refurbished. Just check it out, you never know what you will find.