Buying unit at a Retail store vs. On-line?

[yustonuser]

I found both the 7100g for (on sale at Amazon for $149 with a $150 mail-in, so free) and the 7290 (also on Amazon for $199 with the $150 mail-in so $50) and I wondered if I lose anything by not buying at a Cingular store - warranty, techncial support, etc.

Also - if I need to port my number to that phone, would it work to have them assign me a new number and then once I get it, go into a Cingular store and have them port my existing number to the phone?

[xlg123]

I saw the same deal last week week and ALMOST bought in, however; make sure you read the quote from the following link.....

"Cingular and Amazon.com have not yet established a method for customers to transfer their current number to a new Cingular account. Unfortunately, in order to port your previous number, Cingular will cancel the account that Amazon.com activated and will activate a new account with the ported number. This process makes you ineligible for the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to offer a porting option in the coming months, so please check back."

You'd think this wouldn't be a problem, since all the other carriers do it that are listed. Thats all the other ones do is give you a new number, than swap it out when you receive the phones. I decided to stay with NEXTEL and am at this very moment waiting for FedEx to bring my 7520. Onyl 50 bucks after the rebates....
Good Luck!! XLG123

[yustonuser]

I didn't even get to a page to see that fine print - THANKS

How about Wirefly - anyone have any experience buying from them? Also free after rebate if you keep the account for 5 months (150 days) it looks like.

[SecureCitizen]

I'm looking at the same deal with amazon/cingular/7100g...anyone know if there's a way to buy an extended warranty?? Thanks.

[9balla4life]

I found both the 7100g for (on sale at Amazon for $149 with a $150 mail-in, so free) and the 7290 (also on Amazon for $199 with the $150 mail-in so $50) and I wondered if I lose anything by not buying at a Cingular store - warranty, techncial support, etc.

Also - if I need to port my number to that phone, would it work to have them assign me a new number and then once I get it, go into a Cingular store and have them port my existing number to the phone? sounds like so much headache.

OFF THE RECORD!
I am a Cingular Wireless Sales Rep so Please for god sakes do it at a store. When you activate at the store you will get personalized service. Someone who is more qualified to assist you with setting up your account with all the necessary feature codes. Going to the store allows to you actually talk to someone and you can ask them questions that you don't know and since dealers like Amazon.com or Wirefly do not provide good customer service or ANY customer service for that matter. Companies like Amazon.com or any type of dealer do not care about you as a customer. They want your money and once they have it then they want nothing to do with you...just trying to be honest. Yes you will be saving a good amount of money but the type of people who are looking to buy a BB aren't tight with money. If you are then you shouldn't be thinking about getting a BB anyways...

Dealers may offer lower prices because you're signing 2 contracts not one like Cingular. In all cases if you were to return your phone within a certain timeframe then you will be charged not just $150 from Cingular but $150-$175 depending on the independent dealer. Most customers don't know about this and they don't know until it's too late. To be candid if you run into any problems with your account and you wanted to speak to someone face to face at a retail store I can almost promise you that the reps will be reluctant to help because that's techinically a customer service/dealer issue. However, if you purchased your phone at a corp store then that sales rep is obligated to take care of you and your account for as long as they still work there or as long as you have service with Cingular. I can guarentee you that the rep you made your purchase from will go above and beyond to help you (billing, network, handset issues etc.,) You will basically have a personal contact within the company, someone you can ask questions to at any time unlike customer service. All of us have the capabilities to do everything customer service can do but "Sales" are what we were hired to do so you would most likely be sent to customer service to take care of the issue. Also, if you buy your service from the dealer you don't have the ability to exchange your phone if it came defective or became defective within 30 days. And no, you will not be able to go to a retail store to swap out your phone because we can't take back something that was never in Cingular's inventory to begin with.

If you don't mind doing all the leg work yourself and you don't mind fixing your own issues then internet is the way to go. If you're like me, you would rather pay a little extra to get good service. IMHO customer service is more important to me than saving a few bucks. Like they say, "you get what you paid for." "When a deal sounds too good to be true it normally is..." Most customers who dislike their service provider or have a bad experience with their service provider almost 60% of them stems from where they purchase their phone and service.

Btw, porting must be initated from a corp retail store...
With that said, you know which way is better for you because each person is different. I just wanted to inform you of the skimatics of all wireless providers. I hope that you make the right decision so good luck and congradulations for choosing the #1 PDA phone in the market. 8-) Please let us/me know how things turn out. Thanks for listening to me.