Does anyone know if, say, your Pearl stops working 10 days after you get it from Amazon (praying this doesn't happen to me) you can take it to a TMO dealer to get a replacement, or do you have to send it back to Amazon every time? for that matter, should the phone break at all during the warranty period, do you always have to go through Amazon? I'm assuming that if you are on the equipment replacement program this is entirely through TMO, but what about warranty issues?

It's pretty much up to T-Mo. I've heard a couple stories where T-mo would send a replacement, and then another where T-mo would make you go back to where you purchased it.

thanks... i kinda figured i would have to send it back to Amazon, and decided to suck it up for the cost savings over the local TMO dealer... even if i have to return the thing 20 times i will still save over the cost of the TMO-dealer phone... fortunately my BB isn't mission-critical, I don't use it for work. Returning it would be a hassle, but not life-ending. Spending $500 more over the cost of two BBs might have been life-ending.