Title says it all, stood in line, then got told only on contract. Bunch of tossers.
Title says it all, stood in line, then got told only on contract. Bunch of tossers.
Most stores will probably do that for you. I used to work at an authorized retail store for Verizon, and we would not sell any "recently launched" phones off contract to anyone. We were told not too. If you really wanted an off-contract phone you could have ordered online or will have to wait. The people who get precedence in these launches is the people who are signing up for a new contract or the people who are extending their contract due to that's where the cell providers make their money.
Not true for AT&T... they won't even sell it online (off-contract) unless you add a plan with it.
I think part of this has to do with MVNOs beginning to kick those thieves butts. More and more people are starting to realize what a rip-off their individual plans are.
Someone mentioned in another post that after you received your "No Commitment" phone you could just call and cancel the plan with no penalty. Hope that is true, because that is what I hope to do.
Someone mentioned in another post that after you received your "No Commitment" phone you could just call and cancel the plan with no penalty. Hope that is true, because that is what I hope to do.
OP,
There was no line at the AT&T store this morning. Not sure if there was one later on. But, the MS store in the same mall has these in stock. IIRC, he said, I have two options. To go with a plan or to buy it off contract. Check with them and you might be able to buy one off contract.
So you said the MS store there only has black, white, and red, correct? No yellow or cyan?
Title says it all, stood in line, then got told only on contract. Bunch of tossers.
Buying a phone off-contract through a carrier is stupid. Get it from the company direct or SIM free from Amazon, etc. AT&T wants to sell to current customers, whether they are tying it to a service contract or they go month to month. No, in theory there is nothing preventing you from buying a Lumia 920 from an AT&T off-contract with a rate plan and calling later to cancel. You paid full retail. There is no ETF.
Because the current crop of inventory is for current and new customers of AT&T, I bet stores are preventing people from buying the phones for $450 off contract and selling them for $800 on Craigslist. What's to stop someone getting their phone for $99 (or less) and selling it for $450 themselves?
I tried to buy the phone off contract in an at&t store in nyc and got denied as well. Its really baffling that companies don't want to make money.. I understand if they need to make money, add a mark up and everybody wins. But to say no to up front money, makes no sense...
2 main reasons why new phones are not immediately sold off-contract...
1. Resellers: They will go on Ebay or Craig's list and somehow sell it for a higher price. Especially if not many AT&T stores are selling it no contract to begin with.
2. When a customer signs a contract, it proves to be more money long term than someone just buying the phone outright. Think about it. 90 dollars for the cheapest plan? 90 x 2 years = 1980.00 dollars. That's practically 5 920s being sold out right.
Not true for AT&T... they won't even sell it online (off-contract) unless you add a plan with it.
I think part of this has to do with MVNOs beginning to kick those thieves butts. More and more people are starting to realize what a rip-off their individual plans are.
I just went to the very last step on ordering a 920 cyan online, no commitment and it didn't make it me add a plan to it. (I'm not ordering until next week) It showed my current plan and that's it. Go to the phone page, click on order, choose upgrade, log in and that's it. All I had to do. Now if you don't have an AT&T account at all and just want the phone, then yeah I could see that being an issue but that makes sense.