Refused to sell to me off contract at Pentagon City store

[theefman]

Title says it all, stood in line, then got told only on contract. Bunch of tossers.

 

[palandri]

Title says it all, stood in line, then got told only on contract. Bunch of tossers.

I had that happen to me when I was switching back to AT&T from T-Mobile. All I wanted was a SIM card, because I had my own GSM phone. They told me I had to sign a 2 year contract. I left.

I called AT&T and ordered the SIM card off contract - 30 days and out. I told them what happened at the store and they told me they have no control over what the stores do.

 

[hasasimo]

Title says it all, stood in line, then got told only on contract. Bunch of tossers.

Too bad the Microsoft Store there doesn't have any yet. Just called them.

 

[FuzzyHat]

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.

 

[hasasimo]

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.

 

[mlm1950]

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 plan to do.

 

[hasasimo]

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.

I might have to do that as well, with Microsoft Stores apparently lying about availability and yellow not being available anywhere (or so it seems) until sometime next week.

 

[eurovisionacts]

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.

Yep. Got an email saying the phone basically needs to be activated anyways to use. (turn on phone and make a test call). So once I get my wireless charger + phone will call and cancel.

 

[veereshai]

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.

 

[hasasimo]

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?

 

[wamsille]

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?

 

[veereshai]

So you said the MS store there only has black, white, and red, correct? No yellow or cyan?

Not sure. I walked in and the representative asked me what color I was interested in. I said red would be my first choice and if not red, I'll take the white. She went inside and got me the red one, didn't ask her if they have other colors.

 

[cp2_4eva]

Title says it all, stood in line, then got told only on contract. Bunch of tossers.

Pentagon city? I right down the street free m you. Go to the store in Clarendon. They have it....but only in black.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[TheBadGuy_88]

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...

 

[mlm1950]

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?

When you try to buy the phone from Nokia.com, it just sends you to the AT&T order page.

 

[theefman]

Thanks for the tips on availability, had to come into work so no 920 for me! I'll just see what happens next week as I'm sure they will be sold out today.

 

[theeboredone]

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.

 

[theefman]

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.

No 1 makes sense but for no 2, I'm already an at&t customer and only for about 6 months so I'm not eligible for an upgrade hence why I have to buy it off contract. I guess the logic is I will break my current contract, pay the ETF and sign a new one for the 920 but only a complete fool would do that, so reason why I wanted to buy it off contract, which lets remember they advertised. If they're not prepared to sell it off contract why even say its available that way?

 

[MrTimSmith]

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.

 

[mlm1950]

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.

For new customers, selecting a plan is the second step after the first step of selecting a phone.