Becareful of buying subsidized from Amazon.com (on spare lines)

[ftap]

I ordered the Nokia Lumia 900 form Amazon with an upgrade from one of my spare lines.

Paid $19.99. Good deal for an upgrade.

Bam, I get an email from amazon saying they are having a hard time completing my upgrade this afternoon.

This is what I did. Got phone on Wednesday. Immediately activated sim and place new sim in my upgraded line. Everything works. I followed instructions to the tee on amazon.com's webpage.

Than after getting the "congratulations....blah blah blah text on the new Nokia Lumia 900".

I head to ATT retail store and do a sim swap. I take out newly activated sim from my upgraded line and place it in the line I really want to use it on (my main line that didn't have an upgrade).

Long story but Amazon now claims I need to have the upgraded phone using the Nokia Lumia 900 for 181 with the required data plan. This makes no sense. I read the Amazon instant policy.

AmazonWireless

No where does it say I have to keep a data plan. It just says I need to keep the line that was upgraded in service for 181 days.

I called 2 reps before ordering this phone about their instant discount policy. Walmart/Let's Talk disclaimer is a lot clearer than Amazon.com.

I told the new Amazon reps I previously called to confirm that I didn't need to keep the data (because the line upgrade was my ghost line/dumb phone line). After activating phone, I had ATT rep remove the data plan from upgraded line and switched back to dumbphone with no data.

The math makes no sense for me so I decided to return the Nokia Lumia 900 subsidized phone and just purchased it at full retail $450.

What do you guys think after reading Amazon.com disclaimer? It's very vague and mentions nothing about a required data plan.

 

[dkp23]

Amazon is correct. The phone is at the subbed price as long as you activate a Voice AND Data for that specific line for the next two years. If it was already existing, then renew for an additional two years.

You didnt put it on your main line because it was not eligible i am assuming for an upgrade or you didnt want to.

Because you swapped phones out, doesnt mean you can turn off the data on the dummy line since you are not in a 2 year contract for both voice/data.

The swapping of the phone is not the issue, the cancellation of the data plan after entering into a 2-year contract is the main issue. You can swap all you want, but that line needs to remain with a data plan.

 

[CDG]

I am not saying it is right but it is done all the time and with AT&T's blessing. In fact when I got the Lumia Tiesday the rep suggested the new line and switching of IMEI numbers. He even said he would put a dummy IMEI on the new line. I would be paying $10/month as an additional line to my family plan.

Not wanting to get into that I bought the phone at the contract price but the rep would have been happier if I did the two year contract with a new line.

 

[danwc]

It's a bummer for sure. They have a section on their wireless FAQs page dealing with the question of switching phone among lines on a family account (what they call a cross upgrade at the ATT store) where they clearly state that while the carrier might let you do this, you have to leave it on the line/number it was ordered on the for 181 days or you face penalty charges.

 

[ninjaap]

What would've happened if you ignored Amazon? They would charge you $250, per their policy? If so, that would've been cheaper than buying the phone at non-contract price ;-)

 

[ftap]

Crap, you guys are right. I am usually very anal about reading the fine print and this is what I read,

"When you purchase your device with service from AmazonWireless.com, we automatically pass along an instant discount from the carrier to you. This discount has been provided to you based on your agreement to (a) activate a new, or extend an existing, line of service for this device with the carrier, and (b) maintain this service in good standing for a minimum of 181 consecutive days. If you do not activate or extend a line of service in connection with this device, or if your service is canceled/disconnected before 181 consecutive days, AmazonWireless.com will charge you $250 per device, plus applicable taxes."

But over on the FAQ section, it reads,

"I need a new phone, but my line isn't eligible for an upgrade. Another line in my family account is eligible. Can I get a new phone for my line by using the upgrade of the other line in my family account?

While carriers may offer the option to swap upgrades between different lines on the same family account, this option isn't available through AmazonWireless. Phones purchased from AmazonWireless must remain on the line upgraded for 181 days. If you move the device to an alternate line within the first 181 days, you'd be subject to additional charges by AmazonWireless of up to $250 (per phone), plus applicable taxes."

Well I already packed up the Amazon Nokia Lumia 900 and sent it back to the UPS store before the 6PM Eastern ship time.

I'll keep my ghost line/dumb line upgrade. It's simply not worth "wasting my upgrade" if I need to keep 6 months of at least $20 data ($120 data worth of data) on a line I don't even use.

$120 worth of data plus $20 for subsidized phone plus $36 activation fee equals $176 total cost for phone.

Vs. $450 for phone outright.

So my "real subsidy" for renewing on contract is less than $300. I'd rather just keep that line upgrade eligible for the 6th generation iPhone or Windows Apollo phone in the fall.

I already got email confirmation for the Nokia $100 statement credit.

 

[jimski]

So with the $100 Nokia credit, it would have been $76 to get the phone on your ghost line vs. $449. Sound pretty good to me.



Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

 

[ftap]

So with the $100 Nokia credit, it would have been $76 to get the phone on your ghost line vs. $449. Sound pretty good to me.



Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

Partially correct.

I still get the $100 credit regardless of buying subsidized or unsubdized.

So $450 full price minus $100 statement credit equals $350 plus taxes

Compared to 2 year contract ($176) minus $100 credit. $76 total.

So less than $300 subsidy.

I'll save my subsidy upgrade for the iPhone 6th maybe new windows phone 8 models.

 

[HellKat]

Crap, you guys are right. I am usually very anal about reading the fine print and this is what I read,

"When you purchase your device with service from AmazonWireless.com, we automatically pass along an instant discount from the carrier to you. This discount has been provided to you based on your agreement to (a) activate a new, or extend an existing, line of service for this device with the carrier, and (b) maintain this service in good standing for a minimum of 181 consecutive days. If you do not activate or extend a line of service in connection with this device, or if your service is canceled/disconnected before 181 consecutive days, AmazonWireless.com will charge you $250 per device, plus applicable taxes."

But over on the FAQ section, it reads,

"I need a new phone, but my line isn't eligible for an upgrade. Another line in my family account is eligible. Can I get a new phone for my line by using the upgrade of the other line in my family account?

While carriers may offer the option to swap upgrades between different lines on the same family account, this option isn't available through AmazonWireless. Phones purchased from AmazonWireless must remain on the line upgraded for 181 days. If you move the device to an alternate line within the first 181 days, you'd be subject to additional charges by AmazonWireless of up to $250 (per phone), plus applicable taxes."

Well I already packed up the Amazon Nokia Lumia 900 and sent it back to the UPS store before the 6PM Eastern ship time.

I'll keep my ghost line/dumb line upgrade. It's simply not worth "wasting my upgrade" if I need to keep 6 months of at least $20 data ($120 data worth of data) on a line I don't even use.

$120 worth of data plus $20 for subsidized phone plus $36 activation fee equals $176 total cost for phone.

Vs. $450 for phone outright.

So my "real subsidy" for renewing on contract is less than $300. I'd rather just keep that line upgrade eligible for the 6th generation iPhone or Windows Apollo phone in the fall.

I already got email confirmation for the Nokia $100 statement credit.

Sorry to bump this old Thread, but I think something needs to be addressed, & this is the only Thread I can find about it...

The CONTRACT, you sign with AmazonWireless says NOTHING about not allowing "Buddy Upgrades". ONLY the FAQ says that!

I bring this up because I recently did this exact thing myself, & I am worried after reading this thread!

I did not sign a disclaimer that I had an understanding of the FAQ! I signed a CONTRACT that says:

"When you purchase your device with service from AmazonWireless.com, we automatically pass along an instant discount from the carrier to you. This discount has been provided to you based on your agreement to (a) activate a new, or extend an existing, line of service for this device with the carrier, and (b) maintain this service in good standing for a minimum of 181 consecutive days. If you do not activate or extend a line of service in connection with this device, or if your service is canceled/disconnected before 181 consecutive days, AmazonWireless.com will charge you $250 per device, plus applicable taxes."

Does anyone have any insight? It has been a month since I implemented my Buddy Upgrade & all is good so far, but I think Amazon needs to seriously re-write the Contract if that is their Policy.

 

[maj71303]

Sorry to bump this thread again to answer this question? The contract and line of service is what has to be maintained. The device can be used on a different line if you have more than one, but the data & voice plan you agreed to in the new contract has to remain intact and not changed for 181 days.