AT&T Store (San Fran) Refuses to Sell me a No Commitment Lumia 920 - FURIOUS.

ilifecomputer

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I bought mine off contract today with the free charging plate. I'm in Denver.

Sigh. Why are there so many discrepancies with this whole launch. How come no where wants to give the free charger with a full price phone but then good ole Denver store comes to the rescue. Considering the press release says nothing about a 2-year requirement..... arg.:straight:
 

mtmjr90

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Verizon won't sell you a phone off contract either.

First off, not true. Bought the Galaxy Nexus on day one last year for $700 with no upgrade or new line.

As for the main topic...I called ahead to a store in Santa Clara and they said they wouldn't sell me a 920 off contract and that no stores they were aware of would either. I called customer service and they were shocked but said that's the store's prerogative.

I also called the MS Store in Palo Alto and they said they couldn't sell them to me full price either...which frankly shocked me.

So, I had to order online (off contract AND got a free charging plate) and now have to wait. What's worse is that I want it unlocked...which is will require a small miracle for me to pull off with AT&T DESPITE having purchased it unsubsidized.

I've used all four major carriers in the US as well as two prepaid MVNOs and AT&T is BY FAR the most customer-hostile of them all. If it weren't for all their damn exclusives and the fact that I'm GSM only now, I'd be long gone.
 

mtmjr90

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Sigh. Why are there so many discrepancies with this whole launch. How come no where wants to give the free charger with a full price phone but then good ole Denver store comes to the rescue. Considering the press release says nothing about a 2-year requirement..... arg.:straight:

See my previous post, AT&T online order will let you get off contract and a free charging plate:)
 

aimfire72

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Also in SF Bay Area, lots of AT&T stores had them in stock, but I waited until early evening, and by then, only a store in San Jose by me had any left. Drove over, it was the most ghetto AT&T store I've ever been to, lol. Complete chaos there, waited forever for someone to finally sign me in. Told them I wanted the 920 off-contract and girl said she had to ask the manager... She came back and said they could NOT sell me one off-contract yet. Asked her "Well when then?". She told me in 6 months because it was a new phone. :/

Remembered the MS Store at Valley Fair mall and gave them a call, asked if they had the 920 and what the off-contract price was... "Yes, and $499". Hmm, $50 more than AT&T, but whatever, would rather buy direct from the source than stupid AT&T. So I drove over there, got one no problem, out in 10 minutes.

Would recommend MS Store to anyone in SF Bay that's having problems with AT&T stores.

BTW, they didn't have the charger at the MS store, but told me I could get one online from Nokia... there's an article here on WP on how to go about it.
 

mtmjr90

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can you maybe blur out your info and post a pic. they made me pay for mine and said theyd credit it later but now are refusing to.

edit: please

Sorry it took so long. Here's a screenshot of my email confirmation.

If you bought it in store, I heard the way it's supposed to work is they take $49 off the price of the phone and make you pay for the charging plate, then send the plate later...or at least that's what one store told me. I hope you're able to straighten this out!
 

pavvento

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Also in SF Bay Area, lots of AT&T stores had them in stock, but I waited until early evening, and by then, only a store in San Jose by me had any left. Drove over, it was the most ghetto AT&T store I've ever been to, lol. Complete chaos there, waited forever for someone to finally sign me in. Told them I wanted the 920 off-contract and girl said she had to ask the manager... She came back and said they could NOT sell me one off-contract yet. Asked her "Well when then?". She told me in 6 months because it was a new phone. :/

Remembered the MS Store at Valley Fair mall and gave them a call, asked if they had the 920 and what the off-contract price was... "Yes, and $499". Hmm, $50 more than AT&T, but whatever, would rather buy direct from the source than stupid AT&T. So I drove over there, got one no problem, out in 10 minutes.

Would recommend MS Store to anyone in SF Bay that's having problems with AT&T stores.

BTW, they didn't have the charger at the MS store, but told me I could get one online from Nokia... there's an article here on WP on how to go about it.

I'd recommend going back to the MS store and asking them to price match, the one in Corte Madera did so I got it for $449 plus tax.
 

TheBadGuy_88

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I got denied by AT&T in the morning, so I went to best buy during the afternoon and got the phone for no commitment price of 449.00 at best buy!! It was listed at 599.00 but with their holiday match pricing promotion I showed them the price on attwireless.com and they rang me up for at&t's contract free price with no problem!! Just go to best buy and you should have no problem getting the phone!!
 
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cdd543

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Sometimes best buy will give you grief about it as well. They deliberately mark up full retail to make money off it. I've don't it, but then the next time the mobile manager wasn't willing to do it. Just be prepared to go to more than one location if you have to.
 

00Buck

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Order it from the Microsoft Store online

I just ordered one from the Microsoft Store online as a "replacement" which is the no-contract price of $499 and no sales tax. I didn't have to fill out anything other than my credit card and chose to have shipped next day for $9.99.

Full disclosure: I work for Microsoft (not on Windows or the phone team)
 

inteller

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wow...you ATT apologists amaze me. It ranks up there in my book with Nazi sympathists...

To the OP, wait for Amazon's offering. I predict it will be stellar.
 

mtmjr90

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I'm assuming you get their AT&T logo on the phone too? Who honestly wants that or any carrier logo on their phone when you buy it outright.


Believe me, as someone who also buys Nexus devices straight from Google, I abhor the AT&T logo on my phone. I'm just thankful they didn't plaster it on the back of the phone...sometimes it's the little things...
 

rubytuesday922

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It's not AT&T policy. I worked for T-Mobile for about 2 years when I was in college and had many friends who worked at AT&T.

Our manager tried to have us do the same routine. I told him to **** off. I constantly sold phones out right off contract and to people who wanted to upgrade even if it made me less money.

In fact, my manager would go so far that if we only got a limited number of "new released" phones, he would tell the sales reps to put them off to the side for ONLY "new activations" (not even upgrades were allowed)...this is what stores push because the manager gets paid the most and has monthly quotas...etc.

The fact is, purchasing a "locked" phone at full price is making MORE money for AT&T because you are not only paying full price for the phone, but you are locked into AT&T regardless. The only people who truly benefit from withholding phones in this case are the sales associates and the store managers.

If this happens, ask for the number/email of the Regional Manager... I guarantee you that will get you your phone with no hassle.
 

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