Cancel then buy again...

[Xman]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

Some of these new high end phones on Ebay are about $500 or so. For the
latest and greatest really. Termination fee is $175. Has anyone actually
ever cancelled service then signed back up again to get a $500 phone for
peanuts with a contract? Just curious. I'm dumping my old V60i (my nokia was
ran over by a car) and want a clamshell again with a good screen. I text a
lot with family...so it's hard to tell what's easy to do that with without
using the phone. Any recommendations a good clam shell phone?

I hear Samsung phones are excellent and better then LG. Is that true? I was
under the assumption they're practically the same.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

<xman@thedripper.com> wrote in message news:110db7d4jursr7e@corp.supernews.com...
> Some of these new high end phones on Ebay are about $500 or so. For the
> latest and greatest really. Termination fee is $175. Has anyone actually
> ever cancelled service then signed back up again to get a $500 phone for
> peanuts with a contract? Just curious.

It isn't as simple as that. If you cancel in the 15 days (30 days in California)
I assume they take the phone back. So chances are you will be paying for
at least one month of service, an activation, and in most states you also
have to pay sales tax on the actual phone price, not the subsidised price.
Additionally each time you get a contract they ding your credit record.
That substantially narrows the profit margin. I also doubt they'll
sell you a new subsidised phone for a long period afterwards (ie you
only get to pull this stunt once per carrier).

Also they have a record of the phone serial number, and so could
have a clause about how it is only for you and refuse to activate
it for anyone else. I also don't know what they do about warranty
service.

Finally the customer base would be people who cannot take advantage
of something like new every two, or a new contract, or even just ask
in the store for a discount.

That leaves you with a very small market, the ability for each carrier
to screw you over as much as you screw them over, a limit to how many
times this can be done, and not as great a profit margin as originally
appears.

The only reason why this can even be considered is because of the
carriers subsidising the phones. As cellular markets have matured
in the rest of the world, especially as the number of new customers
have dropped (eventually almost everyone has a phone!) then subsidies
have disappeared. It does also work better when there is a standard
and phones can be moved around carriers.

It will be interesting to see if a commidity CDMA handset market
ever appears instead of the current per-carrier one. I am sure
the handset makers would love it since they could compete directly
for customers rather than be at the mercy of the carriers.

Roger

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

<xman@thedripper.com> wrote in message
news:110db7d4jursr7e@corp.supernews.com...
> Some of these new high end phones on Ebay are about $500
> or so. For the
> latest and greatest really. Termination fee is $175. Has
> anyone actually
> ever cancelled service then signed back up again to get a
> $500 phone for
> peanuts with a contract? Just curious. I'm dumping my old
> V60i (my nokia was
> ran over by a car) and want a clamshell again with a good
> screen. I text a
> lot with family...so it's hard to tell what's easy to do
> that with without
> using the phone. Any recommendations a good clam shell
> phone?
>
> I hear Samsung phones are excellent and better then LG. Is
> that true? I was
> under the assumption they're practically the same.

I've heard that the cellular providers stipulate a waiting
period for existing customers (six months?) after canceling
service before you can sign up again as a "new user" and
take advantage of the cheaper phone deals. Perhaps others
here can say specifically how this works with Verizon?
Regarding clam shell phones I got an LG VX4500 about a month
ago and love it - much better than the "Sony Ericsson t610"
I had with Tmobile.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 18:48:59 -0500, <xman@thedripper.com> wrote:

>Some of these new high end phones on Ebay are about $500 or so. For the
>latest and greatest really. Termination fee is $175. Has anyone actually
>ever cancelled service then signed back up again to get a $500 phone for
>peanuts with a contract?

Your social security number is in the system as having been a customer
for 6 months. So no, you cannot activate service, get a free phone,
terminate, pay the $175 ETF, then do it all over again.
--
To reply, remove TheObvious from my e-mail address.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.verizon (More info?)

> I've heard that the cellular providers stipulate a waiting period for
> existing customers (six months?) after canceling service before you can
> sign up again as a "new user" and take advantage of the cheaper phone
> deals. Perhaps others here can say specifically how this works with
> Verizon? Regarding clam shell phones I got an LG VX4500 about a month ago
> and love it - much better than the "Sony Ericsson t610" I had with
> Tmobile.

A spouse or SO could do it for him to bypass the waiting period... but the
savings wouldn't be great enough IMHO to hassle with someone else managing
my account. You might save about $100, max, as the expensive phones are
still $200 and up... if you are satisfied with the lower end phones, you
could save enough to make it worthwhile.

On the other hand, a long time customer occasionally gets some special
deals - I got 1 month free a few weeks ago ($100 value) - so it might be
worth suffering with the current phone until you qualify for a discounted
one or getting a used phone from eBay in the $200 price range. But before I
would eBay, I would check with the store or call CS and see if/when I could
get a new phone at discounted prices - we got a replacement after the first
year of a 2yr contract at the new contract price.