vB Easy Archive - Cingular Store Experiance w/ Upgrade

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Cingular Store Experiance w/ Upgrade
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Posted by: boboso

I have decided that I am going to get a Treo 680 or 750 to replace my Razor v3 and Palm TX. I have access to a premeir account via my workplace, but decided I will go to the local Cingular store to ask a few questions and see what we can work out. The store is a Cingular Wireless corporate store not a kiosk or Best Buy etc.

My current plan is a Nat 450 Rollover and I have approx 9 months on a two year. No intention of cancelling current plan only upgrading phone and plan.

Asked about upgrading and after he checks my account, sees I am part of a premier group he states "I cannot upgrade" and "you are not eligible". I ask what does that mean? I do not want to cancel, yes I want the best deal I can get but I will buy the phone and upgrade my plan to voice and data. He states again "you cannot upgrade". I ask "so I cannot buy a phone or PDA even with adding on the data plan?", he again states "no you cannot". I explain again that I am not interested in doing anything but replacing my current phone for a PDA type, and again he states I cannot... I let him know I can buy the phone through my works premier site (as others in my workplace have done) and he lets me know that "it is not possible".

Has anyone ever heard of this...? I am not asking Cingular to change my account, only add to it and buy a new phone. Starting to think the account cancel option may be played out but I am happy with the service, just not the hunk of junk phone and wish to combine my PDA and phone devices.

Posted by: Mindtrain

I don't know the specific answer to your question, but I just logged on to my account (which I signed-up through Premier) and previously it said I was elligible for an upgrade (even though I just signed-up last November) and now it says I can no longer upgrade (period). I think Cingular has suddenly made a major change to their upgrade policies . . . I don't know, but it's pissing me off if this is the case and we can no longer upgrade our phones.

Posted by: dawggiedawg69

Traditionally you are not eligible to upgrade till 21 months into your 24 month agreement. One may eligible to upgrade earlier if the revenue is high enough on the account, or a rep that has the authority to approve an exception upgrade does so.

Some premier accounts have it set up where they can upgrade earlier or even at anytime, but it's all a matter of what kind of agreement Cingy and your company came to. Premier policies are subject the change based on the current agreement the two parties have, the only thing that Cingy wont do is automatically move you down to a lower monthly discount if thats what came out of the new agreement. They continue to keep you at that percent off until you do another upgrade or the such.

Posted by: gdart

I think all of this has to do with the use of the "upgrade" term. If you are willing to pay full price for a new device, you can change your plan. I think the rep was hung up on your eligibility for a subsidized upgrade.

Posted by: boboso

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdart

I think all of this has to do with the use of the "upgrade" term. If you are willing to pay full price for a new device, you can change your plan. I think the rep was hung up on your eligibility for a subsidized upgrade.

Yes, I think the same as well. I will be doing a search for a new or used Treo 680 or wait until the "new" one comes out.

I'll buy the device, slip in the sim, upgrade if I feel I need it.

Thanks!

PS - I think my premier allows for heavily discounted phones/pdas etc, with no "upgrade" or other "infraction".

Posted by: Coastal

I just bought a Blackjack after buying a 3125 about 6 months ago and renewing on a 2 year contract. I'm not a premier member, but for some unknown reason (I'm guessing is because I was super nice to the girl who sold me my phone 6 months ago) I'm listed as a "VIP" on my account now which makes me eligible for an upgrade after 21 months. I have 1200 anytime minutes for $40 and the unlimited MediaMax 200 data plan and didn't want to change plans. I just found that I wasn't using the data plan because it was so SLOW so I wanted a 3G phone that was also better for texting. I called 2 local corporate stores and one said their price without plan was $399 while the other gave me a price of $349.

I saw that they had refurbished units on the website for $199 though (without a plan) and tried to buy one of those, but it wouldn't let me.

So I called Cingular to see if I could buy one through them. The first rep I talked to was in Ohio and after putting me on hold several times to talk to managers, said it was still 15 months until I was eligible for an upgrade and there was nothing she could do. She admitted that while it made no sense that they'd list the retail price without a plan, she couldn't sell me one, but said I was the nicest person she'd talked to in a long time and gave me another # to call. When I called that # it put me right back to the same department

, but speaking to a different rep in CA.

I again explained why I wanted a new phone and asked if there was anything that could be done. She said there wasn't anything in terms of an upgrade, but that she could credit my account for $50 to help pay for a new phone. I said that would be great , so she put me on hold while she processed the credit, but then came back and said she'd just credited my account for $75!

I see so many posts where people call CS threatening and yelling at the reps, but I've always found that if you're patient and nice, they'll go out of their way to do whatever they can for you. Some have more authority than others do though and it's always worth a shot to call back if you get a "no" the first time.

Posted by: jlczl

Wirelessly posted (SAMSUNG-SGH-I607/I607FG1 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; Smartphone; 320x240))

if u hav a "premiere" acct do NOT bother going to a Cingular B & M store. Just buy online or via Cingular premiere tel line.

Posted by: one hand high

I recently purchased a 8125 for my girlfriend online. I tried to do it over the phone but the rep told me it would be $350. The online price was $299 + $100 rebate. When I told him that he said he didn't think it'd be that cheap even though he was looking at the cingular website at the time.

So I bought the thing online only to find out I need to buy the PDA unlimited plan with it to get the rebate. So I call Cingular and ask if I can order the plan since I meant to anyway and still get the rebate. No dice. But she was nice enough to set my own phone up to where I could upgrade a month and a half ahead of time and told me to go to a store and let them know my account was annotated.

So I go to a store and decide on the 8525. First she tells me I can't upgrade and I say to look on my account. She doesn't see anything(even though another store saw it) and has to call a manager at Cingular to get approval.

Finally they say it's ok... On the display it says $450 w/accessories(?) and $399 without. I purchase it and the women proceeds to tell me that the sign is wrong and the phone is $499!!! I'm going to be as nice as I can when I call Cingular over this since it does seem to be helpfull but that will be the last time I go to one of their stores.

Posted by: RF9

Quote:

Originally Posted by boboso

My current plan is a Nat 450 Rollover and I have approx 9 months on a two year. No intention of cancelling current plan only upgrading phone and plan.

<snip>

Has anyone ever heard of this...? I am not asking Cingular to change my account, only add to it and buy a new phone. Starting to think the account cancel option may be played out but I am happy with the service, just not the hunk of junk phone and wish to combine my PDA and phone devices.

This is actually correct.
If where you fulfill a certain part of your contract and if Cingular deems you worthy, they let you upgrade about 18-21 months or something like that. What happens is there some kind of flag on your account that gets flipped to "eligible" for an upgrade discount.
Once I even called in and convinced CS to flip me back to eligible because I had returned a phone and they never put me back to eligible status. It took him 2 seconds to do it.

The Premiere web site lets you upgrade early because it does not check your upgrade eligibility. It lets you upgrade with a discount regardless of whether or not you're eligible for an upgrade. Does that make sense?

What this means is that you have no choice. If you want to upgrade now, you have to do it through the premiere web site.
You know what what? It's better this way anyway. In some cases you even get free overnight shipping (otherwise you pay like $15 for it.) And you get it the NEXT MORNING.

Just order the upgrade and even pick a new plan and data plan if you like. When you get the phone, call in to "activate" it and tell the CS rep that you just want to "add the data plan to your account" but not change the actual vioce rate plan.
When you order a plan and phone through premiere they don't touch your features and plan. You have to call in to get those changes made, at which time you can tell them what you want... it doesn't matter what you selected with the order.
In fact, when you get the phone you don't even have to call in at all. You can just log on to your account at Cingular.com (OLAM) and add the data feature yourself that way if you like.
This last tidbit I got from Premiere tech support when I called and asked them how to get the discount on the phone for adding a data plan without changing my rate plan. They said pick the plan to get your pricing, then just tell them what you actually want if you call.

I hope this all makes sense. While the store will often match premiere pricing if your account shows "eligible" for an upgrade, they will not give you any discount if you aren't eligible yet.
Premiere lets you upgrade with a discount whether you're eligible or not. That's one of the great benefits.

Posted by: inspector

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlczl

Wirelessly posted (SAMSUNG-SGH-I607/I607FG1 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; Smartphone; 320x240))

if u hav a "premiere" acct do NOT bother going to a Cingular B & M store. Just buy online or via Cingular premiere tel line.

Actually - if you buy the phone from the premier website - the prices are significantly higher - right? Atleast that is what I thought - becasue while you are getting discount on the premier site - they have jacked up the retail price so you end up paying same or more....

anyone - please feel free to correct me on this matter..

Posted by: RF9

Quote:

Originally Posted by inspector

No. Prices are lower.
Example: A phone may be $300 on the Cingular.com site and advertised as $200 after mail in rebate.

On Premiere the same phone would be $225 (no mail in rebate.) You can then apply the mail in rebate (get the form from cingular.com) and mail it in for that phone even though premiere doesn't mention the rebate. They're basically trying to give you the after rebate price without the hassle of the rebate (which you can apply anyway.)

Yes they jack up the "retail" prices to cover the corporate discount, but they don't sell phones on premiere for full price... only the discounted price.
So if you want to pay full retail, it will show as more on premiere, but you can't get it for full price there anyway, you have to go through retail.

People often miss this. They see a phone for $200 after MIR on cingular.com then the same phone for like $225 on premiere and think it's more expensive. They're not taking in to account the MIR.

Regardless, you can get a phone for an "upgrade discount" on premiere when you can't get any discount because you don't qualify through retail or cingular.com. That in itself is a benefit and makes it 'cheaper' than retail.

If you're having trouble accessing premiere. Send me a PM.

Posted by: RF9

Example of Premiere vs. Cingular.com/In-Store Pricing:

After Rebate Prices
Cingular 8525; Premiere=$284.99, Store=$399.99
Treo 680; Premiere=$49.99, Store=$199.99
Treo 750; Premiere=$174.99, Store=$299.99
--------------------------
Cingular 8525
Premiere:
Base Price $1029.99
Company Discount -$514.99
Web Discount -$105.01
Your Price $409.99
$50 off Cingular 8525 with Unlimited Data and Voice Plan
$25 off your order online only
2-yr Contract Price $334.99 (Price at check-out)
Mail-In Rebate - $50.00
Price after MIR $284.99

Cingular.com or Store
Price $599.99 (no contract Price)
2-yr Contract Price $449.99 (Your check out price today)
Mail-In Rebate - $50.00
Price After MIR $399.99
-----------------------
Treo 680
Premiere:
Base Price $689.99
Company Discount -$344.99
Web Discount -$70.01
Your Price $274.99
$100 off Treo 680 with Unlimited Data and $39.99 or higher Voice Plan
$25 off your order online only
2-yr Contract Price $149.99 (Price at check-out)
Mail-In Rebate - $100.00
Price After MIR 49.99

Cingular.com or Store
Price $449.99 (no contract Price)
2-yr Contract Price $299.99 (Your check out price today)
Mail-In Rebate - $100.00
Price After MIR $199.99
---------------------------------
Treo 750
Premiere
Base Price $999.99
Company Discount -$499.99
Web Discount -$100.01
Your Price $399.99
$100 off Treo 750 w/ $39.99 or Higher Voice Plan and Unlimited Data Plan
$25 off your order online only
2-yr Contract Price $274.99 (Price at check-out)
Mail-In Rebate - $100.00
Price After MIR $174.99[/[B]B]

Cingular.com/Retail Store:
Price $549.99 (no contract Price)
2-yr Contract Price $399.99 (Your check out price today)
Mail-In Rebate - $100.00
Price After MIR $299.99
---------------------------------
Note: You have to ignore the "Base Price" on premiere as well as the "Company discount" and "Web discount". It's all bogus. The only important thing is the "Your Price." If you called Business sales and asked for a no contract upgrade they'd quote you the retail price (from cingular.com). You'd never pay the arbitrarily inflated "Base Price" LOL

Posted by: matt839009

I think i got lucky. I had wanted the 8525 for a while and was watching the prices on premiere and locally. I had a friend who works at cingular look up my fan # and he told me i could upgrade anytime 35% off and no contract. I just had to go to a local store, have them look up my account and bingo. I got my 8525 for 389$ plus tax. It was cheaper than the 2 year contract price and I still have no contract.