Google
 
Web www.howardforums.com
Pages: 1

$449 p800 with 2 year contract

(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: stevej111

Hi,

I just came back from a store called "Fone Art" in San Francisco. They are selling the P800 for $449 with a 2 year contract with your choice of service provider (At&T, Cingular, or T-Mobile).

Their number 415-668-7268.

FONE ART
612 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94118

They seemed friendly, but I have never purchased anything from this store nor am I affiliated with them.

Maybe this is a good option for some people.






Posted by: jeh

Are the phones locked?


Posted by: XPMILLINIUM

Quote:
Originally posted by jeh
Are the phones locked?


please read again...

P800 for $449 with a 2 year contract with your choice of service provider (At&T, Cingular, or T-Mobile).







Posted by: TAWelsh

jeh,
Despite XPMILLINIUM's response, the answer is no, they are not locked.

Thomas


Posted by: stevej111

The phone is unlocked.

If you want it without a 2 year contract, then the price is $700 some odd dollars ($750 – if I remember correctly). It’s better to get it from SE at that point.


Posted by: Bonafyde

I bought many phones from them. They have all the latest phones, unlocked. I believe one year plan is $550. They have 3 locations in the Bay Area.


Posted by: Turbochrge

I just tried to do business with these guys.

They have the P800 listed as $449. Yet, when you walk in and talk to them, they'll quote you a price of $550 out the door. They'll give you some talk about how the $449 price is for a 2 yr. contract, but they'll give the $449 price to you anyway.

Also, they told me that the extra $100 was due to state tax, sim card, and "other" taxes. "Other taxes?" Sounds fishy... I also heard some other ridiculous comments such as how Amazon sells stripped down phones and removes other items from the retail box. I can't verify or deny this, but I doubt that's what they do.

I put down a down payment on the phone yesterday, and I went to go pick it up today. I was assured that they had one last P800 left.

Guess what? They didn't have the phone. On top of that, they said that it was being shipped from another country, and "it wasn't their problem." They said I can check back tomorrow or the day after.

So:

1) They are liars
2) They are selling grey market phones
3) Once they get your money, "it's not their problem" if you don't have the phone.

The POSITIVE thing about this store is that they gave my deposit back without any hassle. Props to them on that.

And if you're looking to purchase a phone from them, make sure you have the box/phone in your hand before you pay.


Posted by: wolwol

Quote:
Originally posted by Turbochrge
I just tried to do business with these guys.

They have the P800 listed as $449. Yet, when you walk in and talk to them, they'll quote you a price of $550 out the door. They'll give you some talk about how the $449 price is for a 2 yr. contract, but they'll give the $449 price to you anyway.

Also, they told me that the extra $100 was due to state tax, sim card, and "other" taxes. "Other taxes?" Sounds fishy... I also heard some other ridiculous comments such as how Amazon sells stripped down phones and removes other items from the retail box. I can't verify or deny this, but I doubt that's what they do.

I put down a down payment on the phone yesterday, and I went to go pick it up today. I was assured that they had one last P800 left.

Guess what? They didn't have the phone. On top of that, they said that it was being shipped from another country, and "it wasn't their problem." They said I can check back tomorrow or the day after.

So:

1) They are liars
2) They are selling grey market phones
3) Once they get your money, "it's not their problem" if you don't have the phone.

The POSITIVE thing about this store is that they gave my deposit back without any hassle. Props to them on that.

And if you're looking to purchase a phone from them, make sure you have the box/phone in your hand before you pay.


mind you, p800 which is always available in some 'chinese' store are always grey, especially when they're unlocked.
even other phones.


Posted by: Turbochrge

Quote:
mind you, p800 which is always available in some 'chinese' store are always grey, especially when they're unlocked.



I don't really mind if a phone is grey market as long as it's identical to the same phone that is not grey market. But, it would have been nice if they told me. I guess it's not unusual to find grey market phones in 'mom and pop' shops.


Posted by: Turbochrge

Quote:
mind you, p800 which is always available in some 'chinese' store are always grey, especially when they're unlocked.



I don't really mind if a phone is grey market as long as it's identical to the same phone that is not grey market. But, it would have been nice if they told me. I guess it's not unusual to find grey market phones in 'mom and pop' shops.


Posted by: CameraAssistant

T-mobile does NOT do 2 year contracts.


Posted by: Bonafyde

The reason why they charge so much tax and other fees for the phone is because they taxed it on the retail price of the phone which could be like $700 - $800. They have to make some kind of commission from signing up new users. I believe they get $250 from the cell companies for new user they sign up. I remember buying the Nokia 8890 at the Cingular store when it first came out. The phone was $500 with new activation but the tax is charged from $800 and not the $500. $800 is the original stand alone price. So they have to charge you any type of fees so they can to make up the difference for selling the phone so cheap.


Posted by: Turbochrge

Just to be fair, the first store I went to was Fone Art in San Francisco. I heard there was a Fone Art in Berkeley, so I stopped by to ask some questions.

The Fone Art in Berkeley had a p800 available (I asked them to show me the box and phone). Fone Art/Berkeley said they would give me the same deal I received in Fone Art/San Francisco.

I took the deal. I guess Fone Art is decent as long as they can prove they have the phone you want and you can pay that day. I will do business with them again.

The only negative aspect is that they gave me a P800 box that was crumpled in the corners. But, everything inside seemed okay.


Posted by: Bonafyde

So what was the total price out the door you paid for?
Assuming you got phone for $475 + tax/fees...


Posted by: Turbochrge

I got it for $522 out the door with a 1 year contract. I might have been able to negotiate a lower price, but $522 seemed reasonable since Amazon.com was taking orders for $500.

There is a 2 week to 1.5 month delay for the P800 from Amazon.com (including shipping time), and it's probably branded with the T-mobile logo. I thought having the phone now and not going through the trouble of using nail polish remover to remove the logo was worth an extra $22.

Also, Fone Art requires that you purchase a plan of $39.99 or greater.

Check out the thread for the P800 for $370. It seems almost impossible, but it if works out, what a deal!


Posted by: Bonafyde

Congrats on your new phone!
If you need help configuring the data settings to check your
e-mail and surf the web, let me know. I can help you with that
if you're on the T-Mobile plan.


Posted by: Turbochrge

Quote:
If you need help configuring the data settings to check your e-mail and surf the web, let me know. I can help you with that if you're on the T-Mobile plan.


Thanks for the offer! My service provider is T-Mobile, but I haven't subscribed to T-zones (or T-Mobile Internet) yet. I reasoned that I should first get used to the phone and staying within my minutes before subscribing to something where I have to keep track of my data transfers.

You see, this is my first cell phone, and I am sure I will run into problems of staying within my minutes like every other cell phone user. I don't want a $100 bill for my first month.

But, can you tell me what Internet plan you are on? What is the $/mb, and why did you pick that plan?


Posted by: Bonafyde

I'm on the the National - Basic rate plan $30 (300 whenever minutes, unlimited weekends) + Buddy Time $10 (Unlimited t-mobile to t-mobile), and t-zone pro $10 (10MB data).

I had the regular t-zone for $2.99 but found out that 1mb wasn't enough since I checked my e-mail on my phone everyday from Yahoo pop mail. I cost a lot per mb if you go over your limit.




vBulletin Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.
vB Easy Archive Final ©2000 - 2009 - Created by Stefan "Xenon" Kaeser