Purchasing phone at full price

[nakapozian]

If I'm part way into my contract, and decide to purchase a new BB 9900 at full price, does this impact my HUP eligibility? (I'm 9 months into contract, and am eligible for HUP at 18 months)

Also, when I buy the 9900 at full price, does anything need to be done in the system or can I program/activate it on my own at home? Is there any advantage to this or should I just have Bell/WW do it for me? Thanks!

[JohnLaplante91]

If I'm part way into my contract, and decide to purchase a new BB 9900 at full price, does this impact my HUP eligibility? (I'm 9 months into contract, and am eligible for HUP at 18 months)

Also, when I buy the 9900 at full price, does anything need to be done in the system or can I program/activate it on my own at home? Is there any advantage to this or should I just have Bell/WW do it for me? Thanks!

It will not change your hug date... And if u buy if at a bell store you dont have a choice they need to put it on your account at the point of purchase..

[Gaunt911]

you can probably buy it at futureshop..
if you buy it at a bell store they will force you to put it into your account IMEI
and may charge you $15 handling fee at a dealership.
plus tax.

[WorldIRC]

If you buy from a Bell store / dealer, they are going to activate it (as they are required to), and you will be billed a $20 activation fee, and your dealer may also charge an in house activation fee.

[nakapozian]

Ahh interesting... so purchasing somewhere like Costco at full price means I just take the device home and plop my sim card in?

[WorldIRC]

Problem is Bell instructs even vendors like Costco, BB and FS to ensure all devices leave active. They are there to make money and fees such as the $20 activation fee are ways of ensuring that dealer channels remain profitable so that they may continue to assist their clients.

[pnjunction]

I'm thinking of doing this (buying an upgrade) at some time as well. Two questions:

1. If I buy an unlocked phone from a 3rd party (ie next Google phone) there is no activation just put the SIM card in right? Or is there an online/in-store activation one has to do for it to work?

2. Does the old device (my SGS) keep working (obviously if I put the SIM card back in it) after activating a new device?

[can3gxw]

If you can get your hands on a phone (whatever method) that works on the Bell network, both phones will work just fine. Just swap the SIM cards when you want to. I busted the screen on my SGS and had to get a replacement STAT. I ended up going to FutureShop and buying a Samsung Gio prepaid phone for $79.95. I just plopped my SIM in that and was away to the races. Didn't call Bell, and FS didn't require me to activate it. The same thing went when I had to send my SGS in for repair last spring after the internal SD went... they sent a replacement - I put in my SIM (didn't call to activate) and it just worked. Then when my Vibrant came back, I put the SIM back in and it just worked. The only thing that you need to have activated is the SIM card. Once you have that, you can put it in whatever compatible phone you want.

Your SGS will continue to work without the SIM if you connect through WIFI.

[pnjunction]

Thanks. So the activation fee is a pure cash grab then as I suspected.

Old phones can come in handy, I use my old LG Shine as an alarm clock. Always has the right time, works on battery in case of power outage, and will even work for a 9-1-1 call if the feces should hit the fan blades! A retired SGS could do much more than just alarm clock lol. Beyond the obvious uses as a browser and media player on wifi I already use it as the remote for my HTPC as well.

[nakapozian]

Problem is Bell instructs even vendors like Costco, BB and FS to ensure all devices leave active. They are there to make money and fees such as the $20 activation fee are ways of ensuring that dealer channels remain profitable so that they may continue to assist their clients.

Just a FYI -- Costco (Wireless Etc) is not instructed to activate devices if paid in full. I got mine on Sunday and it was basically a "give me your money and here's the phone still in the box" deal (and it was $50 cheaper than Bell's price)

The manager there said that they weren't told any different, so YMMV apparently!

Lovin' the new 9900 too

[WorldIRC]

^Glad to hear it! Glad Glentel can make their own rules.

[nakapozian]

Yeah, they seemed very unconcerned about anything so it's likely they were just doing what they wanted The good thing about Costco is that phones have the 90 day return policy regardless of usage, which is paired well with purchasing outright because you can be very certain you have a good hardware version!