Old Phone Died - did I make the right decision?
 

I have been reading this forum for the past few months waiting for the PPC 6800 to come out. I haven't been in a huge hurry because my Verizon Wireless contract didn't expire until mid May. I was planning to purchase the SERO plan with the PPC 6800 as soon as it was available.

Well, my existing phone died this past weekend (standard voice phone - no data/non PDA). I called Verizon and they told me that I could only get a new phone if I wanted to sign a new 2 year agreement. No Thanks.

I ended up calling Sprint to see if they could do anything for me because I can't be without a phone for work until the PPC 6800 comes out. I ended up ordering the SERO 500 plan with the PPC 6700 for $288 and she told me that I could exchange it for the 6800 within 30 days. Do you think I made the right choice? I am pretty much screwed if it doesn't come out on the 18th, but then again, I am screwed if I don't have a phone for work.

I am also worried that it may be out on the 18th, but they will tell me that it isn't available when I call to exchange my phone. In that case, if I return my 6700, will they let me get the discount on the 6800 when it becomes available?

It would have been easier if my old phone held out for another few weeks.

Acropolis

Why didn't you just buy an old junker Verizon phone from ebay and use that until the 6800 is released?

I mean, hopefully the 6800 will be out mid June but we don't have any confirmation of that. Not to mention that there are reports that the 6800 will only be released to the business/corporate channels first, with a release to the public some weeks later.

Sounds like you've already ported your number and everything, so keep your fingers crossed. But I think it would have been a much better decision to make do with a cheapie $20 phone for a few weeks until Sprint figures out what it's doing in regard to the launch.

Good luck... hope it works out for you.

I thought about trying to find an old phone temporarily, but when I looked at ebay, most phones were going for around $25 plus $15 for shipping. I asked Verizon about activating a used phone and they told me that I would have to pay $35 to activate it. I decided I really didn't want to pay $75 for a temporary phone.

I figured I would gamble on the new phone and getting a 6800 in a month. Plus the lady at Sprint told me that if I returned the 6700 within the 30 days, that I would be eligible for the discount again once the return showed up in the system. Of course that means trying to figure what to do without a phone again while waiting.

the june release is for business accounts i think. the retail release is on 7/16.

Someone else suggested I take the 6700 and wait to see what comes out in a couple of weeks. If I can't order the 6800, they suggested buying an old used phone for Sprint since I have switched and using it with Sprint until I can order my 6800.

I guess I will have to play it by ear at this point. If they actually let me keep the new phone credit like they told me I can, I will be fine. If not, I may have to tell them I am going to cancel my account under the satisfaction guarantee since they aren't keeping their promise.

or...before 30 days is up switch it for a treo ... and then switch it again for the 6800...or back to 6700...etc. switch until you get what you like.

Do they start a new 30 day period when you exchange a phone?

The 30day exchanges period is from the origional phone unless they want to be nice. Did you get Tep on your phone? If so a broken charging port.........

They didn't even ask me about Tep, but I called back shortly after ordering and she said I could order it any time in the first 30 days.

My issue with Tep is that they will probably give me another 6700. I am going to see what happens. If it is in fact available on the 18th - even if it is only to the business users, I should have a pretty good argument for an upgrade.

ESN swap?
 

It sounds like returning your current phone and getting another phone incurs an activation fee? I had always thought ESN swaps were free, but I guess this is only if the phone was activated before.

What I would recommend would be a lot of work. Get a prepaid phone to which you can port your number to off eBay. You can resell the phone once you get your 6800, but you may not be able to resell your minutes if you port your number to Sprint. So at most you would lose whatever the cost of the minutes were, but would get back the money for the phone.

If you keep your 6700 make sure to apply for all your rebates. UTStarcom has a $100 rebate, Kelloggs has a $75 rebate and you might be able to get a Sprint rebate as well (I managed to get $100, some have gotten lucky and gotten $250 from Sprint!). You can send in copies of the UPC to everyone since you have multiple rebates, you probably will have to call to follow up if/when they reject you.