A bunch of Touch Pro Best Buy information i want to get out all together.

[tpmwr]

Hey Everyone!

My name is Anthony and I work for a Best Buy Mobile. I have worked with Best Buy for almost 7 years now so I think I can help resolve ALOT of questions / issues people are having. I will discuss as much as I can and answer as many questions as I can, but keep in mind, some areas are private company info I can not release. let me also note this is all my speculation and none of this is the word of best Buy itself. Please also note that ALL prices are subject to change at any time. These are NOT guarenteed final prices.

I heard Best Buy has an exclusive on this phone, is that true?
As of right now we do NOT have any exclsivity listed internally in any of our fliers, we were just told to expect the phone on the 26th. Other users have posted that they work for HTC overseen companies and that Best Buy does indeed have an exclusivity agreement on this phone, and to be honest, they very well could be correct, I will just mention that he have nothing listed about it in our phone releases or price tags, and we usually like to advertise that about exclusive phones.

Will Best Buy stores be getting it on the 26th?
This I do not have a definative answer, but to be honest, I would assume not. I am reading posts that the phone is being shipped out on Thursday so it hits on Sunday, but it looks grim that it will hit the stores on Sunday. Here's my reasons being:

a) On our release date form (came out like 2 weeks ago) we have the TP listed as Oct 26th, but in white not green. Green dates mean deff by that date, white dates mean on or around.

b) RSS lists stores as having the phones 'On Order', that USUALLY means they will be coming via Best Buy's trucks and NOT via some sort of mail or carries service. The ONLY phone my store has EVER recieved on a Sunday was the Instinct, and that was not listed in RSS as 'On Order' or 'In Transit' it just said 0 until they arrived. That does not mean they deff wont show up via other delivery forms, it just seems grimm.

Do please keep in mind that this does not mean we are not getting them on the 26th, it just me explaining why I do not think we will get them on the 26th. We very well may. Also please keep in mind, the Instinct we recieved on Sunday we got around 2pm, so if you call first thing and they say no, don't hesitate to call a few hours later, just please don't call every 5 minutes.

If Best Buy does not get them on the 26th, when are they expected?
This is all based on when the phones actually get shipped from HTC and other service centers. I would say get intouch with your local Best Buy Mobile and find out when their truck dates are. For example if their truck dates are Tues and Thurs, I would say expect around the 29th or the 31st as lock up items (phones) are often not available the day the truck arrives. You can also check with the associate to see if their phones are 'On order' or 'In Transit', you'll obviously need the latter of those 2 for the phone to arrive :-p

What is the pricing of the phone at Best Buy? Is it true you guys 'jack up' the retail price?
The current launch pricing it $299 with a new line or upgrade. It should be around $279 for anyone creating a new account with a plan $59.99 an above, Add-a-Lines only get the $299, regardless of rateplan. As for the retail price, it is indeed usually slightly higher then the Sprint retail price, but that is not to 'Alter rebate prices' or any of that stuff, it's just to make up for our cost of the units. As a matter of fact, 9 times out of 10 our Upgrade / New price is MUCH cheaper then Sprints. Also keep in mind, there are NO mail in rebates, the price you see is the price you get.

I heard there is a 20% rewardzone discount, what does that apply to?
That applies to new and upgrade customers and is valid until Nov 1st. That would bring the phone to $223.99 / $239.99. See the pricing in previous question to figure out your price. Keep in mind that some BBY's (including mine) have problems with that packaging out in the register, so if that occurs just show the employee the site, they will honor the discount.

What if BBY gets the phone after the 1st, will I still get 20% off?
Heres the deal on that. If Best Buy does not extend that deal, you will not be guarenteed to ge the 20% off. You can ask the associate and they may be able to take care of you, but we can not guarentee that price. Myself and my Mobile manager have decided in our store that we should be overall accepting this discount in situations where customer have come in prior to the 1st asking about the phone and mentioning this discount. We will also usually go out of our way to attempt to take care of the customer anyways, that is one of the great philosophies of Best Buy Mobile.

Why wasn't the TP in the flier for the week of the 26th that was leaked on SlickDeals?
That flier was from a Pensilvannia Best Buy store. In PA they have chosen to replace Sprint with T-Mobile in their linup, so they do not even carry sprint phones in that store :-p As for the reasoning behind stores picking one or the other SPrint / T-Mobile, I can not comment on that. Also note, that just because a store carries TMo prepaid doesn't mean they carry TMo :-p There is a possiability that some stores may carry both, I have just never seen it in any of our literature.

What will the price be if I am only eligible for the one year upgrade ($75 upgrade)?
The price is currently set at $459.99 with the one year upgrade, which would put the phoine at $367.99 after the RewardZone Discount.

if you guys have any other questions please let me know. I will ateempt to answer them and update the main post, I also know many other BBY Mobile employees are on this forum, I'm sure they can help out too.

[drexappeal]

Okay, so if "technically" I'm eligible for a $75 upgrade from Sprint (but I've already confirmed that I'll be getting in cheaper due to being a "Premier" Sprint customer and EVP customer), would that mean that Best Buy would only grant me the $75 rebate, or is it that as long as you are "eligible" for upgrade (regardless of the amount of time with my current phone), I'll still be able to get the "full" best buy rebate price (e.g. 299 - addtional 20% as long as you're eligible for an upgrade period)?

[tpmwr]

The $75 rebate is different then the $150 rebate for BBY. The $299 is for $150 rebate customers. I honestly forgot the check the 1 year price, I will check that tomorrow.

[dastars]

Thanks for the rundown; consolidation is good.

On a random sidenote; I go to the BBY near the Pittsburgh Galleria Mills mall, and they carry both Sprint and T-Mobile (along with everyone else) in-store. You can verify that by going to the Best Buy site, pulling up the weekly flyer ad, using ZIP 15206 and going to page 31, if you like. So I guess the carrier(s) in a BBY store may vary pretty widely by region/state/metro area.

[drexappeal]

Originally Posted by tpmwr

The $75 rebate is different then the $150 rebate for BBY. The $299 is for $150 rebate customers. I honestly forgot the check the 1 year price, I will check that tomorrow.

Okay, so looks like I'm better off just waiting for EVP. Thanks for clarifying.

But, is there room for negotiating or is it pretty much set in stone?

[tpmwr]

wow, thats the first store I've heard of doing that, pretty zany. I hope my store picks up on that trend -_- Thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by drexappeal

Okay, so looks like I'm better off just waiting for EVP. Thanks for clarifying.

But, is there room for negotiating or is it pretty much set in stone?

That is set in store, really no room for negotiation unfortunatally, but the 20% would still apply.

[drexappeal]

Originally Posted by tpmwr

wow, thats the first store I've heard of doing that, pretty zany. I hope my store picks up on that trend -_- Thanks for the info!



That is set in store, really no room for negotiation unfortunatally, but the 20% would still apply.

Assuming the instant rebate would work similar to Sprint, then it definitely wouldn't be worth it for me to buy from Best Buy early (even with the 20% discount).

What shows up externally (on the Sprint system) is that I'm only eligible for a $75 discount. Internally, Sprint has a note on my account that got me the $299 pricing.

If I could somehow they could give me the discount that Sprint will be giving me, then it would be definitely worth going to Best Buy with the additional 20% off. Phone would be around 260 for me, which is cheaper than what I'd be paying to stick with my EVP pre-order and extra sprint discount.

[tpmwr]

Yeah unfortunatally we can not use the notes Sprint puts on peoples accounts, only the external dates, even if we call it in

[TheBundo]

I might try BB on this deal. They can't be as bad as Fry's, which I try to avoid like the plague, and where I refuse to show the door donkey my receipt or let him search my bag EVER

[stroths]

I might give it a try too at BB, but I am skeptical if they will have it by the 26th. I am also wondering if they will have enough stock as I'm not camping out for this phone. I can wait a few more days to get it through EVP if necessary.

My thought process, if its correct, would put the 1 year upgrade price at $75 more than the 2 year upgrade price. This would be $299 + 75 = 374. Take 20% ($74.80) off that and you are back at $299 + tax.

Sprint said they would give me some additional money back due to some issues I've had once I activate my TP. However, I don't know if they'll give that to me if I buy it from BB. Anyone have any thoughts on this?