Sprint's upgrade eligibility and customer-retention

[sp0nge]

All carriers are the same. At & t is the worst, go to the and try and get anything.. good luck. I'd be surprised if the IPhone stays w/them beyond there contract, there network is slower and overcrowded. As far as the pre goes, I think sprint was hoping to steal some market-share with it. Not that I'm implying they don't care about existing customers, its just that the market is saturated and most new lines come from existing customers not new ones. If your a gadget junkie like me, the simply everything plan on the most dependable network(w/4G on the way soon) is good enough reason to consider switching.
I'm on the fence with the PRE as I like WM and this community.
-Scott

[sp0nge]

Originally Posted by cozboogie

Yes, it's best to not switch things around for 30 days...otherwise you risk not getting any rebates, etc.

late,
Coz

Correct you will loooose your rebate.

[ldostang]

Originally Posted by Chief85

Ah, so if you buy from Best Buy you can swap immediately?

i dont know for sure. the reason im going through best buy is cause they give you the instant rebate instead of mail in like sprint. so im thinking it wont harm anything but i may be wrong.

edit: well finally got the call from best buy that they have the pre. im excited to get it. hopefully the whole swap thing doesnt screw up anything.

[ldostang]

ok just talked to sprint cs. if i buy from sprint then i will lose the mail in rebate if i do it before the 30 days but since im buying form best buy, the rebate is done already. so that means i can swap.

[nxtech3]

Originally Posted by ldostang

ok just talked to sprint cs. if i buy from sprint then i will lose the mail in rebate if i do it before the 30 days but since im buying form best buy, the rebate is done already. so that means i can swap.

that is correct, but if you buy it from BB, and you have an isssue with it, you cant return to BB, you have to go to a Sprint store, and they wont do the thirty day exchange because its from BB, so good luck , hopefully you wont have to return or exchange it. If you get it from Sprint, do the swap, wait a couple of weeks and then call CS and tell them you never got the rebate. They will credit your account.

[ldostang]

Originally Posted by nxtech3

that is correct, but if you buy it from BB, and you have an isssue with it, you cant return to BB, you have to go to a Sprint store, and they wont do the thirty day exchange because its from BB, so good luck , hopefully you wont have to return or exchange it. If you get it from Sprint, do the swap, wait a couple of weeks and then call CS and tell them you never got the rebate. They will credit your account.

damn... well hopefully i wont have the problems ive been reading. i thought best buy had the 30 day exchange also.

and the other way you mention. there is no way of them knowing you did a swap before the 30 days?

[nxtech3]

of course they would know you swapped, but no customer care rep is going to take the time and dig. They will just transfer you to the rebate center, they will see you purchased the device and signed the contract no matter what number the device is on at that time and credit your account. I had a Touch on an already activated line not eligible for upgrade, added a new line of service on a TP, called in to do the swap same day i got the TP, waited a week, called and got my rebate credited to my account and as soon as i verfied i had the credit, i called and cancelled the new line of service, all within 30 days.

[ldostang]

Originally Posted by nxtech3

of course they would know you swapped, but no customer care rep is going to take the time and dig. They will just transfer you to the rebate center, they will see you purchased the device and signed the contract no matter what number the device is on at that time and credit your account. I had a Touch on an already activated line not eligible for upgrade, added a new line of service on a TP, called in to do the swap same day i got the TP, waited a week, called and got my rebate credited to my account and as soon as i verfied i had the credit, i called and cancelled the new line of service, all within 30 days.

cool. thanks for the info.

edit: looks like we can already order over the phone too.

"We just made getting the Palm® Pre™ a little bit easier. Order the revolutionary Palm Pre over the phone by dialing 1-800-SPRINT1."

[Chief85]

Originally Posted by ldostang

ok just talked to sprint cs. if i buy from sprint then i will lose the mail in rebate if i do it before the 30 days but since im buying form best buy, the rebate is done already. so that means i can swap.

Thanks a bunch for the info and updates. One clarification:

Swapping within the 30 days only affects that $100 rebate, right? I don't see how anything else would make sense, but just want to make extra super sure that they can't do anything to claw back the $250 "instant savings" listed on the website.

[nxtech3]

just the mail-in rebate, technically the phone has to be on the number for 30 days just to get you past the 30 day return/exchange, that way they arent just giving you $100, but there are ways around it like i posted earlier.