[ONFUS]

I think all these I paid this you paid that stories make for an interesting read. However, what you end up paying for the phone has absolutely nothing to do with what it cost Sprint/VzW/Tmo to get the phone. They are barriers of entry designed to "filter out" the customers they want. Now operators will deal with you to the point that you are a good customer to them. If you are nice to them and you are lucky enough to get an "understanding person" on the phone, things will happen. Keep in mind that they do write about you on the system, so calling multiple times is not going to help unless you are comming up with some strategy. I have been with Sprint for 10 years and while I have had my fights with them, they have been nice to me in the end - service in the stores is awful, so I never go there. I did pay $350 for the TP2 - I wanted the phone, period, but I did get a brand new Tour for the wife for free (1 year into a 2 year contract, Centro died w/o warranty). About plans, I still think Sprint plans are better even more if you qualify for some of their special programs. Verizon's phone TDMA? Not true.