New Phone Help!
For the past 10-ish years I’ve had nothing to do with landlines and been strictly with Verizon and its growing nationwide dominance. I’ve been hesitant to bow to the smartphone revolution, but I think it’s about time to make the switch. Mostly because upgrading to a non-smartphone leaves me with little options for stepping up to something better than I have now.
Anyway, I’m curious about all the little places opening that seem to pop up and cater to upgrading and whatnot. Verizon proper vs. Big Blue Worst Buy Satellite Mall location, the little shops in strip malls … what’s the difference, and who’s got the better deals? Does it matter? Is there anywhere I should avoid? Help me out people!
Go buy an iPhone from Ryan Nelson at Best Buy.
There is no difference in phones, plans and deals between authorized dealers (the places you are seeing, Best Buy is an authorized dealer as well) and the provider owned stores. The authorized dealers are required to offer the same offers, phones, promos etc…. as the corporately owned kiosks and stores. Authorized dealers get a cut of every sale and at times can not present you with the best deal available because they make their money solely off commission. They also get spiffs for pushing certain products at certain times. Given my choice I always go to a corporately owned store. The sales staff are more knowledgeable and more fair since they are salary plus commission.
If you are union minded the reps at the ATT corporately owned stores are represented by the CWA union.
Go buy an Android from Ryan Nelson at Best Buy.
And AT&T was the biggest telecom contributor to Scott Walker’s campaign for governor. It’s tough to spend your money to do the most good… back to the phone- I recommend anything with a removable sim card. If your data can’t be easily transferred from one phone to another, you might be stuck if your phone breaks.
While I recommend an iphone over an Android device, if you do weigh the moral and political pros and cons and decide that a ‘droid is right for you, be sure to make your first app purchase be the official DDD app: https://market.android.com/details?id=tv.wizzard.android.dannydoesduluth522&feature=search_result
My experience has been the opposite of Ruthie’s. I have a basic Samsung phone through AT&T. At the large AT&T store near Arby’s in Superior the phone was $149.00 with a two year contract. The same phone was $0.97 at WalMart with a two year AT&T contract. And the WalMart employee made sure all of my contacts and other info transferred correctly from my old phone plus gave me an extra charger and case for free.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com
Check out Pre-Paid Options as well.
I bought an LG Optimus V running Android 2.2 from Virgin Mobile (Sprint’s network). Shop around because the price of this non contract phone varies daily from $129.99-$199.99 try to find the best deal on web. Laughing you guys to the bank with your inflated contract based plans.
$25/month (My Plan)
Unlimited Text,Data, & Web
300 mins
R,
Hot damn! That is a good deal. I wasn’t even looking at getting a new phone, but I like the cheap plans.
I am guessing you have no problems with service in Duluth? Yes/no?
The $25 plan looks good, but I love the $40 plan. I have verizon, but their new plans (I have an old Alltel account) are too expensive.
Glad to be of help. I work in Duluth and have no problems with it in and around the city. If rural areas are a concern I would definitely seek out their coverage maps. However, if you want a smartphone, but never thought you could afford one. I have no regrets. Heck this plan is saving me $25 bucks per month from my old plan. Which was only mins and no text or data.
https://www.virginmobileusa.com/check-cell-phone-coverage
Go buy a TracFone from Ryan Nelson at Best Buy.
CREDO Mobile
I’ve been using these guys for years.
I was going to post about my coworker R’s awesome Virgin USA plan, but some random R beat me to it… 😉
I had a VirginUSA phone before. No probs, great service, and some promos to make it even cheaper if you pay attention to their emails. The only downside is all of the marketing makes you feel really old and out of touch.
I got my HTC EVO through Sprint online thinking that was the best deal – but one of the rebates was a $150 mail in that took 11-14 weeks to process. When my wife was ready for a new phone we went to Best Buy and got the top of the line phone but all the rebates were instant and the great customer service person transfered all the contacts and memory card and made sure it was working perfectly before we left the store. Plus all the accessories we bought were cheaper at BB than at the Sprint store. Also they have some kind of buy back thing I don’t really understand for those of us who don’t wait for upgrade season to have the new gadgets….
Get and iPhone and be happy.
Since I’ve been mentioned three times now, let me put in my two cents:
Come to Best Buy (big box location) and check everything out at once. We don’t work on commission and we have everything (except TracFone and StraightTalk) under one roof. I will get you into what’s right for your needs, within your budget. No mail in rebates either.
Go see Ryan Nelson at Best Buy for a date.
Go see Ryan Nelson at Best Buy and get your palm read.
Go see Ryan Nelson at Best Buy and call him a hotshot.
Does the all knowing Ryan Nelson work this weekend?
@ Hot Shot. Do you really not work on any commission selling phones at Best Buy? No spiffs either? My wife has worked at number of cell phone places over the years and there was always some incentive for selling phones. So a guy who sells 5 iPhones in one day with all the extras makes no more than the guy who sells one car charger?
But to answer the original question, I would base my decision more on the phone. Look into iphone, blackberry, and android and figure out which one fits you best. I would seriously research online reviews for whatever smartphone model is offered for cheap on a prepaid plan. Personally I am very happy with the iPhone.
I am working this weekend (11-7 Saturday and Sunday). Come chit chat and I’ll help you out.
It is true that we don’t work on commission. I have worked with another indirect cell phone retailer on commission before too. I can say that having a larger selection and taking the commission away makes for an easier experience for both seller and buyer.
I can see how it would work out nicely for the buyer. My wife at times worked at places that had incentives on certain phones at certain times. So a salesperson could be looking at an extra $20 if they sell the Samsung over the Nokia for instance. Of course a problem arises if the Samsung happens to suck but the salesperson pushes it anyway. She would try and be honest and steer them towards the right phone regardless of commission, but she was definitely in the minority.
That’s exactly what I get to do. We represent everyone on an even playing field. I have no incentive to sell any phone other than making sure the person buying the phone doesn’t hate it or get terrible service.
Getting rid of mail in rebates is great too. All they are for is to make more revenue for the retailer. If the customer forgets to mail it in, tough cookies.
I will also read your palm at no extra charge.