Cell Phone Haggling

[mhayden]

My LG 4400 is on its last legs (outside LCD doesnt work, comport isn't working, large crack that is getting bigger every time I open the phone), and I'm looking at a new LG 8800 (or 8000, I forget) from Verizon. From what I can tell my 2yr committment is up in May.. Will I have any bargaining power at all at this point, or will I be at their mercy until May?

 

[hornimal]

I just bought a new cell phone. you will not have any barganing power unless you dump your current provider and sign up with a new one. they all take a loss on giving new phones to NEW customers. had I been a new customer I would have gotten my phone for free, instead I had to spend $99.99 on it after the mail-in rebate kicks in.

 

[Roger]

unfortunately Hanimal is correct in that even signing a new 2 year contract is only worth $100 to most providers and signing a new contract is worth up to $200. I just recently got a new phone (yesterday) and for the first time I got a phone better than the one I could get for free. The phones available right now are worth paying for, however you have zero leverage if you have time until your contract runs out as they are likely to hit you with a large cancellation fee.

 

[Horns2005]

For what it's worth, if you only have a few months left, I've never found a rival wireless company that wasn't willing to buy out the last few months if you switch, and you can get a new phone in the meantime.

 

[TennesseeHorn]

In reply to:

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[Luke Duke]

Buy a $15 phone on ebay that will last you till May

 

[cbs]

I'll give the opposite point of view. We have Cingular, and my wife's phone died about four months before we were "eligible" to re-sign and get new free phones. I called customer service, talked to a manager, and they gave us both new free phones without waiting any time. The rep also looked at our billing history and suggested a new plan that has saved us about $30 a month since we renewed in December.

 

[hornimal]

cbs -- your wife's phone probably qualified for a replacement. in mhayden's situation, he would not qualify for one. something like droping and breaking yoru phone would reder it ineligible. now if the phone starts locking up, stops rining, or has any kind of software problem they will replace it.

 

[gsoda3]

how do you get a rival company to buy out the rest of your current plan???? i've never heard of that. that's awesome.

 

[Longhorn Al]

I'm still on my family's plan. Verizon allowed us to sign up for a new 2-year contract a couple months early so we could get new phones. I got the LG 7000 + car charger, leather case, and headset for $99. We got 3 more LG 3200's for free.