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Before one buys a used atrix hd off the bay, how does he make sure the imei had not been blacklisted by at&t? Especially if he lives overseas and has no way of trying out an at&t sim for a few weeks before he visits the US?
I understand atrix hd is also offered on contract. So what is stopping from someone taking it on the contract for cheap and buy a code from ebay and unlock the phone. Missed payments could make at&t blacklist the phone right?
I guess one way to avoid buying a stolen phone is to insist on the box with the sale, but how does one protect oneself about the above possibility?
AT&T employee here. Phones being blacklisted due to missed payments is usually only a CDMA thing, and AT&T just blacklist if reported stolen. Blacklisting is becoming more and more of an issue, so it is something to keep in mind when buying used from individuals. I would recommend getting them to provide you with the IMEI then call AT&T customer service 1-800-331-0500 to check it to see if it's clear.
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AzraelsVoice said:
AT&T employee here. Phones being blacklisted due to missed payments is usually only a CDMA thing, and AT&T just blacklist if reported stolen. Blacklisting is becoming more and more of an issue, so it is something to keep in mind when buying used from individuals. I would recommend getting them to provide you with the IMEI then call AT&T customer service 1-800-331-0500 to check it to see if it's clear.
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Thanks. I just called them. They told me that they do not keep a list like that! I'll send you a PM about it.
Blue Bell said:
Thanks. I just called them. They told me that they do not keep a list like that! I'll send you a PM about it.
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Try and buy from a good seller also. Look for "good imei" or something like that. As long as it is listed as good, eBay will protect you investment, aka refund you if you get the shaft lol
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SirHoover2010 said:
Try and buy from a good seller also. Look for "good imei" or something like that. As long as it is listed as good, eBay will protect you investment, aka refund you if you get the shaft lol
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Exactly. Ebay is all for protecting buyers, and unfortunately not sellers.
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If you want a good site with good imei then try swappa. Com I have purchased several android phones there and never had a problem, and the site checks the imei for u before u purchase the phone.
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Didn't know Swappa did that. Good piece of information.
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AzraelsVoice said:
Didn't know Swappa did that. Good piece of information.
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they just implimented a beta service today
Check out Swappa's new ESN Check (Beta) service. Validate with carriers to ensure ESN is clean for activation. swappa.com/esn
34 minutes ago from Swappa.
glad to help,i just bought an s3 like new for 390.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but ESN checking would only work for CDMA phones right?
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AzraelsVoice said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but ESN checking would only work for CDMA phones right?
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yes that is correct ESN is just for cdma phones but swappa check's IMEI as well just thought id throw that lil bit of info out there if anyone was interested.
when ever i have sold a phone on swappa the first thing i have to do is give swappa the IMEI so they can confirm if it is good.
SirHoover2010 said:
Try and buy from a good seller also. Look for "good imei" or something like that. As long as it is listed as good, eBay will protect you investment, aka refund you if you get the shaft lol
Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 2
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Unfortunately though, I live overseas, and I wouldn't be able to check if it works on AT&T until I try their sim in a month or two! Hence the pickle.
Swappa recognized the IMEI as the correct device but could not validate the status. Is CheckMEND a reliable solution?
AzraelsVoice said:
AT&T employee here. Phones being blacklisted due to missed payments is usually only a CDMA thing, and AT&T just blacklist if reported stolen.
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Click to collapse
Another quick clarification on the statement above. So, what happens to GSM phones that are bought on contract at a subsidized price and unlocked via one of the many third party sites online (if it is possible to illegally unlock phones on contract that is)? AT&T does nothing about it and just bears the loss?
Blue Bell said:
Another quick clarification on the statement above. So, what happens to GSM phones that are bought on contract at a subsidized price and unlocked via one of the many third party sites online (if it is possible to illegally unlock phones on contract that is)? AT&T does nothing about it and just bears the loss?
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if you unlock a gsm phone 90% of the time you can use them with any carrier ,i believe and correct me if im wrong. if you report a phone lost or stolen thats when there is a problem.i have a tmobile phone right now which is working with at&t.so as long as its a gsm phone and you can unlock
it then your good to go.i just bought a s3 off swappa then unlocked with cellunlocker.net for 25 and just popped my sim in and i was good to go.
hope this helps.
I don't get that business model. What is stopping people then from buying phones on contract for $50 and using them on another carrier after unlocking it for $25? Or is the contract obligations so binding in US that people don't ever break their contracts? How does it work there?
Blue Bell said:
I don't get that business model. What is stopping people then from buying phones on contract for $50 and using them on another carrier after unlocking it for $25? Or is the contract obligations so binding in US that people don't ever break their contracts? How does it work there?
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well to be honest it has to do with credit and your credit line,if you buy a phone with a contract and you break and or dont pay your bill then it will go to collections and that in turn affects your credit as far as getting credit cards or anything for that matter that involves anything having to do with credit,of course some people just dont care but for the majority it is better for them to pay the bill or to pay to get out of the contract as in an early termination fee. hope this helps
titaneds73 said:
well to be honest it has to do with credit and your credit line,if you buy a phone with a contract and you break and or dont pay your bill then it will go to collections and that in turn affects your credit as far as getting credit cards or anything for that matter that involves anything having to do with credit,of course some people just dont care but for the majority it is better for them to pay the bill or to pay to get out of the contract as in an early termination fee. hope this helps
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Oh okay. So the only worry is if people buy the phones and claim that it had been lost (and the insurance) but sell them off internationally. This way the phone will work everywhere except in US where it will blacklisted.
But then, will insurance and/or the police insist on seeing the box? If so, insisting on getting the phone with the box would technically make sure that the phone is not stolen and/or blacklisted right?
Blue Bell said:
Oh okay. So the only worry is if people buy the phones and claim that it had been lost (and the insurance) but sell them off internationally. This way the phone will work everywhere except in US where it will blacklisted.
But then, will insurance and/or the police insist on seeing the box? If so, insisting on getting the phone with the box would technically make sure that the phone is not stolen and/or blacklisted right?
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im afraid things work differently over here,not the police or the company really have time or care about a phone.insurance is just that ,if you have it then they will give you another and register the phones imei as bad and will be flagged as bad and will not work with the company you buy it from but if it is a gsm phone more than likely it will work unlocked with other companies ,now having said that if you want a phone that will work with at&t or any other carrier that are gsm then may plz recommend this website, swappa.com i have purchased several phones from them and never had a problem i would recommend buying at&t phone or a tmobile phone and if it is not unlocked then you can unlock the phone at cellunlocker.net which i have used as well and can verify that they give good unlock codes ,within 5 to 10 min,also swappa only deals with paypal so if the phones imei no. for some reason is not right even though they check it before hand and or the phone is not in the condition they said it was you are protected under there buyer protection program which means if need be they can refund your money.
Thanks. I had already been through Swappa. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the sellers do not ship internationally.
Blue Bell said:
I don't get that business model. What is stopping people then from buying phones on contract for $50 and using them on another carrier after unlocking it for $25? Or is the contract obligations so binding in US that people don't ever break their contracts? How does it work there?
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Click to collapse
The way it works with AT&T here is that you may get a $500 phone for $100 with a two year contract, but a stipulation of the contract is a $350 declining early contract termination fee. That way they're covered if you do decide to take it elsewhere. If a phone is blacklisted, it will fry your sim card almost immediately when you try to use it in that phone. Keep in mind, I'm an employee but not speaking on behalf of the company, just trying to be helpful and shed some light on things.
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AzraelsVoice said:
The way it works with AT&T here is that you may get a $500 phone for $100 with a two year contract, but a stipulation of the contract is a $350 declining early contract termination fee. That way they're covered if you do decide to take it elsewhere. If a phone is blacklisted, it will fry your sim card almost immediately when you try to use it in that phone. Keep in mind, I'm an employee but not speaking on behalf of the company, just trying to be helpful and shed some light on things.
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really did not know that ,thanks for the info
At&t won't sell me a Galaxy S5 with out a contract plan. Currently I'm on At&t Gophone and tried to purchase a phone yesterday and they said completely not. The only retailer that would was Bestbuy but of course there phone is $100 more. I'm thinking about going to T-Mobile prepaid since they said they would no problem. Uh decisions, decisions. Has anyone else had this problem with At&t.
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I have a thread about this in the Q and A section. Same deal here. Maybe after a few days they will. I got mine from best buy.
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Best buy will price match att.
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jayv81 said:
Best buy will price match att.
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Naw they won't I went there before even going to the At&t store because I wanted to get the geek squad insurance.
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jayv81 said:
Best buy will price match att.
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They will price match it but ATT isn't offering the phone off contract right now so they won't price match it until then
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Best Buys in my area we're always jerks and wouldn't match carrier retail pricing. They would for contracts though.
It seems like it's dependent on store management on whether they will price match carrier full price.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Well I was able to get Bestbuy to price match Amazon's 699 price which I am happy enough with. But its just irritating that stores make up there own policies. Some one won't price match at all, some are saying they cant sell unless its on a contract, and one said okay and gave me the $50 off.
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Being a corporate retail chain aren't they supposed to follow the corporate policies that Best Buy has in place, its not like they are a franchise and can do as they please. They are supposed to follow the rules, but then again thats why I buy from Amazon.
Cyberguycpt said:
At&t won't sell me a Galaxy S5 with out a contract plan. Currently I'm on At&t Gophone and tried to purchase a phone yesterday and they said completely not. The only retailer that would was Bestbuy but of course there phone is $100 more. I'm thinking about going to T-Mobile prepaid since they said they would no problem. Uh decisions, decisions. Has anyone else had this problem with At&t.
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LOL You can't get a phone and I received accidently 2 additional phones. It appears that when I cancelled and re-ordered, I got charged all three orders but with one upgrade. AT&T is such a joke. At least I can wait for a root and if it bricks have two other to try it again.
Cyberguycpt said:
At&t won't sell me a Galaxy S5 with out a contract plan. Currently I'm on At&t Gophone and tried to purchase a phone yesterday and they said completely not. The only retailer that would was Bestbuy but of course there phone is $100 more. I'm thinking about going to T-Mobile prepaid since they said they would no problem. Uh decisions, decisions. Has anyone else had this problem with At&t.
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buy it here cheaper than AT&T.
http://swappa.com/buy/samsung-galaxy-s-5-att/us
jayv81 said:
Best buy will price match att.
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Click to collapse
I got Best Buy to price match and regretted it; maybe buying outright is ok but whatever you do keep them away from your plan/contract. I don't trust them at all at this point for anything.
They screwed us up badly at our last upgrade (a simple 2 phones - 1 plan) and we spent at least 2 hours/week for 3 months getting it sorted out. The AT&T rep it eventually escalated to was mystified as to how the Best Buy employee had altered so many points of our plan without noticing it could not work for us, even offering an upgrade on a line that I thought wasn't eligible for 2 more months. We stopped in for just my upgrade so we should have recognized that something was wrong when that happened but I had lost track of how far apart our upgrades were and she was reading it off our account screen (or so it seemed).
Our bills for that 3 month period totalled almost $2000 as Best Buy had left it. Somehow we were billed full price for the ineligible device as well. It took a while but AT&T wiped it all away and even gave us a bill credit for the hassle. The AT&T rep joked that we had to promise to avoid Best Buy for our next upgrade in exchange for the credit. Apparently this is not an isolated problem.
On the plus side it realigned the upgrade dates for our lines when AT&T restarted our original plan so I got this S5 and she got a M8 on Sunday.
Cyberguycpt said:
At&t won't sell me a Galaxy S5 with out a contract plan. Currently I'm on At&t Gophone and tried to purchase a phone yesterday and they said completely not. The only retailer that would was Bestbuy but of course there phone is $100 more. I'm thinking about going to T-Mobile prepaid since they said they would no problem. Uh decisions, decisions. Has anyone else had this problem with At&t.
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Hmmm... I'll sell mine.
Christopher3712 said:
Hmmm... I'll sell mine.
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Lol. Sorry already bought one.
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Moderator Comment: Thread cleaned of inappropriate comments. Carry on.
Cyberguycpt said:
At&t won't sell me a Galaxy S5 with out a contract plan. Currently I'm on At&t Gophone and tried to purchase a phone yesterday and they said completely not. The only retailer that would was Bestbuy but of course there phone is $100 more. I'm thinking about going to T-Mobile prepaid since they said they would no problem. Uh decisions, decisions. Has anyone else had this problem with At&t.
Sent from my XT1034 using Tapatalk
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I went to two different stores in California and it was not a problem.
Maybe you need to buy the GoPhone card first?
NOW, I need to unlock and root.
alex_tytn said:
I went to two different stores in California and it was not a problem.
Maybe you need to buy the GoPhone card first?
NOW, I need to unlock and root.
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Click to collapse
In what part of California was it?
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Cyberguycpt said:
In what part of California was it?
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SoCal - Los Angeles, Torrance to be exact. But I ended up purchasing from AT&T in Manhattan Beach. But both AT&T stores would sell me with a GoPhone plan for the full price of $649.
Cyberguycpt said:
At&t won't sell me a Galaxy S5 with out a contract plan. Currently I'm on At&t Gophone and tried to purchase a phone yesterday and they said completely not. The only retailer that would was Bestbuy but of course there phone is $100 more. I'm thinking about going to T-Mobile prepaid since they said they would no problem. Uh decisions, decisions. Has anyone else had this problem with At&t.
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I think all depends on manager of store. I went to at&t store close to my house and pay full price for S5 they did not even ask me if i have at&t account. Payed cash, get phone and left store..
Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that you can get $50 free if you sign up for a free account in Isis Wallet, one of the bloatware apps that comes with the GS5. This happens through American Express. It's a free $50 you can use on "tap and pay" places. American Express will also send a physical gift card if you don't want
Confirmed.
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natefish said:
Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that you can get $50 free if you sign up for a free account in Isis Wallet, one of the bloatware apps that comes with the GS5. This happens through American Express. It's a free $50 you can use on "tap and pay" places. American Express will also send a physical gift card if you don't want
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Click to collapse
http://attforyou.com/isis/offers/
http://www.att.com/shop/apps/isis-mobile-wallet.html
Isis couldn't create an account for me for some reason.... 3 attempts 3 failures.
Anyone else?
EDIT: It worked on LTE, seems to dislike wifi...
natefish said:
Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that you can get $50 free if you sign up for a free account in Isis Wallet, one of the bloatware apps that comes with the GS5. This happens through American Express. It's a free $50 you can use on "tap and pay" places. American Express will also send a physical gift card if you don't want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I created an account and didn't get a gift card, I just used my wells fargo credit card with it. Got $20 free
btort1 said:
I created an account and didn't get a gift card, I just used my wells fargo credit card with it. Got $20 free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sign up for serve by american express
Yes
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Awesome worked perfect! Free $50! Thanks!
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VashTS said:
sign up for serve by american express
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Click to collapse
Just makin sure, before I sign up, I can cancel my serve account anytime right? Like if I cancel it next month lol
After you set up your Isis wallet you'll then sign up for the Serve American Express prepaid card. There's no fee and it takes 5 minutes. After you've signed up, they will deposit $50 into your Amex card. Then the Amex card is linked to your Isis Wallet account. They'll also send you an actual Amex prepaid card.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using xda app-developers app
We have 2 Phones on 1 account (AT&T Next plan) and both lines were able to get the $50!
The fine print says sub-accounts are not eligible but not knowing this my GF signed up on her M8 and got the $50 bucks.
I've had nothing but problems signing up for this. I had an existing Bluebird account, which, I found out, you cannot have both. So I took the balance to zero, and waited for all the pending transactions to clear. Called up Bluebird and confirmed cancellation of the account. When I told them that I wanted to sign up for Serve, I was advised to use the same exact information that was on my Bluebird account to apply for the Serve account. Otherwise, I would have to wait 30 days for my Bluebird account to be fully deleted from their system.
When I signed up for Serve, I got to the first page, and it told me my number was already registered. I called Serve and spoke to a supervisor who went into my Bluebird account and deleted my phone number for that account and had me re register again. I got to step 3, and got an error that "due to technical difficulties we cannot register you at this time." The supervisor checked and said that he checked with the technical team and that the Galaxy S5 in particular was having issues with signing up for a new Serve card from within the app.
So, I'm not sure what to do here... My wife has an S4 but the ISIS app says it needs a new SIM to work... might be time for her to upgrade anyway LOL
I have got it working, if anyone is experiencing any issues it might be because you need a SIM card with safe element to make it work and also try to do it in the morning or at night when their servers aren't packed with people doing it and remember this is good until the 30th of April this year!!!!!
My wife still has the older SIM, so it wouldnt work for her. If I put my SIM in her phone I get the same error. It's because I had a Bluebird account. Despite what multiple reps told me that all I needed to do is to put my exact same information that I had on my Bluebird account into the Serve account, I still cannot complete the process. Serve has blamed my phone, the S5, but as I said, it also happens with my wife's S4 with my SIM in it.
You also get $1 back on every Amex Serve purchase of $1 or more for a little while.
You can really stretch this free money if you have an ISIS vending machine.
We have one at work that charges $1.25 for a soda. Amex Serve $1 off per transaction = 5 sodas for $1.25. After 5 ISIS taps, you get $5 in free credit on the machine.
So for $1.25 total, you can get 9 sodas.. lol.
I just did it now and worked like a charm.... took a few minutes to add the $50.
diehardbattery said:
My wife still has the older SIM, so it wouldnt work for her. If I put my SIM in her phone I get the same error. It's because I had a Bluebird account. Despite what multiple reps told me that all I needed to do is to put my exact same information that I had on my Bluebird account into the Serve account, I still cannot complete the process. Serve has blamed my phone, the S5, but as I said, it also happens with my wife's S4 with my SIM in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you need to do is bring her phone yo your ATT store. Ask for a new sim with secure element and have that sim card ICC ID be associated to your wife's phone number.
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Ok, but other than her also getting the $50 what's the point? I have a Galaxy S5 which needed the newer SIM, and have already tried in her phone
My questioning to everyone is this in anyway linked to my at$t Bill just got m8 worked over Wi-Fi like a charm just seems to good to be true
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Thanks!
natefish said:
Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that you can get $50 free if you sign up for a free account in Isis Wallet, one of the bloatware apps that comes with the GS5. This happens through American Express. It's a free $50 you can use on "tap and pay" places. American Express will also send a physical gift card if you don't want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks--I wouldn't have found it otherwise!
I wanted motocare but seems that we cant have it in uk. What insurance are you guys/girls using in uk?
thanks
I am not using any kind of insurance.
However there are various mobile phone insurance firms that can cover you for a reasonable fee.
Or you can get one of those premium bank accounts that usually provide mobile phone cover as one of the benefits.
So I bought the S6 Edge for Verizon at best buy on launch day.. Because I was doing the Verizon edge I also purchased the warranty through best buy...
I'm now switching to T-Mobile and I'm purchasing the regular S6, however, I'm getting it through T-Mobile. I'm not sure if it's possible, and I don't think it is since I'm purchasing the phone directly through T-Mobile, but wanting to know if my best buy warranty would transfer to the new phone..
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Ask Best Buy
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ChadH42 said:
Ask Best Buy
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Lol.. That's the obvious answer. I was trying to find out last night while best buy was closed.
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Powell730 said:
So I bought the S6 Edge for Verizon at best buy on launch day.. Because I was doing the Verizon edge I also purchased the warranty through best buy...
I'm now switching to T-Mobile and I'm purchasing the regular S6, however, I'm getting it through T-Mobile. I'm not sure if it's possible, and I don't think it is since I'm purchasing the phone directly through T-Mobile, but wanting to know if my best buy warranty would transfer to the new phone..
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Did you purchase the Geek Squad Protection outright at the $169.99/$199.99 price? Or did you do the $10.99 monthly with lost & theft? Or the $7.99 monthly for accidental only? Either way, it will NOT transfer over to the T-Mobile phone, it is only for that phone you purchased at Best Buy. If you purchased the monthly, call Geek Squad (1800-Geek Squad) and you can cancel it. If you purchased the protection plan outright, you can go and do a pro-rated refund for the 3 months and two weeks that you used it.
- Best Buy Mobile Manager.
waleed300 said:
Did you purchase the Geek Squad Protection outright at the $169.99/$199.99 price? Or did you do the $10.99 monthly with lost & theft? Or the $7.99 monthly for accidental only? Either way, it will NOT transfer over to the T-Mobile phone, it is only for that phone you purchased at Best Buy. If you purchased the monthly, call Geek Squad (1800-Geek Squad) and you can cancel it. If you purchased the protection plan outright, you can go and do a pro-rated refund for the 3 months and two weeks that you used it.
- Best Buy Mobile Manager.
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Click to collapse
I purchased the 169 outright, thank you for the answer! I called the next day once they were open and they told me exactly what you said.
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