AT&T Wireless: Free Phone +Rebates +Possible cash bonus

[jrichrds]

AT&T has the best holiday promotions out of the various wireless companies, and the best deal overall with a 1 year contract. If you want the best deal on a phone though, you need to go to a "mom and pop" cell phone store rather than the major retailers (best buy, amazon, direct from AT&T). Places like Best Buy will charge up to $200 for a new Nokia 8260, which is a phone that can be had for free at one of the smaller, independent cell phone shops.

As said by JediManiac on FW, "You should shop at the smaller mom & pop cellular stores. THey offer the same services but alot cheaper on the phones. I know this becuz I used to mamange one.
Heres the secret... They get paid up to $300 commision per activation. The big retailers sell the phones for full retail price + Full commisions. The smaller shops sell alot cheaper becuz they will sell the phones cheaper and give you tons of accessories. Why??? They got up to $300 commission so they just make less per phone than the big guys."

So here's the current AT&T holiday promotion, taken from Poohbie of FW:
1.Unlimited Night and Weekend minutes on $39.99/month and up plans. 1000 N/W minutes for $29.99 plan
2.Free long distance
3.$40 rebate on 1 year contract ($80 on 2 year, but 2 year contract is too long in my opinion)
4.$50 Nokia gift card with 3360/8260 purchase.

You should be able to get a Nokia 3360 or 8260 for free (BEFORE any rebates/gift cards), along with a bunch of free accessories (case, car charger, extra battery, etc.) and maybe even a cash bonus from a "mom and pop" cell phone store. elttle2 on FW got a Panasonic Allure cell phone for free PLUS $80 cash from a Chinese store in Flushing, NY.

It seems the Chinese stores are the places for the best deals. Poohbie from FW says there should be a lot of places in southern California (since there are a lot of Chinese areas in SoCal) to get in on these kind of deals.

So that's a wrap on how to get the best deal on an AT&T phone with 1 year contract. Avoid the major retailers and get the best deal by going to the smaller stores and knowing that they're far more willing to bargain for your business and can give away the phone and accessories and still make money through commission.

 

[jrichrds]

Oh yes, and if you know of any places to get these kind of deals, reply here and let your fellow ATers know.

I'm focusing on the Nokia 3360/8260 phone because there's that $50 Nokia gift card with purchase of one of these phones. The Panasonic Allure is a really cool phone too.
The Nokia 5160 and similar phones are usually given out free, so you should be getting a big cash bonus if you opt for one of those lower-tech phones instead.

 

[yOyOYoo]

If you are in the San Gabriel area, you can get really good deals on AT&T phones. You can get the newest Motorola V60 phone for less than $200 now. I think it retails for $399.

How is the AT&T wireless service compared to Cingular Wireless? Any system busy or network failures? I hope not cuz i just signed up for one year.

 

[geezer88]

Nope no system busy and I usually get really good reception. att ranked high on eponions I believe. Sometimes when I call long distance my phone randomly goes on roam and disconnects me from my call. It's not that big of a deal I just call back. Maybe my phone is broken, I have an 8260.

 

[Poochy]

Any good "mom & pop" stores in the DC metro area? I'm on the Maryland side, but I can be convinced to go to DC or NoVA if needed . TIA.

 

[japangirl]

True JRichrds -
I was talking to a dealer with Voice stream and a few days back they were
giving a Nokia 3390 free with a basic plan ( 19.99) or more that is 60 whenever /whereever min and
500 weekends mins. Now they do not - They are like car dealers - wait till the month end
and see if you can get a better deal.
NEVER EVER go to a Big shop like Best Buy/CompUS/Staples for a cell phone - That true.
You must argue that you should not be charged for activation fee and contract (beaking rules ).
( do reads the fine lines that is printed with the contract).

 

[EDiT]

If you don't want to "mom & pop" it, Buy.com has the 8260 for $80. It dropped to $50 for one day a week ago, but I thought it would last longer than it did, so I missed out.

If you are an existing customer, you can probably talk AT&T into cutting you a deal as well. Last time I called them up, told them what buy.com was offering($80 with a free car kit) and they matched it.


Oh yeah, any good stores in AZ?

 

[BooGoo]

Best Buy just had a free $100 Gift card purchase with any phone. Circuit City had the 3360 for $49.99. Pricematch it and receive BB's GC. If you don't like it, dump it off on Ebay and still receive the $100

 

[pavan87]

go to www.sundial.com and u get an instant rebate of $100 on any at&t phone. U can get the nokia 3360 for free. You can also get the $80 or $40 rebate on top of it.

 

[dentalboy]

sound good ready to get rid of sprint, got lots of minute service has been awful for the last month, a lot of drop call, so anyone know of a good mom pop store in northern NJ? for a good deal

 

[LordSnailz]

These days, I think it's different, major retailers are having the same or better deals than mom and pop stores. In the past, major retailers would basically give you a phone for free with activation and mom and pop stores would have a free phone plus accessories. But now, many major retailers are including rebates along with the already free phone. Take this past weekend's Best Buy deal, get a free Nokia 8260 ($100 IR+$80 MIR from) and get $150 MIR from Best Buy; I think the $50 from Nokia also applies. If major retailers begin issuing out rebates plus free phones, the mom and pop stores won't be able to compete.

-ls

 

[dentalboy]

hope this deal is still going at bestbuy for the 8260 sounds like a good deal

 

[chlobo]

Anyone know of any deals in Boston or the suburbs?

 

[raiders710]

can you get a phone in so. cal for NYC area code?

I am thinking about getting one when I come back from NYC in a month.

 

[japangirl]

I would say GO WITH A PLAN not with a PHONE.
Read the article :



Please Read

 

[brunell8]

Best I can get in San Diego for $29.99 is 350 anytime minutes. I don't see this online at att wireless either. How can I get in on this?

 

[jrichrds]

LordSnailz,

I think mom and pop shops will always have the potential for the better deal. The wireless accessories they give out don't cost them much at all, so it really comes down to the price of the phone. I don't see any major retailer giving you a Panasonic Allure phone + $80 cash like the deal elttle2 got. And the $80 cash isn't part of any AT&T rebate either. He gets the $40 AT&T rebate for a 1 year contract separately.

As far as Best Buy's deal on the Nokia 8260, I don't see anything about a $100 instant rebate, and the $80 rebate is really an AT&T service rebate if you sign up for 2 years. My Best Buy flier has it at $179 and the only promotion outside of AT&T/Nokia rebates is the $100 Best Buy gift card. So the phone is $79 if you consider the gift card equivalent to cash (and it takes a couple months to get the card through the mail). Major retailers like to factor in AT&T/Nokia rebates in their advertisements (usually with a 2 year contract commitment), which I am not including when I talk about free phones from the mom and pop cell phone stores.

 

[Mecheater]

Sounds like a good deal coming from AT&T. Usually don't see many offers given out by them. Now I wish I could find a mom and pop store in N. Cal that will give me these type of deals. The ones in the ads are pathetic. Thanks for the info, I'm looking to get a new service plan since I'm terminating my current one after the changes AT&T will have to make on my current plan

 

[foolanger]

I posted before about my friend.. but he owns a small cell phone store in Philadelphia right off of I-95.. He can activate phones in the South East PA area, Southern Jersey, and also delaware area.. He sells phones at rock bottom prices too i think.. he was once giving away the 3360 for free + the $40 or $80 mail in rebate and the $50 gift card rebate.. i dunno if he's still doing that.. but who knows.. I know last week he sold a couple Alures for $40 too... well if ur interested.. just let me know and i'll tell him to contact you.. or email him at pagealert111@yahoo.com
OH.. and he says that he'll beat anyone's price.. always...

 

[PCUser]

I missed out on the best buy deal (too much work and not enough time to read the hot deals forums) . Anyway, if anyone knows of any good Mom and Pop shops in Lincoln or Omaha, NE, I am in the market for a new cell phone. Thanks.

 

[bambam]

Caution - All wireless carrier have good and not so good coverage areas. Ask around in your area before buy. In Atlanta AT&T Wireless service is awful.

 

[VenGog]

If you go to Sam's Club,
What you find there is a mom and pop STAND for cell/wireless services.

You can get the same deal there....

This is for those who trust ONLY BIG / Major retailers!!!!!1

Good luck.
Ven

 

[japangirl]

Mom and Pop counter in Sams club - ?
Dont U have to be a member ----?

Costco one has for SPRINT but its very high priced.

 

[CounterStryke]

---For existing ATT customers---

The only drawback of going to Mom and Pop's, even though they will give you a better deal than contacting ATT directly, is that you'll have to activate a NEW phone and plan to get the best deal. Therefore, you gotta tell all your friends and family that your number has changed.

Only ATT will be able to change your plan and phone while preserving your existing cell number. And they usually can't give you as good a deal as the Mom and Pop's.

 

[jrichrds]

<< Costco one has for SPRINT but its very high priced. >>


True that. I thought Costco would have a better deal. I don't think Sam's Club would have a 'mom and pop' type cell phone stand in their warehouses (a contract with one of the big carriers is what these warehouses usually have), but I'll check it out anyways next time I'm there.



<< Only ATT will be able to change your plan and phone while preserving your existing cell number. >>


But as you noted, the deal sucks in comparison. I'm willing to change my cell phone # for a year to get a better phone for free along with all the promotions. Actually, I prefer changing #s yearly because my cell phone # is what I give out to any place that I don't want to give my home phone # to (e.g. might get put on telemarketing list). But it's a different story if you're one of those that has disconnected land-line phone service and rely soley on your cell phone.