I got a 1-year Cingular deal but I had to insist on it. You don't get as good a deal on new phones but I didn't need one - I just needed service switched from one phone to another.
It took about 20 minutes to reach an agreement on a 1-year deal, and then the guy signed me up for a 2-year deal anyway in the system, which I saw when I read the receipt on my way out the door. I wasn't going to put up with that crap and told him to cancel the whole thing because I was going somewhere else. Then the guy told me he was very sorry but their computer system would not allow him to undo the phone switch and my old phone was already deactivated. I had to make a big fuss and threaten to dispute the charge with my credit card before he got on the phone with Cingular to try to get help. Eventually he put me on the phone with some CSR from Cingular who confirmed there was no way to undo the deactivation of the old phone, switched me back to a 1-year contract, and offered me a $200 credit to shut up and go home. I took it.
No doubt in my mind the guy was determined to get me on a 2-year deal even if he had to lie to me about it.