The Worst Place to Buy a Mobile Phone? - Comments Page 1

How/where do you buy "unlocked phones" - I know what SIM I want to buy (pre-paid) but I don't like the choice of phones they have?

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can buy unlocked GSM phones most anywhere phones are sold. Office stores, electronics stores, etc. The catch is that you'll have to pay the full retail price, which is usually several hundred dollars more than a carrier's contract price

I have had good luck buying used cell phones on eBay. You just need to make sure you check the seller's feedback and return policy. I just bought one this week after my phone fell into a cup of coffee...long story. I didn't want to get stuck in another 2 year contract and don't have a lot of money, so a $39 eBay purchase got me a replacement that is better than the one I ruined. You just need to do some research.

Galaxy S3 at Staples....FREE!

Well, $99.00 with new/re-newed contract, less $50.00 instant rebate, less $50.00 Visa Debit card by mail for trading in an old, working, smart phone. That's free to me!

Bob, I feel like I am being left be hind. What is it that all these hi tech phones do? I admit that at my age (67) I may miss a few things but I am comming up to the end of my Verizion contract and see all these new fancy phones offered. I am currently useing a LG Revere that I dislike because of the locations of the function buttons. I don't text or do anything else, just talk. What am I missing out on?
Thanks Dave

EDITOR'S NOTE: What are you missing? Maybe nothing! :-) If all you want from a phone is to make the occasional phone call, then a smartphone is not a good choice for you. If you want access to the Web and your email on the go, games and other apps, a music player, then a smartphone is it. But it's not for everyone.

Our local mall has a beautiful store operated by a Verizon reseller. Prices beat Verizon. They offer similar insurance, and the only downside is the insurance is billed separately each month. That's not difficult at all. I bought my Motorola Razr there last year, and even says "Verizon" on the label.

As you and I both discovered, Bob, the resellers and independent dealers can access and add to my account, if I simply give them my information (including my password).

I had always dealt directly with Verizon, and at first felt a little uneasy buying from another company. But I have been very pleased.

Let the buyer beware. I bought an upgrade phone at a Costco concession last year. I was promised an additional $75 discount by the salesman, to be credited to my account. It never happened. Costco says my beef is with the concessionaire, although they did investigate my complaint they wouldn't refund it themselves. I understand their position. The concessionaire says they sent in the proper paperwork to T Mobile, my beef is with them. T Mobile sent me back to the concessionaire. I like the phone, and still paid less than I would have at a T Mobile store, so I finally let it drop.

Good article, Bob. Notwithstanding my problem I just posted, I agree with your article. I also might note that in CA, at least, there is a difference between company owned stores and branded stores that are privately owned. The company owned store personnel are more knowledgeable and less pushy, in my experience.

Just wanted to put my 2 cents worth in. LOL! I've used Verizon for 4 or so years & every time we re-do our contract, we check everywhere for a better price on the new phone I want &Verizon always has the best price. This last time we went w/ an iPhone 4 & we got them from Verizon for 99 cents each. Not even Amazon or EBay could beat that.

The best place to be as a cellphone customer is Israel. The Supreme Court upheld a complaint which caused the deregulation of the industry. My cousin changes companies every few months-no penalty. If only those of us in the USA and Canada could have that pleasure.

Thanks, and not only for the useful information about mobile phone prices. The clip from Judge Judy is an absolute winner!

I found out the hard way that the best service after the sale is the Verizon store. I bought a Verizon phone at Radio Shack. It had a problem and I took it to Verizon who couldn't help me because the phone hadn't been purchased there. Radio Shack was no help either. My Verizon store is outstanding and they help me with everything, every question, every glitch and every upgrade. In the long run cheapest isn't always best.I have 8 phones in my family, 4 of them smart phones including an iPhone. I'm happy with my Verizon phones and service.
Judy - Orange, CA

The long and the short of it, is the old adage "Shop around", or another one is, "Look before you Leap". Personally I think this is the greatest caper of this millenium so far. Best regards, john.

My wife and daughter only use text message and voice service, no web browsing or apps. Previously I waited until we could get deep discount phones if we renewed our contract for 2 years. However, now they charge a $19 "activation" fee for the free or discounted phones. Instead, when their phones wore out, we bought $29 "Go" phones on sale at Target, which were perfect. We simply changed the SIM card to activate them at no additional cost, and without a 2 year commitment.

Consumer Cellular has some nice phones and has Great no contract plans at good prices!

I bought my last two phones at Walmart.

I'd always bought my phones direct from Sprint, until a few weeks ago. My husband dropped his phone and the glass cracked, and we'd just come into upgrade eligibility, so I started researching through the Sprint website. I had a few questions about certain phones, and googled a few comparisons (like iPhone vs. Galaxy S3, etc.). I am SO glad I did, but not for the reason you'd think. I did learn a lot about the phones, but in the process discovered there are a BERJILLION other options than paying the price Sprint listed.

I've since replaced all our family phones through the Amazon Wireless site, and saved about $500. Hub's phone was $200 cheaper, and the phones I bought for me and my daughter were each about $150 cheaper than Sprint's prices. That's no small savings!

Before retirement in 2004, I had an earlier Kyocera Smart Phone, with lots of functionality and access. Then in 2007 and relocating from Tennessee to the NE corner of rural Alabama, it was time to update our two Cell phones and service. Basic connectivity was all we needed. We were mostly concerned about having service and "dead zones" because of our mountain location.

After talking with friends and neighbors about their experiences and service, we bought two Motorola Razr V3m from a local Verizon store. I don't even remember exactly what we paid, but there was a "deal" at that time. We found that our land line was our primary phone access, and our cell phones being used only when making trips to town, or when traveling, or those rare emergenices. We also learned where the dead zones were around us. But pretty quickly, we found our batteries were dropping power more frequently. We had to recharge constantly....to the point of being a nuisance, even after replacing batteries. We had 4 chargers, 2 in cars, and 2 in the house. We often chose to just leave our Cells at home when running to the store. And we regretted this on occasion when we really could have used them! But the real kicker was after a few years, we noticed that we were spending about $100 per month for phones we were NOT using. Our annual total minutes usage for 2 phones last year (2012) was 138 minutes! Verizon was making a profit from us!
Finally, after "seeing the $$$ light", I seriously began researching other possibilities. I read Bob's articles!! And WOW, I found Tracfone! I went to one of our local Dollar Stores and bought an LG 840G for about $60 from Tracfone which included TRIPLE minutes with every minute I bought and added for the "life of the phone". I then bought a $99 "Card of minutes" which is good for one year and 400 minutes. So because the phone tripled the minutes, I got 1200 minutes good for one year. NO other charges. NO monthly payments. After activating it and using it for a week, we returned and bought a second phone from another Dollar Store. This time we bought the LG 440G for $20, because we wanted a simple flip-style cover. It came with "Unlimited DOUBLE minutes". We purchased a second "Card of 400 minutes" for $99, good for a year. This phone then had a year's worth of 800 minutes. So for a total expense of $280 plus tax, we have 2 new phones that more than meet our requirements. And I only have to re-charge about every two weeks!!!! I'm saving about $1000 a year. What fun. So long Verizon!!

Re the comment in the article that resellers can make changes to your account.

We have had Verizon for a decade and just go to our account at Verizon dot com and change the information ourselves. You just need the new phone serial number and it takes just a couple of minutes. The only caveat, you cannot change to a phone that will do more than your plan allows.

We are both currently using phones purchased at a Yard Sale for a dollar a piece! Just be sure it is going to be compatible. For example, if you have service with Verizon, only Verizon phones will work as they do not use a sim card.

When the Galaxy S111 came out somebody in the family just had to have it. We shopped everywhere, including Radio Shack and Walmart, before we went to the company store. It was the same price everywhere. However, we determined that with a contract we paid twice as much for the phone overall than without a contract, so we bought it outright and made our savings that way.
What,then, is the advantage of a contract?

I buy my unlocked cellphones from Amazon. I never had a problem so far. Amazon has free shipping for products over $25.00. I usually get my merchandise in six to eight days.