Mobile Phones & Broadband

[shy271]

im using at&t and currently eligible for the upgrade right now.

so i wanted to upgrade my phone to blackberry 9700 and at&t has it $199.99 before the rebate and $99.99 after the rebate

but the thing is, they require $30 or more dataplan for the rebate

then i found the same phone on BB website, http://wireless.bestbuy.com/specialoffer.aspx?cid=34308_f6becd6316634c0e8ae737ab4f84b16d

its only $99.99 and it doesnt say anything about the data plan.

does this mean if i get my phone at BB, i dont have to get the data plan to buy the phone for $99?

or do i still have to get the data plan for this price?

[Nokia]

ATT requires a $30 data plan on all smartphones, regardless of what price you get the phone for. This means all BlackBerries, Windows, S60, Garnet. It also applies to the iPhone. It would be no different at BB, or any other authorized retailer.

Basically, if you put a smartphone on your account, you are required to have the data plan.

[Jason-BBYM]

AT&T now goes as far as to send you a text message after you activate a blackberry or likewise device that basically says "if you activated this phone without a data plan, one will be added for you"

[Miranda]

Did you know that AT&T's even gone so far as to say that at least a $10 data plan must be added to any phone that is a non-smart phone touch screen? Like the Solstice, xenon, or the neon? I ran into that when I was looking to upgrade recently....3 CSR's at the call center, and one rep at the store told me that....

Plus, my sister got the Solstice recently as an upgrade, and she got a message similar to what Jason was describing...

[Nokia]

Miranda, that isn't true.

[Kyle-BBYM]

Yes, on all "Smart Phones" it is required that you get a data plan, on any carrier. Sprint is the only one that includes the fee of data in the plans. You will have to add the $30 data plan, plus any texting plans if needed.

[Miranda]

Was when I talked to AT&T about it today....just saying.

[Nokia]

Whoever you talked to didn't know their job.

[Miranda]

Crazy thing is, I've talked to multiple people about it recently...

[Jason-BBYM]

The only reason why you would need that $10 data plan, and maybe the reason they are telling you this, is because to get the rebate on the phone from an AT&T corp. store you have to add the data plan. My assumption is every CSR in their call center is basically trained to tell you that you need it so that you can get the mail-in rebate that BBYM does not have :-)