RE: upgrading

[qbangringo]

My gf's father has had Tmobile for 5+ years, as well has 5 lines of service, and usually they have overages which im sure a company would love. He really really wants to upgrade his phone to a Blackberry Pearl. WHen he called to ask Tmo how much the price was they told him $280 dollars!!!!! I would have taken that as an insult but he was just like no thats too much thanks bye bye.

Ok so the question is how and what would he have to say to get the Pearl for free, or is that not possible. They have only upgraded once in the past and it was for cheapy phones and it was over 1.5 years ago.

I told him to call and speak to retentions and tell them that he expects some sort of better discount due to staying with tmobile paying the bills on time every month for over 5 years as well as having 5 lines of service!

If anyone can help me out and give me some pointers to direct to him that would be great! I kinda of have to take him through things step by step!

[Turbo777]

280 is way too high for the upgrade on the blackberry pearl. I would have him go down to the store and check on the price for the pearl. I just looked and I can buy the pearl for 280 without doing anything. Also, have him call again they may have quoted him a price with no contract extension.

[El Don David]

i think the pearl is 250 right now with no extension. thats just the buy out price so 280 would be stupid.if i`m not mistaken, i think the 2 year deal would bring it down to 150. which i think is also too much. considering that the shadow just came out and it has windows mobil 6 and it also allows you to record video`s.( i still cant get over the fact that the pearl wont let you). maybe you he would just have to call and call again till some rep feels like he could cut him a deal.

[SJSMR2]

2 year upgrade is $150.... maybe they quoted him the raw price since if he was on a 2 year he is not eligible to upgrade until 22 months after the last upgrade

[kinjutsu11]

That's a partial upgrade price, the Pearl retails for $299.99. If he upgraded 1.5 years ago, that would mean he still has some time left before he's eligible for a maximum discount if he signed a 2 year when he upgraded. On 2 yrs, your upgrade eligibility is at maximum discount 22 months after you renewed. On 1 year, it's 11 months after. This may be why it is still at a partial discounted price, double check his contract to be sure. If that's the case, then he will have to wait before he can get the maximum discount, no matter the tenure/payment history.

[isis]

Even if it's been 1 or 5 years since your last upgrade, it doesn't matter with TMO. They don't really care about existing customers because, well, ... they already have you. But you could try to threaten to cancel your service. It worked for my uncle. I don't know which phones he got but retention gave him another $70 off from the original price that CCR quoted for him.

[Rzrlvr74]

I have to disagree with the customer service reps not taking care of existing customers. I had a Razr with a software malfunction, they replaced it no questions asked. I had a Samsung fully submerged in water. Eventhough I did not have insurance, they offered me a partial upgrade. I have had nothing but positive experiences with TMO customer care. I think maybe the father should either rethink his phone choice or accept the upgrade price. Although they do try their best to satisfy each customer, they cannot bend upgrade pricing on high-end units for just one person. Then it would be expected from other customers. It is business.