Buying through Amazon - Number Portability
I want to buy a v.551 and a T637 (on a family plan), and have found that Amazon has the best prices on these phones by far (the v.551 is free after the rebate, and the T637 would be negative $150).
The problem is that Amazon doesn't support number portability with Cingular yet. Anyone know a way around this problem? One possibility might be to set up new accounts (with new #s) through Amazon, and then ask Cingular to replace the #s with the imported numbers after the account is set up. But I don't know if this is possible.
Any suggestions?
The problem is that Amazon doesn't support number portability with Cingular yet. Anyone know a way around this problem? One possibility might be to set up new accounts (with new #s) through Amazon, and then ask Cingular to replace the #s with the imported numbers after the account is set up. But I don't know if this is possible.
Any suggestions?
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Truman Show said:
I want to buy a v.551 and a T637 (on a family plan), and have found that Amazon has the best prices on these phones by far (the v.551 is free after the rebate, and the T637 would be negative $150).
The problem is that Amazon doesn't support number portability with Cingular yet. Anyone know a way around this problem? One possibility might be to set up new accounts (with new #s) through Amazon, and then ask Cingular to replace the #s with the imported numbers after the account is set up. But I don't know if this is possible.
Any suggestions?
Who is your current service through??
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You are Right!! 🙂
the reason they (AMAZON) don't have LNP with cingular is that if they do lnp, they lose their comission with cingular -Don't know the details, but if you got a service then tried to do a teleconversion,same problem.
I can tell you of a lot ocustomers who did thesae thing through ATT- amazon deal then did a teleconversion to get their number- Problem is that Amazon within 30-60 days performs a chargeback to the customer for the phone- you have to give them your credit card prior to performing the order, then afterwards wanting a credit from ATT since we never told them whatwould happen, and even telling them we can't inform you on a policy from another company still wanted an adjustment.
bottom line i wouldn't do ...
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the reason they (AMAZON) don't have LNP with cingular is that if they do lnp, they lose their comission with cingular -Don't know the details, but if you got a service then tried to do a teleconversion,same problem.
I can tell you of a lot ocustomers who did thesae thing through ATT- amazon deal then did a teleconversion to get their number- Problem is that Amazon within 30-60 days performs a chargeback to the customer for the phone- you have to give them your credit card prior to performing the order, then afterwards wanting a credit from ATT since we never told them whatwould happen, and even telling them we can't inform you on a policy from another company still wanted an adjustment.
bottom line i wouldn't do ...
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I think you guys might find this interesting..it's a post on a website of a guy who bought a phone from Amazon and had his number ported to ATT.
http://www.readingfordummies.com/blog/archives/2004/ ... »
http://www.readingfordummies.com/blog/archives/2004/ ... »
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Can any Cingular reps confirm if that is true? If I keep my existing service with T-Mo and purchase a new Cingular phone and plan through Amazon, can I call customer service and have them port my number to my new phone once I receive it?
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You can try but there is a few things you may not have noticed.
1) That story that was in the earlier post was about ATT, not Cingular.Since Amazon still does not port to Cingular that helps you how????
2)The port if you somehow managed to get that done, does also get you a chargeback on your phone, since Amazon does lose their comission.Don't expect a credit back for the phone chargeback since it won't be given.i can tell you becausei am a blue trained rep, been there, heard the yellling and bitching and moaning, because they DO CHARGEBACK!!!!
3)The most important thing is you go through all this crap to do what save a few bucks that you end up losing through chargebacks and your time and effort to try and save bucks that you end u...
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1) That story that was in the earlier post was about ATT, not Cingular.Since Amazon still does not port to Cingular that helps you how????
2)The port if you somehow managed to get that done, does also get you a chargeback on your phone, since Amazon does lose their comission.Don't expect a credit back for the phone chargeback since it won't be given.i can tell you becausei am a blue trained rep, been there, heard the yellling and bitching and moaning, because they DO CHARGEBACK!!!!
3)The most important thing is you go through all this crap to do what save a few bucks that you end up losing through chargebacks and your time and effort to try and save bucks that you end u...
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Not to mention the fact that these fantastic prices on phones are AFTER some ridiculously huge Amazon.com rebate. The reason they are so huge is that they hardly ever pay them out. The rules for claiming that rebate are intentionally complicated, and then even if you do them correctly they may claim that you didn't. Top that all off with the fact that your up front price on the phone is usually HIGHER than what you will find at any local dealer. Remember, there is no free lunch, and as much as you may want to think that Amazon.com exists solely for you to get a great deal, they don't.
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Amazon still states that it does not port to ATT.
I don't work in phone sales so I don't know what a chargeback is. Could you please explain. Also, it not going to save me a few bucks, it is going to save me a lot of money. The V551 is free after the mail in rebate with only a 1-year contract purchased through Amazon. Compare that to $99 with a 2-year contract through Cingular. Amazon offers 600 anytime, free nights & weekends, rollover, nationwide for $39.99 compared to $49.99 from Cingular for the same plan. Activation is cheaper as well. Now if it can't be done, then it can't be done. All I am doing is asking if anyone knows of a way for it to be done.
I don't work in phone sales so I don't know what a chargeback is. Could you please explain. Also, it not going to save me a few bucks, it is going to save me a lot of money. The V551 is free after the mail in rebate with only a 1-year contract purchased through Amazon. Compare that to $99 with a 2-year contract through Cingular. Amazon offers 600 anytime, free nights & weekends, rollover, nationwide for $39.99 compared to $49.99 from Cingular for the same plan. Activation is cheaper as well. Now if it can't be done, then it can't be done. All I am doing is asking if anyone knows of a way for it to be done.
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A)there is no ATT-Gone,history-toast,vapour!!!!
B)The way it works is this, you change your telephone number to port in, amazon loses their sales commission ($200-400.00) so what happens is that they go and Amazon charges the full price of that phone to your credit card since you gave that to them to do your order and before you say they can't do that, theycan because since they don't port to cingular, it states in your paperwork with them that if you do that you are responsible for any fees that occur as a result.
C)This is the big one, they can't give you any extra minutes on the plan for 1 SIMPLE REASON:The minutes are bult into the plan there is no add on promotions, the peak minutes nights and weekends, mobile to mobile to mobile ...
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B)The way it works is this, you change your telephone number to port in, amazon loses their sales commission ($200-400.00) so what happens is that they go and Amazon charges the full price of that phone to your credit card since you gave that to them to do your order and before you say they can't do that, theycan because since they don't port to cingular, it states in your paperwork with them that if you do that you are responsible for any fees that occur as a result.
C)This is the big one, they can't give you any extra minutes on the plan for 1 SIMPLE REASON:The minutes are bult into the plan there is no add on promotions, the peak minutes nights and weekends, mobile to mobile to mobile ...
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AMEN!!! Just had 4 customers today come into my corp. store who had saved $50 on each of their phones they had bought through BEST BUY. Thing is, they wanted to migrate their existing AT&T Wireless lines to Cingular and get new phones. After 2 hours of trying to get this done and having the Salesperson there tell them everything under the sun they decided to come to a corp. store and see what was going on. They activated all new lines rather than migrating the numbers on 2 of them and the other 2 were just sold phones (AT NO CHARGE) but no plans. So I then proceeded to activate their phones for them. MORAL of STORY: Save a penny initially and spend mucho pennies & TIME in the future.
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So if I get a phone from a 3rd party vendor (Cingular authorized) with a new plan and I come into your store to purchase a new sim card and have you port my T-Mobile number to the new sim card, that will cost me a lot of money and will be very time consuming? There seems to be some discrepancies among Cingular reps because I am being told many different things.
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Is that true that you can't port your number if you activate a new service through Amazon? I currently have service with T-Mobile, but I want to purchase a phone and Cingular plan from Amazon but it is an absolute must that I have my old number ported over. Please tell me there is a way to have this done.
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Thanks for all of the info.
I wound up using a vendor that advertises here and supports number portability - http://www.cellularchoices.net/cingular.html . The deals they they offer are virtually on par with Amazon.
I wound up using a vendor that advertises here and supports number portability - http://www.cellularchoices.net/cingular.html . The deals they they offer are virtually on par with Amazon.
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To anyone who has been hesitant to purchase a Cingular phone/plan through Amazon for fear of not being able to port your number or of losing the rebate, you have no reason to be. I contacted both a Cingular customer service representative and an Amazon customer service representative about purchasing a phone and new activation from Amazon for Cingular and both ensured me that it can be done. When you purchase the phone and plan from Amazon, all you have to do is bring it in to a local Cingular store when you receive it and purchase a new sim card for $25, then they will port you old phone number to your new phone. Make sure you don't cancel your existing service until after the number has been ported. Amazon informed me that as going thi...
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just cuz they dodn't mention the chargeback don't make it real, cuz i have with enough pissed off customers who got chargedback and then say since we didn't advise them that what they would involve a chargeback we need to credit them, so go ahead just don't piss and moan when it happens.
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AGENT DEBIT, did you not read my previous post? I have an email from Amazon stating that I will still receive the rebate even if I port my number after I get the phone. I don't understand why you are having such a difficult time accepting that. I understand that you are just giving your input and I don't have to choose to agree with you, but you are discouraging other people from purchasing through Amazon when there is no reason not to. I could care less if Amazon or Cingular sells me the phone, I'm just looking for the best price.
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Tell me Fonelink, did you read anywhere in that e-ail that you posted, that you would or would not get chargedback for the phone.Let meexplain something to you to make it CRYSTAL CLEAR!!!!!
indirect dealer buys a phone from motorola as an example, they pay 319.99 for the phone, they offer a 50.00 rebate or 100.00 the same that the carrier or manufacturer offers.The difference is the indirect takes personally as a dealer or company dealer another $100.00 below the carriers price-Why? A)they get $200.00-$300.00 comsion for that service.
Now when the port is done it hows that sale you got from Amazon is cancelled as that sale was based on the number you were assigned, so Amazon loses that 200-300 dollar commission, well do you think Amazo...
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indirect dealer buys a phone from motorola as an example, they pay 319.99 for the phone, they offer a 50.00 rebate or 100.00 the same that the carrier or manufacturer offers.The difference is the indirect takes personally as a dealer or company dealer another $100.00 below the carriers price-Why? A)they get $200.00-$300.00 comsion for that service.
Now when the port is done it hows that sale you got from Amazon is cancelled as that sale was based on the number you were assigned, so Amazon loses that 200-300 dollar commission, well do you think Amazo...
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Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! AGENT DEBIT, I don't know where you get your information from, but I am starting to question your credibility. I'm not saying that other 3rd party vendors don't use some kind of chargeback scheme but Amazon.com does not. I don't know why you are having such a difficult time accepting that. Read the transmittal between myself and Amazon below.
Email transmittal:
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Email transmittal:
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COMMENTS: I understand that I will still be able to keep my rebate,
but if I port my number after receiving a new phone and activation
from you (Amazon) will you chargeback my credit card the cost of the
phone? I'm just trying to assure myself that I won't be
unexpectedly charged for ordering a phone and activation through
Amazon,
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That statement IS false, they don't chargeback cingular, cingular cuts their commission off because of the LNP, amazon chargebacks to YOU!!!!
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I'm going to go ahead and put an end to this discussion. Clearly you have some personal vendetta against Amazon, or maybe you just like seeing people pay more for a product than they have to. Either way, other users reading this thread can choose whether or not to purchase a phone & plan for Cingular through Amazon and have their number ported. All I know is that I have written confirmation from both Cingular and Amazon stating that I can go this route worry free. Reply if you like, but I'm done going back and forth. I feel that I have adequately supported my stance on this topic. Anyway, it doesn't even seem like anyone else is even interested enough or cares to comment on this thread; for that, I do appreciate your input.
Peace
Peace
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