Crazy Amazon Deal: All VZW, Sprint & AT&T Phones Just .01 (Rezound, RAZR, SGS2, etc.)

[DeadlyAP1]

Issues I for see are: (texting can be quirky, data use when making calls {i think this is minimal though}, and setup {gonna take several extra steps})

Google voice calls from the handset use regular plan minutes not data unless you use an app like Groove IP and choose to use it as a VOIP call. Groove works really well allowing incoming and outgoing calls via VOIP. But, it is really connection dependent. If you loose strong signal, quality degrades fast. Also, there is a bit of a voice delay which can get annoying.

 

[SquireSCA]

Have we actually confirmed that Amazon's "181 day" policy only looks at the phone line, and not data or other items?

I ask, because I converted my Individual Plan to a Family Plan and bought the Rezound for a penny and added it to that line. So now I have two phones, 2000 shared minutes, 2GB(4GB) data on each and unlimited messaging.

My girlfriend has her TBolt on her own plan, and wants to combine everything into one plan for a couple reasons...

1) She gets a 20% discount on plans through work, and 25% off accessories.
2) She doesn't want to give up her number, and VZW has told me that I cannot swap the phone number from her plan to the Rezound that is on my new plan. She would lose her number that she has had for 7 years.
3) She would have to pay a $270 ETF on her account to close that out and start using the phone on mine.

So the VZW store said that the only way to keep her number and not get hit with an ETF is to do the following:

1) Have her assume liability on my Family plan with the two phones that are on it, so that she now has a 2,000 minute family plan with 2 phones and she would then merge her individual plan into that, making it a 3 phone family plan.
2) Once everything is under her name, she can swap the Rezound to her existing phone number.
3) She can then sell the TBolt and put a $20 Samsung VZW "pay as you go" flip phone that we got from Target onto the third line that was created as part of the Amazon deal to get her new Rezound.

The reason is that if we left her TBolt on there, it would have to carry a data plan. VZW will not allow you to have a smartphone without a data plan, even if you tell them you will just use Wifi for data. If it is a smart phone, you have to pay for Data, which is why we just went with a $20 flip phone that doesn't have data capability.

So if this all goes as planned, we will have to pay the extra $10 a month for that third line to keep Amazon happy, and we did have to put a cheap phone on the line to keep it active, but with her 20% discount applied to the lines, data and messaging plans, it covers that expense and then some, cutting out current combined bills by a good margin.

The only potential fly in the ointment that I can see is that Amazon will look to see if that line stays active for 181 days, but that they also look to see if it has a data plan on it, and if not, they ding my debit card for $250 or whatever. My hope is that they just look at the line, which will be active with that phone number, it just won't be THAT phone that is on it. And I won't be terminating any phone lines, so we will actually be paying for 3 lines when we only need 2. But you know how "fine print" things go... Personally, I would rather have her change her number, we use my Family plan and sell her TBolt to cover her ETF and call it a day, but she wants to save money on the phone bill and not have to change phone numbers... And Google Phone is not an option for her...

Thoughts??

 

[vaeron]

I think it would be an issue with Amazon. The fact that you would be changing the line (ie taking data off) I believe changes the nature of the plan. They initially opened the plan with a data plan on it, and that's where they get their commission. It's a bit iffy to say the least. It was stressful enough keeping the same plan and swapping phones around on the account. I would be hesitant to take the data plan off of the line.

To those that have followed this for a bit, I am now using my RAZR that was purchased for the new account and transferred my DX over to the new line with absolutely no problems.

 

[SquireSCA]

I think it would be an issue with Amazon. The fact that you would be changing the line (ie taking data off) I believe changes the nature of the plan. They initially opened the plan with a data plan on it, and that's where they get their commission. It's a bit iffy to say the least. It was stressful enough keeping the same plan and swapping phones around on the account. I would be hesitant to take the data plan off of the line.

To those that have followed this for a bit, I am now using my RAZR that was purchased for the new account and transferred my DX over to the new line with absolutely no problems.

What if I just put the cheapest "basic email" plan on that line?

 

[vaeron]

I would call Amazon and ask something along the lines of, "if I can't afford, or use all of the data on the plan, can I switch down to the lower one without penalty?"