KellySchott/Flickr
This latest story about saving comes from a loyal reader, my little sister!
So my phone crapped out on me today, and its no longer under warranty. I went to the AT&T store to see what I could do about getting a new one. They gave me three horrible options: pay $120 to get a new phone under my insurance or since I was eligible for an upgrade, or spend $199.99 for the phone I already had, or spend the same amount for the Blackberry Bold 9700.
I decided that it was just to much since I bought my Bold on sale for $99.99, and that I would take my chances and get a cheap to-go phone and wait to see if they had a sale.
I headed over to Walmart to grab a to-go phone to tide me over and I heard angels sing when I went to the counter and saw that they were selling the Blackberry Bold 9700 with an upgrade for $78.88.
I thought after seeing the AT&T prices I had hit the goldmine. I snatched the phone and proceeded to buy it. After the deed was done, I called my husband to brag about how much money I had saved. $122.00 isn’t anything to sneeze at, right?
Well he looked up the phone on Walmart.com and proceeded to tell me it was free with an upgrade (when you renew your 2-year contract) online!
Needless to say tomorrow I will be back at Walmart seeing if they will refund my money and if not I will just return it and buy it online.
The moral of the story? Check prices in stores, at rivals, and online before you buy.
Tips:
- If you find a deal online, stores will occasionally price-match their own online sites if you have a print out or can show them the price on your smart phone.
- If you want to negotiate, ask for the manger and go when the store is not busy so s/he has time to hear you out.
- Amazon.com has great prices for cell phones, but the deals almost always come with a 2-year contract.
Related:
Get out of your cell phone contract
Save money on your cell: family plans
February 4th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
UPDATE: I did try to get a refund, but alas no luck… so i returned it and ordered it online… Even the shipping was free! It is due to arrive in the mail today so yay!
February 4th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Went to the Walmart website since am interested in buying the Bold 9700 but the offer ended on January 19, 2010. Has the offer been extended?
February 4th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
I have price-matched at Vitamin Shoppe and Staples with their on-line prices. I hardly think a store would want to compete with itself for sales!
February 4th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
ldevere –
Regarding on-line prices vs. store prices:
Target stores won’t match their on-line prices and vice-versa. I went round and round with them at Xmas when their on-line item became sold out/unable to ship after I had ordered it. The local store had the item but they were unwilling to price-match. On-line was also unwilling to credit the difference.
Kohls, however, bends over backwards to price match. I shop there even more now!
February 5th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Walmart will not price-match their online prices, or even the prices at their other stores! I found this out the hard way when I found a digital photo frame online for a great price. Their site encouraged me to see if it was in stock in my local store. It was not, but it was in another store just a little further away. So I piled the kids in the car to go over and get it. But it was $20 more in the store.
When I spoke with the associate, he explained their policy about price-matching. I thought the website was very misleading when it told me to check availability in my local store. It did not clearly state that the price would most likely be different there.
February 5th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
well your lucky i wanted to order a phone online from them but its a 3rd party site and they wouldent let me unless i did both lines and only one was eldigable so i dident get it there also try best buy i really wanted a lg xenon and a few weeks ago it was free with new line upggrade so i went in and upgraded and with tax and everything it was 12.10 no to bad at att they wanted 150 and 50 mail in moral is look at walmart radioshack and bestbuy first they dont make you mail in and will set it up so ur good when you walk out
February 6th, 2010 at 2:38 am
There was something mentioned twice that I don’t understand. Little Sister said she would try to get a refund or return the phone. In order to get a refund, you have to return the item. It is a two-step procedure, not either/or. Can someone explain?
February 8th, 2010 at 3:16 am
Sorry, should have clarified
. I meant a refund as in price match refund, but they wouldn’t due to it being considered more a 3rd party online. I ended up returning the phone and ordering it online. I choose the free shipping method, and it got here 2 days later.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:20 am
Also, my cell provider is att, I did notice that different providers had different prices for their phones. I did have to upgrade my line, but I am on a family plan and we didn’t have to upgrade both…. There is an option while upgrading to “skip” choosing a second line.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Please identify more where can i buy cheapest.I wanted one dslr camfor new beby.She was born last month.