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My current mobile contract ends in 21 days.  I have spent the last 14 days researching the major providers in New England as well as almost every phone currently available.  My wife and I are on US Cellular and have been for 4 years (2-year contracts).  We use our phones everyday but since we call each other or other people on USCell we  hardly use any of our monthly minutes.  Since we don’t really use our phones that much it only seems logical to go to a pre-paid plan.  I couldn’t agree more but the down side is that we would loose our phone numbers that we have had for 4+ years.

We could just let our contract run out and go to a month-to-month payment but a) I would like a new phone and b) the mobile services has been going down hill over the past few weeks.

And I might add, US Cell has the worst selection of phones and when few smart phones that do have are way over priced.  I called customer service and tried to get a deal stating that this would be my 3rd contract renewal and that other providers have a better selection phones at lower prices.  Their response was that they’d give me $25 off any smart phone they have which by the way start at $75 for the LG Delve and up to $250 for the HTC Touch Pro.  Hmm let me get back to you on that generous offer.

The Hardware

In my OCD mobile phone research I have found that there are a lot of online retailers offering FREE phones.  There are also a few brick n mortar retailers that offer mobile phones w/ contracts on line for a discounted price as well.  Allow me to break it down for you.

Online Sellers

There are 2 online only retailers that are legitimate: Letstalk.com and Wirefly.com.

Letstalk.com offers phones and services  from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile,Sprint and US Cellular.  The phones they offer are in most cases free and a few phones you actually get some cash back.  When choosing a phone like the Samsung Impression, the calling plans are limited to a select few and in some cases you must purchase a Data Plan as well.  One interesting thing I found was that Phonedog.com and Samsung have mobile phone stores that is just a branded versions of Letstalk.com.

The other online store is Wirefly.com.  They too offer that same phone selection as Letstalk and RadioShack, BestBuy and many many other online sites use a rebranded version of Wirefly.com.

Even though both sites are similar the deals seem to be a little better at Letstalk.com

One thing to keep in mind is that when buying these phones at a discounted rate online the Terms of Services is pretty strict.  In most cases you have 14 days to return the phone if there is an issue and if you change your calling plan to a lower rate plan in the first 180 days you can/may be charged a $200+ fee for the phone.  And if there is a problem with your phone during your contract you cannot go an AT&T retail store, for instance, and get help with the hardware.  This is also true for both RadioShack and Bestbuy, if you buy the phone online neither retailer is obligated to help you with any hardware issues.  I confirmed this at a RadioShark retail store a few days ago.

But on the bright side you can get a Samsung Jack for FREE!!!

Brick N’ Mortar Sellers

I have also been to almost every retail mobile phone store in the greater Portland area and again I found an interesting situation.  The service provider retail shops charge more for their phones then the retail resellers but the service provider retail shops are more willing to ‘make a deal’ with you when it comes to the service and the hardware.   Let’s take the LG Xenon from AT&T (btw AT&T is way in the lead as my next service provider).  The Xenon is a Touch Screen phone with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard.  At the AT&T retail (and online) store it’s $99 with a new 2-year contract, Best Buy it’s $49 with a new 2-year contract and at Radio Shack it’s $29 with a new 2-year contract AND Unlimited Messaging for an additional $20 a month or it’s $49 with a new 2-year contract.  Why would anyone go the AT&T store?

Well I did a little investigative shopping and here’s what I did.  I went into of the 3 retailers and made the same statement: “If I switch from my current provider to AT&T will you waive my activation fees?”

The results: AT&T the guy said absolutely but at both Best Buy and Radio Shack they said they couldn’t.  The guy at Radio Shack then added that they have the lowest retail prices and would match a competitors price.

Conclusion

There are way to many phones and services available and every time you think you’ve found the right phone some yo-yo points out a minor issue that then leads you questioning if the phone you have chooses is the right phone.  Them to add to the madness there are way to may places to buy a new phone.  Online or offline?  Major retailer or major reseller?

If you buy online read the Terms of Services carefully.   If you buy in a retail store be sure to shop around and then make them beg you to buy the phone.