Car Toys $0.01 Legit?

**MST27** · 12-12-2011, 05:29 PM

Hi,

This is my first thread and post. I'm getting ready to jump over to Android from WebOS and I'm pretty sure I want to start with the RAZR.

I'm not really prepared to drop $300 on the phone at this time, so I've been keeping my eyes open for any sort of deals that would help me get the phone sooner than waiting for a price drop.

This weekend I received a Car Toys flyer, and at the bottom it lists a few phones available for a penny, the new RAZR being one of them. This deal is apparently available for new or UPGRADING customers.

Myself, being an upgrading customer, was very intrigued by this. So I called them to confirm, and they said it was true....I can get a new RAZR for a penny with my 2 year upgrade.

This still seems a little fishy, so I'm going to go down the store tomorrow and see what happens. I'll update this post with my findings.

Has anybody else heard of this deal and/or taken advantage of it?

*UPDATE* I went to the store today. The person I spoke with on the phone yesterday was apparently misinformed. No RAZRs are being sold for a penny at Car Toys. Their Sunday paper ad was done in such a way that made things unclear. Just a gimmick to get people into their store I guess.

**carter17** · 12-12-2011, 07:38 PM

I know amazon was doing it. I have never heard of car toys tho

**MST27** · 12-12-2011, 07:57 PM

Amazon was doing it, but only for new accounts/lines. This one said specifically that the cost would be 1 cent for upgrading customers as well. Car Toys is basically a mobile electronics big box store. They specialize in car accessories.....obviously

**Tovalmorgan** · 12-13-2011, 09:07 AM

I got my razr for a penny from amazon.com

so why would you not believe car toys is doing it? both their ad and human contact confirmed they are doing it....

**teardropcity** · 12-13-2011, 11:56 AM

sometimes 3rd party retailers charge an additional ETF, besides the one from the carrier. I am not sure if Car Toys does or not, but that is usually the only "catch". However if you have no plans of changing carriers, it's not such a bad deal, to save the upfront money on the price of the phone.

**MST27** · 12-13-2011, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by Tovalmorgan

I got my razr for a penny from amazon.com

so why would you not believe car toys is doing it? both their ad and human contact confirmed they are doing it....

Apparently they aren't doing it. See OP.

**ishore99** · 12-13-2011, 09:51 PM

If you are a Costco member the deal is very sweet. $189 for the phone and you get a leather case, car charger and screen protector. Then mail in rebate and get a battery back up, HD Dock, wall charger and HDMI cable. That would bring the cost down to about $130 for the phone.

**MST27** · 12-14-2011, 08:25 PM

I just got on their website and it says $289 for upgrading customers. Is $189 an instore deal or something?

**ishore99** · 12-14-2011, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by MST27

I just got on their website and it says $289 for upgrading customers. Is $189 an instore deal or something?

Sorry about that..... It was late and my fingers were not on t
he right keys. It was $289 out of pocket. Then reduce the free goods and it came down to about $140.

Again, sorry...... for the error.

**NealJ777** · 12-16-2011, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by Tovalmorgan

I got my razr for a penny from amazon.com

Ditto. I got in on the penny deal from Amazon. FYI: Amazon charges their own ETF.

**pinktoad** · 06-04-2012, 07:14 PM

Car Toys is legit, yes. My mom and I got 2 phones for 2 pennies. Of course we had to sign new contracts with Car Toys. They initially told us we were going to have to pay activation fee's and we balked on that, but the manager said they were waiving fee's that particular weekend. So maybe if you ask, they'll waive the fee for you.

We asked how could they afford to do this and apparently they have a good, long-standing relationship with Verizon and since Car Toys can sell their phones cheaper than Verizon, they've now made a deal with Car Toys so that Car Toys gets some compensation from Verizon for each person they get under contract.

So yeah, 2 pennies and I got a droid 3 and mom got some standard phone that was an upgrade over what she had, but doesn't have a data plan.

Keep in mind, if you're on some older model flip phone and you upgrade to a smart phone, you are going to have to pay for a data plan and those run at least 30 i believe.

Bottom line is, Car Toys' 1 cent deal is not switch and bait or some gimmick. I don't work for them, but they're close by and I heard about this deal from a friend of mine that lives close by. As long as you are keeping the same plan you have now, and as long as you get a phone that is for 1 cent, then (like us) you should be able to leave having only spent a penny.