Difficult exchange at Best Buy — employee advice requested

robber

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Here is the deal. I purchased a n5 on contract with Sprint at best buy a week ago. I had not been overly happy with sprint recently but decided to do the upgrade. Anyway, after 15 years with Sprint the stars have aligned and I have a great opportunity to get att service through a corporate plan for half of what I am paying sprint today.

Sooo, I want to return the nexus 5 and reset my sprint agreement so I am not in a etf scenario. However, I want to buy the same n5 and use it with att. So I need to make the return but buy the device off contract and hopefully get a price match from Google play.

Questions;

How tricky will this be? Does the fact I am trading in a 10 day old phone make this any easier, what would bb do with my 2 week old nexus 5 if not sell it back to me? Would it help if if I activated the new att lines at the same Bestbuy?

I suppose it boils down to the question of if I am asking for a favor or carrying a strong hand with leverage to do this.

I don't want to wait 3 weeks to get another n5.

Thanks
 

Jerfer

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

What are the terms of the contract in regards to returns? I know it's 14 days for AT&T at Wal-Mart before you're stuck with the ETF.
 

robber

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

I have 14 days to make the return. That is not the issue. The difficult part of the transaction is buying the same phone off contract and getting a price match.
 

scorpiodsu

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

I have 14 days to make the return. That is not the issue. The difficult part of the transaction is buying the same phone off contract and getting a price match.

Well here's my question. How much did you pay at best buy on contract? Was it $149 or less? If so then just port your number to att and pay the $200 etf which would leave you at the price if you bought the phone off contract from Google play, right? Then you won't have to worry about exchanging or anything and dealing with best buy/sprint resetting your contract and stuff.

Posted via Android Central App
 

Sentrix

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

I have 14 days to make the return. That is not the issue. The difficult part of the transaction is buying the same phone off contract and getting a price match.

Hmmm, let's see. I work at BBY Mobile.

If you're returning the Nexus 5 and it's functional and working properly, etc. then we'd be making an Open Box item out of it, which can take a couple of days. So you won't be able to just re-purchase the exact same item all in one shot in the same day, as it needs to be processed and re-enter our inventory system as an Open Box item. However, if your store has more N5's in stock, then you could do exactly what you want, just with a different N5 device. The price-match to Google Play should work, as long as it's in stock currently. Shipping times don't matter.

If that particular Best Buy Mobile store does not have any more Nexus 5s in stock, then you'd have to wait for the turnaround for that particular device, the one you have now, to be processed as an Open Box. You could probably have them hold it for you as soon as it's processed as an Open Box, and then come back in to do the second part of the transaction (buying it outright with the price match).

Hope this helps.
 

Jerfer

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

Is the Nexus 5 you got from Sprint in BestBuy the same as the one you'd get from the Google Play store, or is it Sprint's version?
 

scorpiodsu

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

Is the Nexus 5 you got from Sprint in BestBuy the same as the one you'd get from the Google Play store, or is it Sprint's version?

Same model. No difference.

Posted via Android Central App
 

robber

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

Well here's my question. How much did you pay at best buy on contract? Was it $149 or less? If so then just port your number to att and pay the $200 etf which would leave you at the price if you bought the phone off contract from Google play, right? Then you won't have to worry about exchanging or anything and dealing with best buy/sprint resetting your contract and stuff.

Posted via Android Central App

Is that really the ETF though? I was figuring $350. $200 etf would make this very easy!
 

knowimagination

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Re: Difficult exchange at Best Buy ? employee advice requested

Here is the deal. I purchased a n5 on contract with Sprint at best buy a week ago. I had not been overly happy with sprint recently but decided to do the upgrade. Anyway, after 15 years with Sprint the stars have aligned and I have a great opportunity to get att service through a corporate plan for half of what I am paying sprint today.

Sooo, I want to return the nexus 5 and reset my sprint agreement so I am not in a etf scenario. However, I want to buy the same n5 and use it with att. So I need to make the return but buy the device off contract and hopefully get a price match from Google play.

Questions;

How tricky will this be? Does the fact I am trading in a 10 day old phone make this any easier, what would bb do with my 2 week old nexus 5 if not sell it back to me? Would it help if if I activated the new att lines at the same Bestbuy?

I suppose it boils down to the question of if I am asking for a favor or carrying a strong hand with leverage to do this.

I don't want to wait 3 weeks to get another n5.

Thanks

Best Buys official policy is they do not match play store pricing. You may find a helpful mobile manager, but I have asked a couple of stores near me and none of them are willing to match price.

They may not want you to buy the same n5 right away because it may seem like you are trying to work the system or something, but again if they understand what you are trying to do they can make it an open box item immediately if they so desire.

I would just go in and explain the exact situation and see what they recommend of your best course of action. I wouldn't say you are in a them doing you a favor situation, but you certainly don't have a strong hand to muscle them around either. You certainly shouldn't have any problems with returning the sprint part, it is the next steps that are going to depend on the service level at your store.
 

scorpiodsu

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

its $350 for smartphones (or advanced phones as they call them) and $200 for feature phones.

Oh they changed since I last had sprint. It was $200 for any phone. I had contracts with a couple flagship devices a couple years back. Well that throws that plan out the window lol.

Posted via Android Central App
 

robber

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

Hmmm, let's see. I work at BBY Mobile.

If you're returning the Nexus 5 and it's functional and working properly, etc. then we'd be making an Open Box item out of it, which can take a couple of days. So you won't be able to just re-purchase the exact same item all in one shot in the same day, as it needs to be processed and re-enter our inventory system as an Open Box item. However, if your store has more N5's in stock, then you could do exactly what you want, just with a different N5 device. The price-match to Google Play should work, as long as it's in stock currently. Shipping times don't matter.

If that particular Best Buy Mobile store does not have any more Nexus 5s in stock, then you'd have to wait for the turnaround for that particular device, the one you have now, to be processed as an Open Box. You could probably have them hold it for you as soon as it's processed as an Open Box, and then come back in to do the second part of the transaction (buying it outright with the price match).

Hope this helps.

This is great info, thanks. What I am ultimately inquiring about I suppose is what the mobile phone manager will be motivated by? Doesd he want to avoid a return? does 2 new AT&T activations help my cause? Not sure what his metrics are. However, if the ETF is $200 as said above than this is an easy decision.
 

robber

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

So let me ask this, who should I be interfacing with at bestbuy? Is there a specific title or person?
 

knowimagination

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

So let me ask this, who should I be interfacing with at bestbuy? Is there a specific title or person?

Since you will be dealing with a contract reversal you will end up speaking with one of the best buy mobile associates. If the manager is available I would just ask for them so you can skip that step later. The two new AT&T lines will certainly help your situation because those contracts are worth more to them than your original upgrade would have been.
 

robber

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Since you will be dealing with a contract reversal you will end up speaking with one of the best buy mobile associates. If the manager is available I would just ask for them so you can skip that step later. The two new AT&T lines will certainly help your situation because those contracts are worth more to them than your original upgrade would have been.

Good to know. I think this is the hand I will play
 

eric3316

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Why not just do the return and cancel everything out and see if they will just sell you a new Nexus 5 at a price match of GP and hook it up to AT&T. Why go through the hassle of keeping your used device? Keeping the used device might just make the transaction harder then just buying a new one. The only thing really to be concerned with here is if they will match the GP price.

If one Best Buy won't price match, just go to another BB and see if they will do it. If they will, then you can just purchase it from that store and then go back to the original one and return the Sprint one. Then no one is confused. An easy transaction in one store buying the phone and an easy transaction in another returning it. Sometimes I find things like that easier to do then trying to explain to a sales associate what my end goal is and them just not having a clue what I am talking about.
 

cgardnervt

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I had gone to my local BB to see if they would price match and I was turned down. In VT we only have one BB sadly. Oh well! Good luck and let us know how things turn out!
 

scottyb007

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Re: Difficult exchange at bestbuy. Bestbuy employee advice requested

Hmmm, let's see. I work at BBY Mobile.

If you're returning the Nexus 5 and it's functional and working properly, etc. then we'd be making an Open Box item out of it, which can take a couple of days. So you won't be able to just re-purchase the exact same item all in one shot in the same day, as it needs to be processed and re-enter our inventory system as an Open Box item. However, if your store has more N5's in stock, then you could do exactly what you want, just with a different N5 device. The price-match to Google Play should work, as long as it's in stock currently. Shipping times don't matter.

If that particular Best Buy Mobile store does not have any more Nexus 5s in stock, then you'd have to wait for the turnaround for that particular device, the one you have now, to be processed as an Open Box. You could probably have them hold it for you as soon as it's processed as an Open Box, and then come back in to do the second part of the transaction (buying it outright with the price match).

Hope this helps.

Just be careful with that. Best Buy doesn't "officially" price match with the play store as I was told. They match everyone else lol. Just tell them that you wanted a price match, if they question it, just tell them that a manager had already approved it. You didnt remember that persons name. They'll most likely let you. Good luck.
 

mhettrich

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I worked at best buy mobile as well. It's really going to depend on the employee that you wind up dealing with. They could return the phone as new in box and resell the same one to you. As for the price match, like people said, they don't officially prove match the play store. I'd call before going down to the store.

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