Re: LAUNCH DAY THREAD [Tell interesting/humorous Evo 3D launch d
OK....i have hesitated in posting this because I'm going to hell (I believe Dan Hesse will be at the gates and say....nuh-uh after reading this)...but let me state the beginning of the story for you...which goes back to June of 2010.
So last year my gf bought a Palm Pre when it first came out. we both liked it a lot - i thought WebOS was a great OS but the underpowered pre, along with no wimax and small keyboard really held it back. There wasn't a tremendous amount of development for it, and having a Samsung Moment myself, I knew where the future was going to be - Android.
Fast forward to June 2010 - I'd been salivating over getting an EVO 4G with wimax - 1ghz Snapdragon processor - 800x480 screen (my moment was 320x480) - kickstand....ooooh I couldn't wait. I wasn't going to buy it until about 2 weeks after it initially came out - money, early adopters and what not. But oh! i JUST had to hold it in my hands!
The day of the launch we went to the Sprint store and having held the TMobile HD2 before I knew what to expect....but oh my, Android was so beautiful on it! We got ~9 or ~10mbit on it from a speedtest app, and the possibilities that were swirling around in my mind (cancel comcast, portable router/hotspot, unlimited 4G).... were truly unlimited!!! What I didn't expect was for my gf to actually *LIKE* it. You see, I had an alterior motive here a little bit, I wanted to show it to her so that maybe she would get it for *me* down the line O
Well, we went home and I remember coming in the door and loading up androidcentral.com on my netbook. I had to read the initial impressions, see the reviews, how did people like the battery? I had been with HTC since the PPC6600/6601 era when I gave up Handspring/Palm's Treo 600. I loved my PPC6700 and all the accesories that came in the box (earphones, docking station with extended battery slot, ac adapter, extra styli, faux-leather case) so I knew since then I would be sticking with HTC for a good while. Unfortunately the TP had me have a separation until Sprint gave me the TP2 for free after a few faulty keyboards on the TP.
Well, as I was reading everyone's lust/love/marriage to the EVO 4G my gf was asking me more about the EVO - were the apps she bought from the Palm Pre transferrable? What was the battery life like? Did TEP cover the EVO the same way they did the Palm Pre? I tried answering them but soon became focused on reading and....if i remember correctly....she left for a little bit. Couldn't remember where (at the time).
Well she came back 2 hours later from Radio Shack and had purchased the EVO 4G off contract - paying full price. I couldn't believe it. I never paid (much) for any phone I've ever had and here she was - paying RS a full $549 (they were $50 more than Sprint!).
And that's where this past history comes to an end - I have felt extremely guilty to this day that she paid half a grand on a phone which - to the best of my knowledge - has been a wonderful investment.
Fast forward to yesterday, June 24th, 2011.
Ever since I heard Best Buy had changed a lot of their policies - no more restocking fee, selling used or opened merchandise for much more reasonable prices, buying your old electronics or mobile phones - I HAD to give them a look. THen i heard about the black tie geek squad protection - for $10 a month you get full protection - minus loss or theft of your device - with a BRAND NEW DEVICE. no refurbishness, no out of pocket $100 fee - brand new, no questions asked, unlimited (not 3 / year) and most importantly, no out of pocket cost. $10 a month.
Now I pay $7 a month with TEP and i've used it 3 or 4 times during my Touch Pro / 6700 days, but since 2009 I refused to pay the increase unless something seriously happened to my phone.
So i went to the BB site a few weeks ago and starting looking around my house. Found my Samsung Moment and HTC Touch Pro 2. BB said the moment (in pretty decent condition) was worth $27 with cable and instructions. Great, i thought, i can keep the micro usb charger. My TP2 was $57 for the same, except that used a mini proprietary. Just keep that in mind for now, $84.
Now my gf dropped her EVO about a month ago outside as she got out of the car. We've each dropped ours about half a dozen times, but usually in our house, carpetted or onto the couch. When her EVO hit the ground i heard a crack and a few expletives. When we got inside the house she had a nice sized crack on her screen - but it was still fully functional. "wow" i thought. not bad.
today after looking at the trade in program, i figured with a crack, we'd get ~$73 for it. i believe the numbers were for poor condition, $73, ok condition (scratches and normal wear and tear scruffs) $107. Pristine, no scratches condition, with booklet and cable, $137.
Well we got $137 for it. Add that to the $84 and we are at $221. keep that in mind.
2 or 3 months ago, like a lot of you i lost my premier gold and got premier silver, and $75 towards a phone. About 1 month ago i wrote an email, i complained and they boosted me back to $150. They also mentioned in the email since i've been a loyal sprint customer they were sorry for the inconvenience and would give me a $25 credit. Hey, i thought, i'll take that too.
Today i figured, ok, i can upgrade to a new phone for $199. i have ~$220 credit. what else can i do?
Oh that's right, i said. i better contact sprint to get an early upgrade credit BEFORE i upgrade my phone.
I called in sprint and told them (as i had been in the past many times) that i was offered an early upgrade credit if i resigned my contract for 2 years.
She looked around, couldn't find anything. Saw at one point i had 5 lines, asked me if maybe i received a text on one of those lines? i said no, they were dc'ed in 2009.
Upon further investigation and a lot of BS on my part, she spoke with her supervisor who told her i had 2 options. I could receive a $75 credit or receive 2x$35 visa credit cards. One now, and one in 3 or 6 months.
But she couldn't find that darn code!
I waited...and waited...patiently. My phone was getting a little hot on my ear,so when she comes back i say it's a friday afternoon at 4pm, I want to go home, i'm sure she wants to go home, and i tell her my phone's battery was starting to die (it was.......kinda). she says well i'm so sorry! I thank her for her patience but I said I don't think I can hold on much longer, whatever credit she could offer I would take it (thinking maybe even a $25 or $40 credit as I've had in the past).
She tells me she will give me $15 off a month for 6 months...($90) and in addition, she will send me out these visa CC's, for $35 each, one now and one in 6 months (i think, or else it's 3 months).
I say sure, or rather, the devil on my shoulder says sure. She says she'll apply the credits and I should see a few account codes activated within 24 hours - that's just her adding them to my account.
she absolutely satisfied and solved my "problem" and i told her i would answer any survey or email that i received and i meant it.
So now we are at $15 credit a month x 6 months (in addition to my other 25% off monthly bill and $20 credit a month for 24 months when i traded in my SERO 17 months ago) and 2 cc's arriving within 6 months time with $35 on each of them. seems like i made out pretty good, i tell myself.
fast forward to BB.
guy at kiosk says he'll give me ~$220 for cracked evo, moment, and tp2. i thought the best i was going to get was $130. ok i say.
in the process of buying the evo 3d, my gf wants a screen protector and case. we get a Zagg invisi shield $21.99 and a PT cruiser case for $35. well, when you buy them with the EVO 3d you get 20% off, so now the zagg is $16.79 and the cruiser is $27.99.
Well i also forgot that i preordered the evo 3d so i have another $50 towards the gift cards, making it an even $270. dang i thought! i need to go get some lottery tickets with my luck!!
then i think about the black tie protection - $10 a month. we get the geek squad buy back as well, normally $60 but when you buy them together it's only $30.
Long story short, we walked out of best buy with Zagg screen which they put on for her, Cruiser shell which is also on it, black tie protection and buy back for
$32 out of pocket!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm not even counting all the credits i accumulated today.
and the worst part of my day so far???
She had her 3d with her at work and i can't play with it until she comes home in the morning and has to sleep during the day!!! Woe is me!!!
And that's the story of why i am going to hell.
Oh, and the buy back price of the 3d if we give it back within 6 months? $350!!! yes, BB is selling the evo 3d for $699 off contract. within 6 months you get 50% of retail, 6-12 months is 40%.
THank you Best Buy. And please don't hate me as I am just telling you my Launch Day story
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram