Upgrade Early - Corporate Stores Only

[RG129]

Has anybody received different information regarding Sprint's early upgrade policy? Last year, I was able to pay a fee to upgrade early and was free to purchase my phone from any retailer. Now they're telling me I can only upgrade my phone through a corporate Sprint store after paying the early upgrade fee.

I purchased the now defunct Best Buy Buy Back program when I got my EVO 4G LTE which estimates that I would receive about $280 to sell my phone back to Best Buy. That would cover the cost of the early upgrade fee plus some of the cost of the phone. If I have to upgrade through a corporate store, that would just leave me with a $280 Best Buy gift card that I would need to re-sell to get my money back...which ideally I would like to avoid.

:-\

Any help or ideas would be appreciated!

 

[Mikey47]

I thought they completely did away with the early upgrade program no matter where you did it.

http://www.pocketables.com/2012/12/sprint-has-now-canceled-its-early-upgrade-program.html

 

[RG129]

It's still being offered, although I don't know the terms for eligibility. The CS reps just keep saying it shows on my account that I'm allowed to participate in the "Early Upgrade" program, but I have to use it in a Sprint corporate store. I think I've called like 3 times since the HTC One was announced to understand how the upgrade pricing adjusts over time. On May 1st, my Upgrade Now price will be $225 (It's currently at $270). So if I wait until May 1st to get the HTC One, I'm hoping to pay: $199 + $225 Upgrade Now - $280 Best Buy Buy Back = $144 Net.