[Granolamonkey]

Hi folks,

I'm on Verizon and I'm planning on waiting until July to get the Tour as my first Blackberry. As I have a $100 Best Buy giftcard I was thinking of getting the phone from Best Buy instead of from the Verizon store. I talked to a friend who said that getting phones from Best Buy was not a good idea, but didn't really have any details as to why; he just said he'd heard negative things from others, but nothing specific.

Does anyone have any experience buying phones from Best Buy, negative or positive? It looks like a new Blackberry comes with a 1 year warranty from Blackberry no matter where you get it from, so I'm not sure what the disadvantage to getting it from Best Buy would be (if the price was the same, of course).

Thanks!

[Crackberrykills]

I always buy my phones from the carrier; I have never felt all that comfortable buying phones from outside sources. I am sure it is fine, but it is not my idea of fun.

[bboy2143]

But I heard best buy have really good warranties. I heard in one of the threads about buying at best buy

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Brain7070]

I agree with cbk on that one. Less of an issue if, god forbid, something were to go wrong. Getting the phone straight from the carrier has been my rule of thumb for a while.

[ambeyrae]

I did not have a good experience with buying a phone from Best Buy. The phone that I had received was defective and even with my receipt and being within the 30 days they would not take the phone back. I don't like to argue so I left and just delt with it. After that experience I would never buy a phone from anywhere but the Corporate stores.

[theanswer3]

Also don't you have an additional "contract" going through a retailer and not the carrier

[bedaweed]

i got my phone from futureshop (in canada) and they had great service i had no problems
also best buy (in canada) always has promotions (i.e. free nintendo wii with 3 year contract)

[Jared DiPane]

best part about buying from Best Buy is that Best Buy Mobile offers all instant rebates, instead of mail in...

[danhclare]

I work at best buy mobile and we have straight foward pricing, someone to be there for the life of your phone, the prtoection plan is 9.99 a month and it covers all accidental handling, full water damage, manafacturer defect and normal wear and tear

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[Granolamonkey]

Thanks for the input; I guess my question is more about from the wireless provider as opposed to a 3rd party. It sounds like non-accidental damage is covered by a RIM warranty, so I'd imagine the only difference would be the customer support in an accidental damage plan. Am I missing something? Otherwise I can't really see a difference between buying from the wireless company or buying from another dealer.

[LuvMyBB]

Bought my Bold at Best Buy last month. Phone had a bad radio, and they replaced it no problem. The only thing was inventory was very limited on the Bold. That may just be an isolated thing because of its popularity. But my experience was positive, fwiw.

[southjersey786]

I would buy it from Best buy also, your buying the same thing but Best Buy usually has a better deal, BB curve for sprint at a sprint store is 100 and in best buy is like 40$ and that is without mail in rebates.

[MoistDef]

I bought my Bold from Best Buy last month and my experience was great. (Not to mention I also got $100 of because of their sale)

I used my brother's eligible upgrade (family plan) to purchase my Bold and they had to get him a new SIM card.

I had to go across the street to the AT&T store to get another new SIM card for me and add a data plan under my name because Best Buy wasn't able to do it.

[CatAlex]

All exp's seem fine til you need to go to your carrier for problems. I doubt Best Buy will be there for you the way a carrier (who is invested in retaining your business) will...up to you, but if it was me, I'd be going with the carrier.

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[nuangel2]

i have never bought at bestbuy but i have bought phones at retailers like radioshack and walmart and have never had a problem.

[Jared DiPane]

All exp's seem fine til you need to go to your carrier for problems. I doubt Best Buy will be there for you the way a carrier (who is invested in retaining your business) will...up to you, but if it was me, I'd be going with the carrier.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

since best buy is an authorized retailer of the cell phone carriers it carries, there is no problem taking the phone to the carrier to have them look at a warranty issue...

[Curve63049]

since best buy is an authorized retailer of the cell phone carriers it carries, there is no problem taking the phone to the carrier to have them look at a warranty issue...

Exactly!

I've been a Sprint customer for about 10 years. In December 2008, I was looking to upgrade to the Blackberry Curve. Best price thru the local Sprint store was around $100 - even though I was nearing the end of my 2-year contract.

At the time, however, Best Buy offered me a *FREE* Curve (Sprint network) - so long as I signed a 2-year contract extension. Done!

The Best Buy mobile rep *I* dealt with knew his schnizit too! I grilled him specifically about Sprint's Everything Data Plan, BIS, BES, and Conditional Access Licenses (CAL) - he knew it all! Plus knew his way around the phone too.

I'm not one to hand out praise easily, BUT this guy was so good I went up to the manager and told him that I was really impressed by this particular guy.

Buying from Best Buy is really no different than buying from the carrier store (at least for Sprint).

I passed on buying Best Buy's "insurance" for my new Sprint Blackberry Curve. At $9.99 per month, it seems pricey to me.

Instead, after getting my Curve at Best Buy, I drove *directly across the street* to the Sprint Store and added Sprint's total equipment protection (or whatever it is their calling it these days) to the Curve for $7.99 per month. No problemo (so long as you do it within 30-days of getting your new phone).

I don't have even ONE negative word to say about getting MY Curve through Best Buy. It was one of the best retail experiences I've had in a long time.

(and, no, I'm not a Best Buy employee either. Just a normal guy trying to save a buck or two . . . or, in this case, $100).

[ScandaLeX]

since best buy is an authorized retailer of the cell phone carriers it carries, there is no problem taking the phone to the carrier to have them look at a warranty issue...

Good info. Something more people should be aware of.

[Jared DiPane]

Good info. Something more people should be aware of.

Agreed, and you can purchase from Best Buy, and get the insurance through the provider. For example I got my storm at Best Buy ( I work there) and then called to add the Verizon insurance.

[Jared DiPane]

the problem with third parties isn't in the purchasing or repairs, but in the returning of the device. If you are unhappy with the device or the service, if you are within a certain timeframe, then you HAVE to return the device or you'll be charged full retail price. Make sure you read any paperwork carefully. Usually it's something like 90 to 180 days. Other than that, I've never had an issue with a phone I've bought from a third party, in terms of warranty repairs. In fact, any time I've taken a phone to the store I purchased it from (non-Blackberry, as I've never needed to repair a Blackberry) they've always just referred me to the corporate store.

I agree with what someone above said, however. I'm not sure how Verizon works it, but I would take my device to VZW to get checked out and insured, opposed to purchasing Best Buy's plan.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

not too sure what you are trying to say about the returns because they have the same return policy as the carrier would, so i dont really understand the issue that you are trying to portray with that..

[ScandaLeX]

the problem with third parties isn't in the purchasing or repairs, but in the returning of the device. If you are unhappy with the device or the service, if you are within a certain timeframe, then you HAVE to return the device or you'll be charged full retail price. Make sure you read any paperwork carefully. Usually it's something like 90 to 180 days. Other than that, I've never had an issue with a phone I've bought from a third party, in terms of warranty repairs. In fact, any time I've taken a phone to the store I purchased it from (non-Blackberry, as I've never needed to repair a Blackberry) they've always just referred me to the corporate store.

I agree with what someone above said, however. I'm not sure how Verizon works it, but I would take my device to VZW to get checked out and insured, opposed to purchasing Best Buy's plan.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

90 to 180 days = 3 to 6 months. Best Buy does not accept anything for return after 30 days.

[petaf]

I bought my 9530 from Best Buy. Fortunately it's problem-free up till now!

[panam]

bought a bb8330 from Best Buy $99.00 2weeks later it was on sale for $39.00--they issued me a credit. I'd buy from them again

[LuvMyBB]

Maybeinboston, I think things have changed a lot. Best Buy exchanged my Bold with no problems whatsoever and it had well over 30 minutes on it. More like 30 hours.

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[catfish44]

Like you said you have a $100 gift Card, in my book that's dam near reason enough to buy it at Best Buy. In today's market they have to give you the same service as a carrier would or they would not be selling ANY phones. Believe me there would be enough bad press about it that everyone would know. I have bought phones every-way imaginable and they are all the same. I would not have any worries about it.