New BB user

Hi -- I have a couple of questions. I just purchased a BB Pearl 8130 on Ebay. Alltel is my service provider. I don't have or need a Smart Phone plan. I am a previous Palm 750P user. I wanted a Pearl for the size and I need the PDA functions on it but not the internet. I was told by my local Alltel store and a rep when I called customer service that I didn't have to have a smartphone or data plan if I didn't purchase my phone from them. This morning when I called CS and asked an unrelated question she said it is not allowed to have any BB without have a $44.99 data plan or smartphone plan and that I would eventually get a large bill from them because my phone is constantly trying to connect to RIM. Even with the data option turned off. Has anyone else encountered this? Is there anyway to get around this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by lakeareaemb

Hi -- I have a couple of questions. I just purchased a BB Pearl 8130 on Ebay. Alltel is my service provider. I don't have or need a Smart Phone plan. I am a previous Palm 750P user. I wanted a Pearl for the size and I need the PDA functions on it but not the internet. I was told by my local Alltel store and a rep when I called customer service that I didn't have to have a smartphone or data plan if I didn't purchase my phone from them. This morning when I called CS and asked an unrelated question she said it is not allowed to have any BB without have a $44.99 data plan or smartphone plan and that I would eventually get a large bill from them because my phone is constantly trying to connect to RIM. Even with the data option turned off. Has anyone else encountered this? Is there anyway to get around this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Try a different CS rep. I don't know about Alltel, but many people use their berries as phones without a data plan.

I called CS again and got the same answer from one person and another said that you can't use any smart phone without a data plan. I know this isn't true because I never had a data plan with my Palm. They keep saying that there is no way to stop them from trying to connect to RIM. Anyone else have any ideas?

I don't know if Verizon and Alltel use the same system (eroes) but with eroes (verizon) you can put an internet block on the line, so it wont connect to the internet. Also, there are two pricing plans for the internet, the more expensive one (44.95) is for people that need the BES services. Typically the data plans run about 29.99. I know also that the data plans are mandatory with that particular handset for Verizon. I hope this helps.

I would assume that as long as you are not accessing those data features then you would not be charged for data usage. As stated before there are plenty of people who use their bb's as just phones.

Originally Posted by lakeareaemb

I called CS again and got the same answer from one person and another said that you can't use any smart phone without a data plan. I know this isn't true because I never had a data plan with my Palm. They keep saying that there is no way to stop them from trying to connect to RIM. Anyone else have any ideas?

I've been watching this thread for over an hour or so and I decided to go straight to the source myself. I have a close family member of mine who is in upper management with alltel and he told me that your CS reps statements are correct. Alltel has an agreement with RIM that any blackberry activated on their network will carry a data plan. The reason you were able to not have a data plan with your Palm is that it's not a RIM device. Yes you will receive a big bill if you don't have a data plan and according to him it could get very expensive. He also stated that whoever activated that phone on their network could also be in some trouble for not doing so. He suggested that you either take the 44.99 plan plus whatever plan you have now. Or you could go with the smart choice plan, which is 89.99 and has unlimited data, text and nights starting @ 7:00 pm, and also 15 my circle numbers. Hopefully this will clear up any confusion you might have and you can make your decision. If it were me I would either inactivate the phone if you won't use the data features or just simply buy whichever plan will be cheaper on you, that's an awfully expensive PDA though. :eek: