• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Buy a Charge at Costco if you're going to buy one

Well I already returned my Charge just to be safe but good to know you can indeed get a different subsidized phone within the 90 days. I'm waiting on a phone like maybe the Bionic/Targa/whatever it is now or the Samsung Function if it has LTE.

Oh, by the way, they do carry the TB now. The guy asked me if I was sure I didn't want to exchange for it when I returned the Charge. I said to just cancel the contract so I can think on it.

Yeah, I also asked about the Thunderbolt and Revolution. I am not exactly sure Costco's Wireless business model but you can't find either phone on their website. However, they had a Revolution dummy unit in store. When I asked about the Revolution and Thunderbolt they said I could order it but it would take a few days to come in.
 
Upvote 0
Not sure if anyone else saw this, but I just got my Costco coupon pack in the mail today. Says up to $120 off a Droid Charge. As is par for the course with Costco, their advertisements/coupons never list the price on the item, even if it's just an advertised automatic discount (w/o coupon). I would presume they'll be offering the Charge for $179, probably for new contracts.

Edit: Forgot to add that this is listed as valid June 9 through July 3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: YankeeDudeL
Upvote 0
Well to start, I work at a Costco cell phone kiosk for a company called wireless advocates. We now carry all mainstream smartphones for verizon, att, and t-mobile. The charge will be going on sale in June at Costco for a price around $150 if your looking for one. We now include a car charger, case and screen protectors. We carry every phone you guys have mentioned and said we don't have. Some phones will be ordered to the house, these phones are the one that are not nearly as popular such as the Revolution, Thunderbolt, Droid 2 in white. If those phones get more business then Costco brings them to the store. All our VERIZON phones get a 14 day return in which we reverse the contract. After 90 days we do a return/exchange policy. If you decide to return after 90 days we will give you your money back but will NOT reverse the contract. At that point you can choose to cancel yourself or use an old phone. The Thunderbolt and Revolution sell for $229 right now but I can guarantee that they drop steeply after the charge sale ends. If you read the back of the coupon it will tell you how much an upgrade will cost. It comes off a $299 price. Also we do a 90 price match, although this is only used as a last resort to make a sale if it offered at all costco's but not advertised. Do not ask the salesmen about this as a lot of us are told not to tell you but Costco will offer it. You have to remember we work for a seperate company called Wireless Advocates so we cannot tell you that without Costco's permission. For those of you wondering if you stop by the kiosk we usually have release dates that we can give away before the Verizon store will if your looking for new models. Note we are commission based so please see the representative you talked to for the purchase, they will appreciate it.
 
Upvote 0
Well to start, I work at a Costco cell phone kiosk for a company called wireless advocates. We now carry all mainstream smartphones for verizon, att, and t-mobile. The charge will be going on sale in June at Costco for a price around $150 if your looking for one. We now include a car charger, case and screen protectors. We carry every phone you guys have mentioned and said we don't have. Some phones will be ordered to the house, these phones are the one that are not nearly as popular such as the Revolution, Thunderbolt, Droid 2 in white. If those phones get more business then Costco brings them to the store. All our VERIZON phones get a 14 day return in which we reverse the contract. After 90 days we do a return/exchange policy. If you decide to return after 90 days we will give you your money back but will NOT reverse the contract. At that point you can choose to cancel yourself or use an old phone. The Thunderbolt and Revolution sell for $229 right now but I can guarantee that they drop steeply after the charge sale ends. If you read the back of the coupon it will tell you how much an upgrade will cost. It comes off a $299 price. Also we do a 90 price match, although this is only used as a last resort to make a sale if it offered at all costco's but not advertised. Do not ask the salesmen about this as a lot of us are told not to tell you but Costco will offer it. You have to remember we work for a seperate company called Wireless Advocates so we cannot tell you that without Costco's permission. For those of you wondering if you stop by the kiosk we usually have release dates that we can give away before the Verizon store will if your looking for new models. Note we are commission based so please see the representative you talked to for the purchase, they will appreciate it.

So what kind of information can you provide us on new model releases? :)
 
Upvote 0
Well to start, I work at a Costco cell phone kiosk for a company called wireless advocates. We now carry all mainstream smartphones for verizon, att, and t-mobile. The charge will be going on sale in June at Costco for a price around $150 if your looking for one. We now include a car charger, case and screen protectors. We carry every phone you guys have mentioned and said we don't have. Some phones will be ordered to the house, these phones are the one that are not nearly as popular such as the Revolution, Thunderbolt, Droid 2 in white. If those phones get more business then Costco brings them to the store. All our VERIZON phones get a 14 day return in which we reverse the contract. After 90 days we do a return/exchange policy. If you decide to return after 90 days we will give you your money back but will NOT reverse the contract. At that point you can choose to cancel yourself or use an old phone. The Thunderbolt and Revolution sell for $229 right now but I can guarantee that they drop steeply after the charge sale ends. If you read the back of the coupon it will tell you how much an upgrade will cost. It comes off a $299 price. Also we do a 90 price match, although this is only used as a last resort to make a sale if it offered at all costco's but not advertised. Do not ask the salesmen about this as a lot of us are told not to tell you but Costco will offer it. You have to remember we work for a seperate company called Wireless Advocates so we cannot tell you that without Costco's permission. For those of you wondering if you stop by the kiosk we usually have release dates that we can give away before the Verizon store will if your looking for new models. Note we are commission based so please see the representative you talked to for the purchase, they will appreciate it.
what about if I buy the charge, and then 45 days later a better device comes out on Verizon, can I bring back the charge and upgrade to the better device for the (subsidized) price difference, or will it cost me full retail for the newer phone after the 14 day period, but within the 90 day??
 
Upvote 0
what about if I buy the charge, and then 45 days later a better device comes out on Verizon, can I bring back the charge and upgrade to the better device for the (subsidized) price difference, or will it cost me full retail for the newer phone after the 14 day period, but within the 90 day??

+1, would love to know this answer.
 
Upvote 0
Can Costco do early upgrades? Like if the website says I'm eligible on July 6th (20 months after I bought my Droid1), then can I buy it at Costco?

haha, I am eligible on the same day. Costco told me not until that day. but call Verizon when it gets close, they have the ability to change the date in the system 7 days prior to that date.
 
  • Like
Reactions: oresteez
Upvote 0
Not sure if anyone else saw this, but I just got my Costco coupon pack in the mail today. Says up to $120 off a Droid Charge. As is par for the course with Costco, their advertisements/coupons never list the price on the item, even if it's just an advertised automatic discount (w/o coupon). I would presume they'll be offering the Charge for $179, probably for new contracts.

Edit: Forgot to add that this is listed as valid June 9 through July 3.

I see the charge on the cover of my coupon bookelt, but where does it say $120, I don't see aseperate coupon for theCharge, am I missing it?
 
Upvote 0
I see the charge on the cover of my coupon bookelt, but where does it say $120, I don't see aseperate coupon for theCharge, am I missing it?

OK I'm an idiot I looked over booklet 4 times and never saw it gf looks at booklet and goes here it is... must be my aging eyes. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow, then go back after 9th to get the $120 credited.
 
Upvote 0
So I did it, I got the DC today at Costco. They have the X2 for $119! makes it tempting since even with 350 ETF after 3 months the etf is 320 making anything after 3 months cheaper than buying it off contract. The kiosk folks did not know about the coupon, but said just bring the coupon in next week to get the $120 difference back, depending on sale price next week. Sonfar the DC is sweet, battery was about half and I used it moderate on and off and got 6.5 hour. Will fully test tomorrow. Did have a few issues
when I left 4G to a 3G area where phone had trouble connecting. New to smartphones so still a lot to learn.
 
Upvote 0
To answer your question, yes. Anytime within the 90 days we can exchange to any.model of your choice, you will only pay the differance. This is awesome because it allows you to find the right device and try some out, just note coatco will ussually stop you after 4-5 exchanges. Hope this is helpful to you guys. Any.more questions let me know, we wont know of any new verizon devices until july due to so many releases in the past 30 days.

what about if I buy the charge, and then 45 days later a better device comes out on Verizon, can I bring back the charge and upgrade to the better device for the (subsidized) price difference, or will it cost me full retail for the newer phone after the 14 day period, but within the 90 day??
 
Upvote 0
To answer your question, yes. Anytime within the 90 days we can exchange to any.model of your choice, you will only pay the differance. This is awesome because it allows you to find the right device and try some out, just note coatco will ussually stop you after 4-5 exchanges. Hope this is helpful to you guys. Any.more questions let me know, we wont know of any new verizon devices until july due to so many releases in the past 30 days.


Sweet, thanks for the info. Any rhyme or reason to what phones Costco carries and when? For example, i didnt see the Revolution or Thunderbolt on the Costco website until this past weekend. Can I be pretty sure that when the next big phone comes out they will carry it? That is my only hesitation with Costco is will they have all the phones and have them immediately.
 
Upvote 0
Costco now carries Thunderbolt, Revolution, Xperia Play when I checked my local store on Friday. Sometimes they don't have new phones when it's released, but it eventually makes into Costco I think.

Regarding their 90 days exchange policy, you will pay only the difference in subsidized pricing for new phone. But the store guys said that you can exchange the phone only once, not multiple times.
 
Upvote 0
My understanding is that after 14 days if you keep the phone you lose the upgrade?

I believe that is wrong, please see a few post above.

To answer your question, yes. Anytime within the 90 days we can exchange to any.model of your choice, you will only pay the differance. This is awesome because it allows you to find the right device and try some out, just note coatco will ussually stop you after 4-5 exchanges. Hope this is helpful to you guys. Any.more questions let me know, we wont know of any new verizon devices until july due to so many releases in the past 30 days.
 
Upvote 0
Costco now carries Thunderbolt, Revolution, Xperia Play when I checked my local store on Friday. Sometimes they don't have new phones when it's released, but it eventually makes into Costco I think.

Regarding their 90 days exchange policy, you will pay only the difference in subsidized pricing for new phone. But the store guys said that you can exchange the phone only once, not multiple times.

My costco had the X2 in stock before it was in the Verizon store, which was interesting (but it was available on the VZW web site online).
 
Upvote 0
OK I'm an idiot I looked over booklet 4 times and never saw it gf looks at booklet and goes here it is... must be my aging eyes. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow, then go back after 9th to get the $120 credited.

just got my costco book today. I too don't see the coupon for the charge. I picked up the phone on sat, where is the coupon. I am going to be very dissappointed if there is none! Can anyone tell me where the coupon is?
 
Upvote 0
just got my costco book today. I too don't see the coupon for the charge. I picked up the phone on sat, where is the coupon. I am going to be very dissappointed if there is none! Can anyone tell me where the coupon is?

4th page bottom right corner, it is easy to miss the coupon says soemthing like save up to $320 as it is for several phones.
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones