What's up everybody? I know that there are some "mixed" emotions regarding the Photon, but I personally couldn't be happier and actually do love this phone just as much (maybe a little more) than my EVO 4G.
That said, I wanted to share a little experience I had with Best Buy that I think would be beneficial to a lot of you. After I upgraded to the Photon, the intention was to connect one of my secondary lines to my EVO 4G and get the "trade-in" value that was estimated from Best Buy at $38 (online). It wasn't enough to rush to do all of that, prior to getting the Photon (so I could use it on the purchase), but I know I had to jump on it before the value went down even more. Nontheless, this past weekend (after I had 1 week with the Photon and decided that it was definitely the right phone to upgrade to, for my needs), I went into Best Buy with all the original packaging of the LG Optimus S w/ the phone hard reset of all the information and ready to receive a Best Buy gift card. I brought the phone directly to the Geek Squad (as instructed by the BB customer service reps) and told them that I was just looking to get the "trade-in" value for the LG Optimus S. The Geek Squad guy asked me a bunch of different preliminary questions, which I was happy to provide the info on (one question of which was, "did you buy the phone here at Best Buy?").
Since I purchased the phone at Best Buy, the Geek Squad rep said that he'd look up the information for the original phone purchase and my original receipt, so that he could properly evaluate how much I'd get in return (more money given with Gift Card). I was fully expecting that they'd be okay with the $38 stated on the online "trade-in" value. After he went through my receipt and I stood there patiently waiting for him to go through all that he needed to on the computer, he printed out my original receipt and pointed some things out to me. One of the things he pointed out was that I had taken the phone back to take advantage of a promotion that was going on the day after I actually got the phone. After he explained that to me, he promptly said to me:
"Because you bought the phone during that promotion, you're actually going to get more back than you originally thought. You'll be getting $200 on a BB Gift Card. So it's 4 times what you had originally though."
After he told me that, I was somewhat in shock. I had gotten the phone for free on an upgrade, but because the Geek Squad guy said that it was eligible for the "Buy Back" program because of the promotion I had purchased it under. SO, rounding out the story, I had a $200 Gift Card, which I promptly took over to the Best Buy Mobile department and added the Buy Back program for the Photon AND the Flyer that I purchased (they had to re-do the purchase, just to have the Buy Back on the same receipt, but it was no problem).
Moral of the story - Best Buy "Buy Back" program might actually be worth the up front money that is spent. And for those of you that are coming from a phone that you think could end up having no value, I don't think it would hurt to bring it over to the Geek Squad to see if you could get money for it (especially if you have all the original equipment that came with the phone). If you want to see the "Buy Back" vs. "Trade-in" values, here are the links to check:
Buy Back Program
Online Trade In
That said, I wanted to share a little experience I had with Best Buy that I think would be beneficial to a lot of you. After I upgraded to the Photon, the intention was to connect one of my secondary lines to my EVO 4G and get the "trade-in" value that was estimated from Best Buy at $38 (online). It wasn't enough to rush to do all of that, prior to getting the Photon (so I could use it on the purchase), but I know I had to jump on it before the value went down even more. Nontheless, this past weekend (after I had 1 week with the Photon and decided that it was definitely the right phone to upgrade to, for my needs), I went into Best Buy with all the original packaging of the LG Optimus S w/ the phone hard reset of all the information and ready to receive a Best Buy gift card. I brought the phone directly to the Geek Squad (as instructed by the BB customer service reps) and told them that I was just looking to get the "trade-in" value for the LG Optimus S. The Geek Squad guy asked me a bunch of different preliminary questions, which I was happy to provide the info on (one question of which was, "did you buy the phone here at Best Buy?").
Since I purchased the phone at Best Buy, the Geek Squad rep said that he'd look up the information for the original phone purchase and my original receipt, so that he could properly evaluate how much I'd get in return (more money given with Gift Card). I was fully expecting that they'd be okay with the $38 stated on the online "trade-in" value. After he went through my receipt and I stood there patiently waiting for him to go through all that he needed to on the computer, he printed out my original receipt and pointed some things out to me. One of the things he pointed out was that I had taken the phone back to take advantage of a promotion that was going on the day after I actually got the phone. After he explained that to me, he promptly said to me:
"Because you bought the phone during that promotion, you're actually going to get more back than you originally thought. You'll be getting $200 on a BB Gift Card. So it's 4 times what you had originally though."
After he told me that, I was somewhat in shock. I had gotten the phone for free on an upgrade, but because the Geek Squad guy said that it was eligible for the "Buy Back" program because of the promotion I had purchased it under. SO, rounding out the story, I had a $200 Gift Card, which I promptly took over to the Best Buy Mobile department and added the Buy Back program for the Photon AND the Flyer that I purchased (they had to re-do the purchase, just to have the Buy Back on the same receipt, but it was no problem).
Moral of the story - Best Buy "Buy Back" program might actually be worth the up front money that is spent. And for those of you that are coming from a phone that you think could end up having no value, I don't think it would hurt to bring it over to the Geek Squad to see if you could get money for it (especially if you have all the original equipment that came with the phone). If you want to see the "Buy Back" vs. "Trade-in" values, here are the links to check:
Buy Back Program
Online Trade In
