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Buying an unlocked Moment for Sprint.

Long story short, I have a friend who is about 4 months into a 2 year term with her Samsung Reclaim and she hates it, and after trying out my Hero a bit, she really wants to take the Android plunge. I looked around on ebay a bit and there are a few unlocked Moments in the low $200 range. So my question is, were she to buy one, could she just walk into her local Sprint store and swap phones? I tried searching these forums for this topic, and while one thread said Sprint didn't support unlocked phones, that thread was regarding a Verizon phone on Sprint. This is trying to hook up a Sprint-branded phone on an existing Sprint account. Also, in case it matters, she already has the Everything Data plan.

Also, if anyone has a suggestion to any other course of action that would allow someone unhappy with their phone before the contract is up to swap for a different phone without paying the full unsubsidized cost of a new phone, I'm all ears... or eyes... w/e.
 
Yes, she can. Or she can go to www.sprint.com/activate and do it herself online (going from a Reclaim to a Moment should allow you to do it online). If not, just call or chat in and an agent can do it for you. If you go to a store, be sure to get it *IN WRITING* with the store rep's full name (and manager's name, too, if it's a corporate Sprint owned store) that they will not charge you an activation fee to swap the phone. And that they don't set up the swap in the system as an "order" and take away your upgrade discount and reset your contract. Yes, I've seen it happen.

Now, I have a question for you ...... What exactly is an "unlocked" Moment? I know for GSM phones, the unlocked means you can use it on any network, but that doesn't work for CDMA phones, since I know (at least for Sprint), if the ESN number on the phone isn't in the system, it can't be activated.
 
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OK, that use of the word makes more sense. See what happens when you've been with T-Mo and GSM phones for 8 years .... :)

But, if you can, get the ESN number from the seller, and contact Sprint to have them check it for you *BEFORE* you buy it (if the seller gives you the runaround on trying to give it to you, that would be a red flag that they know something is wrong with it). I can't tell you how many people I have dealt with that bought a phone off of eBay because the seller "said" it was clear, only to find it still on the account, or marked as lost / stolen. Just tell the agent you want to check an ESN to make sure it's not currently active or lost / stolen, and they can search for you. Just takes a minute to find out, and saves the headache of trying to return it later.
 
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Long story short, I have a friend who is about 4 months into a 2 year term with her Samsung Reclaim and she hates it, and after trying out my Hero a bit, she really wants to take the Android plunge. I looked around on ebay a bit and there are a few unlocked Moments in the low $200 range. So my question is, were she to buy one, could she just walk into her local Sprint store and swap phones? I tried searching these forums for this topic, and while one thread said Sprint didn't support unlocked phones, that thread was regarding a Verizon phone on Sprint. This is trying to hook up a Sprint-branded phone on an existing Sprint account. Also, in case it matters, she already has the Everything Data plan.

Also, if anyone has a suggestion to any other course of action that would allow someone unhappy with their phone before the contract is up to swap for a different phone without paying the full unsubsidized cost of a new phone, I'm all ears... or eyes... w/e.

There is no such thing as an "unlocked" moment sprint uses serial numbers just make sure the ESN is clear
 
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Yes, she can. Or she can go to www.sprint.com/activate and do it herself online (going from a Reclaim to a Moment should allow you to do it online). If not, just call or chat in and an agent can do it for you. If you go to a store, be sure to get it *IN WRITING* with the store rep's full name (and manager's name, too, if it's a corporate Sprint owned store) that they will not charge you an activation fee to swap the phone. And that they don't set up the swap in the system as an "order" and take away your upgrade discount and reset your contract. Yes, I've seen it happen.

Now, I have a question for you ...... What exactly is an "unlocked" Moment? I know for GSM phones, the unlocked means you can use it on any network, but that doesn't work for CDMA phones, since I know (at least for Sprint), if the ESN number on the phone isn't in the system, it can't be activated.

in the store all we do is a basic ESN swap there is no "order to be put in the system"
 
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Thank you for your help. I've never really dealt with purchasing a cell phone from anyone other than Sprint so I'm not sure if my usage of "unlocked" is incorrect. I just meant a phone that currently isn't activated and not under contract. There are a couple of used ones on ebay, and several more that have never been activated.

I would still ask for the ESN from the seller and have it checked...
 
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You mean buying it at full retail price? errpppp by that i mean without extending the contract?

how much did you get it for?

it's 429.99 on amazon Amazon.com: Samsung Moment M900, I was also able to get some amazon gift cards, so amazon was the right choice for me. Any cheaper, and I'd be suspicious of a seller. On Sprint.com it's currently 479.99 unactivated, other places it's that or higher. The price difference is even higher on other phones like the palm pre.
 
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it's 429.99 on amazon Amazon.com: Samsung Moment M900, I was also able to get some amazon gift cards, so amazon was the right choice for me. Any cheaper, and I'd be suspicious of a seller. On Sprint.com it's currently 479.99 unactivated, other places it's that or higher. The price difference is even higher on other phones like the palm pre.

yeah they get pretty expensive if you buy it full retail price.

you can always have the ESN checked before purchasing from a local seller...
 
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