Hi - anyone got good granular info on why to buy or not buy a Samsung Galaxy Note II (that will be on Verizon network) from Amazon or Best Buy or Radio Shack instead of from a Verizon store or Verizon website directly?
(I know Amazon will charge you $400 if you ditch the contract in the first 6 months and you can't change the *type* of contract ... but besides that?)
I'm wondering things like ease of taking it in and completeness of coverage (I'd like the type that lets you do at least one really dumb thing with your phone and still have it covered without jumping through hoops).
I'm looking at prices today of $149.99 via Amazon, $199 via Radio Shack, $299 via Verizon store or their website and you know how Best Buy is great at matching.
All those except in-store Verizon require the share-everything plan, which is $40 for the smartphone line access per month and $60 for the 2GB data. *However* in-store, two different stores' reps have told me that it's possible to activate on a $70/month plan that gives you something like 2GB and 350-450 minutes of talk (one is $40 and the other part is $30 or something in that ballpark give or take $5-10). I've been consistently within those parameters, so it'd same me some bucks and I could always switch higher. But I dunno if it's worth the difference between the $149 that Amazon's golden handcuffs would charge vs. the $299 Verizon would charge for the phone.
I'm in L.A. and decided I have to move to Verizon from AT&T because their download speed at one of their stores that I just tested was at like 43 mpbs download speed. Girl at the store claimed they did not have any kind of booster ... AT&T store down the road had a crappy signal.
Edited to add: Guy on Verizon chat window says he's never heard of the in-store plans that two store reps told me about, and also mentioned that third-party sellers have some $9.99 a month hidden fee baked in. (But I can't see where exactly that is as the pricing looks the same, as to the share-everything-plan parameters.)
(I know Amazon will charge you $400 if you ditch the contract in the first 6 months and you can't change the *type* of contract ... but besides that?)
I'm wondering things like ease of taking it in and completeness of coverage (I'd like the type that lets you do at least one really dumb thing with your phone and still have it covered without jumping through hoops).
I'm looking at prices today of $149.99 via Amazon, $199 via Radio Shack, $299 via Verizon store or their website and you know how Best Buy is great at matching.
All those except in-store Verizon require the share-everything plan, which is $40 for the smartphone line access per month and $60 for the 2GB data. *However* in-store, two different stores' reps have told me that it's possible to activate on a $70/month plan that gives you something like 2GB and 350-450 minutes of talk (one is $40 and the other part is $30 or something in that ballpark give or take $5-10). I've been consistently within those parameters, so it'd same me some bucks and I could always switch higher. But I dunno if it's worth the difference between the $149 that Amazon's golden handcuffs would charge vs. the $299 Verizon would charge for the phone.
I'm in L.A. and decided I have to move to Verizon from AT&T because their download speed at one of their stores that I just tested was at like 43 mpbs download speed. Girl at the store claimed they did not have any kind of booster ... AT&T store down the road had a crappy signal.
Edited to add: Guy on Verizon chat window says he's never heard of the in-store plans that two store reps told me about, and also mentioned that third-party sellers have some $9.99 a month hidden fee baked in. (But I can't see where exactly that is as the pricing looks the same, as to the share-everything-plan parameters.)
