Tuesday, March 15, 2016

DEAD DEAL: Potentially** GREAT deal on Samsung/T-Mobile phones/service!

So this has the potential to be a great deal. Or a huge waste of your time. But IF it works, it could be a great deal for you to use ... or to resell and make a potentially BIG profit. Read on for more details ...

UPDATE #2: It appears that the BOGO offer on the phones is gone, meaning that this deal is effectively dead.

UPDATE: HERE is a little sweetener for this deal.

Credit to this goes to Vinh over at Miles per Day who posted THIS.  (and Vinh credited SlickDeals)



** First off, I used those asterisks in the headline because this "deal" has a decent-sized upfront expense and commitment. And, as you'll read below, it has the potential to be a pain.

I'll let you go ahead and read all about this at Miles per Day, SlickDeals, and/or the TMobile website. Frankly, I don't have time to recap it all.

But I didn't want to post this until I tried it myself. I did, and I found it to be a frustrating experience. I have a good friend who also tried it and found it to be an even more frustrating experience. So you've been warned!

One KEY thing I'll add that I don't think was covered at Miles per Day (forgive me if I'm wrong!) is that you SHOULD be able to earn $200 per line (so $800 for 4 phones & 4 lines) if you sign up via TopCashBack shopping portal (my referral link). I would advise you to not EXPECT for this to work, but be VERY happy if it does.

In my experience, I signed up on Sunday evening. At first, I was denied (despite them running my credit and my credit being very good). I have no idea why I was denied. Then I tried again, and was denied again! I could have gone to the TMobile store (or called) to sort things out, but: a) going to cell phone stores is painful, and b) it probably would have invalidated my TopCashBack portal bonus.

So I signed up again last night (using a different credit card) and it worked!! Victory! Or so I thought. Be sure to save your order confirmation number, because I never got an order confirm email! So I did call them today, and after some arm-twisting, I got them to process the order with (supposedly) the same order number (to increase my chances of the TopCashBack bonus posting). In the end, the order number came out different - but I was told this is "normal" (and it was, again, supposedly tied to the same online order).

Now IF this all works, here's what I get:  a) 4 phones that are worth $780/each (and I could sell for nearly that amount if I don't want to keep them - obviously they'll be worth more if I don't open them!); b) a rebate (in the form of a MasterCard prepaid card) for the full value of the 2nd & 4th phones (which I can use to payoff those phones); c) 4 Oculus VR headsets (worth $100/each); and d) hopefully $800 from TopCashBack.  Not a bad haul for buying 2 full-price phones. And I'll have to keep the TMobile service (if I don't decide to stay with it) for at least a couple months probably (at which time I could turn off the service, pay for the 2 phones in-full, and walk away owning all 4 phones & VR headsets - to do with whatever I please). The couple months is to wait for the rebates to arrive on the 2 phones. The cheapest 4-person plan T-Mobile has is $100 month (the 2GB data plan).

Again, you've been warned that signing up for this can be a pain. You must be prepared that it might not work at all for you. And if you get far enough along in the process, they will run your credit report (and you still might not get the phones). But, if this deal works, whether you plan to keep the phones or not, it could be a GREAT deal.

It is unknown how long this deal will last. So if you're interested, you might not want to wait. I get nothing (as far as I know) for you doing this deal, unless you use my TopCashBack referral link (then I get a little something for you singing up - don't even know what it is off-hand).

23 comments:

  1. Dear Pdxdealsguy,
    so you added 4 line when you purchase phone from t-mobile.com.
    Would u mind giving few steps especially once you are on t-mobile site from topcashback portal.?
    Thanks

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  2. I'll try to keep this fairly simple, with a continued warning that there's nothing simple or straightforward about this.

    When you first go from TCB to TMo's website, you want to choose a Plan (under "Plans"). Add 4 lines, one at a time, choosing 2GB (or whatever amount you want) for each line. Once you've created a 4-line plan, then it will give you the option to choose your phones for the order. You will add each of the phones, one-at-a-time. Then you check-out, and possibly have to answer some security questions. If you're lucky, that will do the trick. If you get denied (or approved like I did eventually - but didn't get a confirmation email!), then you'll have to call T-Mobile. And I'd stress that you want to make sure they use your online order (not create a new one for you), to increase the chances (however remote) that the TopCashBack portal works. Hope that helps!

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  3. So you first pay for full price of 4 phone upfront right?? i read in Terms it has to be Equipment Installment Plan? so question you pay full price for 4 phone upfront or installment you pay for 4 phone each month??

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  4. I signed up to pay for all 4 phones as part of their no-interest installment plan ($30/month for each phone on my monthly bill). After I get the MasterCard rebate for the 2 "free" phones, I'll pay those off at a T-Mobile store with the MC rebate card. Then, if I decide to not stay with T-Mobile, I'll pay off the other 2 phones out-of-pocket (and own the phones outright - to presumably sell).

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  5. Hope it worked for you! I was supposed to get my phones today, but one of the colors is on back-order, so they aren't shipping any of them until they are all available.

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  6. deal is dead as per your update or still alive?

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  7. Pretty sure it's dead. At least I didn't see the BOGO offer yesterday when I checked. Sorry, but I'm not able to double-check at the moment.

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  8. were you able to get cash back from TCB and quoted deal without issue.

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  9. This "deal" ended up being a nightmare. Due to T-Mo's delays shipping to me, they caused me to miss the BOGO rebate by one day 3/18 (versus 3/17 deadline). It took me forever, but I battled them into giving me a big statement credit equal to just over one phone. To answer your question specifically, I put in a "missing cashback" claim w/ TCB a week or so ago and am waiting to see if it works. Not holding my breath. If I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn't have done this deal. But, hopefully, worst case I break-even. And if TCB comes through, it will be gravy.

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  10. Thanks for your info for future reference.

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  11. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  12. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  13. did TCB ever paid on cash back?

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  14. did TCB ever paid on cashback?

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  15. I had to put in a claim, but yes!

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  16. other question...the new phone you get has to be activated or you can resell as it is in original box

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  17. Not sure I understand your question. I did activate the phones for a few days, to be able to have TMobile unlock them. I then sold them as "New/Other" on eBay and disclosed that the boxes had been open to activate and unlock, but had otherwise never been used. It appears this is a fairly standard way to sell New/Unlocked versions of these phones on eBay (based upon my review of other eBay listings).

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  18. yes that is what my question was.

    I guess rebate will be also valid if i activate is that right?

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  19. thanks..never done reselling of new unlock phone so asking some basic question

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  20. @pdxdealsguy..
    do phone has to be activated on line for 2 billing cycle before they unlock for t-mobile...i sent them request and they rejeceted it saying at least 2 month before they unlock..is that correct?
    Thanks for all your help.

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  21. I think their rule is that technically the phone has to be activated for 2 billing cycles. But I assume that you, like me, have owned the phones for well over 2 months, but probably just activated them? I was told be a rep that the phone only had to be activated for a couple days, as long as I bought the phone from them more than 2 months ago. It took some pleading from me and talking to a manager, but I finally got them to agree to unlock them since I had owned them for 2+ months (and only activated them for a few days). But I think that's a YMMV.

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