Amazon, Number Porting and Rebates: SprintPCS=Yes, T-Mobile=Yes,Verizon=Yes, Ciingular=No

Isaiah Beard wrote:
> John Navas wrote:
>
>> Simply that Amazon hasn't worked out a deal with Cingular to allow number
>> porting as part of its reselling of new Cingular service;
>
> Thank you John, for rehashing to OP's post and the whole point of this
> thread. Once again, you have brought nothing to the table.

On Usenet, I think that many of us hold out the hope that posting
incontrovertible evidence will encourage people to refrain from posting
incorrect or content free responses. In many cases it does have that
effect, but not always.

>> i.e., Amazon is
>> covering its ass. That doesn't necessarily mean you can't port a
>> number after
>> an account is established without penalty.
>
> On the contrary: the penalty is that you lose the advertised rebate.

That's the bottom line. Cingular is not charging an unreasonable fee for
number porting. It's just the way that they've set up the kickbacks to
Amazon which eliminate Amazon's kickback if the number is ported. No one
is forcing anyone to purchase at Amazon. However, I think that Amazon
should be more upfront about this issue on their pages for Cingular phones.

---

› See More: Amazon, Number Porting and Rebates: SprintPCS=Yes, T-Mobile=Yes,Verizon=Yes, Ciingular=No

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Tue, 23 May 2006 08:36:26
-0700, SMS <[email protected]> wrote:

>Isaiah Beard wrote:
>> John Navas wrote:
>>
>>> Simply that Amazon hasn't worked out a deal with Cingular to allow number
>>> porting as part of its reselling of new Cingular service;
>>
>> Thank you John, for rehashing to OP's post and the whole point of this
>> thread. Once again, you have brought nothing to the table.
>
>On Usenet, I think that many of us hold out the hope that posting
>incontrovertible evidence will encourage people to refrain from posting
>incorrect or content free responses. In many cases it does have that
>effect, but not always.

There's no "incontrovertible evidence" (as yet at least). The problem with
both the Internet and Usenet is that there's so much misinformation, your
posts being notable cases in point.

>>> i.e., Amazon is
>>> covering its ass. That doesn't necessarily mean you can't port a
>>> number after
>>> an account is established without penalty.
>>
>> On the contrary: the penalty is that you lose the advertised rebate.
>
>That's the bottom line. Cingular is not charging an unreasonable fee for
>number porting. It's just the way that they've set up the kickbacks to
>Amazon which eliminate Amazon's kickback if the number is ported. ...

Which is of course effectively the same thing; i.e., it's a distinction that
I don't think would be persuasive to either a court or the FCC.

The only way to know for sure would be to put it to the test.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> The problem with what Amazon is doing is that they're first assigning a
> new phone number, then you have to call to port your existing number
> over to phone that already has a number. Normally, when you port a
> number for a new account, there isn't a non-ported number assigned first.

Amazon did the same to me (assigned a non-ported number) when I
recently ported from Sprint to T-Mobile. Something in their
procedure sucks. I'm still waiting for my $150 Amazon rebate...

--
John Richards

John Richards wrote:
> "SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> The problem with what Amazon is doing is that they're first assigning
>> a new phone number, then you have to call to port your existing number
>> over to phone that already has a number. Normally, when you port a
>> number for a new account, there isn't a non-ported number assigned first.
>
> Amazon did the same to me (assigned a non-ported number) when I
> recently ported from Sprint to T-Mobile. Something in their
> procedure sucks.

I think that it'd be pretty difficult for Amazon to come up with a
procedure that didn't require them to create a whole department to deal
with wireless activations.

It doesn't really hurt to have the new number until the old number is
ported, just means that you're paying for two services for a few days or so.

SMS wrote:
> John Richards wrote:
>> "SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> The problem with what Amazon is doing is that they're
>>> first assigning
>>> a new phone number, then you have to call to port your
>>> existing number over to phone that already has a
>>> number. Normally, when you port a number for a new
>>> account, there isn't a non-ported number assigned
>>> first.
>>
>> Amazon did the same to me (assigned a non-ported number)
>> when I recently ported from Sprint to T-Mobile.
>> Something in their procedure sucks.
>
> I think that it'd be pretty difficult for Amazon to come
> up with a procedure that didn't require them to create a
> whole department to deal with wireless activations.
>
> It doesn't really hurt to have the new number until the
> old number is ported, just means that you're paying for
> two services for a few days or so.

180 days?

-Quick

Quick wrote:

>> It doesn't really hurt to have the new number until the
>> old number is ported, just means that you're paying for
>> two services for a few days or so.
>
> 180 days?

Only on Cingular. On the other carriers, you can port your number and
still get the Amazon rebate.

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>>
>>On Usenet, I think that many of us hold out the hope that posting
>>incontrovertible evidence will encourage people to refrain from posting
>>incorrect or content free responses. In many cases it does have that
>>effect, but not always.
>
> There's no "incontrovertible evidence" (as yet at least). The problem
> with
> both the Internet and Usenet is that there's so much misinformation, your
> posts being notable cases in point.
>

Looking in the mirror again, Novice?

Scott wrote:
> "John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>> On Usenet, I think that many of us hold out the hope that posting
>>> incontrovertible evidence will encourage people to refrain from posting
>>> incorrect or content free responses. In many cases it does have that
>>> effect, but not always.
>> There's no "incontrovertible evidence" (as yet at least). The problem
>> with
>> both the Internet and Usenet is that there's so much misinformation, your
>> posts being notable cases in point.
>>
>
> Looking in the mirror again, Novice?

Well I think that when both Amazon and Cingular agree that if you buy on
Amazon that you lose the Amazon rebate if you port your number, that
it's probably true. There is no upside for either of those entities to
lie about this. OTOH, Navas delights in posting misinformation, though I
don't think any of us have figured out why he does it. Shilling for
Cingular with such obvious lies certainly won't help them gain any
customers.

Just now on the Tonight Show, Jay Leno was asking about the audience voting
for the American Idol.
Then he asked how many people didn't vote because they could not get a
signal on Cingular.

IMHO IIRC wrote:
> Just now on the Tonight Show, Jay Leno was asking about the audience voting
> for the American Idol.
> Then he asked how many people didn't vote because they could not get a
> signal on Cingular.

He slammed Cingular about two weeks ago, regarding the telephone
records--something about how Cingular customers were safe because they
couldn't complete a call so there would be no record.

Clearly he shough have Navas on as a guest to explain how anyone that
has signal problems simply has a defective handset.

Yes, they will add the number change charge -- and I found this out the hard
way.

Walt

"Fred" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Wkicg.75179$iF3.48575@dukeread01...
>I assume this would be subject to Cingular's usual $36 charge for changing
>your phone number?
>
> Fred
>
> "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> "Cingular and Amazon.com have not yet established a method for customers
>>> to transfer their current number to a new Cingular account.
>>> Unfortunately, in order to port your previous number, Cingular will
>>> cancel the account that Amazon.com activated and will activate a new
>>> account with the ported number.
>>
>> This is not true.
>>
>> Should one get a Cingular account via ANY method, not just Amazon, it's
>> a simple matter of getting the account activated and then, separately,
>> asking Cingular to change the phone number to your existing number and
>> port the number over.
>>
>> Cingular will be happy to do this.
>>
>> I'm not sure where Amazon is coming from in all this, but I know for a
>> fact that it's no big deal for Cingular to switch your number on an
>> existing account.
>>
>
>
>

Walt Kienzle wrote:
> Yes, they will add the number change charge -- and I found this out the hard
> way.

If it's only $36 that's not a big deal. When I called Cingular and asked
about the whole Amazon issue, he told me that the last time he did
something like that (a number change to a number from an account on
another carrier, that wasn't porting a number to a new Cingular account)
it cost $80!

The problem is that a number change for an existing Cingular account,
from an account on another carrier, is different than simply porting a
number when you are starting new service.

The other issue is that no one has any idea how Amazon enforces the
rebate provisions. Do they wait 180 days to process the big rebate, and
only process it if the phone number is the same as the one they issued?

In alt.cellular.cingular Elmo P. Shagnasty <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Quick" <[email protected]> wrote:

> > You said "...but I know for a fact that it's
> > no big deal for Cingular to switch your number..."

> Because they did it for me. I don't know if they normally charge $36
> for it, because I have a corporate relationship that's way different
> than the standard consumer relationship.

I have had numbers changed and ported with Cingular, or at least with their
predecessor companies. In one case, I bought a phone at Fry's, where they
"couldn't" reuse my old number, went home, called (I think Cellular One at
that time) and changed the new phone to my old number.

I've done this several times, and so I thought it would again be no big deal
to do the same thing a couple of weeks ago with Amazon, and advised my
friend of that.

As the original poster said, it doesn't work that way.

Getting the phone was no big deal. "I want to keep my old number."
"Sorry, we have to activate a new number." "Okay, I'll change later."
Phone arrives, works fine, call Cingular to cancel the old phone, and move
the number. "Sure, no problem, but you'll lose your Amazon rebate."
"How can I keep the rebate?" "Keep the new number until you get the
rebate, sometime in the next 90 days, and then call back."

So, the answer would be to keep both lines until the rebate came in, or
change numbers. Why does it work this way? Don't know. Why do they give
you $150? Don't know.

If you don't like the Amazon deal, try somewhere else.
My friend took the new number and the new phone.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

[email protected] wrote:

> So, the answer would be to keep both lines until the rebate came in, or
> change numbers. Why does it work this way? Don't know.

It works that way because Cingular wants to discourage people from
buying on Amazon.

<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Getting the phone was no big deal. "I want to keep my old number."
> "Sorry, we have to activate a new number." "Okay, I'll change later."
> Phone arrives, works fine, call Cingular to cancel the old phone, and move
> the number. "Sure, no problem, but you'll lose your Amazon rebate."
> "How can I keep the rebate?" "Keep the new number until you get the
> rebate, sometime in the next 90 days, and then call back."

Does it really take up to 90 days to get the Amazon rebate?
So far I've been waiting 62 days for my $150, and was wondering
if I should start raising a ruckus...

--
John Richards