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

As many people know, Amazon.com usually offers the lowest prices on new
handsets when you are activating on a new carrier, because they have
very large rebates. However if you want to port your old number to your
new carrier AND get the Amazon rebate, you can only do it on SprintPCS,
T-Mobile, and Verizon. On Cingular, you can get the Amazon rebate, but
you can't port your number, or you can port your number and not get the
rebate.

See:
"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/508597/103-9775802-2636641"

"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 process makes you ineligible for
the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to offer a porting option in the coming
months, so please check back."

I just noticed this today, as I'm helping a relative in San Francisco
that's switching from Cingular to Verizon next week, and I went
searching for information on number portability and Amazon. Fortunately,
she's going from Cingular to Verizon, and not the other way around.

I wanted to alert people to be aware of this issue with Amazon and
Cingular. The difference in cost between buying at Verizon versus
Amazon, for the phone she is getting, is $150 ($-100 at Amazon, $+50 at
Verizon).

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in
news:elmop-767B56.06283622052006@nntp1.usenetserver.com:

> In article <4471747b$0$96939$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> 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.
>
>


Isn't it great when one can get clear,concise info about his/her cell
providers.

--

I assume this would be subject to Cingular's usual $36 charge for changing
your phone number?

Fred

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in message
news:elmop-767B56.06283622052006@nntp1.usenetserver.com...
> In article <4471747b$0$96939$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> 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.
>

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

> 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.

They don't get their kickback, and don't give you your rebate, if
Cingular starts a new account after they already opened one.

What you could do is to keep the account at the old carrier active until
you fulfill the Amazon rebate requirement (180 days of service), and
then port the phone number. So you'd be paying for two lines of service
for six months, plus the number porting, which of course would be far
more than the rebate is worth.

I expect that Cingular is doing this because they want to drive business
to their own stores and online sales, since it's much more profitable to
not have to pay the sign-up bonuses to a retailer. They've probably
decided that the number of people that are porting their number AND
buying on Amazon is sufficiently small that they aren't losing many new
subscribers with their policy.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <Wkicg.75179$iF3.48575@dukeread01>, "Fred"
> <none@abc.com> wrote:
>
>> I assume this would be subject to Cingular's usual $36
>> charge for changing your phone number?
>
> Don't know.

This is good... Don't know? How do you "know" your
original claim? You said "...but I know for a fact that it's
no big deal for Cingular to switch your number..."

-Quick

> 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.

Quick wrote:
> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>> In article <Wkicg.75179$iF3.48575@dukeread01>, "Fred"
>> <none@abc.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I assume this would be subject to Cingular's usual $36
>>> charge for changing your phone number?
>> Don't know.
>
> This is good... Don't know? How do you "know" your
> original claim? You said "...but I know for a fact that it's
> no big deal for Cingular to switch your number..."

Of course Amazon wouldn't put that notice up on their site if it weren't
true. It's not like they don't understand how carriers deal with number
porting.

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.

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <44723acc$0$96952$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
> Exactly. Which is no big deal. Happens all the time.

It would seem to be a trivial thing to do, and in fact Amazon has no
problem with this procedure on SprintPCS, T-Mobile, or Verizon. So why
are they so insistent that if you try the same procedure with Cingular,
it won't work?

Well I called Cingular sales a minute ago, and the guy was instantly
familiar with the issue with Amazon. He said that it would be possible
to transfer a number later, but the last time he did that for someone it
cost the customer $80. I asked about the $36 porting fee, and he said
that they don't even charge that anymore, a port is done at no cost when
new service is established. He said that he was glad that I called,
because many people have been caught in this issue with Amazon, and that
most people didn't read the fine print.

The Amazon information is accurate, except that they leave out that it
would be possible to transfer a number later at a relatively high cost.

But you can't activate Cingular via Amazon and then simply port your
number later, either for free, or for a reasonable charge.

I think the bottom line is that with Cingular, a port is free when you
activate new service, but that porting is different than transferring a
number on service that already exists. If you ask Cingular to do a port
to a phone you buy on Amazon, they simply open a new account for you,
and Amazon loses the Cingular kickback, and you lose the rebate.

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

In <44726000$0$96942$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net> on Mon, 22 May 2006 18:06:22
-0700, SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:

>Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>> In article <44723acc$0$96952$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
>> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> 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.
>>
>> Exactly. Which is no big deal. Happens all the time.
>
>It would seem to be a trivial thing to do, and in fact Amazon has no
>problem with this procedure on SprintPCS, T-Mobile, or Verizon. So why
>are they so insistent that if you try the same procedure with Cingular,
>it won't work?
>
>Well I called Cingular sales a minute ago, and the guy was instantly
>familiar with the issue with Amazon. He said that it would be possible
>to transfer a number later, but the last time he did that for someone it
>cost the customer $80. I asked about the $36 porting fee, and he said
>that they don't even charge that anymore, a port is done at no cost when
>new service is established. He said that he was glad that I called,
>because many people have been caught in this issue with Amazon, and that
>most people didn't read the fine print.
>
>The Amazon information is accurate, except that they leave out that it
>would be possible to transfer a number later at a relatively high cost.
>
>But you can't activate Cingular via Amazon and then simply port your
>number later, either for free, or for a reasonable charge.
>
>I think the bottom line is ...

The bottom line is that you have no idea what you're ranting about (as usual)
-- wireless number portability is mandated by law and monitored by the FCC.
Carriers are only allowed to charge a reasonable fee to cover cost of porting.

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

In news:fJucg.147143$eR6.41794@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> typed:
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <44726000$0$96942$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net> on Mon, 22 May 2006 18:06:22
> -0700, SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>
>> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>>> In article <44723acc$0$96952$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
>>> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> 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.
>>>
>>> Exactly. Which is no big deal. Happens all the time.
>>
>> It would seem to be a trivial thing to do, and in fact Amazon has no
>> problem with this procedure on SprintPCS, T-Mobile, or Verizon. So why
>> are they so insistent that if you try the same procedure with Cingular,
>> it won't work?
>>
>> Well I called Cingular sales a minute ago, and the guy was instantly
>> familiar with the issue with Amazon. He said that it would be possible
>> to transfer a number later, but the last time he did that for someone it
>> cost the customer $80. I asked about the $36 porting fee, and he said
>> that they don't even charge that anymore, a port is done at no cost when
>> new service is established. He said that he was glad that I called,
>> because many people have been caught in this issue with Amazon, and that
>> most people didn't read the fine print.
>>
>> The Amazon information is accurate, except that they leave out that it
>> would be possible to transfer a number later at a relatively high cost.
>>
>> But you can't activate Cingular via Amazon and then simply port your
>> number later, either for free, or for a reasonable charge.
>>
>> I think the bottom line is ...
>
> The bottom line is that you have no idea what you're ranting about (as
> usual) -- wireless number portability is mandated by law and monitored by
> the FCC. Carriers are only allowed to charge a reasonable fee to cover
> cost of porting.


John please explain the following:

From Amazon website

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...79872#Cingular

Cingular
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 process makes you ineligible for the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to
offer a porting option in the coming months, so please check back.

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

In <62vcg.23613$ZW3.14340@dukeread04> on Mon, 22 May 2006 22:09:57 -0500,
"IMHO IIRC" <NOSPAM@NOSPAM.NOSPAM> wrote:

>In news:fJucg.147143$eR6.41794@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
>John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> typed:

>John please explain the following:
>
>From Amazon website
>
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...79872#Cingular
>
>Cingular
>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 process makes you ineligible for the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to
>offer a porting option in the coming months, so please check back.

Simply that Amazon hasn't worked out a deal with Cingular to allow number
porting as part of its reselling of new Cingular service; 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. If Cingular changed an account
only because of number portability in a way that resulted in a significant
financial penalty (in excess of permitted number portability fees), then you
would presumably have recourse under Federal law and FCC rules. Read the law,
and FCC rules.

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

In news:tdvcg.147280$eR6.81239@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> typed:
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <62vcg.23613$ZW3.14340@dukeread04> on Mon, 22 May 2006 22:09:57 -0500,
> "IMHO IIRC" <NOSPAM@NOSPAM.NOSPAM> wrote:
>
>> In news:fJucg.147143$eR6.41794@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
>> John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> typed:
>
>> John please explain the following:
>>
>> From Amazon website
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...79872#Cingular
>>
>> Cingular
>> 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 process makes you ineligible for
>> the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to offer a porting option in the coming
>> months, so please check back.
>
> Simply that Amazon hasn't worked out a deal with Cingular to allow number
> porting as part of its reselling of new Cingular service; 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. If Cingular changed an
> account only because of number portability in a way that resulted in a
> significant financial penalty (in excess of permitted number portability
> fees), then you would presumably have recourse under Federal law and FCC
> rules. Read the law, and FCC rules.


Cingular changes the account for number portability and that results in your
being ineligible for the Amazon.com rebate.
Cingular does not charge you a large fee, but Amazon.com does not give you
the rebate.

If you want the rebate from Amazon.com you can not port your number to
Cingular.
OR you keep your current service active till you fulfill Amazon.com service
requirement.

That is where the added cost comes from.

IMHO IIRC wrote:

> John please explain the following:
>
> From Amazon website
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...79872#Cingular
>
> Cingular
> 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 process makes you ineligible for the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to
> offer a porting option in the coming months, so please check back.

The fact is that both Amazon _AND_ Cingular say that you cannot purchase
Cingular service through Amazon and subsequently port your number _IF_
you want to get the big Amazon rebate.

You can not port and keep the rebate, or you can port and forfeit the
rebate. No one has violated any FCC directive. I guess the fact that the
other three national carriers don't have this ridiculous limitation has
upset Navas into another lying frenzy.

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

In <Uwvcg.23614$ZW3.14123@dukeread04> on Mon, 22 May 2006 22:42:50 -0500,
"IMHO IIRC" <NOSPAM@NOSPAM.NOSPAM> wrote:

>In news:tdvcg.147280$eR6.81239@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
>John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> typed:
>>
>> In <62vcg.23613$ZW3.14340@dukeread04> on Mon, 22 May 2006 22:09:57 -0500,
>> "IMHO IIRC" <NOSPAM@NOSPAM.NOSPAM> wrote:
>>
>>> In news:fJucg.147143$eR6.41794@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
>>> John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> typed:
>>
>>> John please explain the following:
>>>
>>> From Amazon website
>>>
>>> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...79872#Cingular
>>>
>>> Cingular
>>> 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 process makes you ineligible for
>>> the Amazon.com rebates. We hope to offer a porting option in the coming
>>> months, so please check back.
>>
>> Simply that Amazon hasn't worked out a deal with Cingular to allow number
>> porting as part of its reselling of new Cingular service; 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. If Cingular changed an
>> account only because of number portability in a way that resulted in a
>> significant financial penalty (in excess of permitted number portability
>> fees), then you would presumably have recourse under Federal law and FCC
>> rules. Read the law, and FCC rules.
>
>Cingular changes the account for number portability and that results in your
>being ineligible for the Amazon.com rebate.
>Cingular does not charge you a large fee, but Amazon.com does not give you
>the rebate.
>
>If you want the rebate from Amazon.com you can not port your number to
>Cingular.
>OR you keep your current service active till you fulfill Amazon.com service
>requirement.
>
>That is where the added cost comes from.

I don't think that logic would be terribly persuasive to either a court or the
FCC. YMMV.

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

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <4471747b$0$96939$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
> SMS <scharf.steven@geemail.com> 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.

Actually, it is true. EVEN if you port your number afterwards.

> 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.

The problem is that whoever is handling the rebates for Amazon is
checking the phone number issued *upon activation* to see if the account
is still active. If you port a number in, that activated number goes
away, and the rebate doesn't get processed.

I know for a fact because I know someone personally who got burned this
way. Even porting after the fact invalidates the Amazon rebate.


> I'm not sure where Amazon is coming from in all this,

Amazon is the entire point of this thread. If you purchase from Amazon
you can get that Amazing Low Price, after rebates, but ONLY if you stick
with the number they give you. If it's changed for any reason, even a
port, the rebate is lost. And this ONLY occurs on Cingular purchases,
for some reason.




--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

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.


> 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.



--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.