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sotorious

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 11, 2010
655
46
i called 3 of them so far. They were about to till i told them i dont have verizon service, i think he is trying to get some sign ups. I am trying to get it so i can use it with t-mobile!
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,186
8,093
I'm not surprised. Verizon makes money on the service, not the phones so much. They want to sign up customers to service contracts. Your best bet for Verizon device-only is an Apple Store, but if they are putting up a store reservation system as is rumored, that avenue might be closed for a few weeks.
 

got2go

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2010
97
2
Just buy it then cancel your contract and pay the ETF. I think it's cheaper anyways.
 

sotorious

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 11, 2010
655
46
I am trying to see if a friend of a friend works at verizon, they still got plenty in stock and i know there is t-mobile stores that have them in stock as well, but verizon is the only ones that are bringing in more then 16gb

I am going to offer one of them 50 bucks on the side, maybe to cover their commission charge.
 

got2go

macrumors member
Jul 23, 2010
97
2
If you buy accessories they would do it I bet. Then take the accessories back.

----------

Just buy it then cancel your contract and pay the ETF. I think it's cheaper anyways.

It's still cheaper to pay for the service and subsidized phone and cancel than buy a device outright. Use Verizon for a month then switch. Not like Verizon is horrible or anything.
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,735
719
i called 3 of them so far. They were about to till i told them i dont have verizon service, i think he is trying to get some sign ups. I am trying to get it so i can use it with t-mobile!

I figured they wouldn't be....otherwise they would become the go-to place for anyone wanting an unlocked phone. And each one that goes to a non VZ customer is a lost plan sale to them. Can Verizon customers go in and get one for full price? I assume they can as it's required to keep unlimited data, isn't it? But will they only do it for someone currently with unlimited data? And even if you're a customer, would they force you to activate it to one of your lines?
 

sotorious

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 11, 2010
655
46
I figured they wouldn't be....otherwise they would become the go-to place for anyone wanting an unlocked phone. And each one that goes to a non VZ customer is a lost plan sale to them. Can Verizon customers go in and get one for full price? I assume they can as it's required to keep unlimited data, isn't it? But will they only do it for someone currently with unlimited data? And even if you're a customer, would they force you to activate it to one of your lines?

I even asked so if i was a verizon customer would i be able to buy it out right? he told me the phone has to leave here activated.

edit: well it looks like most stores right now are ONLY selling them with a 2 year activation.
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,735
719
I even asked so if i was a verizon customer would i be able to buy it out right? he told me the phone has to leave here activated.

edit: well it looks like most stores right now are ONLY selling them with a 2 year activation.

So it has to leave activated....but that doesn't mean that the customer then can't go reassign another phone to that line and then you can take and use the phone with a GSM SIM. But it might tie your "friend" into having to maintain service on the line for 2 years even if they aren't actually using the iPhone on it.
 

joeshmo2010

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2009
564
101
Seattle, WA
I am trying to see if a friend of a friend works at verizon, they still got plenty in stock and i know there is t-mobile stores that have them in stock as well, but verizon is the only ones that are bringing in more then 16gb

I am going to offer one of them 50 bucks on the side, maybe to cover their commission charge.

I highly doubt any salesperson would value their job at $50. Sorry, it's not gonna work.
 

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,453
1,245
Charlotte, NC
I am trying to see if a friend of a friend works at verizon, they still got plenty in stock and i know there is t-mobile stores that have them in stock as well, but verizon is the only ones that are bringing in more then 16gb

I am going to offer one of them 50 bucks on the side, maybe to cover their commission charge.

Just sign up for their service and pop your T-Mobile sim card in the phone when you get home. Then cancel the Verizon service after 14 days and pay the ETF.
 

bhags8

macrumors 6502a
Mar 18, 2012
530
19
I bought a iphone from verizon on Friday and am sending my old phone to gazelle. I want to return it and buy a different color. Would I be able to return to verizon and have no phone on my line for a day or two then go to Apple and buy one and have them activate it?
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,721
Boston, MA
You got to wait like 30 days or more unless you want to return the device too

True. But you can activate a cheap flip phone and go down to something like a $30/mo plan. Pay the month, pay the ETF, see ya VZW. Kind of a pain, but whatever.

----------

I bought a iphone from verizon on Friday and am sending my old phone to gazelle. I want to return it and buy a different color. Would I be able to return to verizon and have no phone on my line for a day or two then go to Apple and buy one and have them activate it?

No. You need to have a phone active. You could just get a cheap flip phone off CL or something. Not a bad thing to have around in general, in case you want to do this, or in case your phone is lost/damaged, etc.
 

Bull201314

macrumors newbie
Sep 21, 2013
7
0
i dont know if anything will beat my experience friday. Went into a verizon plus store which is mainly fios service but do wireless as well. Had 5s stock in the back but refused to sell me one because i was an existent customer and they only would sell them to new ones
 

Hankster

macrumors 68020
Jan 30, 2008
2,475
440
Washington DC
Am I missing something? A Verizon iPhone will not work on a TMO network. Verizon is CDMA and TMO is GSM. You need to get an ATT iPhone.
 

cwosigns

macrumors 68020
Jul 8, 2008
2,229
2,724
Columbus,OH
Am I missing something? A Verizon iPhone will not work on a TMO network. Verizon is CDMA and TMO is GSM. You need to get an ATT iPhone.

You are missing something. Both companies use LTE, the Verizon iPhone has more LTE bands than any other phone on the market (and is compatible with T-Mo's network), and Verizon LTE phones are required to be sold unlocked per FCC requirement. So a Verizon model can be used on AT&T and T-Mobile.
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,186
8,093
Am I missing something? A Verizon iPhone will not work on a TMO network. Verizon is CDMA and TMO is GSM. You need to get an ATT iPhone.

The Verizon iPhone is the same as the AT&T/T-Mobile one except that it has added CDMA support. I'm running AT&T on an unlocked Verizon iPhone 5s that I got from an Apple Store yesterday. :)
 

Col Ronson

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2008
619
2
Am I missing something? A Verizon iPhone will not work on a TMO network. Verizon is CDMA and TMO is GSM. You need to get an ATT iPhone.

You are missing a lot of things. The Verizon iPhone 5S still has a GSM radio, and a Nano-SIM slot. This information is no big secret and is all over the apple store website as well.

It will work on GSM/LTE networks of basically any GSM/LTE carrier in the world (with a select few excepted).
 

tgwaste

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2013
1,769
3,538
I went into the store on launch day and bought my 5S outright. The guy thought I was a bit crazy. Hes all "That will be $900, are you SURE you want to do this? I can get it for you for $399!" So I taught him some Math:

contract price = $399

no contract price = $900
sell price for current iphone = $500 (at least)
total out of pocket cost: $400

unlimited data, no contract.

^^ how it should always be done.
 

DollaTwentyFive

macrumors 6502a
Nov 11, 2010
747
4
Parts Unknown
Just sign up for their service and pop your T-Mobile sim card in the phone when you get home. Then cancel the Verizon service after 14 days and pay the ETF.

If you cancel after 3 days, you will have to pay the activation fee. Buy the phone with contract, cancel the same day. They will tell you to return the equipment but, as far as I know, if you don't, they will just bill you for the ETF. So, theoretically, you can pay $200 for a 16GB and then pay a $350 ETF with no activation and 1 day of service at about $4.

Come to think of it, I haven't come across this in awhile. They must have closed this loophole.
 

legioxi

macrumors 6502a
Mar 2, 2013
644
76
i called 3 of them so far. They were about to till i told them i dont have verizon service, i think he is trying to get some sign ups. I am trying to get it so i can use it with t-mobile!
Corporate stores never sell un-activated phones. Tried to buy them many times in the past (Android and iPhone models) when switching phones out of contract. They take so much time to activate so I prefer to buy and activate on my own. Only places I could do that would be third party stores.
 
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