Best Deals on the Samsung Epic ($189.98 Total to Door w Contract)

Aquaman

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I decided to take the plunge and started looking for the best possible deal on a Samsung Epic. I checked ebay, craigslist and the local stores. They are going for about $350-400 on Ebay, and about $400-$525 on Craigslist.

I personally HATE being locked into a contract but I decided to check those prices due to the still-high prices on Ebay and Craigslist. Most places are selling them for $249 with a two-year contract. The local Radio Shack is selling them for $229 with a two-year contract. Checking online while standing there in Radio Shack, I found out that they had a special promo on December 1st... $179, but it had ended and the manager said there was nothing he could do. I then checked their website just in case, and sure enough, this price still exists on their website. No rebates or paperwork to deal with either which is a nice bonus.

Not sure if this link will work for everybody and if it doesnt, just go to Cell Phones from RadioShack Wireless and click on, or look up the Samsung Epic. Price won't be shown until you click on it to add it to your cart.

Samsung Epic 4G for Sprint - RadioShack Wireless

Now here's where it gets a bit complicated if you want to keep your "Deaf Plan" and not forced into a $69 per month plan. You will need to call Radio Shack and buy it via phone, and tell them that you need to be allowed to keep your current rate (plus a $10 increase for 4g - required according to Deaf Sprint which I verified beforehand)

Here's my phone conversation with my personal information edited out...

Connecting to relay center...
Waiting for next available operator....
Session started at 5:30pm on Friday, December 10, 2010

Hello! i711.com CA#70624F
Call code nbr is XXXXXX GA
Special Instructions:
THK U DIALING
866 720 4181(AUTOMATED SYSTEM)
thank you
for
calling radio shack wireless
(recording to relay)
in order to
ensure the best service possible this call will be recorded please note all
of our promotions even our free offers require that you provide a valid major credit or debit card please make sure
you have your credit
or debit card available to assist us in expediting your order to place
an order today press 1 for questions about an existing order
you
have already placed press 2 GA
1 ga
(pressing 1)
(recording to relay)
RINGING 1...
(M)
(INTRO CALL PLS HLD)
(relaying special instructions)
thank you for calling sales department
radio shack sales department my name is (confirming spelling)
bruce may i have your name may i know your name qq GA
Good evening, my name is Paul and I would like to order the Samsung Epic phone at the web-only price I see online. However, I am having problems with the plan options presented on your website in order for me to check out. The call code is XXXXXXX GA
thank you for the for providing the call code and ahh i will go ahead and check the eligibility now so may i have the mobile number that you are planning to upgrade qq GA
my number is...
808XXXXXX ga
and ahh may i have the billing zip code under which the sprint account is registered GA
XXXXX ga
give me a minute i m checking your eligibility
(on hold)
and i see that the phone is currently eligible for an upgrade GA
Yes, I know. So can you please help make this sale happen without changing my plan rates or prices? ga
absolutely your plan and everything would remain the same we ll just go ahead and upgrade your phone with the best deal regarding the cell phone don t you worry GA
Great, thank you Bruce. ga
you re welcome and ahh the phone that which you have selected is a top of the line model okay so what is that you personally like about this phone qq GA
Keyboard, video relay via the front facing camera and the AMOED screen. Let's make this sale happen, I'd like to start cooking dinner soon..... ga
alright so just wanted to know how much time do you spend driving your car everyday qq GA
Please no survey questions, I'd like for this to be as smooth and painless as possible ga
alright and the phone number that you are upgrading is 808XXXXXX correct qq GA
correct ga
alright so here s a recap of the package which i have selected for you any questions any doubt you have about the package please ask me GA
sure ga
you will get the phone samsung epic 4g and as this phone has a big on it wide screen to put to protect the screen of the phone from scratches and the lens of the camera i selected a universal screen protector and as per the package which i have selected for you including phone and everything all you pay today would be
just $189.98 GA
That's correct ga
and your plan remains exactly same so whatever you pay you can continue paying the same just on top of that you will pay $10.00 per month for 4g premium data as the phone which you have selected it s a 4 g phone and the $10.00 premium data feature is mandatory GA
Yep. Let's do this. Are you ready for my shipping address and credit information? ga
ahh ahh just to inform you that by default in the page the sprint data pack of $15.00 per month got selected but you don t worry sms this order goes to the back end department the feature will get canceled automatically and you won t get charge for that feature GA
great ga
may i please spell out your first name qq GA
Paul
then XXXXXXXX ga
(asked operator to spell)
(confirming spelling)
and may i have your billing address qq GA
Yes, XXXXXX St, honolulu, HI XXXXXX --That is also the shipping address as well. ga
(asked operator to spell)
(confirming spelling)
may i have your email address to send a confirmation email GA
yes, xxxxxxx@gmail.com ga
(confirming spelling)
xxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com correct qq GA
yes ga
ahh and i have already send the sprint terms and conditions to your email address and now may i have your daytime phone number please qq
GA
(i am being replaced, please hold for the new operator)
Ah, I'm deaf, I don't have a phone number to speak of - That number I gave you is for texting only ga
(this is operator 90222F taking over the call)
oh uhm ok no problem that is fine GA
ok. what next? ga
we have 3 mode of shipping the standard shipping takes 2 to 3 business days for $9.99 and we have second business day shipping for $14.99
Standard shipping will be fine. ga
and we have next next business day shipping alright which card will you be using today visa or a master qq GA
master ga
card numbers qq GA
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
expires XXXX
ga
and and the last 3 digits at the back of the card qq GA
XXXXX ga
and may i have your social GA
what for? ga
that is something which is required
by sprint
to do the approval process based on
the review of your account history and payment record GA
Sprint already has that information, and I've been a customer of theris for years. I have also been a victim of online fraud twice. I do not give out my full SSN anymore. I can give you part of it ga
you are dealing with radio shack and you are upgrading your phone through radio shack not directly with sprint that s the reason the sprint require the entire 9 digit just to validate your information be rest assured your information are very secured you wont have any problems which you faced in the past because you are dealing with a very big dealer which is radio shack GA
You and Radio Shack better burn in hell if anything happens... XXXXXXXXXXX ga
i repeat it
s XXXXXXXXX
correct qq GA
yeah ga
and thank you so much for trusting us and providing us such valuable information don t you worry your information are very secured GA
yeah ga
and by any chance do you have the sprint pin number handy qq GA
Uhmm... No. Do you
want to tell me how to get it?
I also would like to be able to use my current phone until the replacement arrives. Will that be a problem? ga
not at all till the time you receive your new phone you can still use the old phone which you have and so far as generating a sprint pin
number is concern you can get in touch with sprint and you can request them to set up a pin number and they will certainly help you
out with that GA
Uhmmm... OK, I suppose ga
and now i ll go ahead and read out few important points any questions you have you can stop me
(relay, just summarize them, no need to go word for word)
**blah blah blah***
The end


-Paul
 
Uh oh....

Got a message from Radio Shack this morning saying there was a problem with my order and to call them... I just got off the phone with them and had to cancel the order. Apparently they are not able to transfer the Sprint Relay Data Only Plan to the new phone despite what Bruce the salesman from yesterday's phone call said. The only thing they can do is to give me their $69 plan. :mad:

-Paul
 
Last edited:
Hmmm... Looks like It's a Go After All....

I contacted the Sprint Representative for my state, Kenneth Goulston and inquired further into this. I got an immediate response (bear in mind it is Saturday morning so I was pleasantly surprised). Basically he said for me to go ahead and order it, and he would fix the plan pricing.
icon14.gif


+1 to Sprint.

So I contacted Radio Shack and told me to stick the cheapest voice-only plan on it and ship it to me pronto. They said their cheapest plan was the $69 + $10 monthly plan. I told them to send it anyways and forwarded the information to my Sprint Rep. $189.98 to my door.

Was it worth all this trouble/hassle? I don't know. Ask me again on Wednesday once I have the phone in my hands. If you're willing to pay $70 more, just order it directly from the Sprint Relay Store and save yourself some trouble. Sprint Relay Store


If you need to contact your Sprint Relay Store Regional Manager, you can do so by looking up who your manager is at:
Contact - Sprint Relay Store

-Paul
 
Hey amazon now sells the phone for 99 does anyone know if this is possible with amazon??
 
Hey amazon now sells the phone for 99 does anyone know if this is possible with amazon??

Good God!

You're right. Damn it... I could have saved 90 bucks. :shock:

I would trust Amazon. They will most likely force you into a relatively high monthly service, but if you're already on the "deaf plan" then just take what ever they give you, and then contact the guys at SpringRelayStore and have them switch the plan back to your regular price once you get, and activate the phone.

-Paul
 
Few years ago, I called for question. They told me that I have to pay full price for 6 month plans then (after 6mo) I can change update new plan.

Few days ago, I told my friend Amazon drop price $99 from $149.

I would say good luck for any buyers at Radio Shack's online or Amazon.com
 
It's not true that you are locked into a contract with the same phone. You can still always get another phone and move the sim card to other phone in a year or so. You can buy an unlocked phone somewhere else but it's better than breaking your contract and lose that money.
 
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