Image links to an actual photograph of the original receipt - Cingular Store, Redmond, WA.
Late last week I traded in my Sprint BlackBerry 8703e for a Cingular BlackBerry Pearl. I will reserve a full review / thoughts for another day. However, today I felt the urge to share this little piece of info. Earlier tonight while looking over recent receipts, I noticed this short line in the middle of the transaction. In plain view is the string "iPhone for DEREK PUNSALAN" above the 2 yr. service agreement discount. Cingular, I didn’t order an iPhone, but are you hinting [with this glitch] at a $150 discount for 2 yr. service agreements already?
Thankfully, I refrained from starting a wildfire claiming that I had received an iPhone with receipt as proof. Is this receipt print-out hinting that the iPhone may be discounted for longer service agreements? I’d like to find out / hear from anyone else [digg this] who has opened a line of service recently that may have had something similar on their receipts.
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77 Comments
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Now that would have been the perfect opportunity to flaunt you had an iPhone on order
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You should’ve said you had gotten an iPhone. That’d have been sweet to see thousands of Diggers falling for it.
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And the ensuing fall-out would probably have been quite irritating to deal with.
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Upsetting the Digg community is not something worth doing
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You should try to use this to get a free iPhone from cingular… probably would never work, but you could try!
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This is certainly weird. The iPhone thing just randomly showed up on your receipt? When talking to the sales rep did you even mention the iPhone? Was the $150 discount applied to your order or is just a random line meaning nothing?
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Completely random incident. No mention of the iPhone by the rep or myself. I didn’t feel like listening to a rep trying to sell a handset they probably knew nothing about.
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Now I’m interested to know about their intricate details on the contract services, and if it’ll still work for existing accounts. I’ve had my cingular account for about.. oh five years now? Another two won’t hurt, especially if it includes an iPhone. Anything to make people jealous
By the way, how do you like the Pearl so far? My boyfriend has one, and the only thing I’ve had a hard time getting used to was the qwerty. I’m so used to my Samsung D807 and having to use the standard pad for texting/etc. But overall I wish I had a Pearl myself. I love it, and I like to steal his and play with it. Jealous that it has a flash on the camera too!
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Overall I think the Pearl is an excellent phone. I’ve just started using it so once in awhile I find myself hitting two keys at once when typing. I’d like to get to the point where I no longer have to look down while typing - similar to when I had the 8703e. Everything takes a little getting used to though.
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Once you master the qwerty, you’ll be able to drive in rush hour on a major interstate on your way to work (or where ever) and hold a conversation on Yahoo (or whatever messenger you’d use) on the phone.. This is what he does with his phone. I’m constantly yelling at people who text/im on their phone when driving.
But I’m jealous. I’ve had my eye on that damned Pearl since it came to Cingular. But now I’ve been more fixated on the Blackjack. Though I can’t seem to justify the extra service plans that I would tack on: $39.99 (PDA Unlimited Internet) and $19.99 (3000 txts.) Oh who am I kidding, I wouldn’t mind paying $60 extra for that >_
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There is some type of Pearl Max plan for non-enterprise users. I have yet to find the plan code but I’m calling in tomorrow morning to request it. I just found out about it today. Apparently it’s the BB Personal Unlimited plan + 1000 messages for $39.
EDIT: The plan is recognized as one of the following - "BlackBerry Personal Max", "XM wBBunl Pool", or "BBRYUNL_ALL4".
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Hmm, thanks I’ll definitely remember that if I end up going with the Pearl over the Blackjack =)
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Wow derek….nice find! Wonder if other people got this too? hmm..
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Pure coencidience
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Hmmm
My (hopeful!) hunch is that his is a promo peek. We can pay-off our cancel penalty fee with (eg) Verizon and go with the iPhone. I’d do it in a flash!
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How did the iphone come up in ur reciept?? Seems kinda wierd.
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I have the same thing at the bottom of my receipt. I actually just switched to Cingular this weekend from T-Mobile in anticipation of getting the iPhone when it comes out. I told the sales rep my intentions in the store so I just thought that she annotated on the receipt that I was interested in getting an iphone when it comes out for CRM purposes or something. If this is in fact some sort of discount - i’m with that program.
I actually got the Blackberry 8800 with my new Cingular account. I’m a first time Blackberry user and I have to say that the phone is really cool and loaded with features. I CAN HARDLY WAIT FOR MY IPHONE…
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It’s very likely the iPhone will receive a larger discount for longer service contracts - this is the way Cingular rolls with nearly every phone they carry right now. There’s a one year, two year and ‘out of contract’ price on virtually every phone.
I’m beginning to believe, and this is really just from odd snippets of stuff like you’ve found Derek, that the iPhone’s price will be lower than what Steve originally introduced. It’s looking more and more likely that the $500/600 announcement was meant to throw off competitors and spark dumb remarks from the likes of Steve Ballmer.
Nice catch Derek.
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I think that Cingular is giving you a $150 discount if you buy the iPhone when it comes out. You just bought yourself the Perl for the next 2 years, they are are coaxing you to term your contract early and then get the iPhone in 3 months.
That’s just my guess. Plus I hate all the rumors of the price drop for the iPhone. When the phone was announced it’s price points had the little disclaimer that it’s based on the Cingular 2 yr discount already. So maybe the phone really cost an extra $150.
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Of course all the fanboys would ask the lame questions.
It’s a hoax. Show us the full receipt, and we’ll believe you. If not, good job with Word and making the fanboys believe you have a sneak preview of what’s to come.
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$100-150 and sometimes a little bit more up to 200 is the standard discounting on cingular with a 2yr contract. this is no big deal guys its been like this even before iphone. that means whatever the price is with a 2yr contract you tack on the discounting and thats what the MSRP of the actual phone is.
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If this is some type of "suprise" you have a discount voucher without even knowing, that would be great. I’m sure it’s a computer glitch that let slip the fact that we’re going to see a lower price than what Jobs marketed during his Keynote.
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It’s not about the discount, and it’s not about what other carriers discount or don’t discount. it’s about the fact that they actually included a blirb about the iPhone on the recepit - it’s just cool that they are subtly marketing the iPhone on your receipt.
it’s for those 3 people out there that have never heard of the iPhone…
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yes, it has been proven that outlets such as best buy and stores offer huge discounts for longer insurance, so it would make sense that he found this… it is possible to save 100’s of dollars using the technique, i think it was in fact digg.com that i read the article on
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Exactly. The second I saw Steve bashing the iPhone (and all he could talk about was the cost) I realized he had just fallen into one of the biggest traps ever laid. Once the real pricing is revealed with contract subsidization, watch out because the lines are gonna be gnarlier than the PS3 launch.
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I did work at both Best Buy (Wireless Dept.) and Radio Shack for quite some time. The truth is, a lot of the wireless promotions are in the system before the actual phone is even released. And to sum things up, you can apply the promotion to any wireless device being sold (You can lose your job though =D).
A lot of us used to do it in special occastions, (The customer needed a discount, or another promotion wasn’t coming up, blah blah.)
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Wow….
Hey douchebag! See that text under the image that says “image links to…” Click the image and you see the full reciept! People are morons!
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It really seems like a mess up….maybe something that Jobs would do, but Cingular couldn’t pull anything like that off. Any they are going through the transition to AT&T right now so I’m sure that everything is going wacky….I bet Apple will cut some deal where you get 100 free songs or soemthing like that….then everyone loses less money and gets you on your way to spending more on apple songs.
John
http://www.monomachines.com
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David Cahrter…I know Steve Jobsisstupid, but he is not THAT stupid as to do what you think. TERRIBLE marketing strategy to claim the price of a good will be ridiculously high if you know it won’t be. Think about it with even a little common sense for a change. Becuase of hte high price, VERY fewpeople give a crap about hte iPhone. In the REAL world (Apple fanboys don’t live there) nobody has talked about the iPhone since 2 days after MacWorld. There are no mass exoduses to Cingular by any means. Nor will there be. And a lot of that is becuase of hte price. People have renewed their contracts with their current companies becuase they have no intention of paying $500-600 for a phone. Perhaps if they thought it was lower, they would have considered it.
That is Why Steve Jobs is not as stupid as you think he is, or perhaps you are if you think that is a good strategy. Soemtihng tells me that Jobs is not going to lose even one customers just to make Ballmer say something about the iPhone that isn’t actually true.
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And Matt…if you think the lines are going to be long, you need to come back to planet earth FAST./ You are WOEFULLY unprepared for the Real World and the longer you sty away, the less likely you will EVER be a productive human being in it.
Remember…Apple has released ONE product in the last 20 years that has been successful. ONE. Every other product they have, they are nothing but a blip on the radar, with insignificant market share. And the big reason why there successful is because they were a VERY early player in that market. They have NEVER entered an established market and been successful. People laughed at the Zune for entering a crowded MP3 marketplace 3 years too late. Well, Apple is entering a FAR more crowded marketplace at least FIVE years too late. The cell industry has fanboys of its own. and Apple doesn’t have enough to do well.
Remember…More iPod owners have PCs than Macs. In other words, it is only a TINY percent of iPod owners that could care less about the Apple brand name. They don’t own any other Apple product, and never will.
If you think that people are going to leave their networks..where they are getting deals for being long time customers, or perhaps where they are getting free in network calls (a huge reason why people choose Verizon), you are SERIOUSLY delusional. I guarantee no one in my area will switch. EVERYONE has Verizon, and because of that, everyone can get by with the cheapest monthly plan they offer because almost no calls count against their minutes. A switch to Cingular would be a huge cost, and it would also mean that their friends would talk to THEM less.
All this for features that ALL surveys show that people don’t care about, and some (touch screen buttons…no tactile feedback) that most people DON’T want.
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Haha yeah, I can vouch for that. I spent many a month in the Wireless and PCHO department over at Best Buy. Though I generally didn’t do too much for applying promotions, usually if the person was nice, but for the most part I just hated doing it, and if they didn’t know about it, they won’t care. ;x
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WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT IS A TYPO. THE IPHONE WAS PROBABLY BEING ADDED INTO OUR SYSTEM WHEN THIS HAPPENED IN ERROR. IT WILL BE AVALIABLE IN JUNE. CINGULAR OFFERS A $150 DISCOUNT TWORD THE PURCHASE OF ANY HANDSET, INCLUDING THE IPHONE WITH A 2YEAR CONTRACT. NOT SURE WHY ALL THE SPECULATING… THIS IS PRETTY STANDARD STUFF GUYS.
I WORK FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS, THE NEW AT&T.
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Nah, it wouldve only made him look like some punk. And anyways none of us wouldve believed it anyways.
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What is it with people using the term Fanboy. Somehow people think that brand loyalty is a bad thing. I also don’t understand why people keep harping about the price. If you had a clue you would know that this is NOT a high price for a PHONE. The Treo 750 is $449 from Cingular. The iPhone is much better than the Treo. If you pay attention you will see Treo’s all over the place and they are NOT cheap. I am on my third Treo now. I also remember the motorola Startack that was $1995 in the early 90’s. The thing is I will not apologize for supporting a product that works. Apple makes Great products that WORK. That other software company makes products that crash all the time.. like any of the so called smart phones that run windows. Windows does NOT belong on a phone.
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You made the Apple Insider website! Just read about this over there. Very interesting, hopefully there will be discounts such as this when the time comes.
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I can’t even imagine how irritating it would be to type on a handset that offered no feedback after each character.
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What does it say above it?
And I never knoew you changed your skin. I haven’t been to the site in a while since I just read the feed. =]
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Above it was the serial number for the handset.
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Anyone who thinks the Apple iPhone won’t be a solid hit has to wonder about 26,000+ hits on a flickr photo album picturing Steve Jobs allegedly using the device.
And how about the number of hits on this article, which if you think of it has very little real content. People are so hungry for information on the iPhone that they’ll read anything, even this.
(No, I’m not criticising the writer for submitting the article. I’m asking if it would be news if we were talking about any other product, and I think the answer is dead obvious.)
D
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I’m a systems admin for the Federal Government. I maintain a network for 10 users who don’t know jack about computers (”what’s ctrl+alt+del for again?”). The servers and user workstations all run Windows while I use Macs exclusively outside of work. I brought my MacBook Pro in one day for some random reason and one of my co-workers was intrigued after just glancing at it on my desk. I showed him a few of the interface features, how to install programs, and other day-to-day tasks. I promise you this is the honest truth, 9 of them now own Macs, 4 of those own two or more, and the last one is ordering his first Mac next month. All this after 15 minutes with one person.
After the Keynote, I showed my co-workers the presentation on the Apple website for the iPhone and all of them have committed to purchasing it once it hits stores or moving there service over to Cingular once it does so they can buy it as well. Honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a reaction like this. Therefore, and I’m sure I’m not the only one with the same opinion, I feel your claim that the iPhone won’t attract much attention is BS.
TJ
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Actually, every phone purchased at Cingular with a 2 yr. contract comes with the $150 discount. That is the standard at Cingular. Just thought I’d let you know this is nothing special. I am being told this from a close friend who works at Cingular.
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Derek you may have just created another cause for heart attacks. Wait, nevermind, I guess this would only cause heart attacks in trolls.
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OK, I’m trying to sort out this… contoversy over on an Apple oriented message board, so please help me understand, Derek.
Did you agree to a 2 year service agreement or 2 year extension when purchasing your Pearl?
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What message board? Concerning your question, it was a 2 yr. agreement.
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Thanks!
AppleInsider is the board.
Personally, I say the “i” is a printer error. You know how dot matrix printers can miss printing dots here and there? I say it was trying to print a “1″. It’s a reference to the Peral you just purchased. That seems to make a lot more sense than a refernece to the iPhone, but that’s just my humble theory.
Thanks again for the quick response.
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Ah. I see. I actually saw a comment about the "i" being a printing error with one of the comments on TUAW. Not sure if that was you expressing your opinion on that thread as well. It really is tough to tell. After reading that comment on TUAW and going back to stare at the character on the receipt, I can’t imagine how the printer could have spit out a distinct i rather than a 1.
However, if you would like a little more ammo for your case, I have a high resolution scan that I could crop and add to the post.
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Hey, thanks! But no, it looks like the debate is dying at this point. I’m actually starting agree that the charcter LOOKS more like an “i” rather than a misprinted “1″. Who knows? Could be a random typo or a mischievous Cingular employee. Anyway, I was primarily interested in defending myself against another poster that called me an idiot for even suggesting that the “i” might actually be a “1″. It’s those types of personal attacks that keep me from posting on most message boards.
And I also saw that post on TUAW this morning, but it wasn’t me. Just another like minded poster.
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I’m not going to call anyone an idiot, since that’s just plain childish, but the i seems exceptionally clear in the receipt scan. There is a dot above it and there is a little left jag right below the dot. Collectively, those two things make it an obvious “i”. I don’t see how any kind of printing error could be made unless it was a typo. But if it was a typo, that seems hard to believe since you wouldn’t even type a 1 with the same hand as an i!
D
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Personal attacks online are always the hardest to try and ingore. You’re right though in saying that such attacks are what makes the net so difficult sometimes. Stoop to the same level, or rise above and ignore.
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I guess you had the fall-out to deal with anyways.
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> “this is the way Cingular rolls with nearly every phone they carry right now. There’s a one year, two year and ‘out of contract’ price on virtually every phone.”
But not the iPhone. Steve Jobs stated that you will only get it with a 2-year Cingular contract. The only thing I can imagine this receipt meaning is that the hypothetical “real” price of the iPhone would be $649 or $749.
Cingular apparently feels the need to tell its customers that it’s saving them $150 on the iPhone, even though it won’t be available anywhere else. This isn’t particularly surprising: if we learned anything from Stan Boardman’s keynote appearance, it’s that Cingular aren’t a patch on Apple when it comes to communication. Which is a bit ironic, given their business.
> “Apple has released ONE product in the last 20 years that has been successful.”
6 million 1st gen iMacs doesn’t count as a success? OS X doesn’t? PowerBooks?
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Was $150 the saving you received on what you actually bought? If so it could be just that the pearl is mislabeled on their system as an iPhone
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Looks like an honest, inquisitive post with a bit of hope sprinkled in (don’t we all hope?) but then others have taken this the way of the black helicopters. I see the $150 as an unrelated line to the one before it and the iPhone line nothing more than shameless hype leading up to product launch. Even if the two lines are related, I think it’s already been said that the $499 and $599 prices were with 2 year contract. In other words, if you buy it outright, it’s going to cost even more than the already overpriced numbers stated.
Do yourself a favor. Buy a RAZR, a Nano, and a tube of superglue. It’s a lot less money.
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Good idea
But it might be a little rougher around the edges. I am pretty much decided on the fact that I am not going to buy into the iPhone hype - translated, I won’t purchase one. What I have been eyeing / following lately is the US launch for the Nokia N95.
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