Free Blackberry! What am I missing here?

[SRUAlmn]

We just ordered pizza from Papa John's tonight and there was an ad on the box that said if you order from papajohns.com and add a side and 2-20oz. drinks to your order you will receive a free blackberry after rebate. So you pay the $350 and then you get it back by mail. The only requirement is that you sign a 2 year service agreement (like you do with most cell phone companies.) So what is the catch? Has anyone else seen this? It sounded like it wasn't a contest or anything. Everyone can get one. Not that I want one, but thought someone on here might if there isn't a catch.

 

[MrsPete]

The catch is that you have to pay the monthly service charge for two years (or a disconnection fee if you cancel early). They will recoup the cost of the initial equipment during those two years. It's the same thing that cell phone companies are doing: the phone is "free" when you sign a two-year contract. We all know that nothing is ever really free.

It seems that lots of places are giving away Blackberries now. I had an offer with a hotel reservation recently -- I think it was Marriot?

The bottom line is, do you want/need a Blackberry? If so, this is a good deal. If you don't need it, then skip it.

 

[CarolA]

I have a Treo.. (Same type of thing)

Service fees are MUCH higher then the cell phones... (that's the catch)

Also, depending on your email provider they may charge you an additional fee. (I looked into this for personal use a few years ago and found some
hidden costs. My current deal is via work so they send me email for "free" LOL!)

 

[tmt martins]

Blackberry is coming out with all new technolgy due to lawsuits so they are dumping all old handsets .We just got the 7520 at work for $.99 no big deal they will still be good until atleast 2009

 

[tink2dw]

I was reseaching the sidekick 2 and the blackberry and what i learned about the blackberry is unless your job has a server for email[these cost big bucks]. The email portion won't work for just the regular joe.

 

[Jsme]

Remember with the lawsuit the Blackberries may not work after January 2006.

 

[NJBlackBerry]

And Disney will have to shut down M:S because a young man died.

Forget the lawsuits and rumors. Every Congressman, Senator and many in the US Department of Defense carry BlackBerrys. The lawsuit will be settled.

"Give them the razors and sell them the blades". It's worked for years iwith other products. Free phones have been around. So now it is free (or very, very cheap) BlackBerrys.

If you are willing to pay the monthly service fee - and find that out because it varies widely from carrier to carrier (19.99 for Cingular; 45.99 for Nextel - plus the cost of a voice plan) - then it is a good deal.

You can get your mail just fine on a BlackBerry without a corporate server. They have something called "BIS" - the BlackBerry Internet Service which will collect e-mail from your existing accounts (Comcast, Roadrunner, whatever) and push it to your BB. GMail forwards directly to it. If you want some of the features of the Corporate Server (wireless synchronization of contacts, notes, tasks and calendar) there are plenty of hosted providers who will sell you that service for a monthly fee.

If you want secure, fast wireless e-mail, nothing beats it.

And my T-Mobile BBs worked great all over WDW! Except in Jiko

 

[CarolA]

If you are willing to pay the monthly service fee - and find that out because it varies widely from carrier to carrier (19.99 for Cingular; 45.99 for Nextel - plus the cost of a voice plan) - then it is a good deal.

You can get your mail just fine on a BlackBerry without a corporate server. They have something called "BIS" - the BlackBerry Internet Service which will collect e-mail from your existing accounts (Comcast, Roadrunner, whatever) and push it to your BB. GMail forwards directly to it. If you want some of the features of the Corporate Server (wireless synchronization of contacts, notes, tasks and calendar) there are plenty of hosted providers who will sell you that service for a monthly fee.

If:

So as is pointed out it can be TWO service fees. One to your phone provider and one to the Email guys..

Also, I recomend the insurance on these. The phones new cost a lot and if you lose/drop them then you either buy them a full price (on my Treo that is close to $500) or pay the disconnet fee (a few hundred) for early termination. I have already destroyed one Treo....

 

[SRUAlmn]

I don't understand why the service fees are such a big deal. It was listed that Cingular was around $20 I think. Well our cell phone plan monthly with Verizon is around $50 and that would be eliminated with the Blackberry, right? Our email is free because we use yahoo, and someone mentioned that could be sent to your blackberry I think. Even if there is a fee for it, it doesn't seem like a huge deal. Am I still not understanding something?

 

[NJBlackBerry]

No - you are not missing anything. And you pay one fee to the carrier (Cingular). It is for both voice/SMS (Text messages) and for data (e-mail and Internet access).

It's really easy to destroy Treos. I have a box of them. But a BlackBerry is much harder to destroy. Insurance is always an option.

 

[CarolA]

Make sure you are comparing apples to oranges. How many minutes are you getting on Cingular vs Verizon?

 

[NJBlackBerry]

I give up.