I was about to upgrade my 650 to a 680. After much discussion,
contemplation, and browsing the boards, that seemed the way to go.
So I stopped at the Cingular store, where the guy said if I'd bring
him a print of the online deal, including any mail-in rebates, he'd give
me all the rebates up front. That clinched it. On the Cingular site, I'm
eligible for an upgrade. I went through the entire ordering process,
stopping only at the final button to place the order. The list said I'd
get a $150 instant rebate, a $100 mail-in rebate, and use my existing plan.
Went back to the store. Turns out there's no way around the mail-in
requirement. And BTW, the $100 mail-in requires me to increase my data
plan by $20 a month. Somehow, Cingular gave me a $19 plan (which has
unlimited data and 200 text messages and works really well for me) but
Treos and Blackberries have to be on the $39 data plan to qualify for
the $100 rebate.
So for an additional $20 a month, I can have a $100 rebate. In five
months, they've got their money back. Not exactly a good deal for me.
The salesman agreed.
I called Cingular. The nice lady agree on the requirement, about
which she also agreed I would have found out when I ordered the phone
and two weeks later got the rebate form in the mail. She also agreed
that the system basically lied when it said I'd be on my existing plan,
and get the $100 mail-in rebate.
Here's the problem with rebates: we pay taxes on $100 we're not
really spending (since we will get it back), the company get's to claim
the $300 sale instead of only a $200 sale, then claims the loss when
they give back the $100.
And in five months, it has recovered in fees for service I neither
wanted nor needed, the money it "lost" by giving me the purchase rebate.
And I'm left with the remaining 19 months of a two-year contract at $20
more than I needed or wanted.
I wish there were a way to roll back the whole rebate scam. We The
People jump on rebates like they're a discount, when all they are is a
way for the state (taxes) and banks (finance fees on the credit cards)
to make money on what we, in the end, are not spending.
BTW, the lady who agreed Cingular was lying by appearing to say I
could keep my existing service and get the $100 rebate, then told me the
difference between the $39 plan and the $19 plan was the less expensive
one would go only to MEDIA web sites, where I could buy ringtones and do
a few other minor things.
Another lie, at least so far. I have been able to go anywhere I want
on the browser. I haven't found a site yet I can't access. Of course, I
don't spend a lot of time browsing from the Treo. My data mostly is used
for email and IM.
Carl W. Brooks wrote:
> I have never been restricted to the sites I visit via the Treo (outside of
> flash or youtube.com type sites).
>
> I simply use http://www.mlvb.net or http://www.skweezer.net/ to view most
> sites, especially those which automatically sense I am on a PDA and present
> the WAP version.
>
> Both sites allow you to go to the main site and then use the form to enter an
> URL or search word or term.
>
> You can also use them as standalone links such as
>
> http://www.skweezer.net/skweeze.aspx?q=freep.com
>
> or
>
> http://mlvb.net/nfl.com/
>
> Using the freeware app Shortcut5, you can setup shortcuts to type the URLs
> for you.
>
> Typing .skw
> can produce
> http://www.skweezer.net/skweeze.aspx?q=
>
> Typing .mlvb
> can produce
> http://mlvb.net/
>
> This work for most sites.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Carl W. Brooks
> (Sent from my Sprint Treo 650)
>
> http://www.Palmloyal.com
> Palm Podcasts, News, Software, Hardware, and More!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Craig Froehle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Tuesday, Apr 10, 2007 9:49 pm
> Subject: Re: [Treo] The Single Most Important Question
>
> try www.treobits.com
>
> On 4/10/07, Paul Blumstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> {Not really, but I did get your attention}
>
>
>> Our browser works well with WAP sites and sites designed for mobile use.
>>
>
>
>> Is there a directory of such sites?
>>
>
>
>> If not, perhaps Joel will let us use the database feature or links
>>
> feature of this group so that we may start one.
>
>
>> Paul
>>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
--
/The erasure of a human subspecies is largely painless -- to us -- if we
know little enough about it. A dead Chinaman is of little import to us
whose awareness of things Chinese is bounded by an occasional dish of
chow mein. We grieve only for what we know./
A Sand County Almanac, /Aldo Leopold, July 1949/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
