So, it looks like AT&T's figured out a new way to use all those broken phones people keep sending in.
It's long been company policy to fix up old phones and ship them out as refurbished replacements to people claiming on their cell phone insurance policies, but now you don't have to wait so long to get your hands on a used phone. AT&T is offering a new deal where you can start a new plan (or change an existing one) with a refurbished phone at a pretty hefty discount. And why not? You are buying used, after all.
How much off do you get? Well, we found a $250 Samsung Blackjack i607 that, when sold brand new, goes for $150 with a two-year AT&T plan. The refurbished Blackjack only costs $40. Prefer the Blackberry? A referb Blackberry Curve 8300 knocks the price down from $350 to $50, or the 8310 Titanium down to $99. If you don't want to go so high-end, there are plenty of free refurb Nokias and a Samsung or two to pick from. We can't really knock the selection. Except that, y'know, these are all phones that broke at some point.
The interesting thing is this: they're still offering their standard $4.99/month cell phone insurance on the refurbs (that is, for the models they normally make the offer on, so Blackberries are out). That's pretty unusual... aside from SquareTrade, most people won't insure or warranty used electronics for any reason. So, we applaud them there. On the other hand, a SquareTrade warranty on that refurbished Blackjack will cost you almost exactly HALF what AT&T's insurance will. So there's that, too.
If you want the big phone for the not-big price, this could be the alternative you've been waiting for. Just keep in mind that you'll be locked into a 2-year contract with used equipment, and you'd only ever get more used replacements if it conks out.
Unless you put our warranty on it, because we don't hand out replacements. We only pay out non-repairable claims in cash, at which point you could go buy a real phone.
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