Best Buy answers questions on Palm Pre day

By on May 20, 2009 at 4:07 PM
Retail May 20, 2009

We’ve been getting an enormous response to the news that Best Buy’s Palm Pres will go for $100 less (well, basically) and we hit up Best Buy to try and get some answers on various questions you guys have been asking. Straight Talk Express style. Hit the jump for some possibly valuable info that could save your ass from going home without webOS in your pants.

Scott Anderson, director of merchandising at Best Buy Mobile took some time out to clarify the following for us:

Q: First off, what’s up with the stock situation? Forget rumors, Dan Hesse himself has said there’s probably a greater chance of getting a nice Sprint customer service rep than nailing a Pre on launch day. How’s Best Buy’s stock going to be?

A: Like most of the significant handset launches, we expect inventory to be in limited supply for the first 4-8 weeks.

Q: What about preorders? A lot of people are incredibly excited over the Palm Pre and that the device will be available at Best Buy with an “instant” mail-in-rebate. Will you guys be doing any preorders, reservations, etc? How will you deal with long lines if there are some?

A: The addition of the Palm Pre expands our already large assortment of smartphones. We are excited about the opportunity to present consumers with many choices and solutions as they look to meet their individual mobile technology needs. Best Buy Mobile is initiating a “ticketing process” beginning on June 6.  Meaning, if any store were to sell through all of its inventory, the store would begin to log customer names in an effort to prioritize them for the next shipment’s arrival.

Q: Ok, cool. Will every Best Buy location be selling the Pre or is there a “limited” launch like we reported a little while back?

A: Every Best Buy Mobile store that offers Sprint phones, which is nearly 1,000 stores, will have the Pre.

So there you have it folks. If you have any additional questions hit us in the comments and we’ll try and pass them on. You can also stop by Best Buy Mobile for free upgrade checks to see if you’re eligible for a new smartphone. That will help to speed things up on launch day, you know, if you’re the nice person type.

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  • Don Louie Cantone

    q, hold on to that dream of a GSM Pre, in the U.S., Sprint has a more than decent phone on it’s hands with more to come

  • dm919

    You can buy the Pre at BBMm, but your SERO plan days are over. You must switch to Everything Plus plan-just like the Instinct was.

  • JKman

    Best Buy Mobile is an indirect sales location of sprint just like your other non cor stores. So yes, They can do all the same stuff; upgrades, rate plan changes, phone book swap, ect..

    plus your 22+ month upgrade credit is already applied to the price. Plus, BBYM instant savings. Hints Why BBYM will instantly save everyone an extra $100 up front on the PRE.

    NO MAIL IN REBATES = BETTER!

    Plus, there standard 30 return/exchange. You get your reward zone points. for those who don’t know, They offer their own protection plan that has ZERO deductables, does cover water damage, WILL replace the battery, DOES NOT replace damaged phones with refurbished(excluding Iphone), includes a loaner phone, WILL NOT cover lost or theft. Plus more!

  • http://gkatsev.com gkatsev

    @dm919, not true, if you buy the phone without a contract and then you can just enter the ESM or whatever other numbers they need to sync your contract with the new phone, just to get the subsidized price you will need perhaps to switch to EP.

  • Dolittledy

    @patrick

    The difference is Sprint Kiosk’s are owned by RadioShack and ALL our phone pricing is without mail-in-rebates ( For New lines and upgrades). So coming to a Sprint Kiosk or Radioshack can guarantee you a Pre on launch day because everyone else in America will be going to BestBuy or Sprint Corp.

  • Informed

    @q

    Stay out of the medicine cabinet, ATT is not getting a Pre, Also, what is so great about the iphone update?… All it does is add features (which should have been on iphone 2G) most other phones have had for years.

  • DiamondDuq

    You will be eligible. You may have to pay slightly more, usually around $20, for an upgrade rather than new activation. Best Buy offers the post rebate price out the door with all of their phones and carriers and I’m surprised no one realized it until the Pre release announcement. I wouldn’t go anywhere else to buy a phone if I was planning on getting a “rebate price”.

  • Ricardo

    Yeah last year i sent in my rebate for my touch diamond, and I was expecting 100 dollars, but I ended up getting 250!!!

    Hopefully that happens again with the Pre =)

  • Patrick

    @Dolittledy So the Kiosks and Radioshack will have the phone for $199 with no rebates? In other words I can walk in and plunk down $200 and walk out with a phone?

  • Dolittledy

    @ Patrick
    Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. As long as you are approved for service or your eligible for your 22-month upgrade you will be allowed to get the Pre without any Mail-in-rebates.

  • rodent

    Will the Pre suck as much as Sprint?

  • IGGY

    On May 21, 2009 @ 8:09 pm, rodent Said:

    Will the Pre suck as much as Sprint?

    ========================================

    Nope…not even as much as your mother. Is she still giving it away for a nickel behind the local Best Buy? Bwahahaha

  • You can

    You can talk on the phone and surf the web at the same time on the pre….. plus att sucks where I am located and sprint rocks, so the service just depends on where you are located….

  • badproduct

    On sprint.com it says I’m eligible for a 150$ savings, Now will Best Buy honor this?

  • Clarissa

    Question 1: Can I use my current Palm applications on Palm Pre like on my Palm T/X?

    Question 2: Can the Palm Pre be purchased without a contract and still have the accessible features?

  • Jeff

    Clarissa,

    (1) You’ll need a program called Classic from MotionApps (http://www.motionapps.com/classic/) to run your Palm T/X programs. No word on pricing or when it will be available.

    (2) If you’re asking if you can use the Pre without Sprint service, no. You won’t get past activation (which is forced when you first turn on the phone). Even if you did, a good amount of the functionality relies on having service.

    If you’re asking if you can buy off-contract, but use with an existing Sprint account, maybe. There are rumors that Sprint won’t sell the phones without a new or upgraded contract. There are also rumors that you can buy for full price at Radio Shack. And Best Buy is showing that you can buy without contract, but at a significant premium.

    Most likely, it will be possible to buy the phone outright, though. If you do, Sprint should still let you activate and use with your Sprint account, as long as you have a compatible plan (older plans won’t work).

  • Dave

    Will the palm pre be compatable with sprint/nextel direct connected? that will be a big factor in my decision, i use D/C multiple times a day

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