[imitchellg5]

Has anyone ever purchased a phone from Amazon here. I'm looking at the Droid Eris for my mom and dad, and it's only $9 there. The plan options are a little foggy (although less confusing than the Verizon site). I'm just curious if anyone here has had experience, good or bad, with buying a phone from Amazon.

BTW, if the mods want to move this to Consumer Electronics, go right ahead, I just figured that more people would see it here.

[mduell]

Expect high ETFs; hundreds on top of what vzw charges.

[imitchellg5]

How can Amazon charge an ETF?

[mduell]

Because you agree to it when you buy the device through them. Usually applies if you terminate service between 1 and 6 months (or 0.5 and 4... varies) after signing the contract.

[imitchellg5]

So the contract is through Amazon, not VZW? Not that it matters since there is no reason to get rid of a phone 6 months after one purchases it.

[Cold Warrior]

I bought 2 phones with a Verizon contract in December '07. I canceled in December '09 though in favor of iPhones -- right after my two year contract was up.

The order, shipping and delivery all went fine. Keep in mind though that -- at least back then -- the Verizon contract begins from the date of shipment, so they're going to start billing you based off of that date. That was an annoyance for me because they were sitting in a box, never used, for two weeks until Christmas.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

So the contract is through Amazon, not VZW? Not that it matters since there is no reason to get rid of a phone 6 months after one purchases it.

No. You're entering into a 2 year contract for service with VZW with their standard ETF. But you're also agreeing to pay Amazon a few hundred bucks if you cancel service within a few months because they lose their kickback from VZW that allows them to profitably sell the phone for $9.