Verizon Dumping Mail-in Rebates for Palm Devices?

Posted By: Kris Keilhack Friday, March 5, 2010 9:10:52 AM

In a rather unusual move for a carrier long fond of sizable mail-in rebate offers, the Boy Genius Report brings news that, as of Friday, March 5th, Verizon Wireless is immediately offering their two Palm webOS devices without mail-in rebates. The carrier will instead offer the Palm Pre Plus for $149.99 out the door with a two-year contract. The Palm Pixi Plus will now ring in at $79.99 under the same terms.

While a great deal for would-be Verizon webOS owners everywhere, especially on the heels of last week's webOS 1.4 update release and the ongoing "BOGO offer", the pricing still comes in above Best Buy's in-store pricing of $49.99 and $99.99 for the two smartphones.

While both Verizon and Palm are mum on the issue, an optimist could take this is a sign that this could be a component of Jon Rubinstein's "Project Jumpstart" revealed by the Wall Street Journal last week. By further subsidizing the hardware cost, Verizon could be making amends to Palm for its reportedly sluggish response to the WebOS launch in late January. A more skeptical reading of this news would suggest that neither of the webOS handsets have performed as expected and Verizon is moving swiftly to clear excess inventory out of the channel, as the Boy Genius Report tipster suggests.

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Do ANY smartphones there have rebates?

SeldomVisitor @ 3/5/2010 10:32:15 AM # Q
Just askin'.

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Yup

hkklife @ 3/5/2010 12:21:32 PM # Q
On VZW's website, they have "instant" rebates. In-store, nearly all of their smartphone and most of their dumbphones/multimedia phones have MIRs attached. They love them because of the relatively low fulfillment/customer redemption rate.

Don't confuse VZW's rebate-lovin' policies with with BB Mobile, where all MIRs were banished several years ago.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid

RE: Yup
SeldomVisitor @ 3/5/2010 12:50:09 PM # Q
yeah, I was looking online and not seeing any MIRs.

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It's about time

Caspian @ 3/5/2010 1:29:42 PM # Q
VZW not only offered MIRs, but they provided them in the form of a VISA "Rebate Card" which allows them to take advantage of the low fulfillment rate of MIRs AND to ride the float on the Cards and eventually get the unspent money back. Maybe they have started to listen to customers like me who consistently rate them poorly in their customer satisfaction surveys. They have have a great network but I hate their business practices and tell them every chance I get. I also tell them that I would not recommend Verizon to my friends because of their pricing policies and poor business practices. The usual arrogant response from the store reps is that VZW has the best network and they can do what they want.

With the recent price changes and not dropping MIR for the Pre and Pixi, maybe they are starting to listen to their customers.

I hope that this change will drive Pre and Pixi sales so that the developers will embrace the platform and the market will shut up about Palm. If VZW keeps making these kinds of changes, I may start recommending them to my friends and family.
David
Palm III> Palm IIIx> Palm IIIc> Sony T615> Sony T665> Sony TH55> Palm T|E> Palm T|E2> Palm T|X>Treo 700p>Pre Plus

RE: It's about time
Caspian @ 3/5/2010 1:32:16 PM # Q
Sorry, "not dropping the MIR for the Pre and Pixie" should be "dropping the MIR for the Pre and Pixie."
David
Palm III> Palm IIIx> Palm IIIc> Sony T615> Sony T665> Sony TH55> Palm T|E> Palm T|E2> Palm T|X>Treo 700p>Pre Plus
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