[alee]

Originally Posted by UptownGirl

So I have two pieces of advice to anyone who cares. First, wait till Oct 2nd to buy the Bold. Second, buy it from an authorized dealer, NOT AT&T themselves. They will not agree to unlock it for you (why should they?) Lots of authorized dealers will unlock it for a fee if you've already bought the unit from them. I really wish I had known this before I got the Bold from Canada. I only talked to the AT&T guys earlier and so was under the impression that their phones could not be unlocked. Now I know better...

If you're not brand new to AT&T and you have an account in good standing, AT&T will unlock your phone for free, no questions asked. Just call their international customer service number, tell them you're traveling overseas and want your AT&T phone unlocked. The only rule is that they will only unlock their own phones.

The Oct 2nd date is still a rumor... most signs right now point to AT&T releasing the Bold in November. I got tired of waiting and bought the Rogers Bold.

[TheBigNewt]

You can pay a lot of people to unlock phones for $40. There are members on this forum that can do it. Dealers, of course, can do it too and if you've been a customer for a couple of years they usually do it for free if you say you want to use it overseas.

[UptownGirl]

Originally Posted by alee

If you're not brand new to AT&T and you have an account in good standing, AT&T will unlock your phone for free, no questions asked. Just call their international customer service number, tell them you're traveling overseas and want your AT&T phone unlocked. The only rule is that they will only unlock their own phones.

The Oct 2nd date is still a rumor... most signs right now point to AT&T releasing the Bold in November. I got tired of waiting and bought the Rogers Bold.

Your first point is valid. I should have clarified that the part of my post related to AT&T not unlocking the phones applies to all new customers (that's me). I'm sure they would unlock their phones for existing customers.

Re: your second point, I don't think that's right. I talked to this dealer yesterday and he is taking pre-orders for Bolds already ($150 deposit each). He is getting in 50 units on Oct 2nd which are already sold out, and 60 more on Oct 3rd (I missed the first day but can get mine on Oct 3rd). And I also called AT&T and they said they are definitely releasing the Bold in the "first week of Oct". I also heard the rumors, but what the dealer told me was that AT&T has spent loads on training up all their dealers on the Bold and they have been told they should be ready to go on Oct 2nd. Whether you believe them or not is up to you, but this guy seems on the level. And while I was there yesterday (setting up my Bold's email and Internet took a while since it was pre-configured with the Rogers settings), three people came in to place pre-orders for Bolds. Same deal - Oct 3rd as the Oct 2nd orders were sold out.

[Ragz]

I spoke to my friend last night who is an AT&T wholesaler and he told me that it won't be Oct 2 and they still don't have a real date. I hope he is right because I just ordered one from fommy.

[TheBigNewt]

ATT is not a smart company IMO. Not smart to take orders and deposits and promise a date now. Sure they have the phones, sure the reps have had their 3 hours of online training, but is their shaky network ready yet? If people have been promised their phones on a specific date then they have to deliver or they'll die a slow and painful death in this market. If the network takes a dump they'll have so many returns that'll kill them too. Nobody really needs ATT when other options are around. (Reminds me of did that song that went: "are you ready for the shuffle are you ready for the deal, are you ready to let go of the steering wheel?"--who did it?)

[InnerGeek]

I am sure it is possible that authorized sellers have been able to put an initial order in for the Bold. But I would imagine that the delivery date is tentative based on ATT's launch on Oct. 2nd. If they push back their release date, so will the delivery date to these sellers.

[UptownGirl]

Originally Posted by jkendall

Hi all,

I was wondering a good place to buy an unlocked Blackberry Bold for AT&T with a good return policy. I currently have AT&T now and the Bold will not be our until Oct/Nov, I cannot wait that long. I am hesitant not to buy from a local AT&T store because if I have a problem I won't be able to bring it in or return it. Anyone know any reputable stores via the internet to buy a Bold and not got screwed if there is a problem. Thanks!

Personally, I bought an unlocked Rogers BB Bold via a friend of mine in Toronto who then shipped it to me. The cost was C$649 plus S&H. However, my best friend just bought an unlocked Rogers BB Bold from a re-seller in the US. She used PureMobile, sorry I don't know the website. She paid more than me, they charged her $759 plus 20-something bucks for S&H. But they were reliable and the shipping was really fast and the unit is exactly the same as mine, i.e., Rogers branded but unlocked. One thing - both she and I had to take our Bolds in to the AT&T stores (I went to an authorized retailer) as the settings need to be changed from the Rogers pre-configurations to the AT&T settings. It took about an hour. Or if you are tech-savvy, maybe you could do it yourself. Anyway, those PureMobile guys really do have the unlocked units.