Best Buy Mobile Specialty Stores

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post courtesy of Best Buy. All opinions and tips shared here are entirely my own.

Every other year, the start of July is known as upgrade-month for us. Aaron and I both have iPhones and always look forward to the end of our contract when we’re eligible for new phones. I usually start looking for any promotions in June, since we can upgrade as early as mid-June.

So this time, when it was time to upgrade, I immediately looked to our wireless provider. AT&T was running a promotion that looked good, but the fine print proved for the deal to not be as good as it sounded. I’m not going to get into details, but I’ll say their online promotion was misleading. Once it was clear that their promotion wasn’t the right one, I walked out of the AT&T store.

I was starting to face the reality that I might NOT upgrade this year when Best Buy contacted me with a promotion from their Best Buy Mobile Specialty stores. I knew they had a recycling program for older tech at the standard Best Buy stores, but I didn’t realize that they offer a trade-in program for older phones also at their mobile specialty stores, where you can get a Best Buy gift card to apply towards a new phone.

They’re offering up to $200 towards a new phone depending on model and condition. Any device you trade in for a gift card needs to be in working order, and can have been purchased anywhere. I’ve seen previous trade-in offers from Best Buy, but I had no idea they did this everyday!

After my frustration at the AT&T store, I drove over to our Best Buy Mobile Store in Tuttle Mall to learn about their promotions in person. AT&T had left me feeling cautious about fine print, so I entered cautiously, on guard for any bait-and-switch offers. Instead, Matt from Best Buy helped me through the process and made it amazingly pleasant.

The mobile store is just like you might expect from the name: a smaller Best Buy store focused on mobile devices and accessories, found locally in malls or in your neighborhood shopping centers. They have the latest smartphones and tablets from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, from all the top brands, along with stylish accessories to suit your lifestyle.

The staff are highly trained in mobile products, yet non-commissioned, so they can help determine the right phone for you, as well as compare plans across the carriers. They can set up and activate your new phone, transfer your contacts and data and set you up with the complimentary Walk Out Working program.

I brought my phone as well as Aaron’s phone with me, and Matt quickly took a look at both to inspect them for any damage. He then asked a few questions to determine our cell plan and what kind of phones we were looking for. I wanted to upgrade both to iPhone5 – yes, I know the iPhone5S will be out later this year, but I’m tired of waiting. Matt checked that both of our phones were eligible for upgrade (they were) and said each would earn a $150 Best Buy gift card to use towards another phone.

At this time, they were running a special promotion, offering $150 trade-in for an iPhone4 or iPhone 4S in good condition. The iPhone5 was also $150, making the phone FREE when trading in our own phones! (Activation fees were still required by AT&T, along with taxes, of course.)

This poor Best Buy employee was amazingly patient as I went over the details at least two complete times, maybe three, to make sure I wasn’t missing some catch in the offer. But there wasn’t one to be found. Trade in our old phones for $150 in Best Buy gift cards each, get a new iPhone5 for each of us at $150 each, meaning there was no cost for the phone out of pocket. Plus there would be no change to our plans. We’re grandfathered in for unlimited data with AT&T (thank goodness!) and Matt assured me that getting the new phone wouldn’t change that.

I finally was satisfied that there was no trick involved (and very happy at this realization) and we started the process of switching phones. I’ll give him credit for getting two phone lines switched to new phones without getting anything confused between the two. He even offered to transfer our contacts and photos on each phone to make sure everything was ready to go when I walked out of the store. (This is their Walk Out Working program.) It took about 30 minutes to transfer my photos and contacts, but that was partially my fault for having over 1000 photos on my phone. Note to self: clean off your phone more often.

My new precious, nearly ready to go.

I was also offered the Geek Squad Protection Plan for our phones. At first I said no thanks, but then read through the details a little more and decided it might be good while we get used to the new size of the iPhone5. The plan is monthly, can be cancelled at any time, and even protects again fatal user error – cracked screen, phone dropped in toilet, etc. I’m pretty careful with my phone, but with the new size I decided it might be worth it for a few months at least.

Finally, I bought some accessories for our phones while I was there. They had a package deal that saved quite a bit of money on a case, screen protector, and car charger. We needed all of those things for each phone, and since I was essentially getting the phones for free, didn’t feel any hesitation about buying some accessories, especially at that package price.

Oh and one more important plus for them: as the last step, Matt asked if I’d like to personally make sure the phones were reset to clear out our data. It was sad to erase each one, but I knew the information was already safe on my new phone. I know it probably sounds like a small thing, but it still gave me a sense of security to delete the data myself.

If you’re eligible for an upgrade, I’d recommend checking out Best Buy’s Mobile Specialty stores to see if they can beat the offer from your wireless provider. Best Buy makes it easy to check before you visit, too: you can see if your cell phone is eligible for an upgrade, check how much your current phone could be worth, and find a Best Buy mobile store near you. And it’s not just iPhones – bring in any mobile phone (including older mobile phones no longer being used) and they can evaluate them and offer you a gift card for your trade in if it’s eligible.

I love my new phone (one word: Siri!), and I love that I got such a great deal on it. I’m so glad I gave Best Buy the chance to show me that getting a new cell phone doesn’t have to feel like new car shopping!

Full disclosure: The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. In my case, I actually purchased my phone before I was invited to write this post. All opinions expressed are my own, and the experience detailed in this post is my unique experience with the service.