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expired Posted by treo • Mar 23, 2023
expired Posted by treo • Mar 23, 2023

256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G 2-in-1 Smartphone (Various Carriers)

(Activation Required) + Free Shipping

from $300

$1,800

Best Buy
1,739 Comments 314,635 Views
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Deal Details
Best Buy has 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G 2-in-1 Foldable Smartphone Tablet (AT&T or Verizon) on sale from $299.99. Shipping is free or select free store pickup where available.

Thanks to Community Member treo for finding this deal.

Note: Activation on cellular carrier is required. Be sure to select your carrier and select 'Activate Today' to see pricing. Availability for store pickup may vary by location.

Available Carriers:Available Colors:
  • Phantom Black
  • Phantom Green
  • Phantom Silver
Specs:
  • Screens:
    • Main: 7.6" Infinity Flex display - Cover: 6.2" Dynamic AMOLED
    • 120Hz AMOLED 2X Screen
  • Memory: 12GB
  • Storage: 256GB
  • Main Camera: 12MP Wide, 12MP UW, 12MP Tele + 2x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, 10MP Front
  • Battery: 4,400mAh / 25W Super Fast Charge
  • S Pen Support
  • IPX8 rating

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Activation on a cellular carrier is required for from $299.99 pricing. Activation fees may apply and vary by carrier.
  • About this product:
    • Rating of 4.4 from over 140 Best Buy customer reviews.
  • Additional Note:

Original Post

Written by treo
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Best Buy has 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G 2-in-1 Foldable Smartphone Tablet (AT&T or Verizon) on sale from $299.99. Shipping is free or select free store pickup where available.

Thanks to Community Member treo for finding this deal.

Note: Activation on cellular carrier is required. Be sure to select your carrier and select 'Activate Today' to see pricing. Availability for store pickup may vary by location.

Available Carriers:Available Colors:
  • Phantom Black
  • Phantom Green
  • Phantom Silver
Specs:
  • Screens:
    • Main: 7.6" Infinity Flex display - Cover: 6.2" Dynamic AMOLED
    • 120Hz AMOLED 2X Screen
  • Memory: 12GB
  • Storage: 256GB
  • Main Camera: 12MP Wide, 12MP UW, 12MP Tele + 2x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, 10MP Front
  • Battery: 4,400mAh / 25W Super Fast Charge
  • S Pen Support
  • IPX8 rating

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Activation on a cellular carrier is required for from $299.99 pricing. Activation fees may apply and vary by carrier.
  • About this product:
    • Rating of 4.4 from over 140 Best Buy customer reviews.
  • Additional Note:

Original Post

Written by treo

Community Voting

Deal Score
+132
Good Deal
Visit Best Buy

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Top Comments

stealth805
136 Posts
95 Reputation
Want this phone for $299 and not have to pay the monthly fee and be able to use another carrier??
Let me save y'all about 4 hours, which is how long it took me to finally get to the right people to make this happen. Here is how I got this handled
I ordered a $5 Tello number, selected e-sim, received number within a few minutes. Make sure to register the pin they give you in the email, it gives you all the port out info access. Theres a code there that is needed to enter in Best Buy portal when you port it over to ATT.
Ported that number in to ATT via Best Buy portal
Picked up phone
Powered on Phone with ATT sim
Finished ALL account creation, including pin number creation etc via ATT email
Spent 3 hours getting tossed around 10 different reps and departments and supervisors via online chat, disconnected multiple times, told no multiple times, etc etc etc.
Don't bother submitting request online for unlock, it will be denied.
Just call technical support, JUST CALL!!! 1800-288-2020. Call from a phone other that the Z Fold 3. Reason you call from other phone is you will want to pop your sim in from other provider to get to the sim unlock prompt while you are on the phone with them. Tell them you need technical support, you may get tossed around one more time, but you WILL get someone that can help you.
Have your link ready that states phones paid in full at purchase can be unlocked without waiting 60 days. I had to legit provide not just the wording, but the exact link. The rep will literally navigate to it and will be super surprised and state that this is the first they've ever heard of this policy and that they always get hassled by the unlock team and ultimately never get the unlock code for the customer.
Have your receipt from Best Buy ready ready to go (I had to legit take pics with my phone and text them to a number they gave me).
After about 10 minutes with the rep, they provided the unlock code.
Make sure to input the unlock code prior to getting transferred over to cancellation department.
Get sent over to cancellation department and submit for cancellation under buyer's remorse policy.
Done and done. Save yourself a lot of time and just call them. I paid $299 plus tax and have a fully unlocked phone on T-mobile with no issues at all. ATT service is shut down, I didn't care about the Tello number, much easier to pay the $5 for a Tello than mess with a number you actually care about keeping. Just cancel the service and it is over and done with.
I obviously can't promise this is gonna work for every single person. I suppose a non-cooperative rep might not wanna go the extra mile for you, but my telephone rep was super helpful and patient. She admitted I had done my diligence with researching the terms and pushed the "unlock team" to help her with the code. YMMV of course, but this worked for me. Just be patient and courteous to the rep. I was frustrated with how long it was taking but you need to acknowledge that each new person you talk to, it is their first interaction with you, they have no idea how long you've been dealing with people. You can avoid a lot of frustration by just calling to start out instead of trying to manage the situation via online chat.
Questions, feel free to ask, perhaps I wasn't completely thorough, but that was basically what I went through. Good luck all.
quantecipher
2786 Posts
1616 Reputation
As soon as yo have the phone in hand.

Port out the line to cancel. Line automatically cancels as soon as the number it ported out (5-10 mins). You can port to Tello for $2.50.
https://slickdeals.net/f/16531969-tello-50-off-selected-plans

These phones are subsidized by the carriers and hoping people would switch or add more lines and stay with them, etc; therefore different carrier may offer different prices.

You can request unlock right away because it's paid in full with no money owed; i.e., no monthly installment,

Yes.

Port out the number to cancel right away (5-10 min, as soon as the number is ported) so that you don't have to deal with rep that doesn't allow you to cancel. You can port to Tello for $2.50.
https://slickdeals.net/f/16531969-tello-50-off-selected-plans

Yes, but you can cancel right away.
snoopykul
26 Posts
18 Reputation
Option 1 worked for me

I picked up my Fold 3 this morning from bestbuy. ATT variant.
Ordered online with the porting in option as it wouldn't let me order otherwise. Used a random boost mobile number I had and have no intention of porting in a number.
BB didn't ask for anything in store, just gave me the phone and i walked out.

Received att emails after pickup, created account, created ATT PIN, jotted down account number, and saw $60 plan but $0 due.

unboxed and booted with t-mobile sim card, asked for unlock code.

tried to unlock from my att portal, but denied.
tried to unlock using the request unlock website for non att members, but denied via email

Started a chat with att to cancel service and request unlock.
I mentioned having bad service reception in my area and wanted to cancel and wanted to unlock phone to use it for work which was a different provider.
They wanted me to reset the network, but i said not interested just want to cancel.

They also mentioned that i lose my port in number if i cancelled. which was wierd since i never actually ported in the number yet.

Eventually, they said, "Since the total due balance if $0.00 there will be no charges now. Your services with AT&T will be completely shut off."

Then i asked about the network unlock, which they said they sent directly to my phone. Didn't work even though she said it was unlocked on their system. Eventually they provided the unlock code which worked.

Now my fold 3 is cancelled with att service with 0 payments or fees and unlocked so i can use my Tmobile sim.

hope that helps some of ya.

1,738 Comments

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Apr 7, 2023
4,178 Posts
Joined Apr 2009
Apr 7, 2023
emofals
Apr 7, 2023
4,178 Posts
Quote from joshs1930 :
Too low, at least $750
Hard to come by, been sitting at that price for almost 2 weeks now.
Apr 7, 2023
1,824 Posts
Joined Dec 2014
Apr 7, 2023
joshs1930
Apr 7, 2023
1,824 Posts
Quote from emofals :
Hard to come by, been sitting at that price for almost 2 weeks now.
They sell everyday on eBay for $750-$800. Maybe your market is not that hot but personally I would not go below $700 if desperate.
Apr 7, 2023
11,063 Posts
Joined Mar 2011
Apr 7, 2023
gibsonbass
Apr 7, 2023
11,063 Posts
Finally came to the end of saga with unlock code. Thanks to everybody who suggested for FCC complaint.
Now, how I m supposed to upgrade the firmware? Can I loan an active sim card from a friend to upgrade the firmware?
Apr 7, 2023
4,178 Posts
Joined Apr 2009
Apr 7, 2023
emofals
Apr 7, 2023
4,178 Posts
Quote from joshs1930 :
They sell everyday on eBay for $750-$800. Maybe your market is not that hot but personally I would not go below $700 if desperate.
That totally makes sense. However I think there is an opportunity cost associated. Selling it helps me free up and move to pursue other opportunities contingent on the sale..
Pro
Apr 7, 2023
3,109 Posts
Joined Nov 2012
Apr 7, 2023
gadgetNerd
Pro
Apr 7, 2023
3,109 Posts
Quote from gibsonbass :
Finally came to the end of saga with unlock code. Thanks to everybody who suggested for FCC complaint.
Now, how I m supposed to upgrade the firmware? Can I loan an active sim card from a friend to upgrade the firmware?
You can use Samsung's smart switch software on a PC (preferrably Mac as more people got it work) to update it. Or you can flash it to a non carrier firmware using the instructions I posted before.
Apr 7, 2023
12 Posts
Joined Nov 2012
Apr 7, 2023
rdslik
Apr 7, 2023
12 Posts
Quote from gibsonbass :
Finally came to the end of saga with unlock code. Thanks to everybody who suggested for FCC complaint.
Now, how I m supposed to upgrade the firmware? Can I loan an active sim card from a friend to upgrade the firmware?
How much time did it take you to get unlock code after filing FCC? Did you get it in the email?

BTW I was able to upgrade the FW using WiFi. All you have to do it is go into setting and manually start the update process. I was able to do that on my locked phone for which I am still waiting for unlock code.

Thanks
Apr 7, 2023
12 Posts
Joined Nov 2012
Apr 7, 2023
rdslik
Apr 7, 2023
12 Posts
Quote from ScarletPolice7780 :
Please help: I got unlock code thru FCC complaint and when I tried to unlock my phone with the code, it was showing that phone unlocked successfully. But now I can see this message on network bar "Phone Not Allowed MM#6" whenever I am trying to put new SIM card like T-mobile or Metro. I can't see unlock message anymore and apparently my phone is unlocked now. Anyone faces same problem and how to solve this?
How was unlock code deliver to to you. Via email? Thx

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Apr 7, 2023
11,063 Posts
Joined Mar 2011
Apr 7, 2023
gibsonbass
Apr 7, 2023
11,063 Posts
Quote from rdslik :
How was unlock code deliver to to you. Via email? Thx
Filed complain April 3, got my code today. I had to go back and forth two times on phone and email.

Code was delivered via email. I was kind of worried they might sent code on text
Apr 7, 2023
11,063 Posts
Joined Mar 2011
Apr 7, 2023
gibsonbass
Apr 7, 2023
11,063 Posts
Quote from rdslik :
How much time did it take you to get unlock code after filing FCC? Did you get it in the email?

BTW I was able to upgrade the FW using WiFi. All you have to do it is go into setting and manually start the update process. I was able to do that on my locked phone for which I am still waiting for unlock code.

Thanks
I should have updated the firmware before cancelling the service. I wonder if dead ATT sim is good to go to update the firmware?
Apr 8, 2023
59 Posts
Joined Nov 2014
Apr 8, 2023
Madhawk1995
Apr 8, 2023
59 Posts
Quote from Samosa23 :
Hey
Which case that has kickstand is good?
This one is my favorite [a.co]. These two [a.co] are down to personal preference [a.co].
Apr 8, 2023
254 Posts
Joined Jul 2017
Apr 8, 2023
Yoksel
Apr 8, 2023
254 Posts
I finally got through all the steps.

I created a brand new Google Voice number for this on 3/24 and placed an order on 3/25.

Best Buy sent me an email 3/27 asking to contact them. I did same day, they spoke to ATT, finalized the order and shipped it.

I got the phone on 3/28 but was busy with work so I let it sit till the end of the week,

When I found the time to deal with it, I realized there were two SIM cards - one was attached to the outside of the box and the other was in the box. It was pretty clear that the one outside of the box was the one I need to use, except it was too big to fit into Fold. I tried the other one out of curiosity but it did not work.

Went to the ATT store next day, they cut the SIM for me. Test right away and outgoing call from Fold worked.

Went back home and for the next few hours I was updating the phone. I installed probably close to 20 updates on it. I force-checked update availability and it just kept coming back with more and more.

Finally when that was done, I swapped the SIM into my old Galaxy S9, made a couple of calls and requested unlock. It came back saying the Fold's IMEI doesn't match ATT device. WTH?

Well, I returned SIM back into Fold, started figuring it out and realized that I can't call that device. The calls were still going to Google Voice. Outbound calls worked, 5G worked but inbound did not.

Today was day 13 since my order so I could not procrastinate on this. Called customer support and after some dancing we figured port did not complete successfully. They gave me a number for port department which I called, had to dance around a bit more and they fixed the port.

From there I repeated SIM swap process and had unlock code within couple of minutes.

I then called main line again and canceled the service under buyer's remorse. Very smooth process.

I shall see what my bill will be. I might be on the hook for activation which is ok.

Huge thanks to everyone who discovered and described the SIM swap method. I'm glad I waited on it as I'd rather pay the activation fee than spend hours arguing with ATT reps.
Apr 8, 2023
359 Posts
Joined Dec 2021
Apr 8, 2023
SeriousKitten2924
Apr 8, 2023
359 Posts
I'm upset and completely don't understand why swap SIM didn't work for me as it did for most of you guys.

It's my third day I'm trying to do swap with unlocked iphone xr and nothing helps. ATT portal continue showing error, that this device is active on another account. After two or three times it says wait 24 hours.

I had, as many of you had, issues with porting in my Google Voice number and had to talk to support so they manually finished the process. Besides (just for blind luck) I put Sim into the Fold and tried unlock with phone number and of course was declined as there's no 60 days of active service with ATT.

I didn't try to find someone with ATT account to use his sim and then try to unlock as a customer.

I didn't try FCC route, because I'm not sure how to properly write a complaint and my order was made in morning of 28 March, that day ATT changed their policy - so how to prove that on the time I ordered three was old policy, and afternoon they changed it?!

Fold is laying somewhere on the table, I'm more and more having intention to return it. And need to fight with those bastards to cancel service and all charges they put on me.
Apr 8, 2023
12 Posts
Joined Nov 2012
Apr 8, 2023
rdslik
Apr 8, 2023
12 Posts
Quote from gibsonbass :
I should have updated the firmware before cancelling the service. I wonder if dead ATT sim is good to go to update the firmware?
I also updated my FW after cancelling my service. Not sure why you are having trouble updating FW over the WiFi. Do you not see "Software Update" option in your settings or is it grayed out? One other thing I can think of is that I was in airplane mode when I did my updates as I had already cancelled my service and did not want to lose my battery unnecessarily.
Apr 8, 2023
11,063 Posts
Joined Mar 2011
Apr 8, 2023
gibsonbass
Apr 8, 2023
11,063 Posts
Quote from rdslik :
I also updated my FW after cancelling my service. Not sure why you are having trouble updating FW over the WiFi. Do you not see "Software Update" option in your settings or is it grayed out? One other thing I can think of is that I was in airplane mode when I did my updates as I had already cancelled my service and did not want to lose my battery unnecessarily.
My phone shows software upto date which is still in 13.0

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Apr 8, 2023
12 Posts
Joined Nov 2012
Apr 8, 2023
rdslik
Apr 8, 2023
12 Posts
Quote from gibsonbass :
My phone shows software upto date which is still in 13.0
In that case you are most likely upto date.

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