Hey I got a new cell phone, and a new #. If you need it contact me. My contract with Voicestream (TMobile) was done in January, and my phone is in a sad state of busted-ness. However, TMobile is sneaky in that they require a 3 month wait period after you cancel your contract before getting a new one (to get a free phone). There’s always ways around this, and our resident Chinatown expert, Wincie gave us the scoop on how. Click the MORE link for the story.

I’ve been wanting the Nokia 8390 for quite some time. I love the way the phone looks, its size, and ruggedness. It’s not flimsy like the 8290 or the similar looking styles. Here’s what the 8390 looks like.

The problem is, I want a GSM phone, and with that TMobile restriction, the other option was AT&T GSM which sucks big time. Caroline is also looking for a good phone/plan since our apt has no long distance and it costs to make local calls. The cell phone is our call out. We called on our resident Chinatown expert, Wincie, for the Chinatown hookup.

As it turns out, she loves this grocery store on Elizabeth Street that has a small pavillion that sells cell phones. After going there we saw why… This place will pull the most sketchy deal to give the consumer the best price! I gave him mad props for the deal he pulled off.

Here’s the lowdown. Since the phone was no longer being offered from TMobile, he took the AT&T 8390, hacked it to unlock it from AT&T only SIM cards. He then took a SIM card from a TMobile phone that was supposed to be sold with a Samsung s105. The reason for doing this is because there’s a TMobile rebate for that phone. However, they don’t ask for the UPC on the box, rather they ask for the bar code sticker from the SIM card itself. Therefore, he can give the Samsung rebates to anyone, while only having to write a fake receipt for the rebate. Since I can’t open a new TMobile account, both phones are in Caroline’s name, billed to my credit card, mailed to my apt. Then next year I can order new phones for the both of us once we get bored of our phones and better calling plans come out. Kinda sketchy but it works out great! Why? The 8390 is free, stick a TMobile SIM card in there (free), Samsung Rebate (get back $50), and activation fee ($35 per phone). We got two phones, and thus we got PAID to get a new cell phone. Hhahaha… Awesome hookup!

So there you have it folks, a sketchy seller in Chinatown comes through for the betterment of his fellow yellow. Now if only everything could be that way…