My Tmobile Sidekick finally gave up the ghost this weekend. It won’t connect for either voice or data. I’ve spent hours on the line with Tmobile trying to get things sorted out. This sad little Sidekick is long out of warranty, so it all comes down to how much I want to spend to replace it. Once Tmobile determined that the unit was kaput, things turned into an episode of Lets Make a Deal (sans Monty Hall) …

The second Tmobile technician suggested that I could replace my original black and white Sidekick with an out-of-date (but slightly newer) color Sidekick for $70. While this seemed to be a fairly cheap way out, I wasn’t keen on spending even seventy bucks for old technology.

So I asked if there was anything else that they could do with regard to a more current device. The technician was only authorized to ship a replacement unit and had to pass me along to Customer Care.

Customer Care offered me a new Sidekick II for $249, a mere fifty bucks off list. Seeing as this was the same offer displayed on the Tmobile website, I declined and asked if they could do anything better than that. It didn’t seem like they really wanted to retain a customer that had been with them for nearly three years. Where was the love?

The Customer Care rep stated that was the best she could do, but would be happy to pass me along to Advanced Care.

After enduring a significant amount time on hold, the Advanced Care rep came on the line and kindly sweetened the offer … knocking it down to $149 for a new Sidekick II with express shipping and a free month of service.

But I haven’t taken the bait just yet.

I’m hooked on the Sidekick keyboard. I tried thumb-typing on a Treo last week and it was less than satisfying.

Decisions, Decisions …

The kicker? New Tmobile customers can get a Sidekick II for free through Amazon …