EPP, shareholder, Visa/AMEX discounts etc????

[T22user]

My T22 has been a great machine for 3+ years. I am about to leave my current employer and go out on my own as a consultant. I will have to return my T22 of course. I want to replace my T22 with a new Thinkpad (T42P I think). My neighbor and close friend provided me with the EPP website and his employee ID. I had been shopping the site for several weeks now. Then, last week the site rejected his employee id and name. I called to see what the deal was. He worked for Chase bank when they outsourced to IBM last year. He became an IBM employee. Bank One came in and bought Chase and insourced IT at the end of 2004. He is no longer considered an employee (althout the EPP guys tell me he is considered a consultant) . Would any kind sole be willing to consider me a "friend" so I can continue to shop and eventually purchase a new machine? I do own IBM shares, have a VISA and an AMEX so I could use those discounts. However, from everything I have read the EPP discount is the largest. Please PM me if you'd be willing to help a friend in need. Does anyone know the true % discounts that are offered so I can compare side by side. Thanks all!!

[Champ]

i thought shareholders is pretty much on par?

[aamsel]

So, with this being your first post, you are now a "friend in need"???

Anyone dumb enough to fall for this ?????
If so, I would like EPP pricing also!!

I mean, come on, who are you kidding or fooling???

No, shareholder pricing is not "on par".
Shareholder pricing is the same as the Mastercard/VISA discount, EPP is more.

Andrew
Austin, TX

My T22 has been a great machine for 3+ years. I am about to leave my current employer and go out on my own as a consultant. I will have to return my T22 of course. I want to replace my T22 with a new Thinkpad (T42P I think). My neighbor and close friend provided me with the EPP website and his employee ID. I had been shopping the site for several weeks now. Then, last week the site rejected his employee id and name. I called to see what the deal was. He worked for Chase bank when they outsourced to IBM last year. He became an IBM employee. Bank One came in and bought Chase and insourced IT at the end of 2004. He is no longer considered an employee (althout the EPP guys tell me he is considered a consultant) . Would any kind sole be willing to consider me a "friend" so I can continue to shop and eventually purchase a new machine? I do own IBM shares, have a VISA and an AMEX so I could use those discounts. However, from everything I have read the EPP discount is the largest. Please PM me if you'd be willing to help a friend in need. Does anyone know the true % discounts that are offered so I can compare side by side. Thanks all!!

[Leon]

More strongly than that, requests for information for discounts that are not legitimate will no longer be tolerated on this board. Those that do are unfairly putting our gracious host at risk.

[T22user]

Wow, what a wonderful welcome to a new forum aamsel. So you call me out on my first post as some type of a scam artist. Very nice. On my second post I get to defend myself. Here is the email I received from IBM to validate my story. I have removed my friend's information since apparently this is some pretty hot information.

IBM EPP: Holly-day Hoopla! Desktop with CD-RW and DVD just $449.25*, wireless notebook with combo drive only $899!
This note has been sent to you by: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
You're receiving this note from the IBM employee named above who wants to share the latest great deals available from IBM's Employee Purchase Program. This program is open to IBM employees, family and friends and offers special prices on IBM PCs, software and peripherals that are often well below the IBM Public Web price.

Click on the link below and it will take you to a web page containing the latest deals. From there you can link to the log-in page of the EPP website where you can purchase these great products online and not pay extra for shipping.

Happy Shopping !!

Personal notes from the sender:

Here are the latest IBM Employee Purchase Program hot deals!


https://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/st ... etter.html


I'm sure some IBM employee out there can validate that this is a the legitimate email text just prior to Christmas.

So, aamsel, please enlighten me on exactly what scam you think I am trying to pull here. Is it that you think I want to buy up a ton of computers and sell them on EBAY like the already several thousand new thinkpads there already for some pathetically small profit? Do you think I am trying to monopolize the Thinkpard market like the Hunt brothers bought up all the silver in the early 80's? What exactly is my scam?
Here's a scam, I could offer to pay an employee for his/her ID and then place their employment in jeopardy. How ethical or altruistic would that be
of me. Sure, I want to save some bucks on a premium machine that otherwise I wouldn't pay retail for and end up with a Costco HP or a discounted Dell. How does me looking for a discount harm anyone? I assume IBM still makes money or they would not encourage their 100K+ employees to share the web link. Never l helped anyone out before huh aamsel. Have you never donated sick time at work to someone you didn't know so they could get paid while fighting cancer? Ever donated frequent flier miles that were going to expire to Doctors without borders so they could fly and treat people from the tsunami. Neither of these cost me a thing but I've done both in the past month. Karma man. It's a nice thing. That's enough rambling from me. I hope your attitude and immediate attack is not indicative of this site. Fromt he three days I have read posts all I have seen is people trying to help people. To add insult to injury aamsel, I live in Dallas and your attitude make the state of Texas look bad. Next time, please just don't post anything versus slinging your negativity at a new member.

[Guest]

was it that serious??

[Leon]

T22USER, your first post was NOT clear that you were looking for a legitimate shared discount from an IBM employee. For an employee to send your email to IBM to share in a discount is one thing. To ask for an employee for his ID is quite another. IBM employees have limited #'s of systems that they can share at these discounts. If that's all you were asking for (as your explanation has indicated), then your request was direct, but not improper.

In any case, I will assume that your intent was as you indicated. Welcome to the forum, and try to be specific when asking for something as a favor that may be misconstrued.

[aamsel]

Sorry, I don't represent the State of Texas, Austin, etc.
Nor did I mean anything personal toward you whatsoever.
Really!
However, it just is a little "weird" when someone makes their first post in the manner that you did.
I don't doubt for one minute that you HAD access to someone's EPP offers, but you don't now. Also, you are not, obviously an IBM employee or their family, so the offer wasn't ever intended for you.
I am not tied to IBM either, so I can't get such offers.
The difference is...I would never expect to receive those offers, since I am fully aware that I am not entitled to them. They are not supposed to be "shared" from what I understand.

Here is a better idea:
If you want a good Thinkpad deal, contact Bill at bill@thinkpads.com who is the owner/operator of these forums. Many people have bought Thinkpads from him and been very happy with his prices and service. You can save taxes also by buying from him. His website is accessed at:
http://www.thinkpads.com which is the portal for these forums.

Bottom line:
I am not against you for trying to save money on a Thinkpad.
I hope you get the best deal possible on the model you want!

Also welcome!


Andrew
Austin, TX

...To add insult to injury aamsel, I live in Dallas and your attitude make the state of Texas look bad. Next time, please just don't post anything versus slinging your negativity at a new member.

[T22user]

Leon, thank you for the benefit of the doubt and your welcome. EPP hotline tells me I can call in an order anytime once I have decided what I want. Can somone share with me the EPP % discount for both the customized orders and the ready to order systems (assuming it's fixed and does not change)? I'll just shop for prices on the regular web site and factor in the discount to determine my costs. Thanks again, this site has really helped me narrow down what I want versus need.

[dfumento]

Not certain which system you are looking at but if it is a 14" 1400x1050 consider 2378FVU http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=7436

In my view a T42p doesn't offer that much over a T42 unless you need UXGA (1600x1200), doing gaming or CAD (with the 128 MB Video RAM and OpenGL dirvers).

[T22user]

Great thread dfumento. I'll spend the rest of the evening reading up on this and following the links. That price is right too. I'll stop posting before I wear out my welcome. Appreciate the support everyone.

[Leon]

Keep posting! And give us a little more info in our profile.

[aamsel]

Yes, once again...welcome!

I didn't mean to sound nasty in my original reply.

Long day, sorry!!

Andrew
Austin, TX