Has anyone out there ever bought a phone from amazon.com? I was mainly interested in the amazon mail in rebates, how long before you got yours back? I appreciate any feedback. thanks
-the action

Amazon tends to send their rebates - but it is about 8-10 weeks. I took the amazon rebate into a sprint store and sprint matched it (immediately, without waiting for a rebate).

Or if you just go to the provider website (ATT, Verizon) they will usually give you the same deals, send the phone free by fedex, and make all rebates 'instant'.

I agree with Seeker. I brought in a copy of Amazon's rebate form to T-Mobile & they matched it. I got a Samsung S-105 color screen phone for $50. It retails for $299. I could've gotten it for free after $50 T-Mobile rebate if I signed up for $35 plan but I didn't need that many minutes per month. Give it a try.
I gave a copy of my receipt to a friend & he got the same phone for $50 & I will get $25 referrral credit. Sweet!

Do you buy the phone online and give the rebate form to the tmobile store? Or do they discount the phone in the store and you buy it from them?

I bought the phone in the store. Walked in with printouts of the Amazon 'ad' and the "after rebates" price.

Basically T-Mobile stored matched Amazon's AFTER REBATE price. I paid $50 plus tax & walked out of the store with an ACTIVATED phone.

I bought a Sprint PCS Sanyo phone from Amazon that had both a Sprint and an Amazon rebate. I had no trouble getting the Amazon rebate, it came in about the time they said it would (8 weeks). They also have a website where you can check on the status of your rebate.