This could happen anywhere at any time. Cell phones are loss leaders for a company to get you to sign a contract for service. At any given time the same unit could be at full price in one place and free (after rebates of course) in another.

Always shop around before buying. It's very easy to do the research right here on line but remember, the deals could all change tomorrow.  What happened to you was not a rip-off, it's the way business is done in a free country.  Buyer beware as always.

Bro, sounds like you got fucked BB Greek ! Did they use lube? ;-)

If you had done a TER search of reviews, you would have found that AT&T is a well hung pre-op Trannie.  Sorry you got fucked.

Wal-Mart almost always has better prices.

Works for just about everyting, AT&T, TER, etc.
That's why homework/research is so important whether you are buying a cell phone or looking for a new escort experinece. BTW I find the escort experience a lot more exciting.

Return it; In California, the consumer has 30 days to return a cell phone, with no questions asked.

The prices for most of the phone are typically much cheaper with no rebate at all at Best Buy.

A phone at the AT&T store which is $200 with $100 Rebate was under $29 at Best Buy.

So like anything in life, shopping around is a great idea.

Also there are two types of AT&T stores.   Company owned, and dealers.   The company owned ones are pretty much always willing to price match other company's prices or online prices.  OTOH the dealers typically do not negotiate.

Almost all services have some sort of 'out' clause for 2 weeks or 30 days, why not just go back to the AT&T store and dump the phone then get the one from Walmart?  Seems simple enough and if you didn't do your research first how is that their fault.

Everyone knows stuff is cheaper at Wal-mart.

SMEGMA!!