Sprint withdraws $100 credit offer for new Pre users

The new Palm Pre cellular phone can be seen in New York June 3, 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp on Tuesday withdrew an offer on its Web site of a $100 service credit for new subscribers that buy a Palm Inc Pre smartphone, saying it was published in error.

The offer, which would have translated into a 50 percent price cut for the phone just a few months after it went on sale, was published by mistake, said Sprint spokesman James Fisher.

"The offer of a port-in service credit of $100 to new customers who buy the Palm Pre has been pulled, because it was put into the system in error," Fisher said.

Fisher did not say if the offer had been under consideration.

Sprint's existing Pre price tag is $199, after rebates.

Sprint, the only U.S. service provider currently allowed to offer the Pre, started to sell it in June.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Richard Chang and Carol Bishopric)