AT&T wireless to screw ya...others to follow?

• thavoice

  For years and years there was always a $18 upgrade fee typically charged when you went in and upgraded your phone.
  
  Starting on the 12th it went up to $36! Wow.
  
  GO in and upgrade your phone...listen to their push to go into a smart phone and pay more per month...and then also pay $36 fee to do so.
  
  
  Anyone know if other carries are to follow?
• THE4RINGZ

  

  I have Verizon.
  
  Hope this helps.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  The AT&T advertisement on this page seems fitting.
• OSH

  

  Verizon.
  
  I imagine if people complain enough, they'll drop it back to what it was. That happens.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  I always refuse to pay it, they cave when you threaten to walk out the door.
• wildcats20

  

  OSH;1084812 wrote:Verizon.
  
  I imagine if people complain enough, they'll drop it back to what it was. That happens.

  Exactly what happened when Verizon announced a charge for paying a bill by phone.
• wildcats20

  

  Commander of Awesome;1084815 wrote:I always refuse to pay it, they cave when you threaten to walk out the door.

  This. Or just say you are going to switch carriers.
  
  Works great with cable companies. Always threaten to leave and go to a dish and they will basically do whatever you want.
• chicago510

  

  ernest_t_bass;1084798 wrote:The AT&T advertisement on this page seems fitting.

  LOL this. Apparently the google adsense brushes over the "screw ya over" part
• se-alum

  

  If I'm willing to pay $200 to upgrade my phone, I'm not too worried about an extra $18.
• justincredible

  

  se-alum;1084823 wrote:If I'm willing to pay $200 to upgrade my phone, I'm not too worried about an extra $18.

  It's $36, which is almost a 20% premium on top of the phone. Eff that.
• thavoice

  se-alum;1084823 wrote:If I'm willing to pay $200 to upgrade my phone, I'm not too worried about an extra $18.

  I am telling ya though........people complain about the $18 dollar charge that was standard, and now it has doubled to $36.
  
  I imagine that Verizon will follow......these things happen in bunches with carriers it seems.
  
  
  As far as not paying it........really isnt an option because it is an automatic charge and those in stores will not able to waive it.
  
  Now..online htey offer free activation many times......so who knows if online will ever do promos to waive the upgrade fee. In the past, they havent offered promo's to waive the upgrade fee online as they dont really care becuase they have you as a customer, but have waived the new line activations.
• se-alum

  

  justincredible;1084830 wrote:It's $36, which is almost a 20% premium on top of the phone. Eff that.

  I meant $18 on top of the $18 they're already charging. Yea, it sucks, but can't imagine it's gonna be a deal breaker for very many.
• thavoice

  Probably wont be a deal breaker per say, but it still pisses people off.
  
  It could drive some people away though..........it will give people more of a reason to shop elsewhere because the could switch carriers and still pay the same fee that aTT was gonna charge for an upgrade.
  
  I am telling ya from experience...this will piss people off.
• justincredible

  

  I personally would not stay with a carrier that feels the need to charge almost $40 to upgrade to a phone that you're paying for anyway. I realize that you are paying a subsidized rate on the phone but they are more than making up for it over the life of the contract. I would absolutely switch if they didn't waive the fee.
• I Wear Pants

  The price to switch a sim card from an old phone to a new phone has obviously increased by $18 in the last year. Just doing what they have to do...
• thavoice

  Apparently sprint raised their rate to it last year.
  
  
  ATT had to pay TMobile 6 BILLION dollars because the merger didnt go through. Yep. 6 BILLION dollars.
• Cthelites

  Verizon is the best.
  Ive had them all!
  Its a little more $ but worth it IMO
• justincredible

  

  I Wear Pants;1084869 wrote:The price to switch a sim card from an old phone to a new phone has obviously increased by $18 in the last year. Just doing what they have to do...

  Absolutely. The sim card covers are a bitch to get off now.
• ts1227

  

  So is this if you choose to switch a phone mid-contract (like buy one on the interwebs and transfer sim cards), or even when your new contract comes up and you're eligible for a new phone?
• wildcats20

  

  ts1227;1084902 wrote:So is this if you choose to switch a phone mid-contract (like buy one on the interwebs and transfer sim cards), or even when your new contract comes up and you're eligible for a new phone?

  Sounds like strictly an upgrade.
• thavoice

  ts1227;1084902 wrote:So is this if you choose to switch a phone mid-contract (like buy one on the interwebs and transfer sim cards), or even when your new contract comes up and you're eligible for a new phone?

  This charge will happen anytime you do an upgrade through ATT for a new phone. You can still swap your SIM from phone to phone at will at no charge, but anytime you get a diff phone from ATT, whether it is an early upgrade or standard when your contract is up, they will apply $36 to your bill. It WAS $18 bucks and they doubled it.
• wildcats20

  

  I mean if it bothers you THAT much, switch carriers.
• ts1227

  

  thavoice;1084913 wrote:This charge will happen anytime you do an upgrade through ATT for a new phone. You can still swap your SIM from phone to phone at will at no charge, but anytime you get a diff phone from ATT, whether it is an early upgrade or standard when your contract is up, they will apply $36 to your bill. It WAS $18 bucks and they doubled it.

  Seems ass backward. It would seem to make more sense to charge people for playing musical phones during their contract, and not charge for a standard upgrade.
• thavoice

  ts1227;1084918 wrote:Seems ass backward. It would seem to make more sense to charge people for playing musical phones during their contract, and not charge for a standard upgrade.

  Eh. The musical phones isnt that big of a deal. People do it without any help or work from ATT. Ya just buy a phone off someone, or ebay or whatever and swap it out. You dont need any assistance from ATT to do such a thing nor does it cost them for you to do it. Their idea on this is that the phones are better and more complicated and that extra money is to recoup and educating the customer of the new phone.
• justincredible

  

  thavoice;1084927 wrote:Their idea on this is that the phones are better and more complicated and that extra money is to recoup and educating the customer of the new phone.

  Their idea is "fuck you."