Upgrade Fees

• ernest_t_bass

  

  Why the fuck to cell phone companies do this? It is the most arbitrary, nonsensical "fee" known to man. AT&T's is $36 per fucking phone! I'd consider straight talk, but their phones are incredibly expensive!
• gut

  Because the average buyer is an idiot, and it takes the sales rep time to guide the buyer thru the activation process. Although I agree that's kind of the point of customer service, but these guys are all closing a number of retail stores because they are just money pits.
  
  I thought you could save this fee if you bought online and avoided the store.
• I Wear Pants

  Prepaid Lumia 521 is the best device right now if you're trying to get out of the insanely expensive plans. It's $120-ish without subsidies and you should be able to take it to straight talk if you want.
  
  The actual phones from Straight Talk aren't more expensive than what you're paying from ATT or Verizon or whatever. They just don't build the price into the monthly payments like those do.
• gut

  ernest_t_bass;1487926 wrote:I'd consider straight talk, but their phones are incredibly expensive!

  Have you looked into if you qualify for an Obama phone?
• ernest_t_bass

  

  gut;1487927 wrote:
  I thought you could save this fee if you bought online and avoided the store.

  
  Nope
• said_aouita

  

  Straight talk is for poor people.
• Midstate01

  

  So with straight talk you can get unlimted everything for a year for $495? There's gotta be a catch. Or shitty service or something, right?
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Midstate01;1487960 wrote:So with straight talk you can get unlimted everything for a year for $495? There's gotta be a catch. Or shitty service or something, right?

  
  Phones are full price. I have 2 iPhones on my plan with AT&T, and I pay $135/ month. Would be $90/month with straight talk, but would have to break the bank on a new phone(s).
• I Wear Pants

  ernest_t_bass;1487983 wrote:Phones are full price. I have 2 iPhones on my plan with AT&T, and I pay $135/ month. Would be $90/month with straight talk, but would have to break the bank on a new phone(s).

  You should be able to unlock your phones and take them to Straight Talk since they're GSM and get a SIM card.
  
  http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/sims/!ut/p/b1/04_SjzS0MDaxNDCxNDLTj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOJdDLx8jQMdPYyCPMxNDTwDPJyD3c39DPzdjPTD9aPASgxwAEcDfT-P_NxU_dwoLwsADl6qow!!/dl4/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80SmtFL1o2X0QwSk0zUUFIMjNVSDEwSUw1U09SSDMwMDAz/
  
  
  Though this is disconcerting:

  6. STRAIGHT TALK UNLIMITED TALK, TEXT AND MOBILE WEB ACCESS PLAN INTENDED USE: Straight Talk Unlimited Talk, Text and Mobile Web Access Plans may ONLY be used with a Straight Talk handset for the following purposes: (i) Person to Person Voice Calls (ii) Text and Picture Messaging (iii) Internet browsing through the Straight Talk Mobile Web Service and (iv) Authorized Content Downloads from the Straight Talk Mobile Web Store. The Straight Talk Unlimited Plans MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous mobile to mobile or mobile to landline voice calls; (ii) automated text or picture messaging to another mobile device or e-mail address; (iii) uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (iv) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing; or (v) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses may have his/her service terminated without notice or a refund.

• sherm03

  

  You can look into AT&T's NEXT program for your next phone purchase. You don't have to come up with the money up front for the phone, they split up the full retail cost into 20 payments and add it to your bill. You end up paying more for the device than the discounted contract price, but there are no upgrade/activation fees and technically you are not under a contract (you just have to pay the difference on the phone if you leave before the 20 months is up).
  
  I think now that AT&T has gone this route, you'll see Verizon and Sprint fall in line as well.
  
  But yes, activation fees and upgrade fees are pointless and should be done away with.
• I Wear Pants

  Next is a huge ripoff.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  I Wear Pants;1488260 wrote:Next is a huge ripoff.

  
  Yep. I calculated, and you be paying $540 for an iPhone 5.
• #1DBag

  

  
• sherm03

  

  I Wear Pants;1488260 wrote:Next is a huge ripoff.

  ernest_t_bass;1488261 wrote:Yep. I calculated, and you be paying $540 for an iPhone 5.

  It's not a huge ripoff, it gives you an option. You're essentially paying full retail price for the phone, just spread out over 20 months. That's why you are not tied to a contract and why you're not charged upgrade/activation fees.
  
  You can get the discount on the phone and pay $199.99, but then you have to play by the carrier's rules and pay their upgrade/activation fees and agree to a two year contract.
  
  If your bitch is with upgrade fees, then there is an option where you don't have pay them...you just have to pay full price for the phone. If you want the cheapest overall option, take your discount on the phone, pay the upgrade fee when you sign your contract, and be done with it.
• I Wear Pants

  sherm03;1488568 wrote:It's not a huge ripoff, it gives you an option. You're essentially paying full retail price for the phone, just spread out over 20 months. That's why you are not tied to a contract and why you're not charged upgrade/activation fees.
  
  You can get the discount on the phone and pay $199.99, but then you have to play by the carrier's rules and pay their upgrade/activation fees and agree to a two year contract.
  
  If your bitch is with upgrade fees, then there is an option where you don't have pay them...you just have to pay full price for the phone. If you want the cheapest overall option, take your discount on the phone, pay the upgrade fee when you sign your contract, and be done with it.

  No, it's still a ripoff.
  
  http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/16/4528404/att-next-phone-upgrade-plans-a-huge-ripoff
  
  Though bitching about upgrade fees is silly, you do it what, once every year or two so $36 is not a big deal.
• thavoice

  Those new programs to upgrade early are a ripoff. You pay way more for the phone and its just a way to keep you locked in. Thing is, ATT had an early upgrade program already that you do after 6 months, and just pay 50-100 more for the phone than if you did if you were fully eligible. I was in the industry for 10+ years and hated it. Such a ripoff
• sherm03

  

  I Wear Pants;1488727 wrote:No, it's still a ripoff.
  
  http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/16/4528404/att-next-phone-upgrade-plans-a-huge-ripoff
  
  Though bitching about upgrade fees is silly, you do it what, once every year or two so $36 is not a big deal.

  That doesn't make the Next program a ripoff...that makes the subsidies built into the plans a ripoff.
  
  You pay those same subsidies if you purchase a phone full price at the store. You pay those same subsidies if you buy a phone off of eBay and activate it on your line. You pay those same subsidies if a relative gives you a free phone to swap onto your line. You pay those same subsidies if you go any amount of time past when you are eligible for an upgrade and wait to upgrade your phone again.
  
  The flaw with that article you posted is that they are making it seem like AT&T drops the subsidies off of your bill if you buy full price. They don't. Just like, they don't drop your monthly bill after you've had your discounted phone for more than 24 months.
  
  The Next program is exactly the same as buying a phone at full retail in store...without the need to come up with nearly $600 out of pocket. It's not a ripoff, anymore than purchasing a phone at full price is.
• I Wear Pants

  Except you don't actually own the phone through Next until you've paid in full. If you're using it as a way to spread your payments for a phone out over a few months then maybe it might make sense. However the way they're selling Next is as a way to upgrade more frequently. In that usage case it is definitely a ripoff. You pay more per month and don't get the benefit of selling your phone.
• dlazz

  thavoice;1488735 wrote:Those new programs to upgrade early are a ripoff.

  You end up paying more for the $199 iPhone over the cost of the contract too.
  
  buying the phone outright is technically cheaper in the long run.
  
  American cell phone companies have conditioned customers into thinking that paying $199 for the latest and greatest phone is normal.
  It isn't.
• sherm03

  

  I Wear Pants;1488739 wrote:Except you don't actually own the phone through Next until you've paid in full. If you're using it as a way to spread your payments for a phone out over a few months then maybe it might make sense. However the way they're selling Next is as a way to upgrade more frequently. In that usage case it is definitely a ripoff. You pay more per month and don't get the benefit of selling your phone.

  Maybe I'm not phrasing my responses properly.
  
  The whole point of the program is to give customers the option to buy a phone with no contract implications without having to come up with the full price out of pocket at the time of purchase. Not many people are going to be able to come up with $600 in store, wait 6 months...buy another phone for $600 and sell the old one to recoup some costs. However, most people would be able to afford an extra ~$20/month on their bill with the ability to get a new phone in a year and continue making payments on the new phone.
  
  With that, AT&T is correct in positioning this as a way to upgrade more frequently (once a year as opposed to once every two years) and the customer is not forced to come up with anything out of pocket at the point of sale.
• I Wear Pants

  That's assuming their customers are too stupid to do basic math to realize it's costing them much more than buying the phone outright and then selling it when they get a new one.
• dlazz

  I Wear Pants;1488758 wrote:That's assuming their customers are too stupid to do basic math to realize it's costing them much more than buying the phone outright and then selling it when they get a new one.

  Don't insult ETB. It's his thread, afterall.