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Any reason not to just cut my losses with AT&T and suck up the ETF?

P

puma1552

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Original poster
Nov 20, 2008
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I got a launch day 4S, and then when I was eligible for my upgrade, I picked up a 5 which was last May.

Then AT&T pulled their full-24-months-between-upgrades ******** (god why take away the only incentive to keep someone? If I have to wait 24 months for my upgrade, why wouldn't I jump ship?), so I'm stuck with my 5 until next May.

Luckily the 24 months between upgrades doesn't really matter, because I am dumping AT&T at the end of the contract anyway because my current apartment in a major metropolitan area that supposedly is covered and is not surrounded by skyscrapers is a dead zone yet I am forced to continue to pay for **** service. So I am out of AT&T next May anyway and was planning on riding out the contract.

Fast forward - I shattered my iPhone 5 screen today. Not really interested in dropping $150 to replace the screen at this point. Phone still works fine.

So now I have a couple options -

1) Replace the screen, ride out the contract, and dump AT&T a full year from now.

2) Just cut my losses as soon as the iPhone 6 is released, pay the ridiculous ETF which will still be something asinine close to $200, and get back on a launch day cycle with Verizon and get out of AT&T.

Thoughts? Neither option is great.
 
Verizon also makes you wait 24 months to upgrade now unless you get Edge.

But if you don't care about that, then switch to Verizon if coverage is good. I wouldn't wait a year to get the 6. Might as well wait for the 6s by then.
 
KUguardgrl13 said:
Verizon also makes you wait 24 months to upgrade now unless you get Edge.

But if you don't care about that, then switch to Verizon if coverage is good. I wouldn't wait a year to get the 6. Might as well wait for the 6s by then.
Click to expand...

That's kind of my thinking - since now they took away early upgrades too, I feel even less willing to be on anything but a launch day cycle like I used to be. When it was 18-20 months I felt pretty good using early upgrades when available and getting two out of every three phones. Now that that's gone, screw it.
 
puma1552 said:
That's kind of my thinking - since now they took away early upgrades too, I feel even less willing to be on anything but a launch day cycle like I used to be. When it was 18-20 months I felt pretty good using early upgrades when available and getting two out of every three phones. Now that that's gone, screw it.
Click to expand...

Edge might be worth it for you if you switch. Allows you to upgrade earlier than 24 months as long as you pay the balance of the previous phone. They also discount the $40/month service to balance out the cost of the phone each month.
 
puma1552 said:
That's kind of my thinking - since now they took away early upgrades too, I feel even less willing to be on anything but a launch day cycle like I used to be. When it was 18-20 months I felt pretty good using early upgrades when available and getting two out of every three phones. Now that that's gone, screw it.
Click to expand...

Att is actually back to 20 month upgrade cycle again for contracts signed after Jan 18 2014.
 
KUguardgrl13 said:
Edge might be worth it for you if you switch. Allows you to upgrade earlier than 24 months as long as you pay the balance of the previous phone. They also discount the $40/month service to balance out the cost of the phone each month.
Click to expand...

I'll have to look into that - I did look into regular pricing for new customers and right now my wife and I could get a plan with 2GB shared data and unlimited talk/text for $130 a month, whereas we are currently paying $160 a month at AT&T for the same thing except 2 GB data each, which is way more than we need.

The cost savings of $30/month for the last 6-8 months of our contract post iPhone 6 release helps offset the ETF. Might not be bad to jump ship as soon as the iP6 drops.

----------
aneftp said:
Att is actually back to 20 month upgrade cycle again for contracts signed after Jan 18 2014.
Click to expand...

That's good but makes no difference since my apartment is a dead zone and we are going to dump them either way.
 
If you live in big metro area, maybe you should consider tmobile, they'll pay you eft for you.
 
solarguy17 said:
Are you sure? Because I was trying to price a NEXT plan with a standard plan it said 24 month upgrades?
Click to expand...

New contracts after January 18 2014 are 20 month upgrade cycles.

If u signed before that date than u are on 24 month upgrade (subsidy). Or att gives u an "out" buy letting u jump to Next program immediately. Pay full price for new att phone and u are free too to leave att without etf since next involves no contract per se. U are on financing plan. But pay in full. U are free to leave.

http://about.att.com/newsroom/early_smartphone_upgrades_now_available_for_att_customers.html
 
1) Replace the screen, ride out the contract, and dump AT&T a full year from now.

If I were you I'd do the screen replacement at Apple on your current iPhone.

2) Just cut my losses as soon as the iPhone 6 is released, pay the ridiculous ETF which will still be something asinine close to $200, and get back on a launch day cycle with Verizon and get out of

Do this! You'll love the LTE coverage on Verizon.

Plus AT&T will unlock your old iPhone after you pay your ETF. You then will be able to sell it on eBay or Craigslist as an unlocked phone. You might even get most of your ETF back that way!

I switched to Verizon at iPhone 5 launch and couldn't be happier!
 
Honestly, if my place was in the middle of a deadzone, I would drop the carrier immediately (I'm also impatient). I imagine you have a landline phone in your apt so friends/family can reach you?

If you can, wait until the 6 is released, get your current iPhone unlocked by AT&T once you pay the ETF, then sell the phone. I would probably get the screen fixed in the meantime as well.
 
puma1552 said:
I got a launch day 4S, and then when I was eligible for my upgrade, I picked up a 5 which was last May.

Then AT&T pulled their full-24-months-between-upgrades ******** (god why take away the only incentive to keep someone? If I have to wait 24 months for my upgrade, why wouldn't I jump ship?), so I'm stuck with my 5 until next May.

Luckily the 24 months between upgrades doesn't really matter, because I am dumping AT&T at the end of the contract anyway because my current apartment in a major metropolitan area that supposedly is covered and is not surrounded by skyscrapers is a dead zone yet I am forced to continue to pay for **** service. So I am out of AT&T next May anyway and was planning on riding out the contract.

Fast forward - I shattered my iPhone 5 screen today. Not really interested in dropping $150 to replace the screen at this point. Phone still works fine.

So now I have a couple options -

1) Replace the screen, ride out the contract, and dump AT&T a full year from now.

2) Just cut my losses as soon as the iPhone 6 is released, pay the ridiculous ETF which will still be something asinine close to $200, and get back on a launch day cycle with Verizon and get out of AT&T.

Thoughts? Neither option is great.
Click to expand...


Were are you getting your $150 price at ?

Replacement screen sells for $40 (sometimes repair shops get them cheaper)
Labor is $20-30 bucks


I have never seen a screen replacement cost that much, i have seen them as low as $59 on up to $90, but never $150. As long as you find one that offers a warranty (most offer 90 days) your good to go.
 
rgctx said:
Were are you getting your $150 price at ?

Replacement screen sells for $40 (sometimes repair shops get them cheaper)
Labor is $20-30 bucks


I have never seen a screen replacement cost that much, i have seen them as low as $59 on up to $90, but never $150. As long as you find one that offers a warranty (most offer 90 days) your good to go.
Click to expand...

$150 is most likely the Apple replacement price.
 
puma1552 said:
I got a launch day 4S, and then when I was eligible for my upgrade, I picked up a 5 which was last May.

Then AT&T pulled their full-24-months-between-upgrades ******** (god why take away the only incentive to keep someone? If I have to wait 24 months for my upgrade, why wouldn't I jump ship?), so I'm stuck with my 5 until next May.

Luckily the 24 months between upgrades doesn't really matter, because I am dumping AT&T at the end of the contract anyway because my current apartment in a major metropolitan area that supposedly is covered and is not surrounded by skyscrapers is a dead zone yet I am forced to continue to pay for **** service. So I am out of AT&T next May anyway and was planning on riding out the contract.

Fast forward - I shattered my iPhone 5 screen today. Not really interested in dropping $150 to replace the screen at this point. Phone still works fine.

So now I have a couple options -

1) Replace the screen, ride out the contract, and dump AT&T a full year from now.

2) Just cut my losses as soon as the iPhone 6 is released, pay the ridiculous ETF which will still be something asinine close to $200, and get back on a launch day cycle with Verizon and get out of AT&T.

Thoughts? Neither option is great.
Click to expand...

If you can stand being on AT&T until contract is over, I would just recommend riding it out until the end. There is no telling how the supply will look like for the iPhone 6 when it launches. You might even qualify for a free microcell direct from AT&T if your area has poor reception; you'll need to inquire with AT&T's customer service, and see what their terms are if you qualify. For screen replacement, there are plenty of 3rd party parts available that are much cheaper than going through Apple's service.


aneftp said:
New contracts after January 18 2014 are 20 month upgrade cycles.

If u signed before that date than u are on 24 month upgrade (subsidy). Or att gives u an "out" buy letting u jump to Next program immediately. Pay full price for new att phone and u are free too to leave att without etf since next involves no contract per se. U are on financing plan. But pay in full. U are free to leave.

http://about.att.com/newsroom/early_smartphone_upgrades_now_available_for_att_customers.html
Click to expand...

Where have I been??! I had no idea AT&T updated their upgrade policy. You, my friend (or your post, anyways), get a thumbs up for sharing your wealth of knowledge. :cool:
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Right now I'm leaning on not fixing it, getting a launch day 6 on Verizon, and dumping AT&T and pay the ETF.

My wife's phone is flawless so that's worth good money and if AT&T will unlock for free then maybe instead of selling mine for $200ish (? it's a 32 gig) maybe I can just keep it for occasinal travel back to japan, but I don't think any Japanese carriers will sell me a SIM, unless that's changed.

EDIT: As for the replacement screen, that is Apples price AFAIK. I would only have Apple do it with genuine Apple parts, rather than some mall kiosk guy using who knows what kind of knockoff parts. Wouldn't feel right to do it any other way IMO.

I haven't nickel and dimed the calculation to figure out exactly how much difference there is between fixing and riding it out vs not fixing and dumping for the 6 on launch day, but I don't think ultimately it would be that much more to dump AT&T in the short term, all said and done, considering I presumably will have better service for 6-9 months that I would otherwise be dropping calls and having to wave my phone in the air to send a text message several times every time.
 
Last edited:
aneftp said:
New contracts after January 18 2014 are 20 month upgrade cycles.

If u signed before that date than u are on 24 month upgrade (subsidy). Or att gives u an "out" buy letting u jump to Next program immediately. Pay full price for new att phone and u are free too to leave att without etf since next involves no contract per se. U are on financing plan. But pay in full. U are free to leave.

http://about.att.com/newsroom/early_smartphone_upgrades_now_available_for_att_customers.html
Click to expand...

This actually makes me mad. They act like it is a huge new thing when really it was a benefit that they killed.
 
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