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AT&T ripping me off?

P

pawheel

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 16, 2010
10
0
I just purchased the iphone 6 and paid the full price. I called AT&T and told them I wanted a reduced bill because I didn't get the subsidized price.

The rep told me I didn't get the discount because I've been on a "individual" plan all these years and not a shared plan. The rep went on to say that I haven't been paying the extra subsidized monthly for all these years of being on contract.

She basically said I paid full price for nothing and my bill will remain the same.

Does anyone have knowledge of this? Did I basically waste all that money by paying full price?

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
Yes, I think it's you who is confused. Paying full price on a traditional individual plan doesn't result in a reduced bill. That's why it's wasteful not to buy subsidized on those plans.
 
Ok, well then that was an expensive mistake. I wish I had known before hand. Thanks for the reply.
 
You pay a higher monthly bill in order to get the option to purchase a subsidized phone every two years. Use NEXT if you want a reduced bill.
 
I’d strongly suggest you return the phone if you are still within the return period, and take advantage of a subsidized phone.

Failing that, have a look at the Mobile Share plans. It might be cheaper to switch to one of those and get the reduced rate for 'bring your own device'.
 
You should take advantage of the plan and upgrade with the subsidized price. Since you are stuck with the plan now, upgrade again for $200 and sell for full price. At least you could break even......

The other choice would have been to do the Next upgrade with a shared plan and then you would have the discount.
 
Givmeabrek said:
You should take advantage of the plan and upgrade with the subsidized price. Since you are stuck with the plan now, upgrade again for $200 and sell for full price. At least you could break even......

The other choice would have been to do the Next upgrade with a shared plan and then you would have the discount.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. That's thinking outside of the box right there. I may do that.
 
If you want a reduced bill just move to Cricket with your new phone. Very simple and painless process to switch.

Uses the same exact network as AT&T, except LTE speeds are throttled to 8 MBPS and HSPA speeds to 4 MBPS but the difference is barely noticeable. Call quality will stay the same.

https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans

3GB of data for $50 (or $45 if you use autopay) and if you want a good amount of data you could do 10GB for $60 (or $55 with autopay) which would still be much cheaper than AT&T.
 
This is one of the things ATT is using as a selling point for their mobile share plan, but ends up confusing people with older plans. I was under the impression I was being ripped off or could get my bill lowered as well because the salesperson kept focusing on how I would save money with the Next because I was paying more monthly for the subsidized phone.
 
If you can return it, then do so. Its far easier to return it then deal with selling it and as others stated you can buy one on subsidy.

I think that selling is a viable option but it can turn into a hassle, so pick your poison :)
 
I will say you do have a little bit of an advantage with buying the full price iPhone. You will not see savings on your bill, but now you are no longer on a contract. Plus if you need to you can get that phone unlocked. You bought at full retail, so that should not be an issue at all.

If saving money is your main concern. I would return it. If you think you might want to move to another carrier in the future, or go overseas. You will have that option.
 
b3av3r said:
This is one of the things ATT is using as a selling point for their mobile share plan, but ends up confusing people with older plans. I was under the impression I was being ripped off or could get my bill lowered as well because the salesperson kept focusing on how I would save money with the Next because I was paying more monthly for the subsidized phone.
Click to expand...

That is largely true if you were paying for the subsidized phone while not using the subsidy (ala OP). However, if you do choose to buy a new phone; then Next will tag on the installment price of that phone on top of your phone "access" fee, which will bring your total payment per phone to be around ~$40 - $50, without data.

If you purchase the phone outright, the monthly rate will be lower, but you will have to come up with $700 - $1200 up front. In any case, you will pay AT&T's pound of flesh and the price of the phone - the difference is what pocket it comes out of and at what time.
 
pawheel said:
Thanks for the advice. That's thinking outside of the box right there. I may do that.
Click to expand...

i would definitely pursue this option. the phone you bought is fully unlocked so you should be able to recoup most of your cost, and you can get a new one on your contract for $199/299/399 depending on the storage capacity.
 
pawheel said:
Thanks for the advice. That's thinking outside of the box right there. I may do that.
Click to expand...

Not knowing your specifics I'll just say that I went onto a mobile share plan in the middle of a contract and subsidized phone and now receive the discount. Maybe returning isn't necessary for you. Good luck! Oops, I should mention that you should look closely at the cost of a mobile share plan if you only have one phone line.
 
As an aside to the actual thread, am I the only one who considered the thread title "AT&T ripping me off?" as being the equivalent of "Is the Pope Catholic?" ;)
 
If you don't have a contract and you brought your phone outright I would move to a different cell carrier to save money.
 
Weird that the rep didn't say anything about Mobile Share Value Plan (which is a no-contract plan). I switched to that after my contract ended and saved a good amount of money (and I'm using it as an individual, no one else on my plan), but I don't use a lot of data and I do use tethering (tethering was pricy on individual plans), so YMMV.
 
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