Compared to all the other installment plans it is pretty much the same, except they also include Applecare. T-Mobile has a discount promotion they are currently running and Sprint has it's own promo. Before with 2 year contracts you were better off going with an installment plan because after 2 years you ended up paying more money. Obviously there are some other factors too but that was the general consensus.
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iPhone Upgrade Program Causing Headaches for Some Launch Day Customers
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I don't have a lot - I don't waste what I have.
I'm using an 8 year old iMac right now, milking that $2000 investment for all it's worth. I go several generations between iPhones when upgrading. I've never owned a new car - every car I've ever bought was over 10 years old and under $4000.
If you can't buy an iPhone cash, you're either unemployed or you are spending way beyond your means in other areas.
I saw this "I have a 724 credit score...I was declined", and I had to Register and Comment....
(LONG time reader...a decade, first time poster)
A Credit Score of 740 or below is AVERAGE. I'm NOT surprised you were declined. To be honest, I'm completely surprised you expected to be approved. For example, you can't even be approved for a top tier auto lease with that score, which means you down get the advertised "preferred" lessee rates. Furthermore, the top rewards Credit Cards would decline you and advise something more to your less than satisfactory credit history. My advice to this person is to stop using Debit Cards and paying in cash. Build a real credit history.
(LONG time reader...a decade, first time poster)
A Credit Score of 740 or below is AVERAGE. I'm NOT surprised you were declined. To be honest, I'm completely surprised you expected to be approved. For example, you can't even be approved for a top tier auto lease with that score, which means you down get the advertised "preferred" lessee rates. Furthermore, the top rewards Credit Cards would decline you and advise something more to your less than satisfactory credit history. My advice to this person is to stop using Debit Cards and paying in cash. Build a real credit history.
I don't have a problem paying upfront but that doesn't get you int the upgrade program which gives free Apple care and first dibs on new iPhones next year. Why should I have to go with ATT again or pay more than others just because Citizen One and/or Apple are screwing up all over the country?
Umm.... I don't quite agree. With a credit score of 700 or above, your score is high enough to be considered for several different home mortgage options. (With a 680 or above, you get "automatic approval" for a USDA loan, assuming you've met the other criteria such as annual income in the range they require and buying the property as a primary residence.)
This is a lousy PHONE lease, not a house!
This is a lousy PHONE lease, not a house!
What about Apple care and the fact that you're eligible for new iPhone before any carrier stores or retailers can get them. To me that's actually worth paying more for.
Can anyone even verify that different cards have different results? I haven't seen one post that claimed to have gotten approval after failing with one card and trying another card. The Apple person at the store told me that a lot of people were having these problems and when I asked them if I can try another card they told me it won't do any good because it's a credit check on me and not my various cards.
Do you even take into account that people can afford to by it outright, but have an issue with their credit, to the point where they are trying to rebuild it?
The housing crisis killed my credit completely, even though I'm making close to 6 figures/year. Buying the iPhone outright doesn't do a bloody thing to improve my credit, where the AUP would. But by your definition, I'm living beyond my means in other areas. That's a crock.
My point: you don't know anyone's financial situation to make boldfaced assumptions like the above, because in plenty of cases, you'd be completely wrong. So please keep those assumptions out of the thread, because you don't know.
BL.
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Seriously! ZipZap, I think we all know who the idiot is here. Thanks for being a constructive contributing member of society.
The issue is that citizens one will not accept payment from a credit card affiliated with a bank. I beleive I was quite clear in my origional post, not everyone is as stupid as you might think. The directions provided by apple on their website specify that you must use a personal credit card, and not a debit card. No distinction is made between bank affiliated credit cards or ones that have a bank name on them like Chase and non affiliated ones.
Wow and you still totally miss my point. I'm not arguing what's best financially for anyone. That's not what this post is about and everyone's financial situation is completely different. Just because someone can't or is unwilling to pay up front $900 in no way shape or form guarantees they are jobless or living above their means. That is a huge generalization that just doesn't hold up at all these days. Everyone has a different situation. Besides that, is that really any of your business? What you stay in rebuttal strikes me even more so as extreme elitism and privileged than your original post! Th fact of the matter is, this isn't about what YOU would do, or what you THINK others should do. The only person who knows what's best for them, is that individual person.
AMEN! Assumptions is exactly what they are! Thank you! Only YOU know what YOU can afford!
There's the risk factor in selling your phone on eBay, it always worries be that a scammer could use Paypal's or eBay's terms to steal the phone and get his money back . . . with this Apple program there's none of that risk or the long winded hassle of selling the phone on eBay.
To have a fully unlocked phone, esp., if you travel!
Also, a very minor factor, the resale value.
You are speaking of Secured lines of credit, which are much, much easier to acquire.
The Apple iPhone Upgrade Program is completely UNSECURED, which requires superior credit to be approved.
You have to have better credit to get a phone compared to a house??!!!You have a beautiful new home!! So what do you think about that new iPhone? Um well I'm embarrassed to say, I don't know, for some reason I couldn't get approved for it.
Exactly!!
People with below average credit can finance a home, because the house is collateral.
These same people can't get approved any type off of credit card because that is not a secured line of credit.
Another example...
Someone with poor credit can go finance a new $40k car at a high interest rate,
but cannot get approved for the no interest financing program special to go buy a new TV that's under $1,000.
Credit approvals are based on Risk.
A house or car can be repossessed, you iPhone would not be.
Remember, Citizens One is not financing an iPhone, they are simply providing a completely unsecured line of credit.
Depending on which Credit Score system you are using, FICO (combo), TranUnion, Experian, or Equifax, all of them differ.
Some max out at nearly 900.
724 is NOT Excellent, it is good, but not very good.
It takes a minimum of 740 to qualify for the top tier auto leases.
Some of the best reward credit cards (Citi Double Cash, AMEX Blue Cash, etc.) also require that minimum.