AT&T iPhone 3G $199/$299 Pricing Policy

[Chupa Chupa]

A month ago, I was ready to spend $399 on an iPhone. I think a lot of us were.

The problem is that SJ dangled $199 in front of us, and now it feels like AT&T is snatching it away. They've screwed up on the expectations game.

Did you really expect 3G data to be the same price as 2G data? I think that is naive.

Isn't 1.5mbps DSL less expensive than 3 or 5mpbs DSL? Traditionally faster speeds cost more money other wise we'd all have big honking T1 line in our homes. So why expect something different when it comes to wireless data speeds?

 

[iStefmac]

I think AT&T''s spokesperson probably does know.

arn

Right, because they got SO MUCH right last year prior to iPhone launch.

Or do you not remember last year anymore?

Remember that 2 year contract required thing....ya know........the thing that is NOT ACTUALLY REQUIRED to use an iPhone on AT&T.


yeah...........


your best advice for everyone would be to avoid macrumors entirely until closer to the 11th.

 

[LoganT]

And how are they screwing anyone? Please tell me how their policies differ substantially from Verizon, T-Mob, or Sprint (although Sprint does prorate the ETF). Do any of them besides ATT have roll over minutes where you can actually use unused minutes you paid for in a different month?

Seriously, please explain your statement.

They're screwing you by making you sign up for a new 2 year contract even if you buy it at it's full price.

Did you really expect 3G data to be the same price as 2G data? I think that is naive.

Isn't 1.5mbps DSL less expensive than 3 or 5mpbs DSL? Traditionally faster speeds cost more money other wise we'd all have big honking T1 line in our homes. So why expect something different when it comes to wireless data speeds?

I don't believe he was talking about data.

 

[bjornm]

Wait, so current AT&T customers who have been with AT&T for less than 2 years get treated worse than people who have never been with AT&T?

Correct. You received a subsidized price on your phone when you started as a customer. This is how EVERY provider does it, since cell phones first existed.

Incorrect (the statement that AT&T customers are treated worse, that is). The only people that might be treated better are current AT&T customers.

Why? - What AT&T are saying is that they are might be willing to pay the cost of you terminating your old contract early (if you are really good customer). This is only possible for existing AT&T customers.

If you are a T-mobile customer with one year left on your contract, I really doubt that AT&T will pay for your T-mobile termination fees.

Actually EVERYONE is eligible for a subsidized phone provided that they sign a new 2-year contract. What you do with your old contracts and whatever agreements is your business.

How can this be hard to understand?

How can this be unfair?

 

[themoonisdown09]

I don't believe he was talking about data.

I really don't know what he was talking about anyways.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I don't believe he was talking about data.

Well that is the only aspect of the iPhone 3G that is more expensive than its predecessor. Everything else is either less expensive or the same.

 

[LoganT]

I really don't know what he was talking about anyways.

It sounds like he was talking about how most people were willing to pay the price of $399 but then Steve Jobs announced that it would only be $199/$299 for everybody. Because of that people are a lot less willing to pay $399 or $529 if some reports are correct.

 

[Jstick]

omg thank you....finally the truth comes out. the guranteed 199 and 299 prices made no sense, if like me, you worked at ATT. blackberry's, blackjack's etc all were $xxx.xx after rebate!!! and to get those rebates you had to get a certain data plan (each PDA had their own min. data plan to get) if you didnt get the data plan, no rebate.

For example lets use the 8GB iPhone w/ what i have thought the plan was.

299.99 for 8GB iPhone w/ $100 mail in rebate (only if data plan is added on) bringing it to a net of 199.99

i hope it is like this because i dont want the data plan, i will just use wifi. i am hoping i will be able to get the data plan, wait for my rebate to process then get rid of it.

we will see

 

[SPUY767]

they are going to lose a lot of customers over this. me, for example.

I suppose you thought that they would just eat the cost of a contract that they used to subsidize a $600 phone?

 

[Jstick]

They're screwing you by making you sign up for a new 2 year contract even if you buy it at it's full price.

if that is true, yes they would be, but when i worked there you could buy any phone that you wanted with no contract....it was just a few hundred more dollars to buy : )

 

[noshjewman]

Aargh!!

you will be perfectly fine, because when you are upgrading from an iphone, they dont add on to your old contract, they just give you a brand new one, and void your old one at no charge.

OK, I haven't managed to read right to the end, so hopefully I'm not totally out of place posting this, but this thread is really really annoying. [ok - just read more - thanks Bjornm for stating the obvious clearly!]

The old iPhone was sold unsubsidized. So essentially you are in the same position, as far as ATT is concerned, as a non-ATT consumer. They get you for a further 2 years and you can get the 'subsidized' price phone.

If you are on some non-iPhone contract with ATT, they will want you to finish that contract. Just as you would have to do if you were on Sprint and your contract wasn't up. That contract almost certainly involved receiving a subsidized phone, so they will need (well, want) you to finish your contract, thus paying off the Moto/Samsung/HTC/whatever phone you had before.

This isn't Apple being stupid - it has nothing to do with them.
This isn't ATT treating its own customers worse than other customers: Verizon, T-Mobile, whatever, you still have to finish any contract you are on or buy your way out.

It is possible that ATT will offer its customers on a contract a better deal - as someone has suggested, maybe they can just extend their current contract, or pay a fee (on top of the cost of the iPhone) that would be less than the $175 cancellation fee.

What fun.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

They're screwing you by making you sign up for a new 2 year contract even if you buy it at it's full price.

All the Cellcos requires you to sign a new contract when you activate a new phone w/ new services not on your old plan, subsidized or not. You can't single out ATT for this practice. So again, why is ATT, specifically, screwing you?

 

[LoganT]

All the Cellcos requires you to sign a new contract when you activate a new phone w/ new services not on your old plan, subsidized or not. You can't single out ATT for this practice. So again, why is ATT, specifically, screwing you?

When I bought a Blackberry Pearl in January of 2007 did they extend my contract? No. So yes AT&T is screwing you. I was on Sprint before they did the same thing. The whole point of paying the full price for the phone is so you don't have to extend you're contract, or if you're not able to upgrade.

 

[gkarris]

Wait, so current AT&T customers who have been with AT&T for less than 2 years get treated worse than people who have never been with AT&T?

That's some bulls***.

Yes, it's about getting new customers, not helping out the ones they are already getting money from...

CRY CRY CRY...

Is EVERYONE here a 12-year old?
(and that's an insult to 12-year olds, as I was pretty sharp at that age, so maybe it should read,"Is EVERONE...9-year olds?"

For those in the USA:
EVERYONE knows the iphone should be a full-retail price of $400-600+.....

EVERYONE knows that when you buy a SUBSIDIZED phone that there are STRINGS attached (no matter how much you pretend otherwise).

EVERYONE knows that when you sign a Carrier CONTRACT, you AGREED to those TERMS... So Stop CRYING Crybabies!!!

Unless, of course, you are 12 years old (or mentally challenged- and then we will all understand)... or maybe it's WINDOZE folks wanting an iPhone that are pleading 'Temporary Stupidity' (I might be able to buy that excuse!)

----

WHAT?

• You thought that $50 phone REALLY cost just $50!? (you may have been born on a Tuesday, but I doubt it was last Tuesday if you are posting here...)
• Or that $200 so-called Multi-media phone really cost only $200!? lol Get real, that piece of electronics costs (at real retail) $400-750 (just check out Nokia's REAL prices if you think an iPhone is expensive! lol).

But I want the latest and greatest phone from Steve Jobs with GPS, 3G, and games so I don't have to turn on my GameCube to play "Super Monkey Ball", and I want it for FREE!

(runs off crying....)

 

[iP2]

My guess is that if one has a contract with AT&T and no iPhone one simply has to agree to a new two year contract from the date of purchase of the iPhone to get the subsidized price. This is the same as the new customers. If this isn't the case, one can simply add a line for $9.95 per month and add an iPhone, switch numbers, then call after a month and discontinue the add a line. I did this once with another carrier. Each change results in a two year extension, but it was only a matter of a month.

The problem I see with this plan is that if you cancel that new line after a month you will be hit with an ETF. If the ETF is 'only' $175, I suppose that's a better deal than what the 3G iPhone would cost unsubsidized.

My scenario: I switched my family plan to ATT (from Verizon) this past March for two reasons:

1) To test ATT's coverage in my house and around town where we usually go.
2) To buy the new 3G iPhone when its released.

At the time, I assumed the new iPhone would be distributed the same way as the original. Pay something like $400 / $500 and I'm good to go. So if the unsubsidized price is around those figures, then I have NO reason to complain about the current ATT upgrade plan. It's just how it works.

However, since ATT/Apple threw a change-up to this plan and decided to subsidize the new iPhone, that just irks me. Not because I'm cheap or don't play by the rules, its because if I knew about that in March, I would have NOT switched to ATT until release day. But no one knew and ATT got me locked up regardless now of what happens (iPhone or not).

Now the plan is either to just pay full price (hurry up and announce what that is) or add another line to my account, get the $299 price, transfer number to me and give the 3rd line (and my current phone) to my father-in-law. The latter route is ideal for us other than me losing my back up phone to the iPhone.

 

[Jstick]

When I bought a Blackberry Pearl in January of 2007 did they extend my contract? No. So yes AT&T is screwing you. I was on Sprint before they did the same thing. The whole point of paying the full price for the phone is so you don't have to extend you're contract, or if you're not able to upgrade.

exactly

 

[i.maverick]

this is messed up!!

 

[btcutter]

Yeah, except now you are locked into a 3 year plan with a 2nd Gen iPhone when you just know they're will be at least 2 gens of upgrades during the life of your contract.

What's gonna happen when 3rd gen comes out with voice dial, better camera and video, etc., etc.?

renew another 3 yr contract and you already know the data plan will be $40 buck and if AT&T is smart they will sell the phone at $249 and $349 instead.

 

[JPIndustrie]

Why do you think they waited till July 11th to release the phone?

Either there has to be a way for Apple stores to check your ATT account (which is the time-killer), or Apple may have to sell it at a different price than ATT.

We'll see what happens.

 

[gkarris]

Why do you think they waited till July 11th to release the phone?

Either there has to be a way for Apple stores to check your ATT account (which is the time-killer), or Apple may have to sell it at a different price than ATT.

We'll see what happens.

Seems like part of that $100 bounty for Apple is the time and added staff it will take them to sell and activate the new iPhones...

 

[jrbdmb]

Wow, It's good to see we agree on something. Lol, our last disagreement was on whether the new Iphone would be subsidized. I won that one. For once we agree on something. I find it horrible that such an important demographic of Iphone buyers will be screwed out of the subsidy. I just can't see apple stores selling it for one price to some people, and telling att customers who are not upgradeable at the moment, that they need to pay more. I can see att stores doing that, but not apple... no way.

Way.

$199 is a subsidized price. AT&T is not going to give current customers a subsidy if they just gave them one on a different phone a few months ago. No other cell phone company would either.

Problem is EXPECTATION. Most people including myself was expecting to pay FULL price much like the 1st iPhone......No problem....However, he came out and "shocked" the world by announcing $199 and $299 iPhone. He didn't say and AT&T didn't publish a memo at the time of announcement that there is a BIG ASTERICK behind his $199/299 pricing.
Again, AT&T and Apple created the expectation and now it's being changed. Of course, people are going to be PISSED off.

And what, did you all want Steve Jobs to go into a 15-minute discussion of AT&T pricing policies during the keynote? For most customers the iPhone will cost $199. And remember that AT&T is the carrier for ONE of the TWENTY-TWO countries to carry the 3G iPhone. I guess Steve should have had a six-hour keynote to cover the pricing policies of all the countries?

 

[bytethese]

Wow, 8 pages of "I can't figure out if I can get the iPhone 3G, am I eligible?" and "AT&T sucks for doing it this way!". Wow.

The way the 1st gen iPhone was sold was the contradictory method to a "normal" industry standard cell phone activation. Apple seems to go and adopt the "normal" industry standard plan now and it confuses the masses. Oh sweet irony.

 

[btcutter]

Problem is EXPECTATION. Most people including myself was expecting to pay FULL price much like the 1st iPhone......No problem....However, he came out and "shocked" the world by announcing $199 and $299 iPhone. He didn't say and AT&T didn't publish a memo at the time of announcement that there is a BIG ASTERICK behind his $199/299 pricing.
Again, AT&T and Apple created the expectation and now it's being changed. Of course, people are going to be PISSED off.

Like the article. Full price really can't be more than $175 or else people will simply terminate the contract and resign a deal OR just F@$#! AT&T/Apple.

I don't know who is at fault but I really think AT&T is really screwed up. they should have told the public about the difference in pricing immediately after Jobs announced the iPhone. Now they are creating outrage in the community. AT&T is probably trying to do damage control now. To maximize AT&T's long term profit, I would simply say stick to $199 and $299 pricing and if you did receive a subsidized phone within last two years, you will need to sign a THREE yr commitment instead of TWO (extra $360 minimum) and your early termination fee is now $300 (something like that). That should take care of EVERYONE.

many who criticize people on this should read this.....it the EXPECTATION that AT&T has created that is causing the problem. People would have been ok if you had told them in the first place but to come out later and change the pricing is what piss people off.

 

[paola105]

Looks like I won't be getting an iPhone. I'll just get another unlocked Sony Ericsson and use it w/ T-mobile.

 

[byrd45]

Just Call

With all this confusion I called ATT to see if I was eligible for the subsidized 3G price; turns out I am. If you are a current customer I would suggest the same. 1-888-333-6651 or 611.

I can't wait to stand in line on the 11th and listen to people cry!