My wife and I were with at&t since it was Cingular wireless, and they have always done their best to increase prices. I just jumped ship to tmobile when they offered to pay off your e.t.f. I was 22 months into my contract on my secondary line, and needed a new phone. Would good old att offer me an upgrade 2 months early? Nope. They said I had to wait until the contract on my secondary line went full term for a upgrade discount. They would, however, let my wife have an early upgrade on her primary phone, whose contract didn't expire until the end of may. Thanks, att. I switched to t mobile, and I've noticed my phone has not only been downloading faster and glitching less (knock on wood), but my new phone has been working (voice and data) in places where none of my att phones did.
As far as the 4 line family plan for 160, it seems an unfair comparison if you have to join the att next program and buy a phone full price and add the $20 to $30 per phone to the cost of the service. At least tmobile is honest enough to give you separate pricing for the phones and the service. Does anyone really believe that a $500 to $700 phone is given to you or isr free or with a 2 year contract? Of course not. It is conveniently rolled into the cost of your monthly service. So anyways, I was just wondering if all the people singing the praises of the att 4 for 160 had really received a bill for only 160, or $100/month less than zerizon, as. Att likes to boast.
I too have been on and off with AT&T since the Cingular days with at least two lines. Always had 6 other lines with Sprint since 1999. Also in between had Tmobile for 6 months but hated service in Orlando. Even had Verizon before it was Verizon for about 3 years. I swore by Sprint having them them the longest and my primary line being with them. Primarily due to price. Until service and data around the iPhone 4S days got so bad and slow I was willing to pay more to migrate everything to Att.
I than realized how much faster Att is in every aspect as well as the obvious benefits of GSM Vs CDMA.
I Would agree with most of what you are saying but disagree in terms of the statement about next and boast and so on.
To each his own but depending on where you live of course service levels differ which is why there are different carriers to choose from.
The wireless spectrum has completely changed since the release oh the iPhone in every way possible and the carrier strategies along with it and now more so really thanks to Tmobile. Competition will always ultimately benefit the consumer for the most part.
Truth be told nothing is free in the world. I am very well traveled and we are still better off in many ways compared to the rest of the world.
Phone purchasing is simple either pay more to receive a subsidy for an up front discount and be locked on a contract or pay full price and have an unlocked phone. These new JUMP NEXT and so on are just a hybrid of the two to provide means for financing a new device for those who cannot pay 650 up front. Nothing more nothing less. If you do the math and can afford it you are better off paying full price and get an unlocked phone up front that you own outright since day one.
As for the new ATT plan. On my 15gb 8 lines I was paying $435 and now am paying $250. It is saving me a significant amount of money and thanks to the ongoing battle I now even have free Unlimited International Text, which previously was an additional $25-$45 certain months on my bill.
Needless to say I cannot be happier that I am paying less than any prepaid for true post paid service with amazingly fast LTE in my area and places I go with great voice service to go with it.
In life you get what you pay for and good is not cheap and cheap is not good.
That being said it's interesting to see where this industry will go in terms of price and future phones and if indeed perhaps manufacturers now more than ever feel the pressure to perhaps reduce retail price on phones.
Glad Tmobile is working out for you but I do strongly believe that each carrier has it's ups and downs you have to pick one that best works for you based on your priorities and what is important for you and your family.
Speaking in term of someone who had literally had all 4 carriers at one point or another, and worked for Sprint for 2 years in retention customer service is a matter of who you get on the phone and how you speak to them to say the least.
Sprint was atrociously known for their horrible reps and livid responses to say the least. However in an effort to keep customers it almost always felt like they were willing to give away the farm to keep your business. From phone upgrades to credits you name it.
Verizon was very much by the book and would never budge on much even if they were at fault.
Tmobile was a hit or miss in terms of CS quality but were for the most part willing to always work with the customer.
Att I feel has been a mixed bag. Pre iPhone era Att very much did whatever to keep a customer and reward loyalty. In the iPhone launch era they realized they were the king in a kingdom with no competitors they naturally did as any business would and played hardball.
Fast forward to 7 years later where every carrier plus MVNO's even have iphone, it's refreshing to see them compete again and have a willing desire to give customers a good deal and options to chose from at most every level.
Hope this was a helpful insight.
