I just spoke to AT&T and received the 1st comment from the rep that my plan would be $40 for each phone (I have 3 lines).
This is really confusing.
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AT&T Launches Lower-Cost Mobile Share Value Plans for Families
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I just spoke to AT&T and received the 1st comment from the rep that my plan would be $40 for each phone (I have 3 lines).
This is really confusing.
Try another rep, I just called and got switched over..... the first rep told me what I posted to everyone here, but then the rep I just got off the phone with switched me over with no problems. 2 phones still on contract and a 3rd off contract, all switched over $145 a month.....
^ online I can make the change, but I just wanted to make sure it was all set and I understood the options on how things work 2 years from now.
I'm planning to stop by. Corporate AT&T store in a bit to see what they say.
I'm planning to stop by. Corporate AT&T store in a bit to see what they say.
If you signed a 2 year contract before today or are not under a contract the rate on the new plan is 15 per line. If go to the new plan choose a 2 year contract down the road your rate jumps to 40. AT&T does not want you on a 2 year because they do not want to subsidize the price of your phone.
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The best way to figure it out is if you go online and try the change yourself. That will show you the pricing.
According to the website at least, if you signed a 2-year agreement BEFORE Feb 2 (today), they will let you go to the cheaper option for $15/month. If you were using Next or something else already, the savings would be different.
Going forward, you would NOT have the option for two-year commitment pricing. You would need to either buy outright or use Next. So, they'll take the "loss" now on your contract to get you away from subsidies.
The other question is about keeping existing upgrades. If reps are saying you can keep the upgrade AND the $15/month pricing, that's crazy! Do it!
We had three iPhones (all 5s bought this past October), and we are now saving $50/month. Of course, as soon as it's time to upgrade, the prices are the same again when you factor in the price of Next. Really, AT&T is just taking a minor hit to get us all to Next. Deal!
You are incorrect. At this moment in time, 2yr contract customers whose contract started prior to 2/3/14 are grandfathered into the discount. If you sign a new 2yr contract 2/3 or after, you will NOT get the discount, you will pay the $40/month.
Despite what the Care rep might have told you, what I stated above is absolutely correct. This is brand new, so there may still be some confusion among a few Care reps and store personnel.
So if I choose to switch my plan I'd be going from:
Old:
Plan: 10GB shared: 120-22% FAN discount=93.6
Lines: 4 lines = 120
Total: 213.60
New (Next)
Plan: 10GB shared: 100-22% FAN discount=78
Lines: 4 lines = 60
Next: 37.50x4=150
Total: 288
So I'd be paying $74.40 more a month with this new plan than I'm paying now, but the phones would already be paid for so if you factor out the phones:
299/24=12.45
12.45x4=49.8
I'd really be paying about $24.60 more a month than I'd be paying now, only I would be able to get a new phone every year (at the expense of not being able to sell my phone because I'd be giving it back to AT&T).
AND because we wouldn't be getting new phones until September, that gives us 8 months to enjoy the lower cost plan because we wouldn't be paying for next yet, meaning we'd pay $604 less than we're paying now in total. That gives us 2 years to upgrade our phones for free (relative to what we're doing now).
Old:
Plan: 10GB shared: 120-22% FAN discount=93.6
Lines: 4 lines = 120
Total: 213.60
New (Next)
Plan: 10GB shared: 100-22% FAN discount=78
Lines: 4 lines = 60
Next: 37.50x4=150
Total: 288
So I'd be paying $74.40 more a month with this new plan than I'm paying now, but the phones would already be paid for so if you factor out the phones:
299/24=12.45
12.45x4=49.8
I'd really be paying about $24.60 more a month than I'd be paying now, only I would be able to get a new phone every year (at the expense of not being able to sell my phone because I'd be giving it back to AT&T).
AND because we wouldn't be getting new phones until September, that gives us 8 months to enjoy the lower cost plan because we wouldn't be paying for next yet, meaning we'd pay $604 less than we're paying now in total. That gives us 2 years to upgrade our phones for free (relative to what we're doing now).
Exactly! AT&T is taking a hit to get everyone on next or to buy the phone outright. You will have the option to do a 2 year down the road but you will pay 200 for the phone then 40 instead of 15 to get the subsidy back. AT&T does not want to subsidize your phone.....
All smartphone lines from AT&T are $40, regardless of plan, end of story. If you BYOD, pay full retail, have retired a 2-year service agreement, or finance a device via the Next program, you get a $15/month discount. You're still being billed $40/month per line, but there's a discount applied which brings it down to $25. If you sign up for a 10GB or higher data plan, you now get an additional $10 discount which brings it down to $15. Still a $40/month/smartphone line plan. AT&T's language is rather confusing in regards to the 2-year service agreement situation, however, I'm pretty sure they're eligible for the $25 discount, as soon as you've finished paying 24 monthly installments at $40/line.
If you add a device to your plan with a new 2-year post-paid service agreement before 3/31/2014, you are also eligible for a $100 one-time credit if you remain a customer in good standing for at least 3 months. This appears to be a way to plug the hole created by offering a $450 subsidy on certain devices such as iPhones when the maximum ETF is only $325. Otherwise, you can buy a subsidized iPhone, immediately take the ETF hit and walk to T-Mobile and save a few bucks.
The big news is that AT&T has once again raised their total bs "activation" fee from $35 to $36. Strangely that's only noted in the 2 point text at the bottom of the page.
I'm not sure you can even do the $200 subsidized price if you wanted to on this plan (going forward, say for an iPhone 6). The way it reads to me, two-year contract pricing is DEAD if you switch to this plan.
Not entirely true--the date seems to be 2/2/14, not 2/3/14. It seems minor, but that question is the whole debate--can we upgrade today AND switch to the $15/month plan, essentially getting an iPhone 5s for $236 instead of $649.
From their site:
"All existing customers, including those on a 2-year agreements before Feb. 2, 2014, are able to move to these plans."
So, the question is, are existing customers, including those on agreements AFTER Feb 2, 2014, able to move? I just can't imagine they would be willing to lose $400 on a new iPhone today, after announcing the plan.
If you signed a 2 year before today you can switch to the new plan and only pay 15 per line. The device can be under a current contract ... It doesn't matter. The catch is if you upgrade that line and take the 2 year pricing option the line charge jumps to 40. The whole concept of subsidizing the price of the phone to be under a contract is going away.
Totally. So the question is, will AT&T honor the $15/month pricing for their reps who seem to be mis-informing folks? If I call and a rep tells me I can keep the upgrade, then move to $15/month, will they actually let that happen. Will their system allow it?
You will have the option for two-year commitment pricing -- but you'll pay $40/month instead of $15 for your phone.
Yep! Taking a hit now to avoid subsidizing down the road. Under this plan a two year contract will not make any sense. AT&T does not want to take away the 2 year option they are just making it entirely unattractive. It's actually brilliant.
So...
If I do Next,
$15/month + $25/month for 26 months = 1040
If I do contract,
$40/month for 24 months + 15/month for month 25 and 26 (to keep it equal to example above) + $200 for iPhone 6 = 1190.
So, they make less money with Next AND they are losing money by buying off the remainder of our contract. I don't get it.
I guess the point is, they won't keep losing money with upgrade swaps for folks with only $10/month phone only plans who weren't getting data but kept getting upgrades.
We switched our three lines for $195 to this mobile share plan for $145. We lost two of he phones unlimited data by switching but don't use even half of 10gb every month so no big deal plus we get tethering. This will save us $50/month. Two of the lines we generally upgrade so we will pay the extra $450 for each of those lines and save $1200 so we wind up ahead by $300.
Awesome deal. Finally an incentive to get off the unlimited data and save money.
Awesome deal. Finally an incentive to get off the unlimited data and save money.
If I change over I understand that if i sign a two year to get phone discount I will pay $40 a line which is essentially $10 more than I'm paying now
I know this may be a different desire than others, but I'm concerned about upgrade eligibility.
Last week before this came out, when they said they'd let you jump on to a Next plan and let you out of your contract I was excited.
I love my 5S but if a 6 comes out in 7 months with a big screen, sorry I'm that guy that has to have it.
I was pretty jacked up that I can get the new phone again this year, switch to next despite being 1/2 through the 2 year contract.
So the talk today, keeping existing phone, lowering to $15 / line, essentially are both just effectively killing your 2-year contract?
Meaning, not new news, with mobile share value, after your contract is up if you don't upgrade they would lower your line $15/month
So basically are they just killing your contract and you can either:
keep your phone, take the discount, use your phone
keep your phone, take the discount, get a new phone via Next (plus Next fees)
?
I'd jump on the rate plan change but I want to make sure I don't lose eligibility to switch to Next and get a new phone in September
Last week before this came out, when they said they'd let you jump on to a Next plan and let you out of your contract I was excited.
I love my 5S but if a 6 comes out in 7 months with a big screen, sorry I'm that guy that has to have it.
I was pretty jacked up that I can get the new phone again this year, switch to next despite being 1/2 through the 2 year contract.
So the talk today, keeping existing phone, lowering to $15 / line, essentially are both just effectively killing your 2-year contract?
Meaning, not new news, with mobile share value, after your contract is up if you don't upgrade they would lower your line $15/month
So basically are they just killing your contract and you can either:
keep your phone, take the discount, use your phone
keep your phone, take the discount, get a new phone via Next (plus Next fees)
?
I'd jump on the rate plan change but I want to make sure I don't lose eligibility to switch to Next and get a new phone in September
Yes. However, they don't want you to do that. They want you to do Next. With Next, you have no downpayment, so you are paying 10 more (15+25). However, you are not paying $199 + 36 in activation, which is a 10 discount if you think about it over 24 months.
Basically, it all comes out to be the same, except you're saving a TON of money until your next upgrade, no pun intended.
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Exactly. This will motivate you to do Next in September, which is exactly what they want.
Your post just made the Math click in my head.
1) ATT kills your subsidy. You pay $15 / line
2) You add a subsidized phone for $199.
Your line cost goes from $15 -> $40 = + $25
Your $199 you spent on the phone spread out over 24 months = 200/24 = $8.30
$25 line difference, plus $8.30 ($200 phone) = $33.30
Isn't that about the price of Next?
So basically it's the EXACT same thing, just spun a different way.
You seem to a numbers guy like me. So if I upgrade all 8 lines I can't do that on next anyways at once from what I understand. So I'm left with buying 700 a phone times 8. 5600 minus selling current 5s for 400 a phone which is 3200 and works out to about $300 a phone being factory unlocked not too bad. But the key there is sell it before meaning you have to have 8 spare iphone 5 or 5c sitting around lol agh this desire to have the newest is an expensive hobby.
I simply called in, the retention department is for those who threaten, that's not my style. I get much more accomplished by courteous assertive negotiation... when needed.
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Yes