AT&T Raises Smartphone Upgrade Pricing From $15 to $20 to Match Verizon's New Fee

[falainber]

I'm surprised so many on this board are complaining about $20, if you own an apple product you are waaaay overpaying for old tech already. I'm sure a lot of you have purchased a $700 phone with 16gb of flash storage in it

What's not to understand? Those (well, some of them) who overpay for Apple devices simply do not have money left to pay the fee to At&T. Now go to, say, androidauthority.com and yo won't even find any information about this increase and when there is one there will be no more than 7 comments.

 

[barnyard]

So glad I left AT&T behind. T-Mobile has been nothing short of amazing to deal with, and I have faster speeds, lower prices and see this stuff and laugh.

 

[MasterRyu2011]

When Verizon buys Yahoo, there's going to be a $50 fee to use it.

Who uses Yahoo nowadays?

 

[KPandian1]

T-mobile charges the same exact fee, they just call it a SIM card fee.

I'm surprised so many on this board are complaining about $20, ... .

If anyone steals $1 from me I am P.O.'d about it. This is theft by AT&T. The device change process is as simple as buying an unlocked phone and adding the current sim.

T-Mobile gives away its sim regularly. No matter, if you have a nano-sim already in the current phone, there is no penalty to switch the sim to the new device. I did that for three iPhones in one transaction.

Verizon and Sprint - a different beasts. Still, the online settings are all that need to be changed by the consumer these days. No trips to the store, no "authentication" process - code for padding your bill-, etc., to add fees and rob the customer.

All the fees already charged by these companies include service charges, a.k.a., profit margin. $20 is a stupid way to alienate your consumer-base. Soon enough, the coverage by all providers will be identical - thank you T-Mobile, and your European roots!

 

[diipii]

Starting last year, AT&T began charging a $15 activation fee for customers who wanted to upgrade to a new smartphone purchased outright or through an AT&T Next plan, and as of yesterday, that fee has been increased from $15 to $20.

As Droid Life noticed yesterday, AT&T updated its wireless activation and upgrade fees document to reflect the new $20 pricing on April 6, matching Verizon's recently implemented fee.

On Monday, Verizon started charging $20 for activating smartphones purchased through an installment plan or at full retail price, $5 less than AT&T was charging at the time. Less than two days later, AT&T raised its prices to $20.

AT&T customers who bring a phone to the AT&T network, purchase a phone using AT&T Next, or purchase a device through Apple's Device Upgrade program will need to pay the one-time activation fee as outlined below. Customers with a two-year contract will need to pay the standard $45 fee, which has not changed.As Ars Technica points out, AT&T doesn't provide any explanation or justification for the fee that it charges on its website, nor does it give an explanation for the price increase. In a leaked document we shared last week, Verizon said its own fee was to cover "increasing support costs associated with customers switching their devices."

Of the four major carriers in the United States, T-Mobile is the only carrier that does not charge an upgrade or activation fee. AT&T and Verizon both charge $20, while Sprint charges a fee of up to $36 per device.

Article Link: AT&T Raises Smartphone Upgrade Pricing From $15 to $20 to Match Verizon's New Fee

It seems like they don't actually have to charge anything. It's all about what they think they can get away with. A bit like in Appleland.

 

[Tech198]

an activation free ? U guys have to *pay* to get connected ?

All u do here with Vodafone in Australia u get a SIM and there is no fee to get any activation...

FYI.. I like land

 

[robinp]

If mobile companies started doing that here in the UK there would be outrage. I mean, on what basis are they justifying this? Surely it requires no effort whatsoever for them. You have a plan you pay for which is attached to a SIM card they provide. Where you stick that SIM card should not be any concern of theirs at all as long as you don't misuse it.

Crooks.

 

[Heather K]

As someone mentioned above, "because we can". I left Verizon after Twenty..something years, and Cricket better not force my hand, or else. These companies, including, Comcast do all these things because "we" allow them to and don't demand more. Let everyone drop their plan and see what happens,but it is unrealistic. Folks behave as if they attached to the device via umbilical cord.

 

[jlc1978]

T-Mobile does now! I can show you the receipt for $20 each activation for our new iPhone SEs... and that was signing up for their $120/month Unlimited LTE plan!

Thye will waive that, BTW. They did of for me.

 

[bommai]

If I put my SIM card in a new phone, I get billed $20?

I used to do this a several times last year to test if a phone was unlocked and compatible with AT&T. I was never charged! Also I am with cricket now and never get charged either.

 

[BigZ243]

It was crap like this why I switched to T-Mobile. They did not charge me activation and my service is just as good or better now that they have more towers everywhere in my area. It also costs me only $165 per month for 5 phones with 10GB each.
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I've never done any of that IMEI stuff, just pop my SIM out and pop it into a new phone. I do it a few times a month to activate some iPhones. I certainly hope this isn't the case. Pretty ridiculous

They apply the activation to the SIM card, not per phone. You can swap it as many times as you want.

 

[jlc1978]

I hate both AT&T and VZ. They both suck. I do not know if TMo is great enough to switch... oh well..

I switched and actually have better coverage than I did with ATT, but YMMV; and significantly reduced my bill, even though I added unlimited data. My plan has 14GB of tethering included which has pretty much replaced my Aircard for my MacBook. Granted, most of my use is for email and some web surfing, not watching videos or d/l large files, so that is more than enough for me. I haven't used there no additional charge to use data or text while traveling but will be using it later this year so it's an added no extra cost bonus vs paying ATT extra when traveling.

Overall, it's been a plus for me, and I was very reluctant to switch because of coverage concerns.ATT's constant jacking up prices finally drove me to switch and I wish I did it earlier.

 

[iPlaid]

Thye will waive that, BTW. They did of for me.

I suspect this is a local store prerogative. Given that you can use SIMSALE on the T-Mobile web site to get their "SIM kits" free, I asked the rep about it. He called the manager, as if she'd done it before, but she said the SIM kit fee is really just an activation fee that everybody pays. I suspected she was lying. We did this in store because we wanted new, easier to remember, consecutive phone numbers and the rep was able to do that for us. So I write the $40 off to that.

 

[kevink2]

This could be a good excuse to try another carrier, like T-Mobile, if that is a choice for AT&T and Verizon customers. I switched to T-Mobile from AT&T over a year ago, and very glad I did.

I'm not completely happy with my change. My signal strength is 1 dot at work, and it alternates from "4G" to LTE. This drains my battery faster. And a couple spots it drops around town. Home is real good, but I can use Wi-Fi there

I may try prepaid GoPhone or Verizon.

 

[jlc1978]

So true or what about the $300 16GB ram upgrade on a Mac mini, when it actually costs $60. AT&T's $20 ripoff, seems peanuts compared to Apple's $300 theft.

I don't agree with this whole "overcharging is theft" argument. Yes, Apple charges a high premium over a DIY upgrade; but no one is forcing you to buy their product or buy an upgrade. If you don't like their pricing don't buy the product. ART raised their prices to the point I left for T Mobile.

I'd love it if Apple reduce their margins to 5% but that isn't happening so I have to decide if the product is worth the price.
[doublepost=1460115855][/doublepost]

I suspect this is a local store prerogative. Given that you can use SIMSALE on the T-Mobile web site to get their "SIM kits" free, I asked the rep about it. He called the manager, as if she'd done it before, but she said the SIM kit fee is really just an activation fee that everybody pays. I suspected she was lying. We did this in store because we wanted new, easier to remember, consecutive phone numbers and the rep was able to do that for us. So I write the $40 off to that.

It may very well be. When I asked to get the 200mb free data plan on my iPad they want dot charge me for a SIM but waived that as well. I could have use date Apple SIM but wanted that was a reserve if I decided to activate on another network at some point. T Moblie so far has been very customer friendly for me. I'd call customer service or go back to the store. They charged me when I signed up but credited my bill for the same amount. Often they can't waive a fee but can credit you with the same amount. ART did that for me for their $300 signal booster. The rep couldn't send it for free but charged me and then credited the same amount to my account. Of course, now I have an ATT signal booster but T Mobile phones and T Mobiles signal booster; which I haven't setup because their wifi calling works great.

 

[PlainviewX]

If I leave Verizon I know where I'm not going.

 

[Plutonius]

They are the duopoly after all, as T-Mobile says. Until their customers start demanding change, they'll never change their ways.

I was forced to switch to AT&T this year because of T-Mobile's terrible coverage.
[doublepost=1460117458][/doublepost]

So glad I left AT&T behind. T-Mobile has been nothing short of amazing to deal with, and I have faster speeds, lower prices and see this stuff and laugh.

I liked T-Mobiles pricing but I'm glad I left T-Mobile behind. All the good pricing in the world is useless when you can't reliably use their network .

 

[ThunderSkunk]

T-Mobile does now! I can show you the receipt for $20 each activation for our new iPhone SEs... and that was signing up for their $120/month Unlimited LTE plan!

Hm. That's weird. They didn't charge me at all. I expected a big process and the kid just explained it required only switching the sims, whipped his pin tool out & swapped them in about 15 seconds and I was on my way.

Or do you mean a activation fee for signing up for a completely new service? Because yes, there is that fee, which all companies do, to pay for some of the time it takes to enter you as a new customer, credit check, etc. You're actually paying for work to be done there.

 

[SBacklin]

I never understood why they charged the fee in the first place. I do all the work.

Remember, these fees were first to help recoup the cost of handset subsidies. Now that isn't the case anymore they're making the fees about something else. That tells you from the get-go that its just because they can. It's all a bunch of BS.

 

[RedGala]

Predatory pricing backwards?

 

[RightMACatU]

Let's start charging THEM $20 every time we walk into their store. Don't wanna pay, we walk away.

 

[macworksgreat]

Glad I upgraded when I did. Got off my unlimited data plan, 500 minutes and unlimited text as it was getting expensive as AT&T raised the prices on unlimited data from $30 to $35 per line. Turns out I was able to negotiate and i got the 20GB data plan for the cost of the 15GB plan. One thing i didn't count on was i also get tethering which has actually turned out very handy. I don't need a huge phone when I can tether my iPad at no additional cost. Ended up saving $30 per month.

Don't tell them that...they will figure you are getting away with something!

 

[Boatboy24]

alright! way to go att!!!

I'm guessing you're a stockholder.

 

[macworksgreat]

I don't understand the whole you have to pay to still be a customer.

I am so happy I left at&t (proper) and went to cricket. None of this crap.

I am tempted to say "cricket cricket". Sorry. There is a new store in our town... how is their coverage, etc?

 

[KanosWRX]

Oh yay, I was worried AT&T wouldn't compete with Verizon on this, thank you for staying on top of things to screw your customers even more! Thought for a second you might have actually cared about your customers, no need to worry about that now.