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

[jlc1978]

I was forced to switch to AT&T this year because of T-Mobile's terrible coverage.
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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 .

I think that is the main consideration for deciding on a carrier. T Mobile works for me but then again I tend to always be in a major metropolitan area with good coverage. I still have a work issued ATT phone so I have started to compare coverage out of curiosity.
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I am tempted to say "cricket cricket". Sorry. There is a new store in our town... how is their coverage, etc?

ATT is Cricket's parent company. The majors created separate subsidiaries to offer different price points and service types without having to cut their "brand name" prices. That lets them setup services so that Cricket doesn't appeal to an ATT customer but does to someone who wouldn't be an ATT customer. I't's all about having as many pricing tiers as possible to capture as much revenue as possible.

Sprint has Boost and Mobile has MetroPCS. Not sure who is owned by VZW, if any.

In some cases, they are an independent MVNO and buy bulk access from the other carriers, Tracfone is one, and operates a number of different brands, including Net10 and Straight Talk.

 

[macworksgreat]

you do understand that Cricket is owned by AT&T right ?

Nothing surprises me anymore

 

[sportsfan]

Our country would be better off to nationalize all the phone companies like a utility and build one, well built, network. It would be more efficient than the overlapping towers we have now.

 

[willmtaylor]

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!

When I changed to T-Mobile, there was a $15 SIM fee that was essentially an activation fee.

Yes, T-Mobile charges a "sim kit fee" of $20. They even charged me that on my new 9.7" iPad Pro, even though that model uses the embedded Apple sim. So they didn't even have to provide a SIM card and I got charged $20.

For anyone I'm quoting below, please refer to the quotes above. Yes, competition is good, and yes, U.S. cellular customers are getting screwed, but as much as he thinks he is, J. Legere isn't the second coming of Christ, so for God's sake put down the Koolaid.

I feel bad for anyone that's not In T-Mobiles coverage area. They're a fantastic company. Been happy with them for a decade.

T-mobile charges the same exact fee, they just call it a SIM card fee. It applies whether you bring your own phone or get one from them. so same fee with much crappier service, they're all just as bad.

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

I was already planning on switching to T Mobile anyways but this is the nail in the coffin. Many of us are still on 2 year contracts but once we're done I can see a lot of people switching to T Mobile.

T Mobil keeps looking better and better. Others are piling on the fees.

Totally switching to T-Mobile after my contract is up. This is f'd up.

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

I'm kinda hoping that John Legere responds to this on Twitter, say what you will about T-Mobile coverage but they seem to be improving fast and they have been putting out some amazing deals, I know they have a sim starter kit that they sell but I've always managed to get them to wave the fee.

There are also many posts throughout this forum of folks, myself included, getting ATT & VZW to waive fees on a regular basis. I just got a $40 fee waived last week.

They're one of the few companies you can trust when they claim it's cheap, easy and works (assuming they have good coverage in your area, of course).

AND THERES THE RUB: "assuming they have coverage...."

Can trust a cellular provider? Hah.

 

[tkukoc]

I always use an old sim on a new device to avoid this nonsense. And when it says activation doesn't work, I just go to the att store and they issue me a new sim card.. no fees paid. It's absolute nonsense they charge to do nothing.

 

[lkrupp]

To all of you pontificating outrage at the various mobile carriers...

“Stifle it, Edith.” One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. For every AT&T hater there’s a corresponding Verizon hater, Sprint hater, T-Mobile hater. For every Fandroid Lemming there’s an Apple Sheep. Get it? You look stupid when you launch a tirade against the object of your hatred.

Our country would be better off to nationalize all the phone companies like a utility and build one, well built, network. It would be more efficient than the overlapping towers we have now.

Wow! Where to start? Want to know what a “nationalized” cell network would look like? Walk into any DMV, VA hospital, or Social Security office and then come back and tell me you still want that. Talk about the lack of competition and stifling of innovation. Your wish is the very definition of that.

 

[willmtaylor]

To all of you pontificating outrage at the various mobile carriers...

“Stifle it, Edith.” One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. For every AT&T hater there’s a corresponding Verizon hater, Sprint hater, T-Mobile hater. For every Fandroid Lemming there’s an Apple Sheep. Get it? You look stupid when you launch a tirade against the object of your hatred.



Wow! Where to start? Want to know what a “nationalized” cell network would look like? Walk into any DMV, VA hospital, or Social Security office and then come back and tell me you still want that. Talk about the lack of competition and stifling of innovation. Your wish is the very definition of that.

Yup, yup, and yup. Well spoken.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Don't really get the activation fee when the cell co isn't subsidizing the phone and also is a 100% DIY process. I have a grandfathered ATT unlimited plan but actively looking for alternate carrier when the 7 comes out -- assuming the 7 is a worthy upgrade.

 

[EvilEvil]

Why not remove the fee completely to compete? Such greedy telecoms.

 

[steviec]

Ironically, I just announced that I charge AT&T $20 to charge my credit card - Up from $15.

 

[MasterRyu2011]

I really wanted to like to Tmobile a lot when I was experimenting with them a year ago. Unlimited everything. Customer friendly policies. Hip! What's not to like?

The reality is though, FOR ME, Tmobile's service connection doesn't cut it. Not where I work, not where I live, not where I drive through. I can't even get a signal in a very popular mall that I frequent --- and the mall has a Tmobile store inside!

Even with Band 12, I was mostly getting 3G in my work building --- whereas Verizon's connection is almost flawless. It's a tradeoff, but since I typically bring my own phones, I won't get hit by the $20 upgrade fee. (I know this is about AT&T, but I'm pretty sure the policies are very Verizon-like).

 

[jephrey]

Thanks.

 

[Xavier]

This is like the bully taking half your lunch because they could get away with it. ATT/Verizon are taking $20 if you want a new phone because they can.

 

[BeanieMan]

So, is that a fee for taking a sim card out of one phone and putting it into another? or is there more to it than that, i.e., does AT&T actually have to do anything to "activate" a new presumably unlocked phone?

 

[DudeDad]

Why not keep it $5 less as an incentive? C'mon AT&T, just cause others are doing it doesn't mean you need to match. Its called competition!

Exactly! It's not like Verizon raised it's salary matrix and the competitor is matching it! Unreal.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Smh. I feel like the phone companies just copy each other.

 

[jcmeyer5]

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

Bull crap. I was charged $20 on Tuesday at T-Mobile on a BYOD transaction. Right there on my receipt, it says "Activation Fee." And to top it off, the coverage is as bad as I feared. I have no coverage at my house , I have no coverage at work, and I have spotty coverage inbetween... all despite their map saying I have awesome coverage. Hell, I lost service outside their freaking store.

Sorry... had to get that off my chest.

 

[mpeterson78]

I bought my 6S from Apple SIM-free and paid full price. Just popped the SIM out of my old phone and into the new one and it works fine. Didn't need to pay any ridiculous "upgrade" fee.

 

[KdParker]

Not sure how or why this is even needed to charge a fee for upgrading a phone - is there anything besides a little bit of labor used? Nothing physical gets used up... It's just a employee changing what phone is tied to an account, right?

I am not even sure if that is the case. I just change my sim cards and new phone activated. Not really sure what the carriers are charging for.

Maybe this fee is for adding a new line?

 

[MasterRyu2011]

So, is that a fee for taking a sim card out of one phone and putting it into another? or is there more to it than that, i.e., does AT&T actually have to do anything to "activate" a new presumably unlocked phone?

I believe that the fee only kicks in for an activation of a device that results in you requiring a new sim from them. But if you already have a sim card on your current phone, and you bought your new phone off of ebay or directly from the manufacturer (like the Moto X Pure), and put in your existing sim in that phone, I don't think you get charged anything.

 

[jcmeyer5]

I was already planning on switching to T Mobile anyways but this is the nail in the coffin. Many of us are still on 2 year contracts but once we're done I can see a lot of people switching to T Mobile.

*psst* T-Mobile charges it too...

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Not sure how or why this is even needed to charge a fee for upgrading a phone - is there anything besides a little bit of labor used? Nothing physical gets used up... It's just a employee changing what phone is tied to an account, right?

Technically, if the person on the account has a line, the employee doesn't even need to do anything. All we have to do is pop in a sim and go. I'm with you on this, not sure why they are charging a fee for upgrading a phone either. Guess just a way for them to make more money off of us. Not like we can do much of anything about it anyways.

 

[BeanieMan]

I believe that the fee only kicks in for an activation of a device that results in you requiring a new sim from them. But if you already have a sim card on your current phone, and you bought your new phone off of ebay or directly from the manufacturer (like the Moto X Pure), and put in your existing sim in that phone, I don't think you get charged anything.

Maybe they should just charge for the sim card, or maybe they do that too?

 

[AppleFanatic10]

I feel bad for anyone that's not In T-Mobiles coverage area. They're a fantastic company. Been happy with them for a decade.

I would love to switch and I do have a sim with T-Mobile when the time comes, unfortunately where I live/work only Verizon & Sprint have coverage. I can barely get signal on my iPhone when I pop my T-Mobile sim in.

 

[MaxinMusicCity]

*Verizon raises upgrade fee*

AT&T CEO: "Whoa whoa whoa, I will NOT be outdone in screwing over customers!!!"

*AT&T raises upgrade fee*

Where is Ernistine when you need her ?