To your point, it's not exactly $40 with taxes/fees, but it does come with an extra GB vs. what you're getting now.
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AT&T to Stop Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts Starting January 8
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I believe you need to go to an AT&T owned store to get 2 year contracts. Even if it says AT&T on the outside of the store it may not be owned by them. If you are wanting to stick with AT&T call them up and ask them where the nearest AT&T owned store is. I would also call that store and confirm they do 2 year contract pricing on iPhones before making the drive.
Of course I realize this is AT&T, but Verizon will do the same thing next week I'm sure. The carriers are all monkey see, monkey do.
This is *exactly* my point:
The bill never goes down. Buy on a subsidy, pay $XX forever, not $XX for 24 months and then $XX-Y from month 25 onward once the device is supposedly "paid off".
This means one of two things:
1) Either the device really is subsidized and the monthly service charges you pay forever are actually just service charges
or
2) The device isn't actually subsidized and they just hide a jacked up hidden increase in the bill to represent an installment, but that jacked up hidden "installment" never drops off no matter how long you keep your phone.
Ahh that might be true. I remember overhearing one of the other reps in the store saying something to another customer along the lines of "we can do it because this is a corporate store." I didn't know what they were chatting about but could have been this. The other customer, for what it's worth, seemed to be there on the exact same mission I was.
Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of having to do a big song and dance every two years to try and figure out what the hell the carriers are offering every time I'm due for a new phone and what's going to be cheapest. It would be nice if they could just quit trying to scheme everyone and change the system every damn year.
All plans from all carriers are pretty much garbage.
But for real, I'm not interested in any type of phone leasing program, so if I really do need to shell out almost $2k up front whenever I want new phones for my wife and I - even if the service were supposedly a little cheaper each month - I won't be buying new phones every two years.
I don't buy a new $2k MBP every two years, so I don't think I can justify parting with $2k in one fell swoop every two years just to have the latest and greatest.
All plans from all carriers are pretty much garbage.
But for real, I'm not interested in any type of phone leasing program, so if I really do need to shell out almost $2k up front whenever I want new phones for my wife and I - even if the service were supposedly a little cheaper each month - I won't be buying new phones every two years.
I don't buy a new $2k MBP every two years, so I don't think I can justify parting with $2k in one fell swoop every two years just to have the latest and greatest.
They aren't really "new plans". Mobile Share has been around for quite a while, as has the NEXT payment plan. The only change is contract pricing will no longer be available.
First off, AT&T Next is not a lease. You are never required to return the phone at the end. You own it in exactly the same way you own the phone on a 2-year contract.
That, and one of the whole purposes of AT&T Next (IMO) is that there are no major "up front" charges when you upgrade. On a 2-year contract, you had to shell out $199 (or more) up front. With AT&T Next, you only pay for sales tax up front. You then pay monthly (at 0% APR) until the phone is paid for. Once the phone is paid for, that part of your monthly bill goes away (i.e. your monthly bill lowers).
Nothing today available beats the Grandfathered price from AT&T. It's the best deal that AT&T is now killing for loyal customers. Adding Family plan for Text and Talk is even cheaper. Specially with WiFi calling enabled.
LTE Unlimited $30 Month, soon $35 a Month
Unlimited Text $30 for 5 users. = $6 each user
Family Talk 700 Min $60 for 5 users = $12 each user
Monthly is $48 ( for each iPhone user ) iPhone $199 or $299. You pay it once and done with it till you upgrade 2 years later.
LTE Unlimited $30 Month, soon $35 a Month
Unlimited Text $30 for 5 users. = $6 each user
Family Talk 700 Min $60 for 5 users = $12 each user
Monthly is $48 ( for each iPhone user ) iPhone $199 or $299. You pay it once and done with it till you upgrade 2 years later.
Do not re-up if you're planning on leaving in Feb/March. The site said that you get the ETF waived if you last renewed prior to the public announcement. If you renewed after, the ETF applies.
Agreed, and they're killing off the subsidized phone program isn't all that surprising. They severely curtailed the subsidized program earlier this year, making it only available in corporate stores. This is the final nail in the coffin for subsidized pricing for ATT.
I'm not overly disappointed but as I look to add two more lines for my kids, I'm seriously thinking of going back to VZW. I need to work out the costs before I make any decision
I thought you could return your phone before the end of your Next agreement without paying the remaining installments?
Here is this directly from https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/next.html
AT&T Next 24: Divided into 30 installments; trade in and upgrade after 24 installments.
AT&T Next 18: Divided into 24 installments; trade in and upgrade after 18 installments.
AT&T Next 12: Divided into 20 installments; trade in and upgrade after 12 installments.
AT&T Next with down payment: 30% of device cost down, divided into 28 installments; trade in and upgrade after 12 installments.
I would consider that a lease option. Sure you can also lease-to-own if you continue payments.
Also on that page is that they now charge $15 upgrade fee per line...something you wouldn't have if you buy your phone outright and just move your SIM card over.
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Sure, that's an option.
Do you have examples of other types of leases where you can do that, or where you can keep the item being leased at the end of the contract (without an additional payment)?
I'd guess that when you say 'lease', the majority of people will think of cars, where you make a monthly payment for a certain number of years, and then you must turn in the car at the end of the lease.
I don't get why some people don't understand NEXT. It's not hard. YES, you can return your phone before you pay it off, and get a new phone, and yes, it is like a lease. Aristobrat said "at the end". That means at the END of the installments, you OWN the phone. That is NOT a lease. If you absolutely can't live without the lastest iPhone and can't afford to pay off the remaining payments before upgrading, then yes, you turn it in, and your payments are like a lease.
So NEXT can be either...a lease for those with impulse upgrade syndrome, or a 0% APR loan until the phone is paid off. You have the choice.
For those of us with grandfathered unlimited plans, we get 22gb unthrottled data for $30, soon to be $35 per month. According to the chart above I'm saving $70 per month. The dropping in subsidies is targeting grandfathered customers since the service price did not change after the 2 year contract. After I read this article I renewed my contract and bought an iPhone 6s 64gb for $299, no activation fee, even though I was only one year into my current contract. I'll sell the phone and put $350 in my pocket. Last time I can do that.
The thing with the car lease is that you only MUST turn in the car if you choose not to pay the residual value at the end of the lease term. Kind of like the phone, your lease is for 12 months and the residual value after 12 months is another 8 payments.
The next closest thing I can think of would be Rent-A-Center...but I have never used them so I am not 100% sure how it works.
https://www.rentacenter.com/how-rac-works/faqs
I think we are thinking of the contract differently. I see the AT&T Next 12 as a 12 month lease contract, with the option of keeping the phone with an additional 8 payments. I believe you are seeing it as a 20 month contract with the option to get out of it after 12 months.
Indeed, it is obvious that these discussions do not apply to grandfathered plans. For those who are on grandfathered plans, the value outweighs the additional cost and many are willing to stick to it even under a price increase. For others on the newer plans however, particularly with respect to OP mentioning obtaining iPhone practically free isn't true. Some would believe iPhone would be significantly cheaper on contract but fact is upfront cost of $650 and up is just distributed over the contract.
Not true. Next neither includes nor requires you to have insurance. But Apple's installment plan does include Apple Care (with no opt out choice).
Exactly!
People in this thread saying the grandfathered unlimited plan is more expensive are out of their minds.
We have two lines. Wife and I. We're on the 1400 minute plan plus 200 messages per phone. We pay $188 AFTER all taxes and fees. Attached is our data usage for the last few months. So yeah, we just moved to a new home and didn't have internet for a while, and now my wife commutes for 45 minutes to 1 hour each way, during which time she chats it up with her mom (in Europe) on Face Time, or streams Spotify. Our average usage before the move was around 10GB-16GB collectively. Now? Idk... too early to tell, but probably in the area of 20GB-25GB. So with the 25GB Mobile Share plan and two $15 access fees, that puts us at $205 BEFORE taxes and fees. How much would I pay for my September bill (moving month) on the new plan?
We used just under 80GB that month. so....
$205 for the first 25gb
$15 x 54GB = $810
Total, before taxes and fees = $1015
Could we not rely on mobile data during that time? Sure, some of it was watching videos/shows. But I didn't get the unlimited plan to let it sit idle.
Attachments
So 2015. Hike up prices and market it like its a good thing. I guess Madison Avenue has tapped into the stupidity of the average smart phone user.
Att feels they have a divine right to over charge. On principle its enough to keep me from ever going back to them. I don't suffer long with greedy oligarchs. They have already squeezed the last they will ever get from me.
Att feels they have a divine right to over charge. On principle its enough to keep me from ever going back to them. I don't suffer long with greedy oligarchs. They have already squeezed the last they will ever get from me.
Finally, someone who gets it! Keep in mind this applies to AT&T Mobile Share Value plans.
One more scenario, if you stretch the payments to 30 months then you pay 25$ per month and after 24 months have paid $600(with $150 remaining on the interest free loan). Depending on iPhone market you could sell for more than the remaining payoff.
Either way its a better deal if you are on a AT&T Mobile Share Value plan
The thing with the car lease is that you only MUST turn in the car if you choose not to pay the residual value at the end of the lease term. Kind of like the phone, your lease is for 12 months and the residual value at
The closest thing I can think of would be Rent-A-Center...but I have never used them so I am not 100% sure how it works.
https://www.rentacenter.com/how-rac-works/faqs
I think we are thinking of the contract differently. I see the AT&T Next 12 as a 12 month lease contract, with the option of keeping the phone with an additional 8 payments. I believe you are seeing it as a 20 month contract with the option to get out of it after 12 months.
I do understand what he is saying, we are just seeing it as two different things. With AT&T Next 12 you see a 20 month purchase contract with the option get out after 12 months. I see it as a 12 month lease contract with the option to own after an additional 8 payments (lease-to-own).
You can call it what you want but in the end it ends up being the same.
Also, I think more sheeple will actually be using my version of it...they will lease the device for 12 months and turn it in for a new phone every year.
Maybe we'll both luck out, I don't want this to happen either (I prefer the subsidy model still, I find it easier to deal with...but I also tend to keep my equipment for awhile after contract), but normally when one of the big two shifts direction in a major way the other is close behind, with close to an identical policy if not identical.
How are they overcharging? And, what utility or service in life doesn't go up? Have you ditched your electric company because their rates increases? Stopped going to the grocery store because food costs have gone up? Not many companies who want to stay in business drop prices (or leave prices stagnant for very long). The cost of living always increases.
Fair enough, and very well explained.
I get a feeling that a lot of the folks that call these plans leases think that they are required to return the phone after a certain number of months, which isn't the case.
I don't understand why people think 2 year contracts under the old grandfathered unlimited plan is a ripoff. Those unlimited data plan contracts (even with the "baked in" subsidy price) is still CHEAPER than any non-contract plan today. The fact that you get a $200 iPhone is just making the cake 10X sweeter.