AT&T to Stop Offering Two-Year Phone Contracts Starting January 8

[Oridus]

Called customer retention and they gave me a $199 iPhone 6s (that I upgraded to 64GB for $299) and they waived the activation fee. They will also unlock my current iPhone 6 when they do away with the contracts in a few days (so I get to sell that immediately).

When they do away with contracts in a few days, will my iPhone 6s be eligible to unlock since there are no more contracts?

The only way(s) your phone would be eligible to unlock is if you A) Complete your two year contract, B) Break you contract by cancelling your lines or porting your lines out and paying out your final bill, C) taking advantage of AT&T's 60 day cancellation policy as a result of the price increase as stated in the email to unlimited data users.
[doublepost=1452056642][/doublepost]

Give it about a year or so. The way things are going it will end eventually. I'm surprise how fast they went from offering 2 year contact to att only to completely ending it. Att wasn't happy when the fcc stepping in about their unlimited being throttled. They will find a way to get rid of unlimited.

It's not a matter of "finding" a way. If at&t had the intention of removing unlimited completely, they can simply do it. They've got the verbiage in all of their service agreements that they reserve the right to change the plans at their discretion without the user's consent. They are simply required to provide notice of the change.
[doublepost=1452056766][/doublepost]

Resale value is really stable for iPhones. Base model in working condition can always be sold for at least $200 2 years later. This is based on personal exp of selling iPhones every year for the last 6 years.

And resale value is also contingent on condition of the device and the user's knowledge and willingness to sell the device to a third party.

 

[Mrseide1]

Ok. I am on a 2 year contract and it ends in November 2016. On January 8th Will I have to switch to the Next plan or can I wait till the end of my 2 year contract?

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Ok. I am on a 2 year contract and it ends in November 2016. On January 8th Will I have to switch to the Next plan or can I wait till the end of my 2 year contract?

Nothing will happen to your current contract. It only means you won't be able to renew again on a 2-year once it's fulfilled in November 2016.

 

[Mrseide1]

Nothing will happen to your current contract. It only means you won't be able to renew again on a 2-year once it's fulfilled in November 2016.

Got it. Thank you!

 

[Tr3p3]

Called customer retention and they gave me a $199 iPhone 6s (that I upgraded to 64GB for $299) and they waived the activation fee. They will also unlock my current iPhone 6 when they do away with the contracts in a few days (so I get to sell that immediately).

When they do away with contracts in a few days, will my iPhone 6s be eligible to unlock since there are no more contracts?

Do you mind sharing what you did specifically to get an early upgrade authorized? I just tried calling at&t twice, and both times I was told that it's not possible and couldn't get anywhere with them.

 

[Kendo]

Do you mind sharing what you did specifically to get an early upgrade authorized? I just tried calling at&t twice, and both times I was told that it's not possible and couldn't get anywhere with them.

Did you speak to the retentions dept? Regular customer service has no power.

 

[Tr3p3]

Did you speak to the retentions dept? Regular customer service has no power.

thanks for the quick reply! I asked the person i spoke to the 2nd time to be transferred to the customer retention department, but he said they didn't have such a department and that if I wanted to cancel, he can help me with that.
Maybe I just got someone that was in a bad mood? Did you call the regular number and then ask to speak with the retention department? Is there any special way to make sure I can get through to the correct department? Thanks!

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

I'm unclear on this - my friend wants to upgrade and keep her 2-year contract, but we're not sure if that means 1/8 is the last day she can upgrade and keep her 2-year contract, or if 1/7 (tomorrow) is the last day?

 

[mr99]

Maybe somebody can help me figure all of this out as well to make sure I'm not wasting money needlessly.

I have a 5 line family plan, 2 are unlimited data, the others are 2gb or less. We have an old plan with 1400 min, unlimited texting and pay $275 monthly after our FAN discount. I believe 3 of the 5 lines are in 2 year contracts currently all at various stages in contract. With subsidy going away and losing "$200" phones, when we upgrade next and make payments, our bill will skyrocket which makes change inevitable.

Can someone help with some recommendations?

 

[spacemnspiff]

Did you call the regular number and then ask to speak with the retention department? Is there any special way to make sure I can get through to the correct department? Thanks!

I called 611 from my phone and asked for retentions at the automated prompt. It took me 4 tries to get the phones ordered. I just received them today.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

I'm unclear on this - my friend wants to upgrade and keep her 2-year contract, but we're not sure if that means 1/8 is the last day she can upgrade and keep her 2-year contract, or if 1/7 (tomorrow) is the last day?

The screenshot says "Effective January 8th" so 1/7 is the last day.

 

[Yardman1977]

If you want to do an early partial iphone upgrade then you can still do it after jan 8th...the retentions rep said you can do it til the end of your current contract....

 

[0073735963]

I called 611 from my phone and asked for retentions at the automated prompt. It took me 4 tries to get the phones ordered. I just received them today.

I got shot down on my 1st (and only) call so far. Was told they can't do 2 year contract upgrades over the phone. I did ask for "cancel service" but it was also a period of high call volume, not sure if that impacted anything. I have one line up in April and 2 up in September.

Anything special you said on the 4th time or what were you told the first 3 times when you were shot down? Appreciate your time!

 

[Phillyphil0302]

I got shot down on my 1st (and only) call so far. Was told they can't do 2 year contract upgrades over the phone. I did ask for "cancel service" but it was also a period of high call volume, not sure if that impacted anything. I have one line up in April and 2 up in September.

Anything special you said on the 4th time or what were you told the first 3 times when you were shot down? Appreciate your time!

Try the online chat...I was offered an upgrade even though I wasn't eligible. Only reason why I chatted in the first place was to find out exactly what was going on with the contracts ending and the rep ended up transferring me to the retention dept. and was offered an upgrade without me asking for it...go figure. Waiting for my full subsidy priced 64GB iPhone 6s to arrive

 

[imlynxy]

Called CS, was told that;
1. My FAN will not be on subsudy anymore.
2. 5 dollar increase gives all my lines ability to be transfered without ETF from January 27 to April 30.
3. If I don't like T-mobile I can return back to Att to the plan I have now ( UDP family talk ) during the first 59 days after my numbers ported to t-mobile.
4. I didn't get any perks ftom them, but I didn't insist on them.
5. Was offered MSV more expensive plan in my case, refused

 

[Kendo]

thanks for the quick reply! I asked the person i spoke to the 2nd time to be transferred to the customer retention department, but he said they didn't have such a department and that if I wanted to cancel, he can help me with that.
Maybe I just got someone that was in a bad mood? Did you call the regular number and then ask to speak with the retention department? Is there any special way to make sure I can get through to the correct department? Thanks!

I just called the main customer service number and the computer operated message asked me what department and I said retention.

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

The screenshot says "Effective January 8th" so 1/7 is the last day.

Thanks! Seriously, so dumb of AT&T to do this, with such short notice. They could've given customers at least a month to decide what to do!

 

[ToroidalZeus]

Maybe somebody can help me figure all of this out as well to make sure I'm not wasting money needlessly.

I have a 5 line family plan, 2 are unlimited data, the others are 2gb or less. We have an old plan with 1400 min, unlimited texting and pay $275 monthly after our FAN discount. I believe 3 of the 5 lines are in 2 year contracts currently all at various stages in contract. With subsidy going away and losing "$200" phones, when we upgrade next and make payments, our bill will skyrocket which makes change inevitable.

Can someone help with some recommendations?

I had almost the exact plan on AT&T. These were the options i saw for 5 lines:

Verizon: $200 a mo for 28GB shared data (18GB + 2GB per line promotion)
AT&T: $250 a mo for 25GB shared data [ ~$215 with FAN discount @ 20%)
T-Mobile: $220 a mo for unlimited data. $140 a mo for 6GB per line (not shared).
Sprint: Didn't check.
MVNOs: Not enough data for me.

I personally went with T-Mobile unlimited everything. It's not as cheap as what I had with subsidies on AT&T but since those are now gone, it is cheaper than what I'd pay next month. Bottomline is it all depends on how much data you need, how you allocate it and who has good service in your area.

 

[skiphunt]

I can't tell you how enraged I am at ATT right now, but I bet some of you already know.

After weighing all the options, and the fact I rarely use much data anyway... and calculating what I'm paying for my single line... I decided to unlock my phone and try out Cricket. ATT kept giving me an error for unlocking, but it turns out I was using the wrong passcode. Since I had several failed attempts, I had to submit an order to have it unlocked.

Then they put me through to "customer retention".. what a freakin' joke!!! Joke's on me though. After they went over all the details and came up with an offer that was somewhat acceptable, I took the offer. When the change took place, it wasn't what they offered me. When I called back they acted like there's no way I would've been offered that. I told them I spoke with 2 different reps including a retention specialist manager. I repeated the terms back at least a half dozen times.

So, now I no longer have unlimited. Have 6GB/mo for only $10 less than what I was paying for grandfathered unlimited. This isn't what they clearly offered me and now they're denying they offered it to me. How slimy!!!

Trying to get more info from customer service with Cricket but so far it's even worse than ATT. Yes, I know Cricket is owned by ATT, but their Chat feature never responded... you can't just call a representative up directly. I called a local store but the girl on the phone was absolutely clueless about any of my questions. I asked about hotspots and she said that it works with iPhones. I tell her the website doesn't list iPhone as a compatible hotspot phone. She asks if I want to upgrade to a different iPhone. I say no, I just want to know if ANY of the iPhones are hotspot compatible. She says they all all. I tell her again that their website says they aren't. She comes back and changes her story and says they aren't.

I started asking her about number porting and she says customer service has to do that, but I can't even get someone from customer service on the phone.

I'd just give up on ATT and Cricket too, and go with someone else, but I'm reading similar horror stories from all the carriers.

For the amount they're charging... when did customer service get to be so freakin' horrible?!!!

All you kids who're being promised better deals through "customer retention", you better get it in writing before you agree to anything... or they'll just trick you into something completely different and then deny any offers they gave you verbally. So rotten. I already hated ATT as a company, but that hatred has just grown 10-fold today. 5 freakin hours I'll never get back, and ended up getting tricked into an even lousier deal.

 

[Yardman1977]

I can't tell you how enraged I am at ATT right now, but I bet some of you already know.

After weighing all the options, and the fact I rarely use much data anyway... and calculating what I'm paying for my single line... I decided to unlock my phone and try out Cricket. ATT kept giving me an error for unlocking, but it turns out I was using the wrong passcode. Since I had several failed attempts, I had to submit an order to have it unlocked.

Then they put me through to "customer retention".. what a freakin' joke!!! Joke's on me though. After they went over all the details and came up with an offer that was somewhat acceptable, I took the offer. When the change took place, it wasn't what they offered me. When I called back they acted like there's no way I would've been offered that. I told them I spoke with 2 different reps including a retention specialist manager. I repeated the terms back at least a half dozen times.

So, now I no longer have unlimited. Have 6GB/mo for only $10 less than what I was paying for grandfathered unlimited. This isn't what they clearly offered me and now they're denying they offered it to me. How slimy!!!

Trying to get more info from customer service with Cricket but so far it's even worse than ATT. Yes, I know Cricket is owned by ATT, but their Chat feature never responded... you can't just call a representative up directly. I called a local store but the girl on the phone was absolutely clueless about any of my questions. I asked about hotspots and she said that it works with iPhones. I tell her the website doesn't list iPhone as a compatible hotspot phone. She asks if I want to upgrade to a different iPhone. I say no, I just want to know if ANY of the iPhones are hotspot compatible. She says they all all. I tell her again that their website says they aren't. She comes back and changes her story and says they aren't.

I started asking her about number porting and she says customer service has to do that, but I can't even get someone from customer service on the phone.

I'd just give up on ATT and Cricket too, and go with someone else, but I'm reading similar horror stories from all the carriers.

For the amount they're charging... when did customer service get to be so freakin' horrible?!!!

All you kids who're being promised better deals through "customer retention", you better get it in writing before you agree to anything... or they'll just trick you into something completely different and then deny any offers they gave you verbally. So rotten. I already hated ATT as a company, but that hatred has just grown 10-fold today. 5 freakin hours I'll never get back, and ended up getting tricked into an even lousier deal.

[doublepost=1452124084][/doublepost]Call retentions...tell them the att rep made a mistake and switched you to a plan that is different that u agreed upon with her...and that you want them to switch you back to yor old unlimited data plan immediately...theyre able to switch u back to unlimited as long as its within 60 days of the date that it was removed.....the back office will have to do it......i know this for a fact cuz it happened to me.

 

[skiphunt]

[doublepost=1452124084][/doublepost]
Call retentions...tell them the att rep made a mistake and switched you to a plan that is different that u agreed upon with her...and that you want them to switch you back to yor old unlimited data plan immediately...theyre able to switch u back to unlimited as long as its within 60 days of the date that it was removed.....the back office will have to do it......i know this for a fact cuz it happened to me.

Do you or anyone else... think that just dropping them and going with Cricket is a mistake? I like to travel a lot and I typically just put my phone in airplane mode while traveling. Using available wifi in other countries is fine. So, I end up paying for all this "unlimited data" and barely even using it. I think on a heavy month I might creep close to just under 3GB. If I'm uploading images from the road in the US, I might get close to 5GB for a month, but that's rare.

With Cricket, I can just change my plan to the cheapest one while traveling, then bump it back up when I return or when needed. It's a hassle to do that with ATT.

I'm just wondering why I've been hanging onto this grandfathered unlimited for so long, paying a premium for it, and almost never really using it.

 

[Tr3p3]

I just called the main customer service number and the computer operated message asked me what department and I said retention.

Thanks. I did just that. And after 3 more calls and a visit to a company store, I finally got my upgrade!! Thank you so much for the heads up.

So here was my jouney -
- Called regular customer service twice and was told early upgrade is simply impossible and there was no retention department.
- Called and asked for retention department via voice prompt and connected to someone that ultimately hung up on me ( or my phone cut out, not sure)
- Called retention dept again and woman talked to me for 25 mins before finally telling me that early upgrades are impossible with their system, but that I can go into a corporate store and they can do it.
- Ran to a corporate store and was laughed out of there (not literally) - I was told that they do not have the ability to give early upgrades... I figured I was just getting the run around and almost gave up.
- But I decided to call retention dept one more time. Got a girl that didn't give me ANY push back. I just explained that I was hoping to get an early upgrade since I've been a customer since 2002 (back when it was cingular). She had me upgraded in less than 2 minutes.

So it all apparently comes down to who you speak with. And obviously the reps that claimed that it's simply not possible are either very misinformed or are just trying to misdirect you into a NEXT plan.

 

[Yardman1977]

Do you or anyone else... think that just dropping them and going with Cricket is a mistake? I like to travel a lot and I typically just put my phone in airplane mode while traveling. Using available wifi in other countries is fine. So, I end up paying for all this "unlimited data" and barely even using it. I think on a heavy month I might creep close to just under 3GB. If I'm uploading images from the road in the US, I might get close to 5GB for a month, but that's rare.

With Cricket, I can just change my plan to the cheapest one while traveling, then bump it back up when I return or when needed. It's a hassle to do that with ATT.

I'm just wondering why I've been hanging onto this grandfathered unlimited for so long, paying a premium for it, and almost never really using it.

I heard that cricket users cant use the roaming feature on the att network....so maybe if your in the sticks then u wont have service.not sure about that tho......as far as my case we have 2 accts.....a grandfathered nation 550 with rollover with 2 unlimited lines.....and 3 other lines on the 20 gig mobile,share value plan from last years double data deals....im on an iru fan plan with my company and i willbe losing my subsidies...Retentions will bump me up to 40 gig mobile value for 39 bucks more..... I cud easily dump the 2 udp lines and add them to the mobile share 40 gig deal and save 61 bucks......we will have plenty of data....but i just cant muster up the courage to dump the udp lines....we burn about 10 to 17 gigs each...music ..u tube..netflix. .slingbox....hbo go....waze.....etc...also its 15 bucks per gig overage charge on the mobile share value plans....no overage with udp...my son had a 5 gig plan for awhile and i was always gettin hit with 10 buck overage fees.....
...if i were u i wud hang on to your udp lines..they are a rare breed now...and with no more throttling til maybe 22 gigs it makes them even better.......just use yor phones longer and buy insurance on them during february open enrollment period....so u will never have to pay full price for a phone.....yor data comsumption may go up in the future and you will be all set...also some companies wifi networks block netfllix and other streaming services..

 

[skiphunt]

I heard that cricket users cant use the roaming feature on the att network....so maybe if your in the sticks then u wont have service.not sure about that tho......as far as my case we have 2 accts.....a grandfathered nation 550 with rollover with 2 unlimited lines.....and 3 other lines on the 20 gig mobile,share value plan from last years double data deals....im on an iru fan plan with my company and i willbe losing my subsidies...Retentions will bump me up to 40 gig mobile value for 39 bucks more..... I cud easily dump the 2 udp lines and add them to the mobile share 40 gig deal and save 61 bucks......we will have plenty of data....but i just cant muster up the courage to dump the udp lines....we burn about 10 to 17 gigs each...music ..u tube..netflix. .slingbox....hbo go....waze.....etc...also its 15 bucks per gig overage charge on the mobile share value plans....no overage with udp...my son had a 5 gig plan for awhile and i was always gettin hit with 10 buck overage fees.....
...if i were u i wud hang on to your udp lines..they are a rare breed now...and with no more throttling til maybe 22 gigs it makes them even better.......just use yor phones longer and buy insurance on them during february open enrollment period....so u will never have to pay full price for a phone.....yor data comsumption may go up in the future and you will be all set...also some companies wifi networks block netfllix and other streaming services..

For my use, I really don't think UDP makes much sense. I've had Netflix for years but never watch movies on mobile devices. Only at home. I don't stream music. I download podcasts from wifi at home or a coffee shop. I don't watch much Youtube either.

My guess is that the unlimited data "grandfathered" plans will go away whether we like it or not. It clear they are getting phased out. So why pay $90/mo for unlimited that I haven't used in the decade I've had it, and have no plans on using it now. Pay a premium for a service that I "might" use in the future, but will likely go away anyway?

The thought of calling ATT back, demanding they give my old grandfathered plan back because the rep didn't give me what she said she'd give me, makes my blood boil. Besides, when I called back after realizing I'd been duped, they just denied it and insinuated that I must have misunderstood.... even though I repeated it back exactly several times, ie. so I get 6GB unlimited talk/text personal hotspot, etc. for $50+tax and fees that they estimated to bring it to about $66 a month. Then, I say go ahead... log back in and my plan is now $65 before tax/fees.. that means I'll be closer to $75 or $80.

Why go through all the aggravation to get back a grandfathered plan that I wasn't even using? I get what you're saying that they're rare now and that data usage could go up... but what's to keep ATT from just killing the UDP anyway? They're not obligated to keep giving it to us even "grandfathered".

 

[mr99]

I had almost the exact plan on AT&T. These were the options i saw for 5 lines:

Verizon: $200 a mo for 28GB shared data (18GB + 2GB per line promotion)
AT&T: $250 a mo for 25GB shared data [ ~$215 with FAN discount @ 20%)
T-Mobile: $220 a mo for unlimited data. $140 a mo for 6GB per line (not shared).
Sprint: Didn't check.
MVNOs: Not enough data for me.

I personally went with T-Mobile unlimited everything. It's not as cheap as what I had with subsidies on AT&T but since those are now gone, it is cheaper than what I'd pay next month. Bottomline is it all depends on how much data you need, how you allocate it and who has good service in your area.

Do you think I should sign 2 year agreements on the lines that aren't in contract right now before contracts are eliminated? Then we can make the switch to T Mobile or another carrier that pays ETF's in the next month or 2 and have phones that are ours to keep therefore no payments when we get going on the new carrier? Does that make sense?