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AT&T - you're being charged starting the day you placed your preorder the 6s

S

sqa4life

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 27, 2011
154
59
AT&T customers: Just a heads up for those who preordered the iphone 6s to check your AT&T bill.

They started charging the "monthly service" the day you placed your preorder of the iphone 6s. The charges started showing up on my bill NOW, even though the phone is scheduled to be shipped between Oct 16 - Oct 23. I called and spoke to the supervisor and she said that's how att system work. You starting paying monthly regardless if you phone will be delivered a year from the date you placed your preorder. WTF?

So, I cancelled my preorder from AT&T.
 
If you were early to the Pre-Order you'll get it as early as the 25th, and maybe the following week. yes you were given a Oct 16th-23rd shipment date, but the odds are you'll receive before then. Probably the beginning of Oct.

Technically yes you are paying for the phone, and maybe one month. But it's no different than paying your entire month of rent when you've only been there 2 days this month. Just use your current phone until you get it.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow even if it does seem silly. But you could always walk in and get it in the store. Not much of a difference.
 
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sqa4life said:
AT&T customers: Just a heads up for those who preordered the iphone 6s to check your AT&T bill.

They started charging the "monthly service" the day you placed your preorder of the iphone 6s. The charges started showing up on my bill NOW, even though the phone is scheduled to be shipped between Oct 16 - Oct 23. I called and spoke to the supervisor and she said that's how att system work. You starting paying monthly regardless if you phone will be delivered a year from the date you placed your preorder. WTF?

So, I cancelled my preorder from AT&T.
Click to expand...
This shouldn't be so surprising. Much of the tech world works like this.

For example, if you bought AppleCare +, the coverage would start the day you preordered. You may not have your iPhone for 13 days but you've just used up 13 days of coverage. Same goes for Macbooks etc that have AppleCare.

This would also mean you're eligible for a new iPhone on 9/12/2017 assuming you went with a 2 year contract or Next(24) rather than eligible on 9/25/2017.
 
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Well, it doesn't make sense to me. If I were under a contract on a house being built and it won't be completed until a year later, I am not making payments while the house is being built.

Anyway, I am not giving free $ to att and back to my S6 for now.
 
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Free money?

You're either paying on your current phone still under Next or if you paid it off it's going toward your 6S. It wont vanish, my gosh some people are dense.
 
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stulaw11 said:
Free money?

You're either paying on your current phone still under Next or if you paid it off it's going toward your 6S. It wont vanish, my gosh some people are dense.
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Yes. Free money.

I am using my S6 now and not under any contract and have been paying $15/month on this line. The whole point of getting the 6s is to use/try out the new phone. Why should I pay $40 for not having/using the iphone 6s.

The difference in the amount is not much. It's about the fairness.
 
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sqa4life said:
AT&T customers: Just a heads up for those who preordered the iphone 6s to check your AT&T bill.

They started charging the "monthly service" the day you placed your preorder of the iphone 6s. The charges started showing up on my bill NOW, even though the phone is scheduled to be shipped between Oct 16 - Oct 23. I called and spoke to the supervisor and she said that's how att system work. You starting paying monthly regardless if you phone will be delivered a year from the date you placed your preorder. WTF?

So, I cancelled my preorder from AT&T.
Click to expand...

You probably would have had the phone right on or around launch...
And you should be getting charged. With NEXT, the moment you out the taxes on the phone that is your device. And you're future upgrade eligibility wouldn't have been affected.
 
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sqa4life said:
Well, it doesn't make sense to me. If I were under a contract on a house being built and it won't be completed until a year later, I am not making payments while the house is being built.

Anyway, I am not giving free $ to att and back to my S6 for now.
Click to expand...
I guess you've never had a house built. You will have to make payments to the contractor while the house is under construction.
 
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Let's see. For years you have been using ATT's service each month for free before they send you the bill. Now you are angry because you are paying off a very small part of your two year interest-free loan early in order to keep the due dates for the phone service and the loan the same so you only need to send in one check each month?
 
mgipe said:
I guess you've never had a house built. You will have to make payments to the contractor while the house is under construction.
Click to expand...
Then I guess you've been throwing your money away. I had 3 newly built houses and I never started making payments until the house is ready for move in and transaction is closed.
 
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sqa4life said:
Then I guess you've been throwing your money away. I had 3 newly built houses and I never started making payments until the house is ready for move in and transaction is closed.
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That's because a developer fronted the money to the contractor for you. He's probably referring to a custom home situation where you are the general contractor in essence. Most tract homes aren't sold this way, but custom homes can be. Also depends on which part of the country you're in.
 
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btrach144 said:
This shouldn't be so surprising. Much of the tech world works like this.

For example, if you bought AppleCare +, the coverage would start the day you preordered. You may not have your iPhone for 13 days but you've just used up 13 days of coverage. Same goes for Macbooks etc that have AppleCare.

This would also mean you're eligible for a new iPhone on 9/12/2017 assuming you went with a 2 year contract or Next(24) rather than eligible on 9/25/2017.
Click to expand...

So in regards to AppleCare, Apple is providing a warranty for an item that is sitting in China, under their control or their shiping contractor's possession, and not mine? I certainly do not insure a car that I order from the factory until it is in my legal possession. If your credit card hasn't been charged and the item hasn't shipped, then it's pretty ridiculous to start the countdown on warranty coverage. So everyone who preorders an iPhone with Applecare gets shafted about 12 days of warranty coverage? It should be based on the shipping date (same date as payment).

Thanks for letting the forum know though, I had no idea. My previous iPhone 5, the coverage started the day I received the item from at&t which seemed a little generous.
 
sqa4life said:
AT&T customers: Just a heads up for those who preordered the iphone 6s to check your AT&T bill.

They started charging the "monthly service" the day you placed your preorder of the iphone 6s. The charges started showing up on my bill NOW, even though the phone is scheduled to be shipped between Oct 16 - Oct 23. I called and spoke to the supervisor and she said that's how att system work. You starting paying monthly regardless if you phone will be delivered a year from the date you placed your preorder. WTF?

So, I cancelled my preorder from AT&T.
Click to expand...


Yep when u order the phone it says you might make a payment before u get the phone depending on your monthly cycles
 
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^ The whole concept of "upgrading" now is much more transparent and I am glad we can do it a lot easier independently of the 4 carriers. If you paid for 12 months of service, but only had the phone for 11, you're still only used the phone for 11 months, but yes you're right somehow people would be annoyed they can't trade their phone in even after only 11 payments. To me that is common sense. 12 payments triggers a trade in event, but I don't think you should be billed for wireless service if you cannot use it. I agree with the OP on not wanting to pay at&t for their service, which they aren't providing to you until you have the phone in hand.

OP--Last time this happened I was charged about $15-20 for service that I didn't use. I explained to them to please pro-rate based on the date I activated the phone. They took the charges off with no problem. This was for a complete new line of service as I was switching from Verizon. No upgrading, etc. If you already have service with at&t and are using it, then you should be billed. It sounds like you're adding a line, but I bet they'll pro-rate the charges to the day you start using the service.
 
I don't mind my contract starting the day I pre-order. This means it will end in 2 years and I can preorder again presuming Apple releases the 7s around the same date. If my contact started after I got my phone, I would not be able to upgrade until then (after the preorder period), unless the AT&T rep could make some sort of adjustment for me. Of course back when we could upgrade slightly early, this wasn't a problem.
 
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sqa4life said:
Well, it doesn't make sense to me. If I were under a contract on a house being built and it won't be completed until a year later, I am not making payments while the house is being built.

Anyway, I am not giving free $ to att and back to my S6 for now.
Click to expand...
Progress payments? Pretty standard in the industry.
 
btrach144 said:
For example, if you bought AppleCare +, the coverage would start the day you preordered. You may not have your iPhone for 13 days but you've just used up 13 days of coverage. Same goes for Macbooks etc that have AppleCare.
Click to expand...
This does not sound right at all. I don't have any orders available to verify, but I would wager you are wrong. AppleCare+ coverage for the iPhone 6S should not start before release day. That sounds like it would be setting up Apple for a huge class action suit for millions of people that were denied coverage when they didn't even own the phone.
 
dave420 said:
This does not sound right at all. I don't have any orders available to verify, but I would wager you are wrong. AppleCare+ coverage for the iPhone 6S should not start before release day. That sounds like it would be setting up Apple for a huge class action suit for millions of people that were denied coverage when they didn't even own the phone.
Click to expand...

Well apparently it is pretty standard in this industry to charge for something you are not or cannot use yet. Whether it is at&t or apple, it seems it is a standard practice. Not a consumer friendly one IMO, but it is good to know.
 
airb330 said:
Well apparently it is pretty standard in this industry to charge for something you are not or cannot use yet. Whether it is at&t or apple, it seems it is a standard practice. Not a consumer friendly one IMO, but it is good to know.
Click to expand...
I bet if people check their AppleCare+ coverage it is valid until 6/25/17, and not the day preorders started. Anyone got a screenshot?
 
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