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AT&T's new 20 month upgrade policy, materially adverse?

R

Radiating

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 29, 2011
1,018
7
So I just learned that the people at AT&T changed their upgrade policy for high revenue accounts to not let them have phones ever 12 months. Considering Apple comes out with a new phone every year this is completely unacceptable to me and from an economic standpoing beyond absurd considering they were charging a huge surplus year to year compared to just using their own pre-paid plan and buying your own phone with their 12 month upgrade program already. Now their deal is nothing short of a swift kick in the face and completely insulting.

To make a long story short I will cancel my account with them when it comes time to upgrade in December. I beleive I still have a year left on my contract at that point. Would it be possible to use this change as a materially adverse change to cancel my contract without an ETF at that point?
 
Is this OP for real? Where does it say in the contract that they'll provide you a full upgrade every 12 months?

And what carrier are you going to switch to that still allows you to upgrade every 12 months?
 
I agree with you but good luck getting anyone to agree with you here. These are all by the book types who think because the contract doesn't promise a free upgrade every year then no one should get one and no one should complain even though they changed a policy that has been around for 5 years.

AT&T has the advantage tho. Sprint has no LTE and horrible 3G coverage. Verizon is more expensive and a more strict upgrade policy not to mention falling back to slow 3g speeds if LTE isn't available.

So what i'm going to do is either pay full price for the next phone get it unlocked and get my money back by selling an unlocked phone for more next year well getting a fully subsidized new phone. or pay the early upgrade price and just eat it.
 
Can't believe some people think that they should get a $450 subsidy every year on a new phone because they are somehow 'special'. You signed the contract and knew what you were getting into from the beginning. Don't go crying now just because AT&T was nice to you in the past and made a one time exception.
 
Wirelessly posted

I go without a contract. It's a bit more expensive, but you can sell the year old phone and be upside down for about the same $$$.

The problem is AT&T, Apple, and the rest don't sell off contract phones on launch day. This is what really chaps me. I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to purchase a phone for the unsubsidized rate at the same time everyone else is getting their phones subsidized. Usually about 30 days later, the off contract price is available.
 
JayLenochiniMac said:
Is this OP for real? Where does it say in the contract that they'll provide you a full upgrade every 12 months?

And what carrier are you going to switch to that still allows you to upgrade every 12 months?
Click to expand...

My bill from AT&T with ulimited talk & text and 5gb and $7 of other minor things is $147

That means I pay AT&T $1764 per year and they let me use $450 towards a new phone every year.

T mobile's pre paid 4g plan is $70 per month for unlimited everything plus 5GB of data, which is what I'm getting now meaning per year it would cost $840, plus $450 of my own money towards a phone each year would mean to match AT&T's plan line for line I'd pay $1290.

That means I'm paying AT&T $474 more for the exact same thing their competitor is selling.

Now AT&T wants $654 more per year than T-Mobile by reducing their yearly subsidy from $450 to $270. Seriously?

This is just absurd price gouging.
 
I have found if you are just a pain about it, you will get out contract fee free. I have moved carriers several time with out ever paying a ETF.

Just become a pain, usually it works!
 
Big.Mac.Daddy said:
Really? So T-mobile is selling a 3G iPhone, has LTE deployed, and just as much coverage as AT&T? Weird... I thought they didn't :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I don't have 4G LTE in my area at all, only 4G HPSA+ which means T-mobile and AT&T would be identical.
 
Radiating said:
I don't have 4G LTE in my area at all, only 4G HPSA+ which means T-mobile and AT&T would be identical.
Click to expand...

That's like saying that a Kia is selling the same thing as BMW (a car with 4 wheels) but for much less :p

How dare BMW and AT&T not match the prices of inferior products the bottom feeders are offering! :rolleyes:
 
brianbunge said:
It's means being a complete and total ****** to the people on the other end of the phone who are simply doing their job because you don't think the rules apply to you.
Click to expand...

My idea of being a pain is just confusing the hell out of them until you get what you want.
 
Big.Mac.Daddy said:
That's like saying that a Kia is selling the same thing as BMW (a car with 4 wheels) but for much less :p

How dare BMW and AT&T not match the prices of inferior products the bottom feeders are offering! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

No it would be like paying company A $17,640 per year for their best car with 4 wheels. Then getting a Lincoln because BMW's haven't been rolled out in your area.

All the while company B has been offering a Lincoln for $12,900 per year.

Then one day company A decides to jack up their net price per year to $19440, which you decide is far too much more than company B so you use that as a materially adverse change to get out of your remaining contract with company A.

In fact it's exactly like that, if you divide the numbers by 10. ;)
 
I think you should have talked to AT&T about all this before you signed a contract. you can try going in and talking to the manager and tell him you leaving. however my plan is too sell my 4S for at least $400 after that I can add the $200-$300 I normally spend on a contract phone. Then buy a factory Unlocked when they are available. then repeat with the iPhone 6 etc until further notice. then I won't have to worry about ETF or contracts. :D
 
Radiating said:
No it would be like paying company A $17,640 per year for their best car with 4 wheels. Then getting a Lincoln because BMW's haven't been rolled out in your area.

All the while company B has been offering a Lincoln for $12,900 per year.

Then one day company A decides to jack up their net price per year to $19440, which you decide is far too much more than company B so you use that as a materially adverse change to get out of your remaining contract with company A.

In fact it's exactly like that, if you divide the numbers by 10. ;)
Click to expand...

You can't use something that's not in a contract (namely the ability to upgrade every 12 months) as materially adverse.

And name carrier B that still provides full upgrades every 12 months.
 
This upgrade policy isn't new. It was discussed last year when people were upgrading to the 4S. One of the reasons why I skipped the 4S upgrade even though I was eligible.
 
You got the phone for $199 instead of (somewhere around) $600. In doing so you SIGNED A TWO YEAR AGREEMENT, which is why they gave you the phone at a discounted price. Sure, it'd be nice to upgrade every year, but you signed the contract.
 
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Radiating said:
So I just learned that the people at AT&T changed their upgrade policy for high revenue accounts to not let them have phones ever 12 months. Considering Apple comes out with a new phone every year this is completely unacceptable to me and from an economic standpoing beyond absurd considering they were charging a huge surplus year to year compared to just using their own pre-paid plan and buying your own phone with their 12 month upgrade program already. Now their deal is nothing short of a swift kick in the face and completely insulting.

To make a long story short I will cancel my account with them when it comes time to upgrade in December. I beleive I still have a year left on my contract at that point. Would it be possible to use this change as a materially adverse change to cancel my contract without an ETF at that point?
Click to expand...

No, that's not grounds to get out of your contract with no ETF fee.
I dont know why you and some others take it so bad. Completely unacceptable, absurd and kick in the face is a little too harsh and acting overly entitled.
Its very simple, it was good while it lasted. And guess what? No other carrier lets you get a full subsidy every 12 months so you leaving and going elsewhere will get you the same thing no matter what carrier you go to.
At the end of the day I liked it too. Every other year that Im not due for an upgrade I will most likelly be buying the next iphone full price. Sell my old 1 year old iphone from the year before and putting the money towards a factory unlocked iphone.
And so on.

Radiating said:
My bill from AT&T with ulimited talk & text and 5gb and $7 of other minor things is $147

That means I pay AT&T $1764 per year and they let me use $450 towards a new phone every year.

T mobile's pre paid 4g plan is $70 per month for unlimited everything plus 5GB of data, which is what I'm getting now meaning per year it would cost $840, plus $450 of my own money towards a phone each year would mean to match AT&T's plan line for line I'd pay $1290.

That means I'm paying AT&T $474 more for the exact same thing their competitor is selling.
Click to expand...

Does AT&T's competitor has 3G available for your lovelly iphone or even LTE on the next iphone device? You get what you pay for.
And when Tmobile upgrades their 3G service to be compatible with the iphone then purchase an iphone full price and switch to Tmobile. Simple.
 
You signed a contract agreeing to some terms and conditions. A responsible adult honors the contract and takes whatever freebies (like the now obsolete 12-month full upgrade) they can get to maximize the number of dollars in their pocket. It's quite childish to weasel out by calling 3-4 times a day.
 
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JayLenochiniMac said:
You signed a contract agreeing to some terms and conditions. A responsible adult honors the contract and takes whatever freebies (like the now obsolete 12-month full upgrade) they can get to maximize the number of dollars in their pocket. It's quite childish to weasel out by calling 3-4 times a day.
Click to expand...

Well said.
A man that doesnt honor his word or his signature is not a man IMO.
And like scarface said, "All I got in this world is my b***s and my word and I don't break either of 'em for nobody!"
 
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JayLenochiniMac said:
Is this OP for real? Where does it say in the contract that they'll provide you a full upgrade every 12 months?

And what carrier are you going to switch to that still allows you to upgrade every 12 months?
Click to expand...

No where, but that's not the point. The question is whether or not this change is a materially adverse change to the contract, thereby giving the OP an out to the contract without incurring an ETF.

I'm not sure if the term "materially adverse" has been thrown around on the message boards, and hence the OP's familiarity, but it is a legal term of art and there are many cases on it.

I would say that it is materially adverse, but you are going to have a hard time explaining this to a store manager let alone a sales rep. You would have to go all the way to corporate, to someone who understands this term/legal question, and even then you would have to convince them it is MA.

Could the OP point to the MAC in the contract?
 
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