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ATT no commitment option
- Thread starter gtqi
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Bear in mind that the NON Commitment version is STILL LOCKED to AT&T hence rendering it useless to use with other carrier as well... (Frankly speaking trying to use iPhone 3G with T-Mobile USA is useless in the first place since the 3G frequency is different but that's not your question)
Anywayy...
From early information, it will be in the range of $500-$600 for the non commitment version but it will (again) be locked to AT&T...
Why don't you get the phone now and cancel after 1 month
8GB = $199 + $36 activation fees + $175 ETF + $80 first month service after tax and fees
Total: $490 not much difference and you can use it NOW
Anywayy...
From early information, it will be in the range of $500-$600 for the non commitment version but it will (again) be locked to AT&T...
Why don't you get the phone now and cancel after 1 month
8GB = $199 + $36 activation fees + $175 ETF + $80 first month service after tax and fees
Total: $490 not much difference and you can use it NOW
Why don't you get the phone now and cancel after 1 month
8GB = $199 + $36 activation fees + $175 ETF + $80 first month service after tax and fees
Total: $490 not much difference and you can use it NOW
I talked to someone in the apple store about that possibility and she hardly recommended not to do that, coz canceling a contract will lead to a negative entry in my U.S credit history. Is that true?
Yes, supposedly, it will as you broke a signed contract.
The no-comittment pricing will be $599 and $699, still locked to AT&T, and still MUST leave the store activated.
You can probably activate it using one of those $15 Pay-As-You-Go cards.
Not correct you would have to pay pro-rates for the first month so it would around 130 or so.Bear in mind that the NON Commitment version is STILL LOCKED to AT&T hence rendering it useless to use with other carrier as well... (Frankly speaking trying to use iPhone 3G with T-Mobile USA is useless in the first place since the 3G frequency is different but that's not your question)
Anywayy...
From early information, it will be in the range of $500-$600 for the non commitment version but it will (again) be locked to AT&T...
Why don't you get the phone now and cancel after 1 month
8GB = $199 + $36 activation fees + $175 ETF + $80 first month service after tax and fees
Total: $490 not much difference and you can use it NOW
I am not sure whether this is the case because these wireless companies do not report to the credit agency even if you pay your bills on time... However the moment you failed to pay for 1 month, they will jump you like shark... I believe as long as you paid the first month bill and cancel, it should be fine.
I believe you'd better off keeping your credit card accounts open longer (for the "length of credit" section that affects your credit score) rather than keeping your wireless service open longer because these guys do not increase your credit score but able to (pardon my French) screw you over if you failed to pay...
I usually use this analogy:
These people are like your supervisor except when you do good, he never take note and try to promote you, but if you make 1 mistake they demote you to a janitor
Please correct me if i'm wrong...
What pro-rate?? I have included a full one month service in there for $80 after tax and fees... If you cancel on the first day of your new billing cycle, what are they going to pro-rate you for?
Example: Purchasing the iPhone 3G and activating it on July 15th 2008 and cancelling the service on August 15th 2008 (or August 16th 2008)
People get real bogged down on contracts. The most it will cost you to break it is 200.00. They are taking 200.00 off the price of the phone. So, even if you only kept serivce on the phone for one month, you would break even!
I'm not sure but I think AT&T is one of the companies that prorates their contract termination fee so if you only stay a customer for a year, its costs 100.00 to break it, but you will have to make sure.
I'm not sure but I think AT&T is one of the companies that prorates their contract termination fee so if you only stay a customer for a year, its costs 100.00 to break it, but you will have to make sure.
Hahahaha that shows how rotten these people are
I'm not surprised if they do that... Knowing they never report when I'm paying on time but if they can, they probably will report 100 times on my failure to pay 1 month bill
Well, unlocking shouldn't be the problem in the near future. I follow the news daily and I think it will be possible by the end of the week but
anyway
I plan to use the iphone in a different country where no prepaid rates are offered. So unlocking would make sense for me...
I am hoping that the gophone option will be available before the day I leave....
Att reduces your ETF by $5/mo of your contract, technically even after 1mo it should be 180 not 185, most likely you'd have to mention that to the supervisor they wont offer it to you.
As far as not working on tmobile I'd bet it is possible...although perhaps not without a bit of tweaking, it seems to work on any cell carrier apple has chosen around the world, thats like 27 countries at the moment. I doubt there's 27 different iphone versions.
Yeah I understand you... I am not from the US myself and when I travel back home, I must use the local SIM card to prevent AT&T from stealing $10,000 out of my pocket for roaming... and yes the unlocking solution will be out fairly soon (the video demos are out there)
My point is that you should just get the iPhone NOW and cancel after 1 month because you do not need to wait and you get the same locked iPhone 3G even with the non commitment version
Again, I would do that immediately but as long as it isn't clear what will happen with my credit history after canceling, I hesitate a bit...
and I don't think ATT is stupid and you wil get the 16GB iphone for 580$ "through the backdoor" instad of 700$ through the non commitment option. Canceling a contract must be more expensive than the no commitement option otherwise it would make no sense and everybody would do it. I expect hidden costs somewhere...
Does anybody who already bought the phone on day 1-3 have that plan to cancel the contract in mid july?
and I don't think ATT is stupid and you wil get the 16GB iphone for 580$ "through the backdoor" instad of 700$ through the non commitment option. Canceling a contract must be more expensive than the no commitement option otherwise it would make no sense and everybody would do it. I expect hidden costs somewhere...
Does anybody who already bought the phone on day 1-3 have that plan to cancel the contract in mid july?
there are certain countries where it is unlawful to sell mobile phones that are locked to a particular carrier. i think France is one of them. That could be an option for you to explore.
No, that's not true.
Have you ever looked at your credit report? There's no option for "breach in contract".
The only entry that most wireless carriers will make on your credit report is if they have to send your account to collections.
If you break your AT&T contract, as long as you paid your bills on time (including your final bill with the ETF), your credit report will not be touched.
Call AT&T, tell them your considering canceling your contract and want to know if you pay the etf it gets reported negatively to the credit agencies. I think you forfill your contract obligations by paying the fee, its not breaking a contract. Verify with their supervisor if you like.
Has AT&T (or any cellphone company) ever taken to marking your credit down just for canceling a service contract?
I thought that the whole idea of the ETF was so that you could exit the contract at any time if needbe (such as moving oversees, or perhaps if you gained a free phone through new employment, or indeed just on a whim). What provision is there on a credit report for even noting such things? Well other than a free text entry perhaps? I mean, how would they even be able to effect your credit score? Unless people are suggesting they'd put a missed-payment mark up each month for the remainder of the two years? I find that extremely hard to imagine given that the ETF is itself built into the contract as a way to exit the contract gracefully. I expect they'd get legal pushback for trying to pull that.
The rumor/word around here and elsewhere has been that anyone canceling in the first month will get charged the full $599/$699 (so +$400 from what you've already paid) for the phone, as far as I know. This, on top of the ETF. So that means its very cost ineffective to obtain an iPhone in that manner. However, supposedly this is only for the first month, though certainly I have not seen that confirmed officially, and it is quite possible for AT&T to extend it indefinitely. In any case, it will be cheapest to wait for an unsubsidized price. As pointed out already - you'll still be stuck with AT&T service though, until someone can figure out how to unlock.
I thought that the whole idea of the ETF was so that you could exit the contract at any time if needbe (such as moving oversees, or perhaps if you gained a free phone through new employment, or indeed just on a whim). What provision is there on a credit report for even noting such things? Well other than a free text entry perhaps? I mean, how would they even be able to effect your credit score? Unless people are suggesting they'd put a missed-payment mark up each month for the remainder of the two years? I find that extremely hard to imagine given that the ETF is itself built into the contract as a way to exit the contract gracefully. I expect they'd get legal pushback for trying to pull that.
The rumor/word around here and elsewhere has been that anyone canceling in the first month will get charged the full $599/$699 (so +$400 from what you've already paid) for the phone, as far as I know. This, on top of the ETF. So that means its very cost ineffective to obtain an iPhone in that manner. However, supposedly this is only for the first month, though certainly I have not seen that confirmed officially, and it is quite possible for AT&T to extend it indefinitely. In any case, it will be cheapest to wait for an unsubsidized price. As pointed out already - you'll still be stuck with AT&T service though, until someone can figure out how to unlock.
As I said above - I think the "hidden cost" is getting charged both the ETF and the full price of the phone, not to mention the activation charge. So you are up over $800/$900 for the phone then which, like paying ebay prices right now, is completely insane.
No it won't that's not even close to the truth. Credit reporting agencies recieve dings for NON-PAYMENT or COLLECTIONS. Technically if you pay the ETF you fulfilled your contract. You are paying to be released...now if you didn't pay it it'll go to collections and you'll have a collection on your credit which will negatively impact it. In this case not even late payments impact it unless they go to collection because if you look on your credit report you'll find no record of an AT&T wireless account on there.
I know this for a fact, check my credit reports religiously and terminated my Sprint contract early last year, paid the full balance and never hit my credit report negatively at all and the account never showed up.
Again if you pay the ETF and your final bill in full there will be no negative impact to your credit. Don't speak if you don't know WTF you are talking about...
What pro-rate?? I have included a full one month service in there for $80 after tax and fees... If you cancel on the first day of your new billing cycle, what are they going to pro-rate you for?
Example: Purchasing the iPhone 3G and activating it on July 15th 2008 and cancelling the service on August 15th 2008 (or August 16th 2008)
The likely hood you starting your iphone plan during a billing cycle is high.
What about O2 - UK?? If you cancel after the first month what do you pay??????? I really neeed to know!!!!