not everywhere, just the U$A. that kind of attitude is what keeps allowing carriers to bend us over and give us a Kobe.
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Contract and Subsidy Issues for iPhone Users Looking to Upgrade to iPhone 3G S
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not everywhere, just the U$A. that kind of attitude is what keeps allowing carriers to bend us over and give us a Kobe.
This article is not correct, First gen Iphone buyers have to wait too.
I checked on the Apple preorder page and it said I had to wait 1 year 3 months from my purchase of the first gen phone that was bought at $399, not subsidized. At least I don't have to wait the whole 2 years.
I checked on the Apple preorder page and it said I had to wait 1 year 3 months from my purchase of the first gen phone that was bought at $399, not subsidized. At least I don't have to wait the whole 2 years.
3G owners - Break existing contract
Couldn't I just break my 3G contract for $175 and get a new 3GS for $199. For at total of $374 instead of $399 plus sales tax on $399. Am I missing something or is there no way to get a 16GB 3GS for $199 if you have a subsidized 3G??????
Couldn't I just break my 3G contract for $175 and get a new 3GS for $199. For at total of $374 instead of $399 plus sales tax on $399. Am I missing something or is there no way to get a 16GB 3GS for $199 if you have a subsidized 3G??????
I understand your point. I get that I signed a contract and this and that. I get that. And don't take me for someone who thinks anyone should get a full subsidy after only 1 yr of their contract because I was fully prepared to either not get the 3GS at all or bite the bullet and shell out hopefully no more than $399 for a 16 gig before all of this occurred to me. I'm just stating that I signed an original iPhone contract and received nothing from ATT for doing so (seems silly now) and they received a full 13 months of $90 payments from me. Then I renewed my contract and received a subsidized 3G and ATT got 11 months of $100 payments from me. So thats 2 yrs (my original post was wrong when i said 3 yrs, but the principle remains the same) of payments from just 1 subsidized phone. I don't dispute my contractual obligations but it seems that ATT should make this exception on principle alone. This exact situation would have been hard to envision 1 yr ago, but I think this situation deserves ATT's attention.
Question: Since I have a first Gen iPhone and I am eligible for the cheapest upgrade prices, can I buy it, but rather than activate it for myself, activate it to replace my sons Nokia (he has never had an iPhone). We have a family plan but his Nokia is not upgradable until next April.
My phone is fine for me but does it matter which phone number activates it? I know then I cannot upgrade for two years but I assume that April window should still be valid on upgrading again at that time for one of us.
Confusing?
My phone is fine for me but does it matter which phone number activates it? I know then I cannot upgrade for two years but I assume that April window should still be valid on upgrading again at that time for one of us.
Confusing?
No, some people just understand the way the world works in these situations.
I still have the 1st generation iPhone because I didn't believe, and still don't, that the 3G iPhone was worth the 2-year contract extension. I also don't believe that the 3GS is has enough to pull my from my 8 GB 1st gen.
I am making an informed decision about a potential contract obligation.
Most of you are thinking like children. "But I want the new one!"
Boo-f**king-hoo.
My issue like some body else pointed out in this thread is the paying off your remaining contract.
o2 don't need me to pay off the full amount of my contract over 6 months (£270) to get the money back for the subsidised 3G, especially when I like many other have already been paying £45 per month for the past 12 months AND the £60 you paid towards the phone to start with.
I don't mind signing a new contract or paying the full amount for the 3Gs but like above they don't need £270 for the remaining months, not to mention the fact that in moving to the 3Gs and paying the large majority of the fee for it straight away & I'll be paying £45 per month for another 18 months.
The way things are looking, I'll continue with my 3G until the 10th of jan. I won't renew my contract and I'll wait until the next iPhone is released. That in itself is £270 lost money.... Go figure.
o2 don't need me to pay off the full amount of my contract over 6 months (£270) to get the money back for the subsidised 3G, especially when I like many other have already been paying £45 per month for the past 12 months AND the £60 you paid towards the phone to start with.
I don't mind signing a new contract or paying the full amount for the 3Gs but like above they don't need £270 for the remaining months, not to mention the fact that in moving to the 3Gs and paying the large majority of the fee for it straight away & I'll be paying £45 per month for another 18 months.
The way things are looking, I'll continue with my 3G until the 10th of jan. I won't renew my contract and I'll wait until the next iPhone is released. That in itself is £270 lost money.... Go figure.
The bottom line is that Apple fanboys are not gonna eat this up and make the sales numbers explode.
The sales will just creep along, as about as fast of pace if there was no update at all.
The $99 iPhone might sell really well with everyday consumers, but I bet it's just clearance stock.
The sales will just creep along, as about as fast of pace if there was no update at all.
The $99 iPhone might sell really well with everyday consumers, but I bet it's just clearance stock.
I really don't understand why anyone would think that if you have a 3G now, you can instantly qualify for the subsidized price. In all the years i've had a phone, when the new model comes out (and it usually had minor updates) i'd have to wait til the contract is up, or close to it. It's like this for any phone.
I talked to someone at AT&T today and they told me, though they couldn't really say when or how, but they had heard that a solution is being worked out by AT&T and Apple to make the current iPhone users happy.
So, who knows. They could have just been telling me that to make me happy and to get off the phone.
So, who knows. They could have just been telling me that to make me happy and to get off the phone.
I wasn't expecting a free phone, but I certainly wasnt expecting to have to pay more than I had to pay for the original un-subsidized phone. I don't believe for a second that the new phone costs any more to produce than the original - especially not double the cost as seems to be the case!
A plausible theory.
My theory is that they are doing this so that new contracts can be set up for those that qualify, namely new customers and ones near the end of their contracts. This would minimized the lines and allow the new customers to be dealt with first, then they will spring an adjusted price after the newness wares off. Of course anyone who wants to get one while the "iron is hot" can pay the premium price and get it "on the first day". We've seen it before with the first model.
Why not?
My theory is that they are doing this so that new contracts can be set up for those that qualify, namely new customers and ones near the end of their contracts. This would minimized the lines and allow the new customers to be dealt with first, then they will spring an adjusted price after the newness wares off. Of course anyone who wants to get one while the "iron is hot" can pay the premium price and get it "on the first day". We've seen it before with the first model.
Why not?
iPhones still cost a minimum of $70 a month to use in the US. I'd get one immediately if I could do so without a dataplan.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I'm sorry, but seriously! This is the reason I DID NOT upgrade my iPhone to a 3G model. I THOUGHT AHEAD. My contract has now expired and I'll get a 3GS model. YAY FOR ME!
If you couldn't wait, that's just tough. No one forced you to buy an iPhone 3G. Get over it.
I'm sorry, but seriously! This is the reason I DID NOT upgrade my iPhone to a 3G model. I THOUGHT AHEAD. My contract has now expired and I'll get a 3GS model. YAY FOR ME!
If you couldn't wait, that's just tough. No one forced you to buy an iPhone 3G. Get over it.
i thought all these people dont care how much apple charges because its an apple product. Just go ahead and do the upgrade without questioning apple or at&t.
ATT Blues
When my Verizon contract expired last year, I signed on with ATT - specifically for the iphone 3g.
Even though I really love my iphone, I really regret switching .
Coverage is spotty, inconsistent and unreliable here in San Francisco and Berkeley.
Adding insult to injury they alternate between being unresponsive and just plain deceptive. .
So even if ATT were to offer full subsidy of a 3gs in exchange for a reboot on a 2 year contract, there's no way in hell I'd go for it.
My plan...hold on to my 3g 'till my contract expires and possibly even then some. in the hope that the next iphone will be available on another carrier.
...and if that doesn't happen i'm just going to have to settle for a perhaps less desirable phone ..but not ATT.
When my Verizon contract expired last year, I signed on with ATT - specifically for the iphone 3g.
Even though I really love my iphone, I really regret switching .
Coverage is spotty, inconsistent and unreliable here in San Francisco and Berkeley.
Adding insult to injury they alternate between being unresponsive and just plain deceptive. .
So even if ATT were to offer full subsidy of a 3gs in exchange for a reboot on a 2 year contract, there's no way in hell I'd go for it.
My plan...hold on to my 3g 'till my contract expires and possibly even then some. in the hope that the next iphone will be available on another carrier.
...and if that doesn't happen i'm just going to have to settle for a perhaps less desirable phone ..but not ATT.
I see your point now... Yes, on principle I'd say you have a point, but I'd guess AT&T would see it as they owe you nothing. The contract you signed with them for the unsubsidized phone was just a leash made of gold around your neck. Don't expect any favors from them because you happened to not get a subsidy the first time around... I think from AT&T's perspective you may as well have never had that original iPhone!
Sounds like AT&T has made special restrictions just for the iPhone so even if an AT&T store manager feels sympathetic towards your particular case I don't think there's anything they can do about it. Best just wait till next revision (what I plan to do) when the hardware should be relatively improved rather than just be a minor spec update here.
I would imagine that Apple is getting just as many complaints about this as AT&T is, but I am highly doubting that anything will be done. If you were told that, it was probably to make you happy and get you off the phone.
I think the whole issue was that AT&T allowed 1st gen iPhone users to upgrade instantly to the 3G because of the previously unsubsidized phone, but did not do anything to explain WHY they were allowing users to upgrade early and still receive the subsidized price. Because of this, I think iPhone users felt that there would always be the option to upgrade to a new iPhone at a cheaper price. Just my view on why so many people are angry about the situation.
I think many people are missing the point...
I'm not angry, just disappointed. I could deal with the wait on the upgrade if they had come through with MMS and tethering. The fact they didn't and haven't upgraded their network to support this, despite the fact that they cleared over $3 Billion in profit last quarter, while most other providers got their act together, is inexcusable. The one thing they could do to keep my business after screwing up so badly is to get me to sign a new 2yr contract for a new phone. I get the the subsidy math, but I don't understand why they're willing to let thousands of dollars of future revenue per user jump as soon as their exclusivity is up. In December, we should have a bead on whether or not Verizon or someone else will carry the iPhone, and if anyone else is, they'll likely have my business. So I get the logic, but it's a lousy way to treat a customer, and if they had found 1 thing to deliver on, I'd feel better about them than the 0-3 taste they left in my mouth. (Sub-par coverage in LA, SFO, and NYC is a .5 on top of that).
I'm not angry, just disappointed. I could deal with the wait on the upgrade if they had come through with MMS and tethering. The fact they didn't and haven't upgraded their network to support this, despite the fact that they cleared over $3 Billion in profit last quarter, while most other providers got their act together, is inexcusable. The one thing they could do to keep my business after screwing up so badly is to get me to sign a new 2yr contract for a new phone. I get the the subsidy math, but I don't understand why they're willing to let thousands of dollars of future revenue per user jump as soon as their exclusivity is up. In December, we should have a bead on whether or not Verizon or someone else will carry the iPhone, and if anyone else is, they'll likely have my business. So I get the logic, but it's a lousy way to treat a customer, and if they had found 1 thing to deliver on, I'd feel better about them than the 0-3 taste they left in my mouth. (Sub-par coverage in LA, SFO, and NYC is a .5 on top of that).
Just read my insurance policy...
I have something called "ACP" - AIRTIME CONTRACT PROTECTION
'a unique feature that allows you to end your mobile phone contract early. It is designed to help you if you can no longer afford your mobile phone bills for any reason. All you need to do is return your mobile phone to any Carphone warehouse store, pay a surcharge of £29.50 and give up your mobile number. The CPW will then pay the line rental for the rest of the minimum contract term, leaving you stress free ...'
I'm on o2 UK and bought my phone from Carphone Warehouse.
Anyone from the UK check your policy! You can give back your 3G and pay the new price for a 3gs if you want one! I won't be because I'm totally skint, but I'm sure there are people on here who will find this useful!
I have something called "ACP" - AIRTIME CONTRACT PROTECTION
'a unique feature that allows you to end your mobile phone contract early. It is designed to help you if you can no longer afford your mobile phone bills for any reason. All you need to do is return your mobile phone to any Carphone warehouse store, pay a surcharge of £29.50 and give up your mobile number. The CPW will then pay the line rental for the rest of the minimum contract term, leaving you stress free ...'
I'm on o2 UK and bought my phone from Carphone Warehouse.
Anyone from the UK check your policy! You can give back your 3G and pay the new price for a 3gs if you want one! I won't be because I'm totally skint, but I'm sure there are people on here who will find this useful!
I have to believe this is true. While AT&T and Apple may have no contractual obligation to do this, I don't think that they can ignore the fact that this issue is gonna seriously hurt 3GS sales and I don't think either company wants to see that happen. I think 3GS sales will be a bust if the two companies can't work something out. I wasn't even planning to be one of the first in line like i was for the last 2 launches because I can't see the demand being the same if current 3G owners can't upgrade.