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Carrier ? for att grandfathered unlimited users/access fee

born2runak

born2runak

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 21, 2012
232
114
I know this is not necessarily the best forum to ask but I can't seem to find any info out anywhere else.

For anyone that is still on an unlimited data , grandfathered , through att - do you get charged a "smartphone access fee" on your bill?

I just ordered the iPhone 7 , and my last phone (6 plus) was bought on contract. So this is the first time I am dealing with non contract upgrade options. However, my wife is on an old mobile share plan, where her 40 dollar access fee will be reduced to 25 dollars using Next. I see no such fee on my bill. Will I get charged an access fee now that I have bought a phone using att next (my actual service plan has not changed). I am hoping this is not the case as I was not planning on a 160 dollar bill.
 
No, you will not have an access fee. It is "built in" with your voice/data plan so to speak.
 
The access fee for non-contract phones on the "next" plan is $20.00. You will also be charged the fee if you changed from your unlimited to the next plan.
 
ramonabynes said:
No, you will not have an access fee. It is "built in" with your voice/data plan so to speak.
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This is what I thought assumed. Thanks for the reply.
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snsking said:
The access fee for non-contract phones on the "next" plan is $20.00. You will also be charged the fee if you changed from your unlimited to the next plan.
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My question is - being grandfathered in on an old plan that did not have an "access fee" will i still be charged now that I have decided to use the next payment plan. I thought that the "access fees" were tied to the mobil share plans (which I don't have) and that the next program was simply a finance program.
I didn't change my actual plan - that plan is still 450 mins/1000 texts/unlimited data , I just selected Next to finance my purchase. Im just unclear as to whether using the Next financing automatically places an "access fee"
 
born2runak said:
This is what I thought assumed. Thanks for the reply.
[doublepost=1473558053][/doublepost]
My question is - being grandfathered in on an old plan that did not have an "access fee" will i still be charged now that I have decided to use the next payment plan. I thought that the "access fees" were tied to the mobil share plans (which I don't have) and that the next program was simply a finance program.
I didn't change my actual plan - that plan is still 450 mins/1000 texts/unlimited data , I just selected Next to finance my purchase. Im just unclear as to whether using the Next financing automatically places an "access fee"
Click to expand...

If you are keeping your unlimited service plan, then no, you will not be charged a fee. The fee only applies to mobile share plans, as you mentioned. Enjoy your new iPhone!
[doublepost=1473558267][/doublepost]
M. Gustave said:
Uh, no, her access charge should be reduced to $15 when the contract is up, on a mobile share plan.
Click to expand...

It is $20 according to the ATT site.
 

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M. Gustave said:
Uh, no, her access charge should be reduced to $15 when the contract is up, on a mobile share plan.
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On older plans, depending on how much shared data they include, the monthly charge goes down to either $25 or $15, while on the newer plans it's just $20.
 
snsking said:
If you are keeping your unlimited service plan, then no, you will not be charged a fee. The fee only applies to mobile share plans, as you mentioned. Enjoy your new iPhone!
[doublepost=1473558267][/doublepost]

It is $20 according to the ATT site.
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Whew! good to know, I got quite worried when I thought I might be getting charged an extra 25 bucks on top of my bill.
As far as my wife's account goes - we went through the process on art's site and it did state a 25$ access fee. Now she is on an older mobile share plan the is no longer offered so I don't know if that effects it. But we called ATT to clarify, and the CS rep also stated that her fee would drop from 40 to 25.
 
born2runak said:
Whew! good to know, I got quite worried when I thought I might be getting charged an extra 25 bucks on top of my bill.
As far as my wife's account goes - we went through the process on art's site and it did state a 25$ access fee. Now she is on an older mobile share plan the is no longer offered so I don't know if that effects it. But we called ATT to clarify, and the CS rep also stated that her fee would drop from 40 to 25.
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Don't forget the extra device payment every month.
 
C DM said:
Don't forget the extra device payment every month.
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extra device payment? If you are referring to both plans together - my wife and I have separate accounts. So I don't believe there should be an extra device fee on either of our accounts? We are simply upgrading out phones which should amount to the usual first month activation fee.

We crunched the numbers, and for the amount of data that we each use, it makes more financial sense to keep our separate older plans.
 
born2runak said:
extra device payment? If you are referring to both plans together - my wife and I have separate accounts. So I don't believe there should be an extra device fee on either of our accounts? We are simply upgrading out phones which should amount to the usual first month activation fee.

We crunched the numbers, and for the amount of data that we each use, it makes more financial sense to keep our separate older plans.
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I mean now that you are on device payment plans there's now an additional monthly payment for getting the new device (in addition to what you are paying for your plans/service).
 
yes, the device payment on top of the unlimited data plan, voice, and text plan made me go ahead and get rid of the unlimited data so that I could get a new phone every year. crazy that the share plans come with unlimited talk and text when those still on unlimited data have to continue to buy everything separately. But that's the catch I guess.
 
C DM said:
I mean now that you are on device payment plans there's now an additional monthly payment for getting the new device (in addition to what you are paying for your plans/service).
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Oh got ya. yea , I have accounted for that. Got it all worked out. I initially wast to crazy with the idea, but , honestly, I think it works out better for the consumer (at least in my case) in the long run. Its all about budgeting.

I was just afraid that they might try and stick me with the access fee on top of my bill and payment plan, that I definitely didn't account for
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ramonabynes said:
yes, the device payment on top of the unlimited data plan, voice, and text plan made me go ahead and get rid of the unlimited data so that I could get a new phone every year. crazy that the share plans come with unlimited talk and text when those still on unlimited data have to continue to buy everything separately. But that's the catch I guess.
Click to expand...

at least in my case, it works out better for me. I dont talk a ton on the phone ( 450 mins 40.00$), nor do I use text much outside of iMessage (1000 texts 10.00$ which is still overkill for me) and unlimited data (35.00$)of which I average 16 gb and peak at 20gb. Looking at the current mobile share plans I would be looking at at least 130.00/month not including my device fee. Thats why I stick with my current plan , and hopefully using the next program still get my iPhone 7 and upgrade it next year.
The only thing I don't like is not being able to add a tethering option, but if I did that, Id probably have to add another 20 gb of data to my plan lol , I'd have to be homeless to have a cellphone
 
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born2runak I'm on a similar plan as you, grandfathered into unlimited, have unlimited mobile to mobile and 450 minutes. Was wondering how much your total after all fees and taxes has been up to now
 
born2runak said:
Oh got ya. yea , I have accounted for that. Got it all worked out. I initially wast to crazy with the idea, but , honestly, I think it works out better for the consumer (at least in my case) in the long run. Its all about budgeting.

I was just afraid that they might try and stick me with the access fee on top of my bill and payment plan, that I definitely didn't account for
[doublepost=1473562884][/doublepost]

at least in my case, it works out better for me. I dont talk a ton on the phone ( 450 mins 40.00$), nor do I use text much outside of iMessage (1000 texts 10.00$ which is still overkill for me) and unlimited data (35.00$)of which I average 16 gb and peak at 20gb. Looking at the current mobile share plans I would be looking at at least 130.00/month not including my device fee. Thats why I stick with my current plan , and hopefully using the next program still get my iPhone 7 and upgrade it next year.
The only thing I don't like is not being able to add a tethering option, but if I did that, Id probably have to add another 20 gb of data to my plan lol , I'd have to be homeless to have a cellphone
Click to expand...
It's potentially better, but not quite for those on older plans where they are paying for the contract subsidy as part of the plan's cost and aren't getting that subsidiary in for of a contract discounted phone and instead have to pay full price for the device on top of the plan cost.
 
SimplyS said:
born2runak I'm on a similar plan as you, grandfathered into unlimited, have unlimited mobile to mobile and 450 minutes. Was wondering how much your total after all fees and taxes has been up to now
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My grand total per month is 97 bucks without the device fee.
[doublepost=1473568006][/doublepost]
C DM said:
It's potentially better, but not quite for those on older plans where they are paying for the contract subsidy as part of the plan's cost and aren't getting that subsidiary in for of a contract discounted phone and instead have to pay full price for the device on top of the plan cost.
Click to expand...
absolutely , its definitely got its disadvantages for some. For me, until my needs or ATT's plan costs no longer make my outdated plan financially feasible , then ATT will have to pry my unlimited plan from my corpse.
I was actually looking at Tmobiles current plans, and I would consider making the switch, but too many horror stories of bad cell service make me a bit too nervous
 
born2runak said:
My grand total per month is 97 bucks without the device fee.
[doublepost=1473568006][/doublepost]
absolutely , its definitely got its disadvantages for some. For me, until my needs or ATT's plan costs no longer make my outdated plan financially feasible , then ATT will have to pry my unlimited plan from my corpse.
I was actually looking at Tmobiles current plans, and I would consider making the switch, but too many horror stories of bad cell service make me a bit too nervous
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat, considering making the move to T-mobile myself. I pay close to 110$ after all the fees for my plan (single line) I have been paying for mobile insurance this entire time though for absolutely no reason so it would've been 7.99 less otherwise
 
SimplyS said:
I'm in the same boat, considering making the move to T-mobile myself. I pay close to 110$ after all the fees for my plan (single line) I have been paying for mobile insurance this entire time though for absolutely no reason so it would've been 7.99 less otherwise
Click to expand...
I know, I never got insurance as I always relied on Apple care , but I did used to have road side assistance, But I got rid of it after horrible experiences. Switched to AAA and never looked back
[doublepost=1473577201][/doublepost]
ibookg409 said:
So if you're on NEXT you have to pay the monthly cost of the phone, plus the data and call charges, plus a $20 access fee? That's robbery.
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Not just NEXT - ATT offers "Mobile share plans", chunks of data you buy that includes unlimited talk and text. In addition you pay an "access fee" for your device every month in order to use the chunk of data that you paid for . If you choose to finance using Next, then that charge is also added. The only saving grace is ATT got rid of the excess charges for going over your data allotment , now once you use the data you have paid for, instead of getting charged a ridiculous fee for an extra gig, they just slow your speed to 2G.
No other word than robbery
 
born2runak said:
The only saving grace is ATT got rid of the excess charges for going over your data allotment , now once you use the data you have paid for, instead of getting charged a ridiculous fee for an extra gig, they just slow your speed to 2G.
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No, read their website: they throttle you to 128kbps. If it really was "2G", i.e. 500kbps+, I would convert my share plan over. 128k is literally unusable, which is really the whole point.
 
They do call it 2G on parts of their site. I never really cared to look up what speeds actually comprise the range so I just went with it tbh
 
M. Gustave said:
Then they're being deceptive. I'm not surprised. This whole new throttled-but-"unlimited" thing is a total scam, IMO.
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I wasn't sure exactly which speed qualified as 2G, but I thought 128 seemed really slow for even 2 G.
If I was on one of the newer plans I would prefer it though over getting charged 15 bucks for an extra gig if I went over.
 
I just did this on apples website, i'm in the same boat as you. I did AT&T next 24 month and they changed me only $20 extra.
 
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