As a consumer on a budget, you should probably not be looking for the best way to spend $2-300 on a toy. The reason we are in an economic crisis is because people who can't afford expensive toys found ways to get them.
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Getting around upgrade eligibility for iPhone
- Thread starter spj123
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As a consumer on a budget, you should probably not be looking for the best way to spend $2-300 on a toy. The reason we are in an economic crisis is because people who can't afford expensive toys found ways to get them.
Using a budget is just smart - it says nothing about my financials or ability to pay for the phone outright. And you're wrong, the economic crisis isn't people like me, it's people NOT like me who would just use credit to buy something like this. I'll pay cash regardless, but if more consumers WERE like me in terms of seeking out the best deals, negotiating and thus SAVING more money, we may not have this situation.
If you could afford it you wouldn't be trying to nickel-and-dime the system. Alternatively, if more consumers tried to nickle-and-dime the system then the system would become strained and collapse - oh wait, that already happened.
Yea, that explains the mortgage meltdown and subsequent banking disaster - oh wait, no it doesnt.
Actually it does, because the whole crisis is about no one taking personal responsibility. Trying to screw your way out of a cellular contract is no different than taking out a mortgage with no intention of ever paying it off. Toxic assets start from the bottom up - remember that. In either case, my advice to the OP - don't be so cheap, because you're the reason that the rest of us inevitably have to pay more.
How is the OP trying to screw his way around a cellular contract. She called ATT and is trying to work something out, that is to her advantage.
On top of that, wasting CSR's time that could be better spent responding to a legitimate request or demand. Then repeat that about 5 times is what OP has done. So the time CSR have wasted on her alone is probably costing somewhere around a week worth of salary. So while she's trying to save $200, more money is lost somewhere else.
What's the point of having contract if everyone just going to haggle until an exception is made.
Don't get me wrong, I would do it myself. But I won't go around demanding it like if I have earned it.
I'm not following you - you would do what yourself? Haggle yourself into a deal if you could? But what about those poor CSRs? You MUST realize that if my account wasn't worth it to AT&T, they wouldn't be "wasting" any time trying to make me stay.
And to the person who said if I could really afford it I wouldn't be trying to save $200 - have you ever used a coupon? I can certainly afford my groceries without them, but if I have a coupon why wouldn't I use it? Have you ever negotiated the price down on a car? I don't look at cars I can't afford but you can bet I still work the price down if I can. Believe me, I've found the iPhone to be sort of a unique case - lots of contractual stipulations that leave little room to negotiate - but it's still simply being a smart consumer to try to get the best price you can. It's no disrespect to anyone who paid full price - surely the average person would and to many people it's not worth the time or trouble trying to find some sort of loophole. So I'm sorry if of offends anyone, this is just how I do things, esp. when I find the rules to be arbitrary and unnecessarily restrictive.
Its often hard to discern intent from a thread. A lot of people come here, sign up, and demand to know how they can swindle their way out of their contract, how they can get an iPhone for cheap, how they can force an upgrade, etc. Eventually people get tired of hearing the same things (or what they assume to be the same things) over and over again, and so they react accordingly.
It had nothing to do with people taking out mortgages without intending to pay them. It had to do with banks irresponsibly giving out subprime variable rate loans with the promise that the home owner could refinance after two years and get another low rate. Two years later these people could not refinance as the value of the home had decreased and their interest rate increased. Suddenly their monthly payments doubled and they simply couldn't afford their monthly payments and they lost their homes.
Because you're acting like the real price of the iPhone is 199/299 and ATT is just being greedy by charging more so you're trying to get a deal. That's not the case. The real price of the iPhone is 399/499(?), they're only cheaper when they're subsidized. Why should you get the subsidized price when you haven't finished paying for the other one? If ATT let you do this they are losing money, why should they want that?
This is how it works with ANY subsidized cell phone, this is how it works with other loans.
There is no reason why you should pay 600 for the next iphone. If you bought your 3g on launch day, by the time the next phone is released you should be 12 months into your contract. Your ETF will be reduced by $60. So your ETF would be $115. Before you cancel just add a new iphone to your account, pay the subsidized price for it $200(8gb), then cancel the original iphone line and pay ETF of $110. Now you have the new iphone 8gb for $315. You however still have your old iphone 3g which you can sell the 16gb for $300 (minimum). Also have ATT wave the activation fee. Am I missing something here?
