Why won't they let everyone have the iphone for the same price??? They said it will cost 199 or 299 but now they post a letter stating that current users without an iphone must be elgiable for an upgrade... What is the price if we are not elgiable???
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I am Starting To Hate AT&T!!!
- Thread starter obakri
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there's already a thread discussing this.
AT&T does this with every phone, only difference being that current iPhone users are treated special. Not everyone can get an LG Shine for free or a blackberry curve for $50, only those who are eligible. Same goes with the iPhone, AT&T is just acting like every other carrier out there.
AT&T does this with every phone, only difference being that current iPhone users are treated special. Not everyone can get an LG Shine for free or a blackberry curve for $50, only those who are eligible. Same goes with the iPhone, AT&T is just acting like every other carrier out there.
1) ELIGIBLE, not elgiable
2) If they're smart, they'll cave and offer a contract-free iPhone for half a fortune since they're not letting everybody have the upgrade price. But for right now, I would hold back a little bit of venom. Crap has changed a million times since the announcement, so hold that hate for July 11.
It's not really a shock that they aren't letting everybody have the upgrade price. That's how every other phone works. If you got a discount on another phone from AT&T, they're on the hook for that money to the manufacturer and counted on your biz to make it up. Same deal is going on with the iPhone.
In essence, there's no such thing as a free iPhone.
Where is the letter posted? So does this mean if you currently do not have an iphone or if not elgible you have to pay a different price than the $199 ??
zap2
macrumors 604
pretty much every company in the US does that with phones. Last time they let anyone buy it for 499/599 at launch, this time it will be 199/299 for some and another price for others. Sounds like a win(people who can upgrade)/neutral(people who need to pay the "normal" price) to me.
They haven't defined "eligible," so relax until the official details are released. The legal language is very vague at this time, we don't know there is any price difference, and I personally think they will let anyone upgrade at the $199 price with a 2 year contract and data package. AT&T will make a killing on new data plans and contracts with this phone.
extraextra
macrumors 68000
Every phone company does this, with every phone. If you buy a Blackberry for the subsidized price ($199 or whatever), and you decide you want a new phone 2 months later, you will have to pay the full price for the new phone. Same with any Samsung, Motorola, LG, etc. phone.
They've now made it the same for the iPhone. I really think AT&T's problem was that they created all these special rules for the iPhone when they really should've just put it in the same category as other smartphones. That way there would've been less confusion and less trouble on everyone's part.
They've now made it the same for the iPhone. I really think AT&T's problem was that they created all these special rules for the iPhone when they really should've just put it in the same category as other smartphones. That way there would've been less confusion and less trouble on everyone's part.
PhightinPhils26
macrumors 6502a
What I don't think you all understand.. is that this is the latest way Apple and AT&T are going to try to police the unlocking. By only offering it to current iPhone customers and those who are eligible this means that the phones they sell (in theory) wont be unlocked and everyone gets their money.
MBHockey
macrumors 601
Okay, first of all, every single cell phone carrier does this.
Do you even know WHY they don't let you upgrade?
Take the 3G iPhone for example.
For every iPhone 3G activated, AT&T pays Apple $425 in commission. Yet, they're selling the iPhone 3G for $199.
How do they make this up? Well, they raise the data plans $10. Now $10 times 24 months is $240.
Hey look! They made up the money that they lost!
Scenario:
Now what if Blackberry Bold came out and you wanted that?
Well, if you're not eligible for upgrade, obviously you didn't wait the two years.
So let's say you only had the iPhone 3G for 13 months. 11 months left x $10...that's $110!
Wait a minute! So if they let you upgrade to the Blackberry Bold before your contract expires...THEY LOSE THE $110 THAT WAS FOR MAKING YOUR STUPID IPHONE $199.
That's why you have to be eligible to get the low price. This applies to any subsidized phone. The first iPhone is always eligible...why? Because there was no subsidized price. So even if you only had it for two months...AT&T still go their full $399 on the iPhone...they're not missing any $200.
Do you even know WHY they don't let you upgrade?
Take the 3G iPhone for example.
For every iPhone 3G activated, AT&T pays Apple $425 in commission. Yet, they're selling the iPhone 3G for $199.
How do they make this up? Well, they raise the data plans $10. Now $10 times 24 months is $240.
Hey look! They made up the money that they lost!
Scenario:
Now what if Blackberry Bold came out and you wanted that?
Well, if you're not eligible for upgrade, obviously you didn't wait the two years.
So let's say you only had the iPhone 3G for 13 months. 11 months left x $10...that's $110!
Wait a minute! So if they let you upgrade to the Blackberry Bold before your contract expires...THEY LOSE THE $110 THAT WAS FOR MAKING YOUR STUPID IPHONE $199.
That's why you have to be eligible to get the low price. This applies to any subsidized phone. The first iPhone is always eligible...why? Because there was no subsidized price. So even if you only had it for two months...AT&T still go their full $399 on the iPhone...they're not missing any $200.
I cant agree more with the poster. Some people pride themselves on having the ability to sell anything to anyone. ATT seems to have the opposite tallent telling willing customers they CANT buy their products 🙄
.Andy
macrumors 68030
No they're not. Everyone can still buy the products, they just can't have the subsidised price if they haven't met their previous contractual obligations.
sassenach74
macrumors 65816
Wirelessly posted (PPC; 240x320; HTC_TyTN/1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.7))
I didn't realise this was such a hard concept to grasp
I didn't realise this was such a hard concept to grasp
fishkorp
macrumors 68030
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)
Apparently people here never bought a cell phone in the US before, other than first iPhone. Otherwise this shouldn't shock anyone. I've been buying phones this way since 1995.
sassenach74 said:
Apparently people here never bought a cell phone in the US before, other than first iPhone. Otherwise this shouldn't shock anyone. I've been buying phones this way since 1995.
eplchamps0304
macrumors 6502a
Just go over to the ipod touch forum. Some still can not comprehend why the iphone 8gb is cheaper than the ipod touch of the same capacity. They feel you are getting more with the iphone for a cheaper price and that it does not make any sense.
QCassidy352
macrumors G5
I can't believe this argument is still being used!
How many iPhone owners were already in a 2 year subsidized contract when they got their iPhone? It is an erroneous assumption to say that AT&T is "not missing any $200" from those subsidized contracts. Every existing AT&T customer who purchased a subsidized phone after February 2007* AND subsequently activated an iPhone is having their "upgrade eligibility" date reset with a 3G iPhone.
*standard 18 months before upgrade eligibility
Im happy
As everyone has said, this is the way every cell phone company operates, I dont like it, but thats the way it is.
Im actually suprised that they are allowing current iPhone owners to upgrade at the discounted price. thats very generous, cause i plan to buy an iphone everytime a new one comes out...just hope att service doesnt suck, which it does..
As everyone has said, this is the way every cell phone company operates, I dont like it, but thats the way it is.
Im actually suprised that they are allowing current iPhone owners to upgrade at the discounted price. thats very generous, cause i plan to buy an iphone everytime a new one comes out...just hope att service doesnt suck, which it does..
geekmommy4
macrumors 6502
Good grief. Here we go again. The first iPhone wasn't subsidized. That is why you can upgrade it to the 3G without waiting for your contract to expire.
You probably won't be able to do that with the next iPhones if you get the new 3G version at a subsidized price. You probably won't be eligible to upgrade until that contract period is up without a cancellation fee. Be sure you want this one before you accept the contract!
at&t service doesn't suck everywhere. It might for you, but it's great lots of places. That same goes for Sprint, T-mobile, etc.