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iPhone Early Cancellation Fee $175

Very true

typerlover said:
And to everyone weeks ago clamoring that the removal of the "with 2 yr activation" from the ads as being a change of heart from the companies, what do you say now?

No one else sees that as a blatant attempt to mislead consumers knowing full well back then it would have caused a bit of an uproar?

Signing up for this is absolutely ridiculous for 2 years. We all know that this model is already showing its age, and they expect customers to keep it for 2 years? Sure when the new model comes out you can go and get the new one, signing up for 2 MORE YEARS from that date. Haha, this is turning into a real joke. So much for the revolution in the mobile phone industry. AT&T got a sweet deal out of this, locking people down for many years to come.
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I'm not sure if I'll be getting the iphone right away now, if they require a cancellation fee then that is a huge letdown for the millions and millions of users for at&t. Why didnt apple do something about this?? And is this positively final??
 
typerlover said:
Signing up for this is absolutely ridiculous for 2 years. We all know that this model is already showing its age, and they expect customers to keep it for 2 years? Sure when the new model comes out you can go and get the new one, signing up for 2 MORE YEARS from that date. Haha, this is turning into a real joke. So much for the revolution in the mobile phone industry. AT&T got a sweet deal out of this, locking people down for many years to come.
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Yeah, not to mention Apple themselves signing a 5 year exclusivity agreement. T-Mobile is all I ask!
 
Activating iPhone

TheAnswer said:
If there's not in-store activation, it will go like this:

1) Buy iPhone
2) Go home
3) Plug into computer
4) iTunes launches
5) iTunes asks you to create Apple ID and enter credit card info if you haven't already
6) iTunes asks you to choose a service plan
7) iTunes tells you your AT&T charges will automatically be charged to your credit card every month
7) iTunes asks you to read lots of legal mumbo-jumbo, confirm
8) THEN iTunes unlocks the features of the iPhone
Click to expand...

Or, and I think this is more likely.

When you turn on the iPhone for the first time it will bring up a special iTunes page up on the iPhone and you login (or create an account and login) and activate the phone.

Or ... I take my wireless computer to a hotspot near me (maybe Cingular/AT&T has one in their store) and activate it that way. No having to go home.
 
Are you serious???

skythefly13 said:
I'm not sure if I'll be getting the iphone right away now, if they require a cancellation fee then that is a huge letdown for the millions and millions of users for at&t. Why didnt apple do something about this?? And is this positively final??
Click to expand...

Did you not sign a contract when you joined AT&T (Cingular at the time)??? Really people - good Lord. Unless you plan on either 1 - leaving the country or 2 - stopping all cell phone use there really is absolutely NO reason for you to be worried about the cancellation fee. And really, let's be honest with ourselves here, this isn't letting anybody down except the people who made the stupid assumption that when Steve Jobs said "with a 2 year contract" that that contract would be magically different than every other cell phone contract you've ever signed... You break a contract, you pay a fee - otherwise wth is the point of having a contract??
 
bigmc6000 said:
Did you not sign a contract when you joined AT&T (Cingular at the time)??? Really people - good Lord. Unless you plan on either 1 - leaving the country or 2 - stopping all cell phone use there really is absolutely NO reason for you to be worried about the cancellation fee. And really, let's be honest with ourselves here, this isn't letting anybody down except the people who made the stupid assumption that when Steve Jobs said "with a 2 year contract" that that contract would be magically different than every other cell phone contract you've ever signed... You break a contract, you pay a fee - otherwise wth is the point of having a contract??
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Which brings us back around to the core issue:

Why am I (the customer) signing any such contract? What is in it for me?

As I said, it's walking like a duck and quacking like a duck. This is a $600-700 phone being marked down to $500-600 because we're signing a contract. Which, IMHO, essentially changes (or, at least, clarifies) the true cost of this gadget.

Why is Apple being so obtuse here? What happened to the love of simple pricing models?

I think, instead of Apple changing the cell phone industry, there is a very high chance that the cell phone industry has changed Apple, and significantly for the worse.
 
jettredmont said:
As I said, it's walking like a duck and quacking like a duck. This is a $600-700 phone being marked down to $500-600 because we're signing a contract. Which, IMHO, essentially changes (or, at least, clarifies) the true cost of this gadget.

Why is Apple being so obtuse here? What happened to the love of simple pricing models?

I think, instead of Apple changing the cell phone industry, there is a very high chance that the cell phone industry has changed Apple, and significantly for the worse.
Click to expand...

You are conveniently ignoring the fact that ATT is NOT subsidizing the phone!

There have been innumerable statements from ATT to this effect.

I think the big surprise will be next Friday when the rate plans come out and it turns out that prices are less than $79 for a full voice/data plan. My guess is that's why Verizon backed out of the deal. ATT wants customers, Verizon wants cold hard cash. The winner, undoubtedly it's going to be att/Apple
 
Ugg said:
You are conveniently ignoring the fact that ATT is NOT subsidizing the phone!

There have been innumerable statements from ATT to this effect.

I think the big surprise will be next Friday when the rate plans come out and it turns out that prices are less than $79 for a full voice/data plan. My guess is that's why Verizon backed out of the deal. ATT wants customers, Verizon wants cold hard cash. The winner, undoubtedly it's going to be att/Apple
Click to expand...

Ummmm ... if there is a contract then there needs to be benefits to both parties. Otherwise why are we signing a contract? Just so we are allowed to pay $175 if we change our minds?

No, AT&T is not "traditionally" subsidizing the phones. However, they ARE "giving" us what they deem is the equivalent of $100 of service in exchange for our signing a contract. What they deem "$100 of service" may well be "the fact that they have dirt on Steve Jobs and forced him to allow the iPhone only on AT&T's network". Or, it may be ammortized costs of upgrading their network to support the new iPhone features.

Still, in the end, the effect is the same, no matter what they call it.

Let's play what-if for a minute:

Pretend the iPhone were a $600-700 phone, and AT&T subsidized it down to $500-600 with contract. Apple paid AT&T for their networking upgrades with some cash up front and an exclusivity agreement. AT&T and Apple refuse to sell the iPhone without the 2-year contract.

How would the outcome there be any different from every detail we know about the outcome which is set to be on June 29?

As for the 2-year contract being in reward for a cheaper data plan: highly speculative. But, it changes the picture slightly. I'm not sure it changes anything significantly though.
 
I'm curioius how ATT will handle business accounts.

My current account is a company number. I want to know if I were to buy the iphone from an Apple store and activate it online, would I be asked If I were a current customer and if so after plugging in my number, would it simply activate or error informing me that the account is a business account and it must be activated from an ATT store, "please contact your ATT business rep .." I think the later.

I need to wait and see, but please feel free to specuate. BTW, I am not one who carries 2 mobile phones, i.e. personal and work, just one phone.

-G
 
Fatassthing said:
are cancelations always this high? arent they usually around 100 bucks?
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When I was working for Sprint, we had a 200 dollar cancellation fee if the contract is broken. Here in Canada.. we have a CDMA carrier that charges UP TO $720 or so if a person breaks their 3 year contract.

This is freaking silly.. I love Apple but this is overboard.

Screw it, when it (if it) comes to Canada, I'm not going to spend $600 for a phone that requires a contract, I know I'd love the device, but I don't want to be spending a small fortune on the device plus needing to sign a 3 year contract on it. My next phone will be a Nokia, Blackberry Pearl 2 or HTC (prob not..) device.
 
Could somebody tell me how the cancellation fees and all that stuff works? Say I buy my 8 Gig, want to keep the phone, but don't want the 2 year contract. Do I just pay my cancellation fee, first month's bill, and I get to keep the phone?
 
mtrizzle06 said:
Could somebody tell me how the cancellation fees and all that stuff works? Say I buy my 8 Gig, want to keep the phone, but don't want the 2 year contract. Do I just pay my cancellation fee, first month's bill, and I get to keep the phone?
Click to expand...

The cancellation works like this: say if you're a new customer to AT&T or an existing customer who is buying this phone. You buy the phone, and it would be concidered a hardware upgrade (even if there is no subsidization of the cost of the phone by the carrier), so if you decide within the 2 year period before the contract is done that you no longer want service with AT&T and want to go to T-Mobile, Verizon or Sprint, you would be required to pay the cancellation fee. If someone finds a way to unlock the phone, you could potentially use the phone on another GSM carrier (T-Mobile in the US, Rogers in Canada.. etc). However if you want to cancel the contract just so you HAVE an iPhone, you would not be able to use the phone to make outgoing calls or use a data connection via EDGE, so it would be just a door stopper meets wide screened iPod with wifi. If you are planning on to continue using AT&T but do not want to have a contract, you are out of luck. After you pay the cancellation fee, the phone is yours. I'm not sure about AT&Ts return policy, I think if you cancel within 15-30 days of purchasing the phone and you cancel, you may be required to return the phone.. where you would (hopefully) get a full refund.

If you're planning on using it as a phone, for now you'll be stuck with AT&T, until someone finds a way to unlock it, I can't wait for that to happen!

Wow.. I actually miss being a cell CSR right now..
 
A poorly written story by Macrumors.com. The cancelation fee $175 for any phone, anywhere that is not pre-paid. Doesn't have anything to do with what the carrier getting back money on the supposedly reduced handsets. NOR DOES this have anything to do with Apple.

$175 is the cost of cancelling. period. It is on phones. Why do you think AT&T was gonna discount that? Of all phones to take to another carrier.


This has nothing to do with the iPhone, and is a story about cellphones in general which you reported ON PURPOSE as if it was some special "screwed over" deal you were getting specifically for the iPhone.

What not just call the article "Nothing Changes, Still $175 to cancel all cellphones, SAME AS ALWAYS!"
 
akonradi said:
I'm not thinking that anyone will ever get it unlocked. Even if it happens, Apple will come up with something that bugs the new card for the other carrier.
Click to expand...

Sooner or later, it will happen. Look at the Apple TV, but who knows how long it will take? But then again, I have yet to see someone successfully put a Sprint phone on Verizon and vice versa.
 
inkhead said:
A poorly written story by Macrumors.com. The cancelation fee $175 for any phone, anywhere that is not pre-paid. Doesn't have anything to do with what the carrier getting back money on the supposedly reduced handsets. NOR DOES this have anything to do with Apple.

$175 is the cost of cancelling. period. It is on phones. Why do you think AT&T was gonna discount that? Of all phones to take to another carrier.


This has nothing to do with the iPhone, and is a story about cellphones in general which you reported ON PURPOSE as if it was some special "screwed over" deal you were getting specifically for the iPhone.

What not just call the article "Nothing Changes, Still $175 to cancel all cellphones, SAME AS ALWAYS!"
Click to expand...

Yea, but it still looks like we are being milked for every dollar.
I might wait to see how things shake out with the contract and data plans and everything else.
We will see.
 
You people are all whiny bitches.

$175 is the fee for terminating any contact with AT&T early. It's in the contract you sign when you sign up for a phone. If you don't like it, DON'T SIGN UP FOR THE ****ING CONTRACT.

It doesn't ****ing matter whether the phone is subsidized or not. AT&T wants a guarantee (contract) that they're going to get two years of payments out of you, and if you decide to break this contract they are going to make you pay. This is how contracts work. Don't like it? Then buy a ****ing pay as you go phone.
 
Luxurious early cancellation fees for luxury phones. What did you expect?

Shut up, sign up and pay up, or...

Sign up, quit, and then pay up some more. :p
 
SilvorX said:
Sooner or later, it will happen. Look at the Apple TV, but who knows how long it will take? But then again, I have yet to see someone successfully put a Sprint phone on Verizon and vice versa.
Click to expand...

The ESN's are per carrier (in the Sprint, Verizon, & Alltel example). They wouldn't activate the phone from the other carrier due to it not being in the system. GSM phones don't work that way (for the most part).
 
it's so clear..

daveschroeder said:
slackpacker said:
1. The fact that no Apple retail stores are equipped to handle activations for AT&T. Apple wants ZERO to do with AT&T activations or customer service. Absolutely zero. (Except via an automated process, i.e., iTunes.)

2. The fact that since Apple says an AppleID and iTunes is *required* for activation, one can assume that, well, iTunes is required for activation. I.e., iTunes is being used for self-activation.

3. Because of 2., one would assume that iPhones ordered via apple.com will be sold and delivered to the customer WITHOUT activation, for self-activation.

4. If the Apple online store process works like that, there is no reason to have Apple retail stores doing activation for customers because of 1., and because the entire self-activation process has already been built.

So yes, it appears almost (you conveniently ignore a word, there) 100% certain that iPhones will be available via Apple without activation, with self-activation happening via iTunes. I don't know why people find this so difficult to comprehend.
Click to expand...

Can you remember that "2 years contract required" note disappeared from one of the ads? "..did someone said calamari?" > playing video, than google maps > wifi. No call features shown > no 2 years contract required. Can't wait to get one here.. and in october, I will just add the phone features, signing a contract with local exclusive operator (hoping to be Vodafone) :D
Click to expand...
 
The more I read about the iPhone the more ridiculous it becomes. I love Apple products and would love to have one, but it seems that the consumer is being raked over the coals in EVERY way possible on this deal.
 
It's going to cost me $200 to terminate my T-Mobile line, which I have to factor into the cost of the iPhone for me...but I think it's going to be worth it. First things first though: buying a MacBook Pro this week. :)
 
I was at the cingular store today with my brother so he can pick up a new phone since his old one broke.

While I was there I asked what the pricing plans will be for the new iphone. He told me that the voice and data plans will remain the same as their other pda phones with only one difference. With other smartphones, only the voice plans are bound to a 2 year contract. The unlimited data plan ($30) can be stopped whenever if you so choose that you don't need it. For the iphone, the data package (if you choose to add it) will require a 2 year contract too. You won't be able to cancel it like on the other smartphones.

Voice plans with data will start at $70 and go up from there depending on minutes required. Those who already have smartphones now, won't be affected, but those who don't, get ready to hand out an extra $30/month in addition to your current plan if you plan on getting this phone.
 
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