Apple said it is included, which to me meant, it was baked into the price of the month payment. This is obvious once you compute the monthly for 24 months vs full price + AppleCare+. Both are the same.
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iPhone Upgrade Program Causing Headaches for Some Launch Day Customers
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Apple said it is included, which to me meant, it was baked into the price of the month payment. This is obvious once you compute the monthly for 24 months vs full price + AppleCare+. Both are the same.
I also think people are looking at this like it would affect their credit like a revolving line of credit would. But it is actually an installment loan. A small hit now for the hard pull (maybe 5 or 10 points, which doesn't make much of a difference if you haven't had many hard pulls on your credit), pay on time and it actually helps your credit score in the long run.
My experience was really smooth. 8:30am PST appointment. Got in the reservation line at 8:10am, waited for a minute or two and was in and out about 8:25am. I opted for the iPhone Upgrade Program and seemed everything was fast and the Apple employee told me that most people who placed their orders in for the store opted reserved under the upgrade program as well. (I accidentally made my reservation to purchase whole but wanted the upgrade program).
Not as chaotic as it was in the past.
Not as chaotic as it was in the past.
Exactly. And it would go a hell of a long way over a year's time with rebuilding credit.. possibly into the 100s of points.
BL.
I am also on a T-Mobile family plan. I was able to do JOD for (2) iPhone 6S+, had no issues. So it is not a scam. How many iPhone were you tying to get on the JOD program?
EDIT: I ordered my (2) iPhone 6S+ on 9/19 and received them today.
Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program today in the U.S., enabling customers to purchase the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus with AppleCare+ coverage included for 24 equal payments of between around $30 and $45 per month depending on the model. After at least 12 monthly payments, the customer can upgrade to a new iPhone and restart the 24-month payment cycle.
Apple stipulates that the iPhone Upgrade Program is available to qualified customers only with a valid U.S. personal credit card, since the program is based on a 24-month installment loan with a 0% APR from Citizens Bank. For customers with good credit, most did not expect this requirement to be an issue. But, as launch day unfolds, some customers have had frustrating experiences.
MacRumors user onujpt writes that he was declined from the program, despite having good credit and an Apple Barclaycard with a $4,000 available balance, in the iPhone Upgrade Program Experience Thread in our discussion forums. Many other users shared similar experiences in the thread.MacRumors user inkyoto echoed similar frustration in his thread Nightmarish Experience With Apple Upgrade Program in our discussion forums, noting that he was denied approval for the iPhone Upgrade Program with both Chase and Bank of America credit cards despite having "flawless credit."It is possible that iPhone Upgrade Program approvals have been experiencing problems due to the high volume of traffic today in Apple Stores, but in the meantime some customers with good credit may be forced to pay upfront or walk away empty handed. Alternatively, some customers may opt for a carrier financing plan from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile.
Enrolling in the iPhone Upgrade Program requires visiting an Apple Store. Apple states you must be at least 18 years old and bring your current iPhone, a valid personal credit card, your personal information and two forms of identification and your carrier information, such as your wireless account password. The full terms and conditions are posted on Apple's website.
Article Link: iPhone Upgrade Program Causing Headaches for Some Launch Day Customers
It was much easier than when I tried to pay off the whole 5s 2 years ago at at&t. The 5s took me 2 hours to drive around the at&t stores and to see if they have it in stock. Even if they had it in stock, they would not sell it to me for the whole darn full price...
This time around, went the Apple financing way. It was still almost 2 hours, but it was spent waiting in the line even though it was reserved. Ended up chatting with other fellows in the line to kill time.
As soon as I am in the store, I was out in 15 minutes with no more hassles to unlock the phone!
at&t needs to learn this kind of customer service...(I can dream, right?)
This time around, went the Apple financing way. It was still almost 2 hours, but it was spent waiting in the line even though it was reserved. Ended up chatting with other fellows in the line to kill time.
As soon as I am in the store, I was out in 15 minutes with no more hassles to unlock the phone!
at&t needs to learn this kind of customer service...(I can dream, right?)
Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program today in the U.S., enabling customers to purchase the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus with AppleCare+ coverage included for 24 equal payments of between around $30 and $45 per month depending on the model. After at least 12 monthly payments, the customer can upgrade to a new iPhone and restart the 24-month payment cycle.
Apple stipulates that the iPhone Upgrade Program is available to qualified customers only with a valid U.S. personal credit card, since the program is based on a 24-month installment loan with a 0% APR from Citizens Bank. For customers with good credit, most did not expect this requirement to be an issue. But, as launch day unfolds, some customers have had frustrating experiences.
MacRumors user onujpt writes that he was declined from the program, despite having good credit and an Apple Barclaycard with a $4,000 available balance, in the iPhone Upgrade Program Experience Thread in our discussion forums. Many other users shared similar experiences in the thread.MacRumors user inkyoto echoed similar frustration in his thread Nightmarish Experience With Apple Upgrade Program in our discussion forums, noting that he was denied approval for the iPhone Upgrade Program with both Chase and Bank of America credit cards despite having "flawless credit."It is possible that iPhone Upgrade Program approvals have been experiencing problems due to the high volume of traffic today in Apple Stores, but in the meantime some customers with good credit may be forced to pay upfront or walk away empty handed. Alternatively, some customers may opt for a carrier financing plan from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile.
Enrolling in the iPhone Upgrade Program requires visiting an Apple Store. Apple states you must be at least 18 years old and bring your current iPhone, a valid personal credit card, your personal information and two forms of identification and your carrier information, such as your wireless account password. The full terms and conditions are posted on Apple's website.
Article Link: iPhone Upgrade Program Causing Headaches for Some Launch Day Customers
Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program today in the U.S., enabling customers to purchase the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus with AppleCare+ coverage included for 24 equal payments of between around $30 and $45 per month depending on the model. After at least 12 monthly payments, the customer can upgrade to a new iPhone and restart the 24-month payment cycle.
Apple stipulates that the iPhone Upgrade Program is available to qualified customers only with a valid U.S. personal credit card, since the program is based on a 24-month installment loan with a 0% APR from Citizens Bank. For customers with good credit, most did not expect this requirement to be an issue. But, as launch day unfolds, some customers have had frustrating experiences.
MacRumors user onujpt writes that he was declined from the program, despite having good credit and an Apple Barclaycard with a $4,000 available balance, in the iPhone Upgrade Program Experience Thread in our discussion forums. Many other users shared similar experiences in the thread.MacRumors user inkyoto echoed similar frustration in his thread Nightmarish Experience With Apple Upgrade Program in our discussion forums, noting that he was denied approval for the iPhone Upgrade Program with both Chase and Bank of America credit cards despite having "flawless credit."It is possible that iPhone Upgrade Program approvals have been experiencing problems due to the high volume of traffic today in Apple Stores, but in the meantime some customers with good credit may be forced to pay upfront or walk away empty handed. Alternatively, some customers may opt for a carrier financing plan from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile.
Enrolling in the iPhone Upgrade Program requires visiting an Apple Store. Apple states you must be at least 18 years old and bring your current iPhone, a valid personal credit card, your personal information and two forms of identification and your carrier information, such as your wireless account password. The full terms and conditions are posted on Apple's website.
Article Link: iPhone Upgrade Program Causing Headaches for Some Launch Day Customers
My day at the Apple Store in Atlantic City was a nightmare. They ran two different credit cards and both times they said I was ineligible for Apple offers. My credit score is 829. Outrageous. I called Citizens Bank twice and was told to contact Equifax as I suspected I had a fraud alert on my account. The problem is you can request a fraud lock on your account but have to mail in documentation to turn one off.
I cannot believe that Apple and Citizens Bank have not set up a hotline to adjudicate such matters. Not much of a partnership and of no service to customers. Abysmal. The worst thing is nobody in the store knows a thing. World class customer service it wasn't.
I ended up buying a 64 gb 6S and AppleCare at full price. In the long run it is probably a better deal as I can sell the phone if I care to when the7 comes out. They sold me an AT&T phone not an unlocked phone but I already did an unlock with AT&T's on line unlock tool.
I hope your experience is better than mine.
I cannot believe that Apple and Citizens Bank have not set up a hotline to adjudicate such matters. Not much of a partnership and of no service to customers. Abysmal. The worst thing is nobody in the store knows a thing. World class customer service it wasn't.
I ended up buying a 64 gb 6S and AppleCare at full price. In the long run it is probably a better deal as I can sell the phone if I care to when the7 comes out. They sold me an AT&T phone not an unlocked phone but I already did an unlock with AT&T's on line unlock tool.
I hope your experience is better than mine.
I know this does not help you now but send an e-mail to Tim Cook about your experience. People need to complain about their experience to Apple if it is not satisfactory. That is what I would do.
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What Apple has done is setup yet another third party to provide financing for their devices. Right now it is the iPhone, but for other products like a Mac or iPad, Apple has PayPal or Barclay's Bank offer 0% financing for 6-18 months depending on the device. Depending on the financing company, the whole application can be botched because they're in the business of providing credit for Apple products and any other company. Attention to detail is not their forte.
Perhaps Apple needs to take a lesson from Toyota here. For a car company, Toyota has plenty of cash for financing just their vehicles at 0% and nothing else. In this instance, Apple could offer its own financing to people who have credit scores of 700 and above with steady incomes. It can be used only at the Apple Store for financing the purchase of any new Apple device. That device could be the Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch or iPod. It could not be used to finance Beats headphones, software, and accessories.
If Apple did this it could leverage people in to their entire ecosystem where they would use a Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. It would suck in millions of new customers in the US. When Apple's financing company has this information, it could then automatically pre-qualify people for the Apple Car coming 2020. To me this is the larger way ahead to increase profits.
Perhaps Apple needs to take a lesson from Toyota here. For a car company, Toyota has plenty of cash for financing just their vehicles at 0% and nothing else. In this instance, Apple could offer its own financing to people who have credit scores of 700 and above with steady incomes. It can be used only at the Apple Store for financing the purchase of any new Apple device. That device could be the Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch or iPod. It could not be used to finance Beats headphones, software, and accessories.
If Apple did this it could leverage people in to their entire ecosystem where they would use a Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. It would suck in millions of new customers in the US. When Apple's financing company has this information, it could then automatically pre-qualify people for the Apple Car coming 2020. To me this is the larger way ahead to increase profits.
Aaaaaaand this is why I skipped this year's launch day. Good phone, good program, bad combo to have on launch day. And if you want said combo, you're taking quite the risk considering this is the first time Apple has ever done this. It's just the 6S. This thing will not only be in stock in a couple weeks but it'll be sitting on shelves. Wait until then to try this new program out.
No issues here. Got the upgrade program. Took about 10 mins to get everything done once I was taken inside from the line.
Resale value for this phone will drop next year. It's already gotten harder to sell each year. I was able to sell my 128GB 6 for $450, thank goodness but it was a pain. I sold my 5S for $550. Next year, I won't have to deal with the hassle of finding a buyer. That's worth it to me. OR I can decide to pay off the loan early with no penalty and continue about my business.
I had a 10am EST appointment set this morning. I walked in with no wait, and told the clerk I wanted to utilize the upgrade program. He said it would be his first one. All went smooth, no issue with Citizens Bank or Verizon. I was one year into an agreement with Verizon for an iPhone 6 and thought it might be a problem but the system let me "upgrade" and without an upgrade fee. I told the clerk I would just swap the sim over but he said it wouldn't be necessary and by the time I got to my car 15 minutes later, the phone number was transferred over to the 6S.
Pleasantly surprised with the process. Sorry it wasn't so smooth for everybody else today.
EDIT: Verified it is a hard credit inquiry. I'm not worried and agree that in the long run it can benefit someone's credit.
Pleasantly surprised with the process. Sorry it wasn't so smooth for everybody else today.
EDIT: Verified it is a hard credit inquiry. I'm not worried and agree that in the long run it can benefit someone's credit.
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I had the exact same experience... flawless credit and I was turned down on the spot. Humiliating and frustrating. No hotline or Citizens rep available to figure out why.
To get the phone I had reserved, I had to pay full price, which was not my intention. I might look into returning it and buying the phone the way I had intended, if they can figure out what happened and how to fix it. Not a good experience.
To get the phone I had reserved, I had to pay full price, which was not my intention. I might look into returning it and buying the phone the way I had intended, if they can figure out what happened and how to fix it. Not a good experience.
It's the full tax of the phone plus your first monthly payment.
A) I would assume not everyone is as financially blessed as Your Highness
B) Last year, most carriers began charging an added fee to those that aren't leasing, making the benefits less clear-cut.
C) I enjoy my newly found convenience of no longer having to sell my previous phone on Amazon/Craigslist every year, but simply able to drop off the device at ATT and pick up a new one.
You are not "buying the phone" for 432... You're essentially renting it as it must be returned to get the annual upgrade...
At least buy buying it, you can sell it or keep it...
If you want to keep the phone from the plan you would have to pay for it outright as well...