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T-Mobile Announces 'Test Drive', A One Week Network Trial With a Free iPhone 5s
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Luring people into signing contracts with great deals is certainly an effective way to attract new customers, but treating them like crap and trying to strong arm them into doing things your way once they've signed said contracts is an equally effective way to alienate them. Why does it often take companies so long to realize this? Good job figuring it out, T-Mobile.
I have wanted to 'test drive' T-Mobile for a while but when I tried to get it they wanted to charge me huge deposits. I've never had a deposit with AT&T or Verizon so I thought that was nonsense. For a carrier trying everything they can do to lure new customers it sure did seem like they didn't want my business.
This just means that when you return the phone, if Find my iPhone is active (which disallows anyone to unlock the phone without their Apple ID), they will charge you for it... because they can't do anything with it.
I'm wondering if that has to do with it preventing the phone from being restored easily, and T-Mobile performing extra steps to get it ready to be resold, etc. Similar to a re-stocking fee.
T-Mobile is pretty good. After being with Sprint for several years I jumped over to them recently and the service has been solid. The LTE network in my city went up super fast, the data coverage is consistent and the speeds I've been pulling are nuts. 30 or 40MB sometimes. And yes, phone service is solid too. I'm on a $30/month plan that gives me 5GB LTE data, unlimited texting & 100 minutes talk, but I set up a Google Voice number for chatting and that takes care of that.
I like seeing a carrier actually seem to try shaking things up and stab a pitchfork in the competition now and then, its awesome. The US telecom industry needs more of it.
Does anyone know if the music streaming not counting against data includes iTunes Match? They said iTunes Radio, but I'm a Match user almost exclusively. Don't see why it wouldn't but I would like clarification...
I like seeing a carrier actually seem to try shaking things up and stab a pitchfork in the competition now and then, its awesome. The US telecom industry needs more of it.
Does anyone know if the music streaming not counting against data includes iTunes Match? They said iTunes Radio, but I'm a Match user almost exclusively. Don't see why it wouldn't but I would like clarification...
It should be interesting how this turns out... it could be a huge mess or this could be really great for them (making them tons of money).
I like tmobile but I have their "free" lte on my ipad and i dont get much of a signal at home so it would be hard for me to move to them.
I like tmobile but I have their "free" lte on my ipad and i dont get much of a signal at home so it would be hard for me to move to them.
What is there not to get? If you return a damaged test drive phone, you'll be charged a damage fee. Use a case. Protect the phone from water. Don't lock the phone with "Find my iPhone". It means the phone won't be re-useable. Just remove the "Find my iPhone" activation lock before you turn it in.
Reburbosh phones go through a lot to get rid of "organic deposits" on consumer items to the point of disassembly and alcohol washes.
That's a possibility. I would assume you would wipe the phone tho as your returning it. So would be there to unlock it if that was the case.
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I don't see how activating "find my iPhone" is damage...
As you said it can just be deactivated, so why wouldn't part of the return process be "de-activate find my iPhone"
But since there isn't any real detail on what they mean by the original statement, we are all just assuming what it could mean.
a friend of mine who works at apple told me that apple-refurb products always have new parts wherever the customer can touch them but of course that was years ago before the manufacturing processes became so sophisticated. nowadays it may cost too much to replace the 'customer facing' parts of an iPhone.
it's just a little disturbing since the fine print says "used" rather than "refurbished"
I bought the cellular iPad Mini Retina for the price of the wifi version, and then got their 200mb for life.
I have been pretty happy with the service and coverage.
I am going to be traveling this summer so it will be the first time I travel outside of my city with it.
I have been pretty happy with the service and coverage.
I am going to be traveling this summer so it will be the first time I travel outside of my city with it.
T-Mobile has been making all the right moves lately. I hope they can continue to redefine what we should expect from our wireless service provider.
So
uh
anybody else going to do this when they sell their iPhone 5 for more cash right before the iPhone 6 event and need a phone to float them until they get their iPhone 6 on not T-Mobile?
Last time I sold my 4S early for an iPhone 5 I tried using my first gen iPhone and AT&T couldn't get it to work because Apple's activation server doesn't work any more. So I had to use my Motorola ROKR E1. Damn thing charged up and worked! What a week that was. Never again! I had just started my first post-college job after moving to a new city and my wife was still looking for work. I'm still somewhat frugal but not desperate enough to put myself through that crap again. I carried my first gen iPhone with me also and used WIFI.
Last time I sold my 4S early for an iPhone 5 I tried using my first gen iPhone and AT&T couldn't get it to work because Apple's activation server doesn't work any more. So I had to use my Motorola ROKR E1. Damn thing charged up and worked! What a week that was. Never again! I had just started my first post-college job after moving to a new city and my wife was still looking for work. I'm still somewhat frugal but not desperate enough to put myself through that crap again. I carried my first gen iPhone with me also and used WIFI.
Ya other than a few things here or there, you are totally right.
I mean, a car is just a scooter with 4 wheels and other stuff.
Nothing better than some well placed sarcasm! You sir pull it off perfectly.
I think this is a great idea for those on the fence about switching. I won't be getting in on the deal but it's nice to see Tmo making large steps in the right direction.
Just activating it alone, no that isn't damage. If you return the phone to them without deactivating it -- the phone is useless. The activation lock from "Find my iPhone" can not be removed without that customers Apple ID password.
Maybe apple can deactivate "find my iPhone", however, maybe Apple on purpose didn't include a backdoor. It would be an exploitable weakness in the system after all.
I'm sure it is, moreover, i'm sure the T-Mobile retail store employees will be trained to check for it and remind the customer to remove it, if it hasn't. That said, it's certainly possible for the customer to have legitimately forgotten the password. Regardless of how it happens, the phone is not resellable or referbishable, at least, not without added hassle and probably extra expense. Therefore the $100 fee is "lock picking" expense they charge you for the hassle of having to deal with removing the activation lock caused by "find my iPhone" left on the phone by the customer.
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Shame limited to one country. I'm with Three UK & would have loved to test out their 4G service and the iPhone here in London.
Apple's website still claims that mobile devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod) all get brand new batteries and outer shells, so the only used part is the inner components. Considering the condition of my refurbished iPad Mini, I would say that I believe them. Macs don't appear to get the same treatment, they get new batteries and I would assume an incredibly thorough cleaning, but I doubt new cases.
I'm guessing that these devices that Tmo uses will be used and just cleaned after each customer. You only have the phone for a week, so I know I personally wouldn't be expecting perfection. It would cost them a lot of money for a full refurbish for everyone to try out a phone for a week for free.
Awesome deal. Especially the music streaming. Sucks for people like me. T-mobile has really gotten strict on their credit requirements. Id love to get out of our Verizon contract. T-mobiles service is great where I live. Unfortunately my wife and I are rebuilding and they want nearly $300 for both lines up front, plus a $100 deposit. Gotta get better I guess.