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T-Mobile CEO Misleads on 'No Strings Attached' Free Data, New Customers Require $20 Data Plan to Finance iPads
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It absoluetly does sound like a great deal - and this is why it was making headlines. An amazing deal, that took 3 days to get straightened out. A lot of people are going to be upset that financed one over the weekend, thinking that the many articles and tweets that suggested "200mb for everyone, no strings attached" applied to them.
Like you said, too good to be true.
Unfortunately, even this isn't entirely true. I'm a T-Mobile customer with a voice plan (iPhone 5S) and just went through a NIGHTMARE yesterday trying to get data on my iPad Air, which I bought on Saturday directly from Apple. I STILL had to buy a data plan, even as a voice customer. And on top of that, I had to pay a $10 SIM Starter fee, which was odd considering I bought a T-Mobile iPad from Apple, which came with its own SIM card. I can't help but feel like I got hosed.
thats not correct. you did get hosed
numerous people said that they bought an ipad from apple, and within 10 minutes were using their free 200mb data. no need to do anything with t-mobile. you sign up right on the ipad
There are no strings attached to getting the 200mb per month.
If you want the 0 down and 0% interest then you have to sign up for a plan.
If you're going to claim that it is misleading when combining to the two then you might as well complain that the 200mb free isn't really free. There are strings attached. You have to provide your own compatible device and that's just not fair. They said free.
If you want the 0 down and 0% interest then you have to sign up for a plan.
If you're going to claim that it is misleading when combining to the two then you might as well complain that the 200mb free isn't really free. There are strings attached. You have to provide your own compatible device and that's just not fair. They said free.
umm... nope... starting next month I'll be paying $25 a month for my unlimited plan with 500mb of LTE and then unlimited 2G data on a 5 person family plan... try getting any other carrier that will allow you to have a family plan at $20/per person before tax. $50 if you're on a solo plan for the same unlimited everything.
You're mad because they won't give you free data (their version of merchandise) and a free line of credit at the same time... find me any business that does that... any business.
That'd be like buying a car 0 down and 0 interest and getting free gas for life... that is just absurd.
T-Mobile never said that you could finance a new iPad with them, without being a customer. They addressed this specifically in their press conference. A recording of the press conference is here: http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1867397
It's simple. Everyone gets 200MB of extra data for free, regardless of whether you bought your iPad from T-Mobile. Period.
If you want T-Mobile to offer you 0% financing for 24 months, you need to be a customer. You can have a cell phone plan, and pay nothing for tablet data, and still get 200MB.
If you don't have a cell phone plan, you can pay $20 per month for 700MB of high-speed data (500MB plus 200MB), and unlimited low-speed data.
Why would T-Mobile offer 0% 24-month financing to non-customers? They never said they would, specifically said "you'll need to be a customer," and it would make zero business sense for them to offer it.
It's simple. Everyone gets 200MB of extra data for free, regardless of whether you bought your iPad from T-Mobile. Period.
If you want T-Mobile to offer you 0% financing for 24 months, you need to be a customer. You can have a cell phone plan, and pay nothing for tablet data, and still get 200MB.
If you don't have a cell phone plan, you can pay $20 per month for 700MB of high-speed data (500MB plus 200MB), and unlimited low-speed data.
Why would T-Mobile offer 0% 24-month financing to non-customers? They never said they would, specifically said "you'll need to be a customer," and it would make zero business sense for them to offer it.
New T-Mobile Customers who want only an iPad (not a phone) and use their interest-free financing...
I hear ya buddy. The 0% over 24 mos was just so appealing.
Luckily, there are many promotions going on with credit cards right now.
For example, Discover card gives 5% cashback at BestBuy by going through their Online Portal of ShopDiscover - and an additional quarterly bonus of 5% for online shopping this quarter.
At a 10% cashback rate, there's $50+ cashback you don't get from buying directly from T-Mobile.
Still a great deal
No, T-Mobile will not finance an iPad for 0% to non-customers (those only using the free data) You can bring your own table or pay full price if you just want the free data. That's what I did.
If you get the ipad from Apple it comes with a T-Mobile SIM and you can activate your 200MB free right on the iPad. It asks you for your name and email but doesn't require you to pay anything. You can pay for different data allotments if you like but aren't required to.
No, T-Mobile will not finance an iPad for 0% to non-customers (those only using the free data) You can bring your own table or pay full price if you just want the free data. That's what I did.
If you get the ipad from Apple it comes with a T-Mobile SIM and you can activate your 200MB free right on the iPad. It asks you for your name and email but doesn't require you to pay anything. You can pay for different data allotments if you like but aren't required to.
Yeah that's the one thing I dislike about TMobile... this $10 SIM card charge. The things cost them 2 cents each at most... heck they're giving them away on their website but if you want to do anything through the store... 10 bucks a pop.
Can anyone confirm the earlier post that says you must jump through hoops every month to maintain the free data plan? I was thinking this would be an ideal way to get my in-laws on the internet, but they don't need another hassle.
For those of us on T-Mobile with phones and data plans, we get interest-free financing and data.
Not for new iPad only customers. So no, not everyone.
I got about $20 bucks back in Reward zone points from Best Buy AND 18/mo No interest financing... the complainers on this site are just terrible at shopping.
Want some cheese with that?
Wow, people love to bitch and moan don't they.
I don't see what's misleading here. If you buy an iPad that has T-Mo LTE built in, you get 200Mb of data every month for free. That's clear and simple. That's what the T-Mo man said, that's what it says on the Apple website.
If you can't really afford to buy an iPad and you want to finance it through T-Mobile, there are terms and conditions that go along with that. You don't have to use T-Mo as a bank. You could go to your own bank, you could use a credit card, you could use Apple's credit card and get iTunes credit with every purchase, you could even (shock!) save up some cash and buy the item when you can afford it.
There are two separate deals being offered by T-Mo here and MacRumors would do well to stop conflating them.
Wow, people love to bitch and moan don't they.
I don't see what's misleading here. If you buy an iPad that has T-Mo LTE built in, you get 200Mb of data every month for free. That's clear and simple. That's what the T-Mo man said, that's what it says on the Apple website.
If you can't really afford to buy an iPad and you want to finance it through T-Mobile, there are terms and conditions that go along with that. You don't have to use T-Mo as a bank. You could go to your own bank, you could use a credit card, you could use Apple's credit card and get iTunes credit with every purchase, you could even (shock!) save up some cash and buy the item when you can afford it.
There are two separate deals being offered by T-Mo here and MacRumors would do well to stop conflating them.
I'm completely confused. I usually take it as a point of pride to understand how the data plans are laid out, but I really don't understand the services here and how much it costs.
It's not always about being able to afford one or not.
If you want to really talk about financial smarts, it makes sense to finance at 0% interest rate for 24 months because you can then make your money work harder for you and make you money - instead of giving it to T-Mobile all at once.
People are upset because since Friday we thought we could get the free financing AND free data - per the CEO tweet and articles from Cnet, etc.
It's not the end of the world, but it was such a quick switch that people are annoyed.
I am not completely familiar with how T-Mobile's finance program works but a credit check from a phone company for this sort of loan is not as lasting on a credit report as opening up an actual credit line elsewhere for the same financial terms. So it made sense to do, as in, why not?
I don't see what the big deal is, I bought the iPad Air out right (it's just ridiculous to think that you should finance something as inexpensive as this, that is why America is in such a big financial problem that it is).
Then, I went to T-Mobile and got the free 200 MB data plan. It was really easy! Don't finance anything other than a house!
Do you think Steve Jobs would have financed an iPad? Seriously!
Then, I went to T-Mobile and got the free 200 MB data plan. It was really easy! Don't finance anything other than a house!
Do you think Steve Jobs would have financed an iPad? Seriously!
False. Did you read the article? Like I said, you can get it IF you pay full price for the iPad (or bring an iPad from somewhere else or do pretty much anything besides try to finance the iPad via T-Mobile's financing plan, and even then, you're still good if you have an existing plan with them).
Everyone is eligible for the 200MB data plan. If you buy with cash, or you are giving T-Mobile money on a different cell plan, they will honor that deal. This makes a lot of sense. T-Mobile is in the cellular business, not the iPad business. They make money off you buying a cellular contract. The only people who this affects are people who are trying to get free financing while giving their money to a different carrier. It's actually really cool that T-Mobile is honoring this deal for people who buy the iPad in cash.
Zero down, Zero interest is better than cash. I agree that if you don't have enough cash to buy one, you shouldn't be buying one. However, if presented with the offer to pay cash, or finance it with no interest, there is a clear winner... unless of course you want the free data too.
Zero down, Zero interest is better than cash. I agree that if you don't have enough cash to buy one, you shouldn't be buying one. However, if presented with the offer to pay cash, or finance it with no interest, there is a clear winner... unless of course you want the free data too.