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T-Mobile CEO Misleads on 'No Strings Attached' Free Data, New Customers Require $20 Data Plan to Finance iPads

Yes, Tmobile could and should have worded their original offer better but who would honestly expect 0% financing AND free data? It's so preposterous that it never even crossed my mind that the two things could possibly be related.

I'm just glad this is all being sorted out with the ipad air. I'd like there to be no confusion when I pick up my ipad mini later this month.
 
darkslide29 said:
LOL. I am annoyed at T-Mobile (but mostly myself for not investigating this more closely).

I decided to keep my iPad 3rd gen w/cellular for another year.
But when I read no money down and 200 free mb, how could I resist?
I sold my iPad on eBay that same day. (Mostly because my AT&T iPad 3rd gen cannot do LTE on T-Mobile. Otherwise I would have kept it, and brought it over to T-Mobile).

Now I have no iPad, and a bad taste in my mouth of T-Mobile that will be long lasting.

I suppose I will spring for either the wifi only version, or go with an AT&T/Verizon iPad.

Shame on you T-Mobile. And shame on me for not thinking about the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is (especially when it comes to phone companies!)."
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Where you planning on doing the free financing offer at T-Mobile? Best Buy is offering 18 months free financing and I think Barclays Bank through Apple is offering 12 or 18 months free financing.
 
Taz Mangus said:
I don't think it is clear what T-Mobile is doing with those people that did the free financing before today. I have read posts where people stated that T-Mobile is honoring the free 200MB offer for those that financed that are new T-Mobile customers.
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They are probably confused with getting the first month free, vs. free for the entire 24 month period.
 
saturn88 said:
Same way as "free" Google.
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Way to miss the point like a champ. You get users into your service for free, then when they want the better stuff (gear for games or more data for T-Mobile), they pay.

Now I have zero interest in this mess and T-Mobile has zero chance of me becoming a paying customer.
 
I was under the impression that was always the case? If you buy it outright, it's yours, and T-Mobile will give activated SIMs 200MB of free data for the iPad. If you finance it through T-Mobile, well, they're allowed to impose whatever they like.

Moral of the story: if you're going to finance the tablet, do it through Apple or a credit card.
 
Free financing at the Apple Store

I was reading all these comments and I figured out the best approach for everyone is probably the Apple Store where:

- you can buy the iPad outright - any cellular model, they're all unlocked - , ask for a FREE T-Mobile SIM if yours does not come with the SIM pre-installed (say you buy Verizon or ATT iPad), register a new on-demand account on the iPad, and get 200MB free, without even having to enter a Credit Card number. Best of all, you get free Hotspot too, albeit with 200MB I'd be careful with this option. Still, can be a lifesaver… I tried that approach yesterday and it works like a charm.

- you can apply for a Barclay's interest-free 12-month financing for a purchase over $500. You can even ask for help and do it on the computers there. As long as you pay the minimum payment per month (probably in the $10 range) and the rest by the end of the year, you're good. Then you do the same transaction as above, buy the iPad, get the T-Mobile SIM card, and off you go.

Note that if you can't buy the iPad outright and you get denied for credit, you shouldn't buy anything Apple. You have more serious problems to worry about...
 
On my home from work last Friday, I stopped by the T-Mobile store and picked up a White & Silver 16Gb iPad Air for Sales Tax on $630.00 + $10.00 for the activated T-mobile SIM card ($47.80 total). Monthly installments $26.25/month for 24 months, 0% financing, can pay off anytime penalty free! Liked the deal so much (oh, and the iPad Air so much too), went back to the T-mobile store Saturday morning when they opened, gave them $299.99 + the Sales Tax on the $930.00 + $8.00 for the activation of that SIM (discounted because of the purchase the day before), and ordered the White & Silver 128Gb model for myself ($363.79 total). another $26.25 a month added to the account created the day before. NO monthly fee for data, signed up for the 200Mb for both iPad Airs. Guess what? the unlimited data on our AT&T iPhone 5s' SIM card works in the 16Gb iPad Air!
 
JSalig said:
Yes, Tmobile could and should have worded their original offer better but who would honestly expect 0% financing AND free data? It's so preposterous that it never even crossed my mind that the two things could possibly be related.

I'm just glad this is all being sorted out with the ipad air. I'd like there to be no confusion when I pick up my ipad mini later this month.
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right, and that's why I was cautious when purchasing mine. It seemed too good to be true but when I asked my T-Mobile representative "So you're telling me that I get free 200MB data per month with the 24-month installment plan?" and she says "Yes", that is some blatant misinformation/false advertisement right there. ESPECIALLY if I will incur a restocking fee when returning.
 
AppleFan4Life83 said:
I purchased one from a T-Mobile store on Saturday evening and I did not have to sign up for any additional service. I have phone service through AT&T and have never had service with T-Mobile. All they did was run my credit to make sure I qualified for the offer and they simply told me to pay the $26 a month starting in January. The employee attempted to up-sell me on getting a higher data plan (which I expected), but I told her I won't be using it out of the house much and she did not press any further.

So, maybe I'm lucky. But I did not have to sign up for a data plan...
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wait until your statement. ;)

----------
saturn88 said:
Same way as "free" Google.
Click to expand...
fermium and google income are different.
 
Ugh

There are two separate things at play here.

1) Whether you can get free 200MB data? Yes for everyone.
2) Whether you can get free financing? Yes for paying customers.

If you buy an iPad Air outright it comes with a SIM and you can sign up for your 200MB free in minutes.
 
I'm sure there are dozens of lawyers preparing a class action lawsuit right now where they'll get millions and everybody else gets a few bucks.
 
frogger2020 said:
Seriously, the T-Mobile ipads were the first to sell out of the Apple stores, probably because of the free data. I expect they will be returned in droves.
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The $0/mo 200MB data plan is no joke because those cellular iPads are paid for. There is no need to sign up for a $20/mo plan on those iPads since they are not on financing. Am I missing something here?

Cellular iPads purchased though a retail T-Mobile store or T-mobile's website, though, I could see buyer's remorse if they wanted both free financing and $0/mo 200MB.
 
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Codyak said:
Way to miss the point like a champ. You get users into your service for free, then when they want the better stuff (gear for games or more data for T-Mobile), they pay.

Now I have zero interest in this mess and T-Mobile has zero chance of me becoming a paying customer.
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Your loss
 
AppleFan4Life83 said:
I purchased one from a T-Mobile store on Saturday evening and I did not have to sign up for any additional service. I have phone service through AT&T and have never had service with T-Mobile. All they did was run my credit to make sure I qualified for the offer and they simply told me to pay the $26 a month starting in January. The employee attempted to up-sell me on getting a higher data plan (which I expected), but I told her I won't be using it out of the house much and she did not press any further.

So, maybe I'm lucky. But I did not have to sign up for a data plan...
Click to expand...

Same here. My "contract" clearly shows the free 200MB with a $26.25 monthly payment. I probably got lucky.
 
osofast240sx said:
Your loss
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You do have to admit that the way T-Mobile handled this was confusing as their own people were telling different stories, even the management was not on the same page. I am a T-Mobile customer and I thought the way they handled this was not great. The CEO should have had the website updated and the people better trained before he went ahead and announced anything. You can't have the website say one thing one day and then another thing the next day. You can't give free 200MB of data to some new customers and refuse it to other new customers. T-Mobile should honor what the CEO said and give a limited time frame honoring the free deal for new customers that want to finance.

I really don't understand those people that are getting upset by this that were not going to finance anyway, new customer or current T-Mobile customer as they still get the free 200MB data plan.
 
VinoGrande said:
I get free data on my iPad with T-Mobile. It's not lunch, but it's free data.



None if you buy your iPad for full price.



Spot on sir.
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For 0% down and only $25/mo you get all the perks of having an iPad while retaining your own finances for alternative investing. So not only can you use the free cash for alternative investments, but then consider that $25 today is worth more than $25 in two years due to inflation. Assume 4% inflation and you're saving $20 on a $500 iPad... enough to justify buying XCOM.

If no strings are attached, you'd have to be a fool to NOT finance it.
 
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