T-Mobile's 'Un-Carrier 4.0' Initiative Offers Up to $350 Per Line to Switch Carriers

[lordofthereef]

I would have switched last summer, and even tried. To bad reception here on TMO is awful. I get none in my house and spotty throughout the city

This deal just adds insult to injury. Makes me want to switch over again, even though I know I won't be happy.

Not sure why I'd have to sell my phone to them though. Its an unlocked 5S, another person on our account has an unlocked 4S. Why not just let us keep phones and pay etf?

 

[wordoflife]

I would have switched last summer, and even tried. To bad reception here on TMO is awful. I get none in my house and spotty throughout the city

This deal just adds insult to injury. Makes me want to switch over again, even though I know I won't be happy.

Not sure why I'd have to sell my phone to them though. Its an unlocked 5S, another person on our account has an unlocked 4S. Why not just let us keep phones and pay etf?

Try getting a T-Mobile SIM and getting a day or week pass to see if coverage improved. Also maybe last summer you didn't try with an AWS capable device, like the 5s?

 

[Diseal3]

Verizon has been awfully quite lately... They haven't copied AT&T's "Value" share plans where they knock off $15 for a unsubsidized device and have yet to make a peep about T-Mobile now offering to buy out their customers as well. I'm surprised. Maybe the calm before the storm and T-Mobile is making more noise then they think.

 

[lordofthereef]

Try getting a T-Mobile SIM and getting a day or week pass to see if coverage improved. Also maybe last summer you didn't try with an AWS capable device, like the 5s?

I actually tried it with an updated version of the 5. I might consider grabbing a sim and seeing if things are better. Don't really like the idea of selling the 5S, but I guess I can go out and buy some crappy smartphone and trade that in.

 

[Diseal3]

I actually tried it with an updated version of the 5. I might consider grabbing a sim and seeing if things are better. Don't really like the idea of selling the 5S, but I guess I can go out and buy some crappy smartphone and trade that in.

At that point you could just sell your 5S and pay for the ETF yourself which will also have enough to buy a new phone at t-mobile. Same thing essentially.

 

[lordofthereef]

At that point you could just sell your 5S and pay for the ETF yourself which will also have enough to buy a new phone at t-mobile. Same thing essentially.

Which si why I am wishing they would JUST pay the ETF and not make me trade a phone in... (my ETF only has 7 months on it)

 

[nutmac]

My wife and I are AT&T, iPhone 5 (32GB, 8 months left in contract) and 5s (32GB, 20 months left in contract). T-Mobile quoted $220 for iPhone 5 and $280 for iPhone 5s, plus $165 and $285 toward early termination fee ($950 total).

While these are decent deals, I can't help but feel a bit gypped with mere $280 toward 4-month old iPhone 5s with 32GB (Gazelle pays $360).

 

[brinary001]

Haha. Switch to T-Mobile's incredibly inferior network? No thanks. You can keep that. Meanwhile, I'll be keeping AT&T.

 

[APlotdevice]

Haha. Switch to T-Mobile's incredibly inferior network? No thanks. You can keep that. Meanwhile, I'll be keeping AT&T.

The only practical advantage AT&T's network has over T-Mobile's is total coverage area. For those of us that live well inside their map there really are no major downsides.

 

[mellofello]

From what I read you guys are totally missing out on this. I called tmobile and confirmed this.

You do not need to bring in a new phone to qualify

What this means is: I can either unlock my 2 month old note 3, give them my old iphone 4s from my drawer, and pocket whatever few dollars they offer me for the 4s. The other option is to just flip it on craigslist, and apply full second hand value to the new phone. You would be crazy to give them, a new phone.

Even if they do force you to buy a new one just grab this

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prism-Grey-Prepaid

$60 smartphone, throw it in a drawer for emergencies, and keep yours.

Another option is to by this cheap phone and purchase a nexus 5, or a second hand phone from cl making this a 0 sum transaction.

This is a amazing deal. My family stands to save $100 per month get unlimited unthrottled data, get free international roaming, free hot spot, and buy/sell new phones at our leisure.

Also looking at this in a short term way, yes there is a chance that you may still be out a FEW $$$, but long term this will most likely save you money.

The best part of this is that if it doesn't pan out YOU ARE NO LONGER IN CONTRACT GO BACK TO ATT!!! You can get whatever phone you want. Have a 5s and want a way to get the 6 well here you go.

 

[bizack]

My trade-in for my 32GB iPhone5 is $220.00 according to T-Mobile. The average price on craigslist is $450.00. So I'm 'losing' $230.00. My current ATT bill is about $100.00 after taxes and their various 'other' charges per month. My T-Mobile bill would be $50.00 (voice, data) + $25.00 (cost of phone) = $75.00 per month. I'm saving $25.00 per month with T-Mobile. After 9 months I recoup my losses for my trade-in. Starting on month number 10 and onward, I'm keeping the $25.00 in savings and don't have to worry about any ETFs. I really don't see how anyone can 'lose' with this offer.

 

[31 Flavas]

I have three lines on my plan.

Line 1: iPhone 5S 16gb ETF: $325-$20 (2 months)
Line 2: iPhone 5 ETF: $325-$150 (15 months on contract)
Line 3: iPhone 5S 16gb ETF: $325-$20 (2 months)

Total ETF: $785

I can sell unlock all three and sell the 5S each for $550-600. 5 for $400-450.

550(2) + 400 = $1,500 - $785 ETF paid: $715 profit made

T-Mobile offer: no profit. They make profit off of us. They don't care about the customer. They're just as bad as AT&T/VZW.

You are forgetting an important part, though. You paid AT&T $200x3 = $600 to buy the phones. You sell them, as you state, at two for $550 and one at $400. Your proceeds then are $1,500. It cost you $600 cost to obtain them, though, ($1,500 - $600) and such leaves you with $900. But now you have to pay the ETF. So $900 - $785 = $115. Sorry.

If you trade in to T-Mobile, though, they will pay your $785 ETF, then pay you the $600 spent on the phones at AT&T, and then pay you $82 extra per 5S and $23 extra for the 5. Or, in other words, ($82 x 2) + $23 = $187.

$187 > $115. T-Mobile wins. I'm not seeing where the gigantic rip off is.

Even assuming top dollar for all three of your phones only gets you $150 extra. Making the difference between private sale and trade in at T-Mobile a negligible $78 dollars. Bottom line, there is no huge scam or rip off here.

The huge scam and rip off here is what AT&T charges per month for service. And this is why switching to T-Mobile might be of benefit.

3 phone lines on a T-mobile family plan is $90/mo (Unlimited calls and text and 500MB per phone of data) with no data overage -- unlimited low speed data. AT&T's closest equivalent is their Mobile Share Value Plan 2GB @ $175/mo. A monthly savings of $85/mo over AT&T.

Or $2040 over 24 months. Wait -- how much does 3 unlocked iPhone 5S 16GB cost? $650 x 3 = $1950. And they are your to then sell off or trade in a year or two down the road? Yup.

So really, the only question here is -- Is T-Mobile coverage / service good in your area. This is unequivocally a great deal if T-Mobile has good coverage in your area.

 

[EbookReader]

In summary..if you leave ATT to TMob..

You pay..

(New Phone price - Trade in value of your Phone).

ETF is taken care.

the above is worth repeating. It's that's simple.


T-Mobile Family Plan is very competitive: ($22 per line if you have 5 lines for example)

1st line: $50
2nd line: $30
3rd line: $10
4th line: $10
5th line: $10

Each line will have unlimited talk, unlimited text, 500MB of LTE and unlimited 2G

+ $10 to any line to upgrade to 2.5GB of LTE data
+ $20 to any line to upgrade to unlimited LTE data

 

[EbookReader]

Since "Un-Carrier" initative, T-Mobile is on a roll:

2Q of 2013: 1.10 million additional customers
3Q of 2013: 1.00 million additional customers
4Q of 2013: 1.65 million additional customers

 

[ChrisNH]

This would be very exciting if...

...T-Mobile had ANY service in my home town in southern New Hampshire. In fact, I'd have to drive about 10 miles before I found 'Excellent' coverage according to its map. This matters because our Verizon cell phone IS our 'home phone.' So having service in my house isn't merely a 'Like To Have.' It's a necessity.

Sometimes, gaudy come-ons like this one are bludgeoned in the face by the simple reality that their coverage map is awful as far as my needs are concerned.

 

[alent1234]

...T-Mobile had ANY service in my home town in southern New Hampshire. In fact, I'd have to drive about 10 miles before I found 'Excellent' coverage according to its map. This matters because our Verizon cell phone IS our 'home phone.' So having service in my house isn't merely a 'Like To Have.' It's a necessity.

Sometimes, gaudy come-ons like this one are bludgeoned in the face by the simple reality that their coverage map is awful as far as my needs are concerned.

they cover enough people to offer decent service at a cheap price that's good enough to leave at&t and verizon.

 

[EbookReader]

As consumers, competition will benefit us all. Even if you don't use the product offer by company T.

Verizon, AT&T and Sprint will need to step up in order to "compete." This might mean lower prices for people on these carriers.

Everybody win.


http://www.tmonews.com/2014/01/more-on-t-mobiles-uncarrier-4-0-plans-early-termination-fees-covered/

 

[Supermule]

why is everyone saying this is good / aggressive. I have an iPhone 5s from ATT and I'm not handing it over to TMobile for 350$. This would be an amazing deal if they just flat out paid your ETF fees for taking the leap and switching. However, they are paying you 350$ for your iPhone that you could sell on eBay for 500$

Give me 350$ no questions asked to switch to you TMobile, and I will

Dont hand over your Iphone 5s. Just give them a 5-year-old phone with no value.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Reading this thread, one thing is incredibly apparent to me: life is so much easier going the prepaid/unlocked route.

Dont hand over your Iphone 5s. Just give them a 5-year-old phone with no value.

This is what I was thinking. However, you'd end up with two smart phones after being forced to purchase a new one from T-Mobile. Sure, you could sell the phone you have now on eBay, but that's even more work to do.

 

[mattwallace24]

Since "Un-Carrier" initative, T-Mobile is on a roll:

2Q of 2013: 1.10 million additional customers
3Q of 2013: 1.00 million additional customers
4Q of 2013: 1.65 million additional customers

Solid #'s, but I really thought they would blow it through the roof with their free data for iPad offer (200MB). The offer rolled out in November, yet they only added 69,000 tablet users for the quarter.

With all the hype and excitement around that offer, I wonder why more people didn't take advantage of it.

 

[dmax35]

My wife and I are AT&T, iPhone 5 (32GB, 8 months left in contract) and 5s (32GB, 20 months left in contract). T-Mobile quoted $220 for iPhone 5 and $280 for iPhone 5s, plus $165 and $285 toward early termination fee ($950 total).

While these are decent deals, I can't help but feel a bit gypped with mere $280 toward 4-month old iPhone 5s with 32GB (Gazelle pays $360).

Did they mention you'll have to give up your cell phone number.

 

[mattbaar26]

why is everyone saying this is good / aggressive. I have an iPhone 5s from ATT and I'm not handing it over to TMobile for 350$. This would be an amazing deal if they just flat out paid your ETF fees for taking the leap and switching. However, they are paying you 350$ for your iPhone that you could sell on eBay for 500$

Give me 350$ no questions asked to switch to you TMobile, and I will

The $350 is the ETF they give you, you don't have to sell them your phone

 

[mlmwalt]

How does this work with tablets? I looked but didn't find anything that was clear.

 

[jamezr]

As consumers, competition will benefit us all. Even if you don't use the product offer by company T.

Verizon, AT&T and Sprint will need to step up in order to "compete." This might mean lower prices for people on these carriers.

Everybody win.


http://www.tmonews.com/2014/01/more-on-t-mobiles-uncarrier-4-0-plans-early-termination-fees-covered/

Image

This cannot be stressed enough. This benefits us all. Even if people never switch to T-Mobile…..they are making the other carriers switch their plans to benefit the consumer. this is good for all of us…..

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Did they mention you'll have to give up your cell phone number.

no….you can port you existing number to T-Mobile.

 

[617aircav]

Which si why I am wishing they would JUST pay the ETF and not make me trade a phone in... (my ETF only has 7 months on it)

Making you trade in your phone is how they make the money they paid for your ETF back, and also forcing you to buy their own phone. The devil is always in the details.