Carrier Upgrade Activation Fees - carrier money grab or legit charge?

[AZhappyjack]

I've had a cell phone since the mid-to-late-nineties... and every time I upgrade, the carrier (all of them do it) tack on a charge for "upgrade" or "activation" fees ... ranging from $15 in the early days to something approaching $35 or more today.

Is there any valid reason for these fees, or they simply another way for the carrier to keep their hands in your pocket? Has anyone found a way to consistently avoid these fees?

 

[SonoViva]

Money grab. If anything other than that, it may be to try to dissuade you from upgrading so their systems aren’t overloaded, but it’s pretty much like Ticketmaster’s “convenience fee.”

 

[gtg465x]

I used to buy all of my phones outright and never from the carrier, and then I could just swap my sim in and never had to pay activation fees. The last couple upgrades, however, I have gone the $800-$1000 in credits paid over a few years route, and those require carrier involvement, and thus an activation fee. Wish it wasn’t so, but it’s not a lot compared to how much they’re charging me per month.

 

[russell_314]

I've had a cell phone since the mid-to-late-nineties... and every time I upgrade, the carrier (all of them do it) tack on a charge for "upgrade" or "activation" fees ... ranging from $15 in the early days to something approaching $35 or more today.

Is there any valid reason for these fees, or they simply another way for the carrier to keep their hands in your pocket? Has anyone found a way to consistently avoid these fees?

I’d go with total money grab, but I’m not in the cellular business with knowledge to give some sort of defense as to why they’re charging this. It’s kind of like when the electric company charges you a “reconnection fee” for pushing a button on a computer.

How I avoid this is to not buy phones from carriers. I know they have some tempting deals but all those just lock you into what amounts to a contract so it’s not as great of a deal as you think it is. If possible by your iPhone from Apple. I just transferred from my old eSIM to a new eSIM without any involvement from the carrier. This may not be possible with all carriers, but it was for me on Verizon.

When I bought my 12 Pro Max from Verizon, they charged me I think $30 for this “activation fee”. After that I decided I’m not paying them for that.

 

[Supermallet]

On the one hand I can understand that moving millions of devices on and off networks does require time and energy and knowing where devices are is important for load balancing, etc. However there is no way that the cost of moving a device into a network is in the realm of $35, and if it is then we should probably scrap the systems we have and start over because that is ridiculous.

My guess is that there is some amount of expense tied to adding devices to networks, but in typical carrier fashion they are milking it for all its worth and probably generating a few million in pure profit from it.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Definitely a money grab, especially for those on plans that charge an additional monthly fee for the ability to upgrade early.

 

[quise2024]

We bought our 13s from apple last year and Verizon tacked on $70(35 each) for “upgrading”

I got in contact with a rep and told the there shouldn’t be a charge simply because I didn’t even upgrade or purchase the phone from them. They removed it from my account no questions asked

 

[usmaak]

They will charge what people will pay. I think it used to be a hook, as in “we will waive activation fees if you get this phone”. I don’t see that much anymore. They probably decided it was profitable and that very few were going to bother fighting it. To me, it seems like a lot of cell phone charges are “because we can” charges. Cell phone companies are scumbag corporations and are not our friends. 😂

 

[russell_314]

What's interesting is I just received an email from Verizon saying "Thanks for upgrading your device(s) with number(s) ending in"..

They didn't have anything to do with my upgrade so if they try to charge me I'll drop them in a heartbeat.