Upgrade Fee!

[Renho]

i know we all Pay it and have for years now. But it still pisses me off! It’s not bad enough we have to spend $1250 on the phone you gut punch us with this!!

ATT is $25, what are the other carriers?

 

[playaproved]

One of the benefits of just buying a phone and placing your SIM in is the savings of this fee.

Such a bs fee. I'm buying a phone from you and continuing to use your services and you're charging me? Ridiculous.

 

[ant the ninja]

I agree, Verizon charges $30. Which I think is crap because I buy using the upgrade program through Apple. WHY does Verizon get to charge when I’m only using them for the service, they did nothing to help me order the phone.

 

[CooKieMoNs7eR]

Can you call ATT and tell them to waive it for you ? has anyone done it before?

 

[Renho]

Can you call ATT and tell them to waive it for you ? has anyone done it before?

It has worked in the past. It all depends on the rep and if good mood or not. I have tried and was unsuccessful
[doublepost=1509203838][/doublepost]

One of the benefits of just buying a phone and placing your SIM in is the savings of this fee.

Such a bs fee. I'm buying a phone from you and continuing to use your services and you're charging me? Ridiculous.

How dare they right! Anything they can to make a quick, millions! Madning
[doublepost=1509203991][/doublepost]

I agree, Verizon charges $30. Which I think is crap because I buy using the upgrade program through Apple. WHY does Verizon get to charge when I’m only using them for the service, they did nothing to help me order the phone.

Dang even more then us. Wish there was something we can do!

 

[Nanotyrns]

Maybe, just maybe, it's because it's going to be their busiest time of the year and they have to hire extra people or offer OT to current staff and call volume is going to be off the charts and their distribution centers are going rev up to 120% of capacity and they have to make sure the infrastructure is ready to handle 5 million phones all activating on the same day and all of that costs money. They pass a bit of that on to the only customers generating the sudden out-sized load on the system.

Most will probably waive the fee if you call and ask and are really really sweet ("Are those new shoes? OMG I LOVE them!" or "Hey great launch by you guys! This is why I've stuck with 'insert name of carrier'" (even if it wasn't)) and don't call this week or even next. Wait until just before the bill is due because this week is going to be nuts and you'll just be the 100th customer they've spoken to that day that has some issue or complaint.

We're all waiting on our shiny new OLED object that they can't even touch yet because they're employees and embargoed from upgrading. Show a little compassion, show a little grace and it will get your fee waived. Maybe.

 

[Renho]

Maybe, just maybe, it's because it's going to be their busiest time of the year and they have to hire extra people or offer OT to current staff and call volume is going to be off the charts and their distribution centers are going rev up to 120% of capacity and they have to make sure the infrastructure is ready to handle 5 million phones all activating on the same day and all of that costs money. They pass a bit of that on to the only customers generating the sudden out-sized load on the system.

Most will probably waive the fee if you call and ask and are really really sweet ("Are those new shoes? OMG I LOVE them!" or "Hey great launch by you guys! This is why I've stuck with 'insert name of carrier'" (even if it wasn't)) and don't call this week or even next. Wait until just before the bill is due because this week is going to be nuts and you'll just be the 100th customer they've spoken to that day that has some issue or complaint.

We're all waiting on our shiny new OLED object that they can't even touch yet because they're employees and embargoed from upgrading. Show a little compassion, show a little grace and it will get your fee waived. Maybe.

Ok what carrier do you work for? That is no dang excuse at all! That’s there business and why they are in it! They make millions off of our service because we get new phones. You don’t get Double paid to do a job you already are doing! Come on!

 

[Avenger]

Can you call ATT and tell them to waive it for you ? has anyone done it before?

I read some reason posts in the ATT forum and it seems they have become hardnose recently in not waiving upgrade fees. I used to be able to do it in the past as well.

 

[thadoggfather]

It is a stupid cash grab for carriers

If att is only 25 could be worse.

I've had it's like 40 with vzw or something?

Absurd period I will grant you that.

They take away 2 year terms and subsidy but keep the upgrade fee. Wonderful for consumers. Smh

 

[Shawn Parr]

Maybe, just maybe, it's because it's going to be their busiest time of the year and they have to hire extra people or offer OT to current staff and call volume is going to be off the charts and their distribution centers are going rev up to 120% of capacity and they have to make sure the infrastructure is ready to handle 5 million phones all activating on the same day and all of that costs money.

Ironically one of the items that will increase their calls so much is people wanting them to waive the upgrade fee.

And rev up thief distribution centers? “Please help us afford our extra profits!” If these companies are so hard up they can’t handle the infrastructure to for these launches, they need to go out of business, especially since a significant portion is bought from and distributed by Apple themselves, not the carriers.

Same with the activation infrastructure. For over a decade there have been datacenter solutions to handling spikes like this. I know, I manage a datacenter. If their apps haven’t been written to take advantage of these technologies in over 10 years, once again that is their doing, they shouldn’t be punishing their customers for it.

The US carriers are making money hand over fist. The upgrade fee is gravy. Absolutely scummy and no real need for it. They can cover all of the above and more with the money they already make, and by actually planning for what is now very well known upcoming events.

 

[Nanotyrns]

Ok what carrier do you work for? That is no dang excuse at all! That’s there business and why they are in it! They make millions off of our service because we get new phones. You don’t get Double paid to do a job you already are doing! Come on!

I don't work for any carrier but those costs are real and they are generated just one time a year by one phone. Yes, it's the business they are in, and doing business costs money but they are not there out of the goodness of their heart or to make it a better world for all humankind. They are for-profit businesses that have a responsibility to shareholders.

They didn't slam you with this fee. It's up front and right there for you to see. You can say yes or no. The choice is yours. If there is another carrier that doesn't charge the fee you can switch. It's all up to you.

 

[Renho]

Ironically one of the items that will increase their calls so much is people wanting them to waive the upgrade fee.

And rev up thief distribution centers? “Please help us afford our extra profits!” If these companies are so hard up they can’t handle the infrastructure to for these launches, they need to go out of business, especially since a significant portion is bought from and distributed by Apple themselves, not the carriers.

Same with the activation infrastructure. For over a decade there have been datacenter solutions to handling spikes like this. I know, I manage a datacenter. If their apps haven’t been written to take advantage of these technologies in over 10 years, once again that is their doing, they shouldn’t be punishing their customers for it.

The US carriers are making money hand over fist. The upgrade fee is gravy. Absolutely scummy and no real need for it. They can cover all of the above and more with the money they already make, and by actually planning for what is now very well known upcoming events.

Here here, you tell him! Money hungry a holes. Makes the top exec’s get better Xmas bonuses..
[doublepost=1509207018][/doublepost]

I don't work for any carrier but those costs are real and they are generated just one time a year by one phone. Yes, it's the business they are in, and doing business costs money but they are not there out of the goodness of their heart or to make it a better world for all humankind. They are for-profit businesses that have a responsibility to shareholders.

They didn't slam you with this fee. It's up front and right there for you to see. You can say yes or no. The choice is yours. If there is another carrier that doesn't charge the fee you can switch. It's all up to you.

That’s no excuse. And cause I know about it doesn’t make it better. They need these launch’s, that’s why makes them the money and business in the first place.

 

[Nanotyrns]

Here here, you tell him! Money hungry a holes. Makes the top exec’s get better Xmas bonuses..

Yeah, I'm soooo told.

And... I'm not sweating the upgrade fee at all. It's not like they never charged it and now all of a sudden are. I understand it's all part of the upgrade process and at the end of it I get something shiny and sweet. It's my cost of doing business with my carrier. I can complain and grump about the indignity of it all or I can choose to do business with another carrier that doesn't charge as much or at all. It's all up to me just like it's all up to you. We can both see what path we've chosen.

I believe they levy these fees as a way to offset the cost of this sort of event. You believe they charge it just to be money hungry jerks. Meh. Makes no difference in the end. We're both nobody's in the grand scheme of things.

 

[John Megadeth]

Can you call ATT and tell them to waive it for you ? has anyone done it before?

I’ve done it every two years. I chatted with a rep earlier this week (online) and she credited the fees within a few minutes. Just be polite.

 

[macfacts]

I don't work for any carrier but those costs are real and they are generated just one time a year by one phone. Yes, it's the business they are in, and doing business costs money but they are not there out of the goodness of their heart or to make it a better world for all humankind. They are for-profit businesses that have a responsibility to shareholders.

They didn't slam you with this fee. It's up front and right there for you to see. You can say yes or no. The choice is yours. If there is another carrier that doesn't charge the fee you can switch. It's all up to you.

Should McDonald's charge extra during the lunch hour rush? It is busy and happens once a day. They have to hire more workers ...

 

[Renho]

Yeah, I'm soooo told.

And... I'm not sweating the upgrade fee at all. It's not like they never charged it and now all of a sudden are. I understand it's all part of the upgrade process and at the end of it I get something shiny and sweet. It's my cost of doing business with my carrier. I can complain and grump about the indignity of it all or I can choose to do business with another carrier that doesn't charge as much or at all. It's all up to me just like it's all up to you. We can both see what path we've chosen.

I believe they levy these fees as a way to offset the cost of this sort of event. You believe they charge it just to be money hungry jerks. Meh. Makes no difference in the end. We're both nobody's in the grand scheme of things.

The fact that you’re sticking up for a big Corp instead of the consumer says something. Specially those single parents that are working Check to Check. Give the big finger to the corps

 

[mantan]

I always laugh at how people won't blink at paying Apple 50% margins, but pitch a fit if anybody else in the process makes a nickel.

 

[Shawn Parr]

I believe they levy these fees as a way to offset the cost of this sort of event. You believe they charge it just to be money hungry jerks. Meh. Makes no difference in the end. We're both nobody's in the grand scheme of things.

Wal-mart, Best Buy, Amazon, etc.etc.etc.etc all have huge events and spikes for Black Friday and for Christmas.

None of them make you pay an extra fee at the time to cover these events.

The US Carriers all charge this fee year round, not just at the heavy upgrade times. It is just another fee they can tack on just to make more money.

 

[Shawn Parr]

I always laugh at how people won't blink at paying Apple 50% margins, but pitch a fit if anybody else in the process makes a nickel.

The US carriers are making huge profits on their data plans, if they weren’t they would still be trying to charge us per minute or per text message.

No one is saying they can’t have profits. We are saying with the profits that they do make it is pretty scummy to charge extra when you just turn on a device and stick a SIM in it.

 

[Nanotyrns]

The fact that you’re sticking up for a big Corp instead of the consumer says something. Specially those single parents that are working Check to Check. Give the big finger to the corps

Yeah, give them the finger. That'll show 'em.

By the way... where is your complaint about big corporation Apple? You know that fancy box? The marketing? The shipping? The Lightning cable? All of that is figured into the cost of your phone. It might be $300 cheaper if they just xeroxed a flyer "New Phone. Come get it". They don't break those costs out for you. You don't see "iPhone X - $500. Marketing fee - $200. September Event Broadcast Fee - $50. All The Engineers That Had To Be Sent To Fix Jony Ive's New Finish Process - $300". It's all neatly wrapped up in $999/1149. Enjoy that sweet Apple sticker you paid for.

Your carrier told you up front about the cost. Choose... but choose wisely...

 

[Chupa Chupa]

One of the reasons I pay upfront for my phone. Too much BS to get the financing.

 

[Shawn Parr]

By the way... where is your complaint about big corporation Apple? You know that fancy box? The marketing? The shipping? The Lightning cable? All of that is figured into the cost of your phone. It might be $300 cheaper if they just xeroxed a flyer "New Phone. Come get it". They don't break those costs out for you. You don't see "iPhone X - $500. Marketing fee - $200. September Event Broadcast Fee - $50. All The Engineers That Had To Be Sent To Fix Jony Ive's New Finish Process - $300". It's all neatly wrapped up in $999/1149. Enjoy that sweet Apple sticker you paid for.

But that exactly is the difference. Apple is giving you one price that includes everything they’ve figured into the service.

Imaging if Apple sold the iPhone X at $969, then when checking out they said, “Oh wait, you need the $30 turn on fee. That covers you turning on the device for the first time.” That would seem a bit scummy, no?

The cost of the US carrier plans is designed to cover the costs of their operation. The fees and other charges they give are all gravy money. First of all they are just extra that are purely profit, and they allow them to do some funny accounting for things like tax breaks. If they want to do all that fine, but don’t have a bunch of fees you *told us about in advance (in tiny print no where near where other prices are listed).

 

[Brookzy]

Maybe, just maybe, it's because it's going to be their busiest time of the year and they have to hire extra people or offer OT to current staff and call volume is going to be off the charts and their distribution centers are going rev up to 120% of capacity and they have to make sure the infrastructure is ready to handle 5 million phones all activating on the same day and all of that costs money. They pass a bit of that on to the only customers generating the sudden out-sized load on the system.

This is literally reverse logic. "We're charging you a fee because our business is just doing too well this quarter."

 

[cbreze]

I thought there was an option to buy unlocked. Then just transfer the sim, no fee. Maybe I'm thinking of Google as their "unlocked" phones generally work on all networks.

 

[Nanotyrns]

The cost of the US carrier plans is designed to cover the costs of their operation. The fees and other charges they give are all gravy money. First of all they are just extra that are purely profit

So, they should operate only at cost and no profit? Who would invest in a business like that? Where will the money come from to build out infrastructure? To open more stores so we can all line up and ask if they have any of the newest Android phone? Haha... no body is doing that but still... this is something we all expect. We all expect the upgrade fee. We all know it's coming. One way to avoid the fee is to not upgrade at all or postpone it until our phone is obsolete. My 7 works just fine. I could've saved $25 and gotten to bed early a couple of days ago if I believed the upgrade fee was egregious and unnecessary. I didn't. You do. Now where does that leave us?