Upgrade question, RESIGN or Go month to month

[walmartmartyr]

Since our phones are subsidized by the carrier on the promise you pay 24 months of 50 plus dollars, the carrier will recoup the cost of the phone.

With this said, after 2 years, your monthly rate stays the same. So the carrier is making even more off you now that the portion of the bill no longer goes to paying off your hardware.

Shouldn't it be law to get a discount? or should we just resign, take the new phone and sell the old one?

This is what I always do. Simply because they won't discount your rate when you bring your own phone.

 

[Brenz]

Do whatever makes the most sense. Here in the UK my carrier actually called me after my contract was up and offered to drop the price now the phone was paid for.

Over here they also sell SIM only contracts for as little as £10 ($15ish) a month which actually work out slightly cheaper than a full contract as long as you have the money to buy the phone outright

 

[user-name-here]

You can go either way really.

Either get a 2-year contract and have the carrier pay a $450 subsidy for you, or go prepaid on your own for less money per month (due to no subsidy).

I personally like our system here in the States. Now that prepaid MVNO's are getting access to LTE at affordable rates it gives U.S. customers a lot of options.

 

[T5BRICK]

The carriers in the US suck when it comes to this. There are a few options though. If T-Mobile has good coverage in your area, they've got great prices. I recently read about this no contract service AT&T is rolling out called AIO, it has pretty good pricing.

Just shop around. I ended up re-signing and getting a new phone when my contract was up. Given the choice to do it again, I would buy a phone outright and move to a different carrier with a better monthly price.

 

[Mrbobb]

It all depends if you MUST upgrade every 2 years and your usage pattern. There is no ONE path to follow that works for everybody.

 

[paulbennett95]

T-Mobile separated the device subsidy from the cost of the plan, so that's an option. Otherwise, you're stuck paying even after the contract is up.

 

[old-wiz]

Since our phones are subsidized by the carrier on the promise you pay 24 months of 50 plus dollars, the carrier will recoup the cost of the phone.

With this said, after 2 years, your monthly rate stays the same. So the carrier is making even more off you now that the portion of the bill no longer goes to paying off your hardware.

Shouldn't it be law to get a discount? or should we just resign, take the new phone and sell the old one?

This is what I always do. Simply because they won't discount your rate when you bring your own phone.

It would be logical for the cost to go down after 2 years, but the carriers own enough politicians in the U.S. to prevent this from ever becoming law. Bribery works wonders.

 

[CEmajr]

If you're on a carrier that subsidizes the phone it makes 0 sense to not use the upgrade when it's available. Either renew your contract, get the new phone and use it if you want it. Or renew your contract get the new phone and sell it if you don't want it.

If you don't want to renew then switch to Tmobile or a prepaid carrier.

No point in paying a carrier for a subsidy if you're not using it.

 

[aneftp]

The carriers in the US suck when it comes to this. There are a few options though. If T-Mobile has good coverage in your area, they've got great prices. I recently read about this no contract service AT&T is rolling out called AIO, it has pretty good pricing.

Just shop around. I ended up re-signing and getting a new phone when my contract was up. Given the choice to do it again, I would buy a phone outright and move to a different carrier with a better monthly price.

Post paid Carriers "sucking" when it comes to end of contracts and customers continuing to pay "full price" is debatable.

Customer is on month to month contract by than and can cancel anytime. Why should post paid carrier cut your prices? You are eligible for full subsidy upgrade, or going month to month.

T-mobile "uncarrier" pricing is really only good for those who are on 1-3 lines and those who like to keep their phones longer than 24 months. Tmobile customers do not get any subsidy and have to pay full price of the phones to began with.

Many people in the world and even the US forget the majority of US customers are on family plans that offer significant savings. Many people's per line cost are about $50/line which is the same as Tmobile per line cost. Yet they also get a subsidy every 24 months.

 

[OneMike]

It makes little sense to go month to month IMO unless you're grandfathered in to some awesome plan.

 

[spinedoc77]

You can go either way really.

Either get a 2-year contract and have the carrier pay a $450 subsidy for you, or go prepaid on your own for less money per month (due to no subsidy).

I personally like our system here in the States. Now that prepaid MVNO's are getting access to LTE at affordable rates it gives U.S. customers a lot of options.

Prepaid is the way to go, unless you share 3 or more lines. $450/24 months = $18.75 per month, you can EASILY save much more than this by being on a prepaid plan. I buy 2 new full price phones every single year (12 months) and still have a little bit left over in my pocket every year since I save so much versus post paid and contracts.

 

[nostresshere]

Should be a law?

Come on. They are running a business. And doing it way better than most government agencies. You are not forced to buy from them if you do not like that deal.

Bunch of cry babies that think there should be some law.

 

[aneftp]

Prepaid is the way to go, unless you share 3 or more lines. $450/24 months = $18.75 per month, you can EASILY save much more than this by being on a prepaid plan. I buy 2 new full price phones every single year (12 months) and still have a little bit left over in my pocket every year since I save so much versus post paid and contracts.

ATT and Verizon both usually let you fully upgrade at 18-21 months. Now both require full 24 months in between upgrades. So in essence they really are back door raising prices by making you wait the full 24 months.

 

[boomhower]

It makes little sense to go month to month IMO unless you're grandfathered in to some awesome plan.

That's where I'm at. I'm keeping my two unlimited lines with Verizon until they take them away. I'll gladly pay retail or buy used to do so.

 

[walmartmartyr]

It makes little sense to go month to month IMO unless you're grandfathered in to some awesome plan.

Some carriers that offer month to month, like Koodo in Canada will give you a 10% discount if you bring your own hardware.

 

[bhags8]

I still have verizon grandfathered unlimited data. I bought my last phone full retail, I was wondering if anyone knew if I could use their new payment plan option to buy the new iPhone and keep my unlimited?

 

[kl323]

I still have verizon grandfathered unlimited data. I bought my last phone full retail, I was wondering if anyone knew if I could use their new payment plan option to buy the new iPhone and keep my unlimited?

No you may not keep your unlimited with the new payment plan.

 

[webworks415]

I still have verizon grandfathered unlimited data. I bought my last phone full retail, I was wondering if anyone knew if I could use their new payment plan option to buy the new iPhone and keep my unlimited?

In the long run you won't save much, or even pay more with their Edge payment plan. You're better off just charging the unsubsidized phone to a credit card and keeping your unlimited. This will be the 2nd year in a row I buy my phone at full price on Verizon, and I will continue to as long as I keep my unlimited

 

[GoCubsGo]

While I think lawmakers should be focusing on laws that truly matter, I don't disagree that it is absurd that we continue to pay the full monthly price for the phone even after the subsidy is paid for out of the contract. It is only in the last 3 or 4 years that this occurred to me and I started realizing that once I can get on a plan that costs me much less than the $97 I pay today, I will do that and buy my own phone outright.

 

[Nicholas.C]

it's the same everywhere you go, for as I know only O2 over here allow you to drop the price on your data plan after 9 months (by £5 each month). However on the most of the networks will not allow to do this.