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When did AT&T raise the activation/upgrade fee to $40?
- Thread starter aneftp
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One, max number of lines on the old plans is 5, I believe. Two, unless Apple changes their upgrade cycle to every 10 or 20 months, the early upgrades are somewhat meaningless to me. That just means for the 4 months I'm waiting for the new iPhone to be released, I'm needlessly paying AT&T an extra $22.50/month per line.
Another thing to keep in mind, with the new Mobile Share Plans 10GB and up, the additional cost is $25/month per line and there's also the upgrade fee to consider which may or may not be waived.
I have Next. Those fees don't apply to me and its cheaper than having a contract plan. Nothing but win here.
And my next upgrade is a paltry ten months away.
And my next upgrade is a paltry ten months away.
Please explain how next is cheaper. Att surely won't give you anything for free.
When did AT&T raise the activation/upgrade fee to $40?
Because they can do whatever they want. They run the place.
Another vote for next.
Because they can do whatever they want. They run the place.
Another vote for next.
Did you miss when AT&T introduced the 10gig value plan which decoupled the phone subsidy from the plan price?
Once I switched over the cost of my plan dropped by just over $60 dollars compared to my old 6gb subsidy plan.
Even after I added the Samsung S5, it was still nearly $30 cheaper from where I was. Plus I could pay off my phone in full tomorrow and the price of the plan would once again drop down quite a bit.
Sure with more than one line it could be. For single line users it's a huge hike.
Again, it depends on your old plan.
Old plans:
$40 500 minutes
$20 300MB
--------------------
$60 TOTAL
$40 500 minutes
$25 2GB
--------------------
$65 TOTAL
$40 500 minutes
$30 3GB
--------------------
$70 TOTAL
New plans (2-year contract, subsidized):
$60 Unlimited Talk+Text, 300MB
$65 Unlimited Talk+Text, 1GB
$80 Unlimited Talk+Text, 2GB
$110 Unlimited Talk+Text, 4GB
Note, I didn't included messaging on the old plans since those are optional. If you actually need the messaging plans, cost are as follows (iirc):
$5 200 messages
$10 1000 messages
$20 unlimited messages
If you don't need more minutes and are fine without a messaging plan, the old plans are better. Otherwise, the new plans might be better (but the 2-year contract is likely a much better option than Next in this case). Mind, if I had been an individual user, I'd probably just look for an AT&T or Verizon MVNO.
Yup, there's no activation/upgrade fee with Next. However, until you hit 10GB data or higher, Next is more expensive than the 2-year subsidized plan.
I just upgraded on Verizon and paid $30 activation fee. As someone stated earlier, the phone came in the mail and I activated using iTunes and Verizon website! So what did I pay $30 for?
Any company which doesn't live by that creed is headed straight for bankruptcy.
I am not saying it is bad as I have owned my company for over 25 years and we raise our prices twice a year.
You really think AT&T will go down for not raising their ******** activation fee? Do you realize what your $40 is actually doing? Nothing. Some jackass sits on the phone and literally pushes a couple buttons and you're activated. They likely off-shore any potential data entry that may occur and for $40, they're getting a handful of off-shore people to do the job. The profit on activation fees is quite high and in this digital age, it is a pointless fee.
Some of these "jackasses" are in the USA and are unionized and require higher pay and benefits which in turn cost ATT more to support.
I am not saying there can be justifications for AT&T charging this money. I was just adding my comment to an earlier poster who said that all companies are in it to "make money". AT&T (or Apple, or any other business) is fiducially bound to find new ways to "make money".. and "more money".
It's up to customers/ government regulations/ competition to provide the push back. What mix is right is a "Community Discussion" forum topic...
Whenever I encounter activation and similar fees from mobile operators, cable companies, banks, etc., I simply say that if they won't waive it, I'll switch or stay with a competitor. They've always relented.
Quick question, after your upgrade, can you keep your old phone? Or do you have to trade it in?
If you are on next you have to trade it in. If you are doing the standard 2-year thing you keep it.