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Why no Pay As You Go?

H

harlemink

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 10, 2007
32
9
What is the point of canning Pay As You Go?

I'm more than prepared to pay for a full non-subsidized 16g iPhone--$499 cause my credit isn't great because I have school loans out the wahzoo.

Apple gets their $499, AT&T gets more money out of me-- what's not to love?

I don't get it at all. :mad:
 
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Apple is probably trying to hold the price at or below $199 so the phone companies have no choice but to make it a plan only option to make it profitable for them.
 
The point is to keep people from getting an iPhone as a "Pay as you Go" service, paying for only one month, then going home and jailbreaking the device for use on another provider's network.
 
DreamPod said:
The point is to keep people from getting an iPhone as a "Pay as you Go" service, paying for only one month, then going home and jailbreaking the device for use on another provider's network.
Click to expand...

Is there anything keeping me from buying it, not activating, getting hit with the AT&T 30 day activation rule charge, and then slipping in my 1g iphone SIM?
 
harlemink said:
Is there anything keeping me from buying it, not activating, getting hit with the AT&T 30 day activation rule charge, and then slipping in my 1g iphone SIM?
Click to expand...

I don't think you can buy it now without activating it in the store.
 
harlemink said:
What is the point of canning Pay As You Go?

I'm more than prepared to pay for a full non-subsidized 16g iPhone--$499 cause my credit isn't great because I have school loans out the wahzoo.

Apple gets their $499, AT&T gets more money out of me-- what's not to love?

I don't get it at all. :mad:
Click to expand...

a lot of people wouldnt mind paying 499 for paygo...

education loans wont be enough for them to deny you a contract:rolleyes:
 
To me it seems that if you're struggling to pay back loans taken out for school, maybe you shouldn't be looking to spend $500 on a phone?
 
It does seem the new agreement calls for them to limit as much as possible any phones leaking off the AT&T network. I suspect AT&T was admant on this, the second time around.

So they have no interest in selling a phone to anyone who does not extend a contract with it.
 
Wait, there's no Pay-As-You-Go?

I'd think it'd be better on the 3G iPhone, since you wouldn't get the subsidized price, and you have to activate it in store anyway.

The old iPhone didn't have it unless you went to the store to activate it.
 
JBaker122586 said:
To me it seems that if you're struggling to pay back loans taken out for school, maybe you shouldn't be looking to spend $500 on a phone?
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of struggling. It's a matter of one undergrad degree and two masters degrees. Paying them back is not an issue, I'm good with that, it's the ratio of debt to income that usually gets me on credit checks.
 
If you've been paying bills on time for over a year, you should be able to pass the credit check on a phone contract.
 
harlemink said:
Is there anything keeping me from buying it, not activating, getting hit with the AT&T 30 day activation rule charge, and then slipping in my 1g iphone SIM?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure this is the only way out of keeping the 2 year contract plan
but for most people, this process would be a pain in the ass.
and No.. nothing should stop you from doing this unless AT&T charges you something or doesn't give you back your activation fee etc.

Another way to avoid signing a contract is to use my SS#: Here... you can have it.
999-etc.-etc

=)
I'd love to see the look on the salesman's face if someone were to give up that all 9's Social. buhahaha
 
ellsworth said:
I'm pretty sure this is the only way out of keeping the 2 year contract plan
but for most people, this process would be a pain in the ass.
and No.. nothing should stop you from doing this unless AT&T charges you something or doesn't give you back your activation fee etc.

Another way to avoid signing a contract is to use my SS#: Here... you can have it.
999-etc.-etc

=)
I'd love to see the look on the salesman's face if someone were to give up that all 9's Social. buhahaha
Click to expand...

None of that is possible, you have to sign up and activate the phone while you are in the store. The only way to do it would be to sign a full two year contract, then break it, paying the full early termination fee.
 
A whole industry should change. There is no real competition in USA! Did you noticed? There are incompatible phones, then service area is more or less limited and all companies charge the same for monthly plans. So here you go, it just keeps going up and up. So what that phone is $199? But in a year you will have to shell out +720! Things change abroad too- companies merge and competitions becomes limited...
 
I think the reason is that they don't want to see how much you spend. With prepaid minutes you will control more how much you spend. Other reason is that iPhone is premium phone, so what going to happen if you will sell it as cheap pay as you go deal (who cares that "cheap" will cost you $400).
 
DreamPod said:
None of that is possible, you have to sign up and activate the phone while you are in the store. The only way to do it would be to sign a full two year contract, then break it, paying the full early termination fee.
Click to expand...

Ouch... you're right
 
harlemink said:
Is there anything keeping me from buying it, not activating, getting hit with the AT&T 30 day activation rule charge, and then slipping in my 1g iphone SIM?
Click to expand...

The 3G iPhone requires in-store activation...but...

There's nothing keeping you from buying it, activating a plan, using it for 30 days, then cancelling it, paying the termination fee.

But don't forget you get flagged in the system as having broken a contract.

And is it really worth the $175 to use on a different carrier? It takes $175 to break another carrier's contract anyway.
 
Niiro13 said:
The 3G iPhone requires in-store activation...but...

There's nothing keeping you from buying it, activating a plan, using it for 30 days, then cancelling it, paying the termination fee.

But don't forget you get flagged in the system as having broken a contract.

And is it really worth the $175 to use on a different carrier? It takes $175 to break another carrier's contract anyway.
Click to expand...

$75 per month plus tax vs. $35 per month can make it worth it for a lot of people
 
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