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Three Olives posted:Someone is going to have to explain why people are upset about abandoning 2 year contracts to me...
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Aug 29, 2015 20:37
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Endless Mike posted:Because people balk at now having to pay $650 for an iPhone when they used to be only $200! This. People just make assumptions without even doing the math first. I can't put in words how upset people get over "not getting the free phone." Carriers moved from contracts to phone installments because of competition (T-Mobile was eating their lunch) and it does save on cost of phone subsidies (which is important since most people get iPhones and Samsung).
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Aug 29, 2015 21:07
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Holding on to my circa 2009 Nationwide 450 minutes + "unlimited" iPhone data without tethering + 200 txt messages before taxes/FAN discount for $75 is looking less and less appealing.
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Aug 29, 2015 21:18
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Josh Lyman posted:Holding on to my circa 2009 Nationwide 450 minutes + "unlimited" iPhone data without tethering + 200 txt messages before taxes/FAN discount for $75 is looking less and less appealing. Depends wholly on how much data you use monthly.
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Aug 29, 2015 23:11
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Three Olives posted:Someone is going to have to explain why people are upset about abandoning 2 year contracts to me... The math depends on circumstances (also if you get a FAN employer discount), along with how often you usually trade out your phone. NEXT is better for people on the new mobileshare plan because of the variable access fees on mobileshare, and NEXT gives you an access fee discount. If you're on an old plan that has a non-variable access fee? Then you have options. So, Note 4 (This is through the Business Premier portal. I'm assuming it's probably the same on the normal portal): AT&T Next 24 @ 22.87/mo :::: 24 months = $548.88 :::::: 30 months = $686.10 AT&T Next 18 @ 28.58/mo :::: 18 months = $514.44 :::::: 24 months = $685.92 AT&T Next 12 @ 34.30/mo :::: 12 months = $411.60 :::::: 20 months = $686.00 2 Year Contract: "Free" (If you're on Mobileshare, your access charge goes from $25/$15 per month to $40 a month... so that's $15 or $25 extra per month... which comes to $360 or $600 at end of contract. Obviously you'll have 5GB or above, so it'll be $600 at end of contract) Outright: $685.99 Ebay: $529 New (You can get it cheaper, but I've bought a phone from this highly rated buyer before. Pretty sure they have an arrangement with AT&T, as they sold a shitload of AT&T Firephones, and that's the only company they could have gotten that many from.) (If I got any of the math wrong, let me know) Questions to ask yourself: 1.) Do I want a new phone in less than 2 years? 2.) Do I want to keep my old phone when I get my new phone? 3.) Am I interested in flipping my phone on ebay? Well, if you want a new phone every year or year and a half, go with AT&T Next 12/18. You should really go with 12, because then you only pay $411.60 to then upgrade, and at about month 15 is when you'll pay roughly the same as if you were on AT&T Next 18. Tell AT&T gently caress You if they strategically scatter phone releases to toy with the AT&T Next 12 crowd. However, if you want to keep your old phone? Well if you trade in at the stated time (Next 12/18/24), you don't get to keep your phone. If you want to keep your phone, you have to instead pay it all the way out to 20/24/30 months, and you'll end up paying roughly the full price as if you bought it outright to begin with. However, if you had a 2 year contract on Mobileshare, and more than 5GB a month, then you'd Only pay $600 over your old access fee at the end of the 2 years... which is... cheaper than NEXT? Uh... I thought NEXT was supposed to be cheaper outright... I guess it varies by phone?  .There's also the fact that keeping your old phone lets you have the option of flipping it on ebay if that's a thing you do. I don't have experience with this, but it happens. If you keep it in its condom (Fat bumper cars case and that nice slick glass-on-glass screen protector), then you could probably resell it for a fair amount. ==================================== Now, in my case, I'm upgrading from a Note 2 to a Note 4 on my grandfathered unlimited data family minutes plan etc. I don't really get the cheapest plan, but I go with the 2 year since I'm keeping the unlimited data, and I have non-variable device fees at $10 per device, so AT&T eats the phone subsidy to reward a fairly loyal customer like me, and my business agreement means I get my $45 activation fee waived I guess. (This is probably why AT&T would want to get rid of 2 year contracts) What happens to my Note 2? It'll be a Really Excellent streaming content remote for my TV, where I (and the rest of the family) can use it to control PLEX/Youtube/Netflix/etc. streaming through my Google Chromecast, as well as doing random web browsing, as I haven't thrown money at a tablet yet. It still works wonderfully (Except for the battery getting old) and I'd still be using it if AT&T wasn't giving away the Note 4 and I was so disgusted with the Note 5 not having a replaceable battery or MicroSD card slot. The new NEXT plan though works really well for AT&T... They get to: 1.) Drop Phone Subsidies, encouraging people to "lease" their phones via NEXT. 2.) For people that upgrade their phones at the advertised NEXT upgrade date (Which they encourage), they get to take their old phones, send them down to be wiped, restored, and re-packed as "Refurbished" to either dump on Insurance Claims or to sell to people looking to buy a refurbished phone through them at a hefty profit while also serving another demographic. 3.) For people who don't upgrade at the prescribed time, they instead get to collect extra cash if they trade in and upgrade late, or get to collect the "Full Price" on the device if they go through the whole plan. 4.) Giving a significant "discount" on mobile share plans to further convince those who hold onto Grandfathered plans to convert. 5.) All of this while still securing customers into essentially a contract that can go on longer than 2 years with payments. In the end, I applaud AT&T for their business acumen. They probably did do it to respond to T-Mobile and the like, but the way the terms are lain out works wonderfully in their favor (and a good portion of their customers as well). BeAuMaN fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Aug 31, 2015 |
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Aug 30, 2015 01:48
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OK so hopefully this is a simple question. I'm on a mobile share plan (3gb). If I want to get the new iPhone, I can buy it outright for $650ish or I can do Next, where they divide the cost over X months AND give me a $15 discount on my plan. So if am understanding this, I can spread my payments out, not be charged interest, and save $15 a month on my plan? Or am I missing something?
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Sep 1, 2015 15:05
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dexter6 posted:OK so hopefully this is a simple question. I'm on a mobile share plan (3gb). If I want to get the new iPhone, I can buy it outright for $650ish or I can do Next, where they divide the cost over X months AND give me a $15 discount on my plan. You save the $15 either way, so you won't lose out buying it up front. That being said, otherwise, you are correct, it is interest free and just meant to be an easy way to buy a phone outright.
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Sep 1, 2015 15:31
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dexter6 posted:OK so hopefully this is a simple question. I'm on a mobile share plan (3gb). If I want to get the new iPhone, I can buy it outright for $650ish or I can do Next, where they divide the cost over X months AND give me a $15 discount on my plan.
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Sep 1, 2015 16:41
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Well now I'm a little confused. If I'm already on a mobile share plan, what is the trigger to get me the $15 discount?
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Sep 1, 2015 17:13
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dexter6 posted:Well now I'm a little confused. If I'm already on a mobile share plan, what is the trigger to get me the $15 discount?
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Sep 1, 2015 17:16
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Endless Mike posted:If you're on a 2-year contract, once that ends, you'll get the discount. If you're not, you should already have it. I got the iPhone 6 and renewed my contract this time last year, so I have a year left still. Thanks!
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Sep 1, 2015 17:24
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AT&T fascinates me: 1) So they only value a release-date 64 GB iPhone 6 at $187? 75% depreciation? What a rip. I'm surprised I need to pay anything if I am willing to turn in the device. 2) They somehow forgot what kind of phone I have. It used to be a black 64 GB iPhone 6. Bravo. Edit: I guess this is the idea of Next 12, actually, if I want that top payout line to be $0 after 12 months. smackfu fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Sep 4, 2015 |
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Sep 4, 2015 15:28
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smackfu posted:1) So they only value a release-date 64 GB iPhone 6 at $187? 75% depreciation? Not exactly. Remember how Next works: You trade your phone in, AT&T waives 6 or 8 months of installment payments. There's no re-valuation of the phone involved. That's the tradeoff. You want the convenience of walking in with a guaranteed buyback, you trade the phone in. You think you can get a better deal selling privately, you sell privately and pay off the installment plan in full.
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Sep 5, 2015 00:48
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smackfu posted:Edit: I guess this is the idea of Next 12, actually, if I want that top payout line to be $0 after 12 months. I said  earlier 
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Sep 5, 2015 02:46
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Assuming the plans meet your needs, is there any reason not to go to Cricket if it uses the same network AT&T already uses? If I'll be buying my phone anyway, why not pay $45 for 5GB of data and unlimited talk/text?
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Sep 5, 2015 23:49
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Silly Burrito posted:Assuming the plans meet your needs, is there any reason not to go to Cricket if it uses the same network AT&T already uses? If I'll be buying my phone anyway, why not pay $45 for 5GB of data and unlimited talk/text? Only downside is Cricket LTE is throttled to about 8GB and I don't think it gets full roaming.
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Sep 6, 2015 00:09
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Duckman2008 posted:Only downside is Cricket LTE is throttled to about 8GB and I don't think it gets full roaming. Good to know, thanks!
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Sep 6, 2015 00:45
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I've asked in the Android thread a couple times but don't seem to be getting anywhere. I have an S6 Edge on At&t and there has been a pending OTA update for almost 3 months now. Every time I try to install it it gets to 30% and then fails and my phone comes back on telling me there was a problem with the install. I cleared it from the cache on the phone and downloaded the patch again and it still fails at 30%. It's not a pressing update. As far as I can tell it just fixes a couple minor bugs, but it's getting annoying now that it won't just install and also means I am not on a current build number which might prevent the 5.1.1 update from coming over whenever they decide to release that as well. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is or if there is another way I can force the update from a PC or something? The phone isn't rooted or anything stupid either.
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Sep 8, 2015 14:12
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thebushcommander posted:I've asked in the Android thread a couple times but don't seem to be getting anywhere. I have an S6 Edge on At&t and there has been a pending OTA update for almost 3 months now. Every time I try to install it it gets to 30% and then fails and my phone comes back on telling me there was a problem with the install. I cleared it from the cache on the phone and downloaded the patch again and it still fails at 30%. It's not a pressing update. As far as I can tell it just fixes a couple minor bugs, but it's getting annoying now that it won't just install and also means I am not on a current build number which might prevent the 5.1.1 update from coming over whenever they decide to release that as well. No idea, I would try wiping the phone and then try to update.
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Sep 8, 2015 15:34
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So it looks like AT&T Next 12 for the iPhone I want is $37.50/mo. Or I can do the lease program from apple (which comes with Applecare+) for only $36.58/mo? Either way I turn the phone in after 12 months and get a new phone? What am I missing here?
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Sep 9, 2015 22:04
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dexter6 posted:So it looks like AT&T Next 12 for the iPhone I want is $37.50/mo. Or I can do the lease program from apple (which comes with Applecare+) for only $36.58/mo? AT&T Next 12 is a 20 installment plan, Apple one is a 24 installment plan, which is really more of a concern on the back end.
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Sep 9, 2015 22:08
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Do I keep paying the installments even after turning my phone in and getting a new one? I thought the point of the total number of payments is only if you want to keep your phone when the payments end?
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Sep 9, 2015 22:10
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dexter6 posted:Do I keep paying the installments even after turning my phone in and getting a new one? I thought the point of the total number of payments is only if you want to keep your phone when the payments end? No, but presumably at some point you may want a different phone or the program will end/change or something and you will need to deal with the remaining balance. At the end of a year with Next that means 8 payments, and with the Apple plan that means 12.
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Sep 9, 2015 22:14
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Just want to make sure I have this right: Currently, I'm on an AT&T plan with a FAN discount. 3 lines total with 550 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data on 1 iphone, 3gb on the other iphone, and one dumb phone. For this, I pay $165/month with a 2 year contract, $145 for for the minutes/texts/data, $20 for 2 additional lines. AT&T says I can change to a mobile share value plan which will be $150 - $12 for my 24% FAN discount (thanks), so that's $138. For that I would get 5 gb of shared data and unlimited minutes/text. Now my understanding is that if I change to that mobile share value plan, I no longer get subsidized phones, correct? So even if I pay $140/month, I'd need to buy full price phones and I'd be stuck with data caps . The data isn't an enormous issue since we're usually under 5 gigs and I understand there's rollover data. 24*25 bucks is $600. A new iPhone 64gb is $750, with two being $1500. Subsidized price is $300, $600 for two. $600 + $600 is $1200 total every 2 years on contract, where-as full price it'd be $1500. Is my math right?, or am I missing something? There's no point for me to switch, right? edit: looks like I might actually have unlimited minutes now, but w/e. Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Sep 9, 2015 |
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Sep 9, 2015 22:20
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Residency Evil posted:Just want to make sure I have this right: Once again this breaks it down: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-plans.html You can still get contract phones -for the time being- is my understanding as a mobileshare customer (Duckman can confirm, he's the pro), but AT&T is talking about axing contracts and wants to move everyone on NEXT (Why pay subsidies when we can have our users pay full price on a payment plan?  ). The other part is if you look at that table, if your phone is in a 2-year contract on mobileshare, then your monthly access fee for that phone will jump from $25 or $15 a month to $40 a month for the remainder of the 2 year contract. If you scroll up on this page you can look at a bunch of math I did about NEXT vs 2-year Contract for the Note 4 that I got on contract.Though iPhones might be ~*~special snowflake~*~ as far as rules with 2-year contracts go, so I could be wrong. Some people were talking about iPhones on mobileshare recently in this thread, so you might want to read back a bit. Also, remember for mobileshare, if you decide to get 3-4 smartphones instead of just 2, it might be worth it to bump up to the 15GB plan, since your Monthly Access Charge on each NEXT/Out of Contract Smartphone drops from $25 to $15 a month access charge. BeAuMaN fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Sep 10, 2015 |
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Sep 10, 2015 02:31
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BeAuMaN posted:Once again this breaks it down: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-plans.html Similar question to Residency Evil above. I'm currently on an old FamilyTalk Nation 850 with Rollover ~$197/ month. 3 lines (mom, dad, me) with 850 minutes, unlimited text, 2x DataPlus 300MB for iPhone with Visual Voicemail (mom & dad), unlimited data for my line. My 5s on 2 year contract is up. Looking to get the best/cheapest option for upgrading to the iPhone 6s 64GB and it seems that NEXT is the best way (correct me if I'm wrong) plus there's the option of upgrading more frequently than every 2 years. I used about 15GB on my line last billing cycle. From the link above, AT&T offers 20GB mobile share for $140 + $15 mom + $15 dad (they'll bring their own device) = $170 for the plan alone. Then additional $37.45, $31.21, $27.97 depending on which NEXT I go with 12, 18, 24. Is my math correct? Another question. If my data usage goes down and I want to change my plan, will I be able to alter the plan at anytime with out any charges?
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Sep 10, 2015 05:48
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Yes, you should be able to change your plan while under mobileshare, and while under contract. First off, I had to look up this iPhone 6S because I actually decided to look at the online store and there's only iPhone 6/6 Plus, and apparently it was announced yesterday or something? You can also apparently decide if you want to buy the phone from AT&T Next, or Apple's own payment plan. With AT&T Next you can trade it in for some other brand of phone if you decide you don't like Apple in the future, while doing a payment plan through Apple means you lease it directly through them and you don't suffer any consequences for switching carriers if you want as long as you love Apple forever. Decide if you want the ability to switch phone brands or carriers. Always keep in mind NEXT/Apple payment plans are installment plans that go beyond the stated number. NEXT 12 is really a 20 month installment plan with the ability to trade it in after 12 months, and that's the same case with Apple. As for your math, you forgot yourself in the equation. It should be $185, not $170. In the old plans usually the main line didn't have an access charge or something, but I -think- in mobileshare every line has an access charge. I don't know exactly where you got your numbers for the iPhone 6s, other than maybe some articles I've seen list plan prices. Ugh I hate doing this math, and I don't feel like doing any more (I already did that earlier). Someone earlier in the thread asked what it would take to convince people to switch from 2-years to NEXT. The answer? A God drat Google Form that lets you type in some numbers and it would automagical the price differences for different scenarios. With no bullshit put in. They just input their 2-year and NEXT 12/18/24 plan prices, maybe answer a question or two about their current plan, and bam, a layout with total costs and everything.
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Sep 10, 2015 09:15
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Duckman2008 posted:Only downside is Cricket LTE is throttled to about 8GB and I don't think it gets full roaming. They have really terrible customer service too, at least in my experience. Speaking of bad experiences, that lovely Target iphone preorder fiasco from two years ago has struck again because the two months I waited for them to fulfill it are two extra months on my contract now that AT&T isn't doing 18 month upgrade eligibility. Ugh. Oh well, I don't need the phone day one I guess. Rick fucked around with this message at 10:53 on Sep 10, 2015 |
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Sep 10, 2015 10:18
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Residency Evil posted:Just want to make sure I have this right: I'll try and analyze your plan in the next few days when I get time, but off the top of my head you almost always want to do the 15GB plan with 3 lines because the per line rate is $15 instead of $25. But overall, yeah, that $138 they are quoting you doesn't include the cost of the phones. Bear in mind you do get your FAN discount on your current plan as well, I didn't see you factor that in. Finally, if your 3rd line ever got a smart phone just factor in your current plan would go up $30 in comparison to the new plan. Honestly, if I were you I would take two more years on your current plan with new phones on a two year contract. It looks less expensive to stick with your current plan glancing at it.
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Sep 10, 2015 11:44
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arhhhhjay posted:Similar question to Residency Evil above. I'm currently on an old FamilyTalk Nation 850 with Rollover ~$197/ month. 3 lines (mom, dad, me) with 850 minutes, unlimited text, 2x DataPlus 300MB for iPhone with Visual Voicemail (mom & dad), unlimited data for my line. My 5s on 2 year contract is up. Two things: If you use 15GB by yourself, just FYI you can still keep you current plan and do a two year. Not sure if ATT BSed you or not on that. Yes you can change plans at any time, it just has to be a current plan and not an expired promo. In your case it could be slightly cheaper at a glance, but you would have data caps. All up to you. Again, I'll try and put through a full analysis in the next few days if I can. If I miss anyone please remind me.
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Sep 10, 2015 11:47
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Duckman2008 posted:I'll try and analyze your plan in the next few days when I get time, but off the top of my head you almost always want to do the 15GB plan with 3 lines because the per line rate is $15 instead of $25. Sorry, that 165/month that I pay now is after the FAN discount, all in, with taxes/everything. I've run the numbers multiple times now because everyone keeps on saying how much money they're saving with the new plans, but each and every time my current 2-year contract plan ends up being significantly cheaper when you factor in getting a new phone every 2 years. I've actually got a year left on my current contract. What are the chances that AT&T takes away the ability to get 2-year contract pricing in a years' time?
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Sep 10, 2015 15:27
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Maneki Neko posted:No, but presumably at some point you may want a different phone or the program will end/change or something and you will need to deal with the remaining balance. At the end of a year with Next that means 8 payments, and with the Apple plan that means 12. If you trade in the phone you stop making payments on it (but then you start making payments on the next one), assuming it meets their standards of not broken. I don't think they can (or at least WILL) change the Next plan to where you'd have to pay the balance immediately. It would be a PR disaster assuming it was legal (I'm guessing whatever I agreed to without reading says that they can do this). Even if they ended the plan altogether, you'd most likely be able to finish out your agreement with them. I think the only time you would owe the balance immediately is for leaving AT&T (or I guess if you trade it in and it is broken)
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Sep 10, 2015 17:17
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Residency Evil posted:Sorry, that 165/month that I pay now is after the FAN discount, all in, with taxes/everything. $50 ATT axes two year contracts either by end of the year, or January 2016.
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Sep 10, 2015 18:13
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Duckman2008 posted:$50 ATT axes two year contracts either by end of the year, or January 2016. So that's the point where it no longer makes sense for me to stay on my old 2-year contract, huh? 
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Sep 10, 2015 18:21
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Residency Evil posted:So that's the point where it no longer makes sense for me to stay on my old 2-year contract, huh? Yup, that's when ATT says gently caress you for staying with us for 9+ years.
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Sep 10, 2015 18:27
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Duckman2008 posted:$50 ATT axes two year contracts either by end of the year, or January 2016. That just means you can't enter into a new 2 year contract, right? Existing 2 year contracts keep going until the end of those 2 years at least. What happens when your 2 year contract is up? Does your plan just stay the same but you can't renew and get a new phone? Can you finance through next and keep your phone if you want? I just started a new 2 year contract this summer so it'll be a while before anything changes for me. Just curious.
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Sep 10, 2015 18:28
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GoodBee posted:That just means you can't enter into a new 2 year contract, right? At that point they'd love for you to finance one through Next. You'll be on your old contract and paying the higher monthly fee for the phone subsidy that's been paid off, so they're essentially double dipping on you at that point.
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Sep 10, 2015 18:40
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Any idea when this round of 10-> 15 gb promo will end? I'm on the 15-->30 gb promo and with rollover, I have like 45 loving gigs/month to use. It's essentially unlimited. My heaviest month was only like 15 gigs, but it's nice to have super breathing room for tethering, dodging lovely hotel wifi, etc. Breathing room is nice, but saving $30 is nice too (pay $160 all in now after FAN for 3 lines, would be $130 after). AT&T just suddenly ended this without notice last time, and I'm trying to decide if I should change it now or keep hemming and hawing over the $30 difference.
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Sep 11, 2015 04:04
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hotsauce posted:Any idea when this round of 10-> 15 gb promo will end? I'm on the 15-->30 gb promo and with rollover, I have like 45 loving gigs/month to use. It's essentially unlimited. My heaviest month was only like 15 gigs, but it's nice to have super breathing room for tethering, dodging lovely hotel wifi, etc. If your heaviest month was 15GB, then I'd personally stay on the 30GB plan you have. You never know when you might have a bad month and go over again - and it's $15 per 1 GB of overage charges. Also as an FYI - don't remember if this has been posted before, but AT&T has a publicly accessible tool for their sales people here: http://www.myattmst.com/MST-HOME.html Includes calculators, listing of promos - etc.
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Sep 11, 2015 08:04
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Three Olives posted:Someone is going to have to explain why people are upset about abandoning 2 year contracts to me... I have two grandfathered unlimited data lines. If they give me a discount for buying on Next I would have no issue giving up the 2 year subsidy.
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Sep 11, 2015 08:29
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