AT&T to increase iPhone contract early termination fee to $325 - Page 2

somebody call?


Fsck AT&T,

GET MONEY!!! SETTLEMENT, AT&T PAYS YOU!

http://attmetfsettlement.com/

You're paying to use their network after that, but I'm sure you know that. Were you trying to say, "You own the phone, but are required to continue to pay the same rate to use it"?

Thanks for stating when need to be said. Oh, and I like the War Games quote.

It made sense to me. If your phone is still locked to a network after your contract expires, you can only use it with that 1 carrier. In other words, your contract is forever.

So does AT&T.

Yes, shame on them for trying to keep their customers from leaving their network for the competition (end sarcasm).

This is not the place for political discussion. If you wish to continue that argument please use this thread.

Well, if we're talking about the big two, then the phones aren't interchangeable anyway and whether it's locked or not makes no difference. In any case, most people upgrade their phones after the 2-year contract expires anyway (if not before) and that's what really makes your contract "forever".

It could also mean that the iPhone will be sold unlocked. Verizon took the same steps when they settled a class action suit and were required to unlock their phones after the customer fulfills his/her contract.

I don't upgrade my phone every 2 years.

It is annoying that AT&T's keeping the iPhone carrier locked, because I can't use it when I am out of country.

God I loathe theses stories and hearing for the one millionth time that:

1. AT&T sucks.
2. Verizon is soo much better (for now)
3. When the iPhone comes to Verizon, I'm... I'm ... gonna dump AT&T and get my iPhone, darnit!
4. I jailbroke/hacked my iPhone and added all this geekware and I'm now I'm so cool, wild and free.

And a new one:
4. AT&T is a greedy, blood-sucking corporation for raising their ETF while Verizon did the same thing (Even for $50 more! and nobody bitches. Welcome to the good, ole capitalist US of A)

If AT&T is so worried about loosing their customers, perhaps they should fix their network. Then people could make phone calls with their $700 smartphones. End sarcasm.

the ETF, by law, goes down each month. trouble is that the law doesn't require it to go down by 1/numberofmonthsincontract. even though the carrier claims that they spread that cost over the whole period. however by their claim with the current fee they recover $7.29 each month on the lowest monthly plan (possibly more with the higher plans which is why you get an upgrade after like 18 months). BUT they only drop $5 off. so if you made it 23 months and for some reason had to cancel, you could end up with a charge of like $55 and not $7.29. with the new fee even if they change it to $10 a month you could end up with a 23rd month charge of like $95. Ouch. something doesn't sound right there. And you can bet they will not offer to waive it out of the kindness of their hearts.


you don't. If they don't subsidize the phone they can't force you to pay any kind of ETF. I"m not sure they can make you sign a contract for any period either

Well, I did say most, not all.


Well, you could, but you'd have to pay the international roaming rates (but I know what you meant).

It's called price subsidies, bozo. AT&T pays more to Apple for the iPhone, they offer it to contracted customers for a lower (subsidized) price as long as they fulfill their contract. If they leave early, they owe the ECF. Is that a little too simple for you?

Weren't you the guy who had the lousy coverage in the Paramus area? Where'd you buy your iPhone? I only paid $199 for my mine.

Personally, I welcome Verizon to the family of iPhone carriers. It could only mean good things for the congestion on AT&T's network and perhaps benefit you as well.

hardly. It's just an indication that ATT has seen that Verizon didn't get into legal trouble for raising their ETF so now they are going for more money

Verizon is CDMA and doesn't have any LTE network. so there's no support for the phone. Plus there's no proof that there was a change in the 5 year contract with ATT. or that the exclusivity was just for GSM phones.


the law doesn't require unlocking. All the law says is after you finish your contract, if you are still using the same phone you can quit any time with no cancellation fees etc.

Hardly. There are way too many variables for this to be any sort of reliable indicator of what you say.


They're as evil as anybody. Well, maybe not as evil as Verizon, which started charging $350 ETF about a year ago.

For different people/purposes, I have phones from both T-Mobile and Verizon, and I happen to use AT&T for my own personal phone. You could say I have a finger testing the water in every pot, so to speak.

And my conclusion: why am I not starting one of these companies myself? Every one of them is a racket, IMHumO, and they all gouge your money out of ya! (Whoever said "take an arm and a leg" was obviously talking about the telecom industry.)

The grass isn't greener on ANY side of the fence in this issue. In fact, you can only determine which lawn is browner.

And when one company gets an idea (good or bad, from the consumer's perspective), the others quickly follow suit and play "tit for tat" till the cows come home. (The cows would eat all of the green grass anyway. )

Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and Adolf Hitler were evil, AT&T on the other hand, no way. They aren't doing anything that any other (large) corporation isn't doing, trying to protect their business and their profits. Does that make them greedy? Perhaps. Does that make them evil? Not by a long shot.

Yes indeed that is me. I would have answered sooner but I'm in Fairlawn and had no signal. I paid $299 for mine plus whatever portion of my monthly payments go towards the subsidy. I believe the 16 gig 3G model cost about $700 when the dust was all settled.

My contract is up this July and I have to jump ship. If apple is going to partner with verizon they had better hurry. Or else I will see you in two years when my new contract expires.

I don't mean any disrespect, but that actually made me chuckle for a sec. I do, however, sympathize with your situation.


Well, I hate to see a fellow iPhone user jump ship because of network issues. Here's to hoping Verizon get's the iPhone in time for you to stay an iPhone user.

Off topic, but do you use Mark the Spot to let them know where the service fails? Just curious, not defending. Sucks that you have to go to Verizon. They are more expensive, generally.

I will be so glad if/when the iPhone makes it to Verizon.

AT&T Service is Excellent for me everywhere I have been.
ATL, NY , FLA , TN , Trinidad and Tobago , London

I will gladly sign a 2 Year contract when the new iPhone is released.
I see no reason to pay Full price when either way
Im going to pay the same amount every month.

The early termination fee doesnt bother me at all.
Verizon and AT&T both charge it.
YOU cant expect to sign a CONTRACT and then get out of it for free.

Thank you for your good wishes.

Ouch, $325. Makes me happy I'm on pay as you go. When I get a 3GS some time 4G comes out I'll make sure its unlocked and will keep T-Mo as my provider.

Could the increase in fees be needed to offset a higher fee AT&T is paying to Apple to subsidize the new iPhoneHD? So if people sign up to get iPhoneHD and they just take the phone and pay the ETF AT&T does not lose a ton of money?

Bingo!

I cancelled my AT&T iPhone (2.5G) account when I got my iPad 3G. I got a Verizon mifi with unlimited consumption for $79 a month. With mifi I get to tether my MacBook pro (it supports up to 5 devices) too. Add Skype and I'm better off.

Get creative & exercise your right to choose. Dump AT&T and stick it to the man.

Sent from my iPad.

The rise in the termination fee isn't that big of deal... I'm sure AT&T is paying apple $600 for the new IPHONE. Then they charge the customer $199 plus 2 year contract...

So DO THE MATH...

AT&T is actually EATING $400! And then charging you less than the cost of the actual IPHONE to cancel... you get to KEEP the PHONE... It's not like you can use the AT&T GSM Iphone on the Verizon CDMA network.. duh!

So you sell your slightly used $600 phone on ebay... and at the very least recoup your $375 termination fee.. and probably make a profit if you sell it early enough after the release this summer.

So yeah... quit whining and do some MATH!

My pal Sari has an iPhone in Austria. She gets more from her iPhone and service provider there than I got with AT&T and my iPhone here. There are vast (populated) areas in west and north Texas (Amarillo and Gainesville) where AT&T's got nothing. Ditto for where I work in Washington D.C., few blocks from the White House. Why is AT&T charging a $325 termination fee for smart phones? Because we let them.

I don't own any AT&T stock. It matters to me not one little bit that their business model sucks and they have to do this to make ends meet. I got my iPhone when they first came out because of the excellent iPhone and Mac integration. It was never because of AT&T. They can eat cake (or something significantly less palatable) for all I care. Check out the iPad and Verizon's mifi. Yeah, they got a high termination fee like AT&T. They also got something AT&T doesn't have: features (like tethering and a HUGE service area) too.

Punk assed AT&T is shitting bricks about losing customers to Verizon if/when they get the iPhone. How much you wanna bet this increased EFT WON'T go for infrastructure upgrades like all the rest of the bullshit fee's they already impose?

That's flawed logic.

There are plenty of customers who will flee AT$T at the first opportunity. Many of whom left Verizon for the iPhone, and will be thrilled to return.

MagicJack, a spare cheap Mac laptop or a Mini with screen, a cordless phone. High speed net connection. Call forwarding.

plus a cheap pay as you go cell phone.



$20 a year plus any minutes you foolishly use on the cell.


or

MetroPCS cell $45 a month unlimited voice and text.



Why pay more?

A quick bit for everyone about contract law in the US -

Penalties are not enforceable in consumer contracts. Period.

If one party breaches the contract, the other party is only entitled to be made whole, not to profit from the breach. This is why ETFs are now prorated based on the amount of time left in the contract. As far as we know, AT&T pays about $400 to subsidize each new iPhone, so they're still out $75 if you cancel it right away. $325 is pretty reasonable if you ask me. It's about them recovering part of what they invested in you as a customer. And as they recoup the subsidy, it costs you less to get out of the contract. It seems fair to me. Why should you be able to dupe them into paying for your equipment and run off with it?

Also, AT&T is a publicly traded company. You're more stealing from shareholders than executives. How many 401ks have an interest in AT&T? Easily hundreds of thousands.

And you call them evil because your parents didn't have the decency to teach you that the world doesn't owe you anything.

Keep being upset that you can't steal from the "evil" corporation. Some people's kids...

I have been with several cell providers. They all suck one way or another. I spend 95% of my time within an AT&T 3G connection. I have maybe one dropped call a month. Calls are less important to me than a good internet connection and they have a fast network.

I'm sticking with AT&T and getting a new 2 year contract when I buy my wife and I new iPhones next month.

Yeah, they're criminals, but they all are imo.

If that's the case, I will be glad to pay $800 or even $1000 for an iphone up front with no contract. 2 Years contract is just stupid.

I agree:

Price Should Drop + Phone should be Unlocked after 2 years Contract


I Agree...

With so many politicians always looking for votes and face time on TV, this would be such a popular cause for the politicians! Unless, of course, Cell Companies pay them off, so that they can divert attention!

As to VZ vs. ATT:

Even if VZ provides Simultaneous Voice and Data on the latest Revision of CDMA, I'd still would like Carry-Over Minutes! It pisses me off that Verizon doesn't have them, and ATT does. It's my minutes, and it should be up to me when I use it! Think of a restaurant:

You pay for your food, and, if you want to finish it later, they'll wrap it up for you - a "doggie bag" to take home! That's how it works in US. I don't know if they have that concept in other countries! How stupid it would be if the restaurant told you:

Eat your food here, now, in front of us, before we close for the night, or we'll through it out! We won't let you take it home!

In US, any restaurant like that would be shamed in the media, and it would be forced to change their policy, or be driven out of business! Yet, Verizon does exactly that - no "doggie bags", no Carry-Over minutes! And, because of ATT's alleged more frequent drop calls, Verizon is portrayed as some Nobel Savior?! How naive?!

ATT 3G is currently faster and will get even faster, supposedly this year! As long as they don't do away with their Carry-over Minutes, it makes sense for MYSELF to choose them, as I will leave Verizon for the New iPhone soon, my 1st one, can't wait! But...

If VZ provides Simultaneous Voice and Data, and iPhone that I don't have to wait for another 6 months, then it would be a harder choice:

Supposedly better Coverage vs. Carry Over Minutes! Who wants to have no Coverage in the middle of nowhere during the night while driving! In an accident, or flat tire, bad weather - can't use phone!!! But then again: pick you poison -- both VZ and ATT have holes in their maps, thus it's a Russian Roulette - it depends on a location!

Like it was said earlier - all Cell Carriers stink in some ways!

Luckily we have Apple that is shaking up that whole Cell Industry and more! Google is trying to play it's politics with Android, as is RIM, and MSFT! The carriers pin phone OS's against each other, to divert attention from their greed, masked in all those accounting tricks! We all get screwed! Thus I don't buy it that VZ is a Nobel Savior for We The People! That's BS!!!!

Carry Over Minutes seems like a FAIR REQUEST to me! Please keep it ATT, and VZ should provide that too! SMS is overpriced everywhere!

I hear that Incoming Calls are Free in other countries but US.... I guess in those countries the Carriers find a different method for charging fees! No Free Ride anywhere!

Same with Dropping Price and Unlocking after 2 years Contracts! I'd love to see politicians read this Thread, and represent us!!! Death Penalty for Rubber Necking (US slang for slowing down car traffic to see an accident) could be another easy winning issue in any election! But, as I said -- politicians have to choose between donations and voters! Their own job security supersedes public's interest, no matter what they say! That's not how it's supposed to be, but that's how it is...

Can you hear me know !?

Where has the consumer found themselves amongst these communication mafias? You cannot leave these companies, else they'll have to kill you, and they do so with a termination fee.

$550 for many people puts food on the table for poor starving families. That's also a year's worth of the outrageous fee AT&T charges for their service. We've come to live with these brutal methods of forced service. Yet since no one says anything, these phone corporations will keep on raping its consumers.

I have seen that many people here have accepted these new rates. Either because it does not affect them or they have no choice. This fee in no way helps the consumer. It does not provide them with better service. There is nothing positive about this new fee, yet we're all okay with it, because again, we have no choice. It's sad, yet what can we do about it?

It's not a play fair attribute. If you want to keep your customers, why not offer them superb service and fair rates, vs a contract. A contract made ONLY to benefit AT&T. This new termination fee is a big joke. How dare any consumer here defend the company's actions in taking such actions to include a higher termination fee without giving the consumer a break in the monthly service fee which is already expensive.