psych, please read my comment directly above yours from 7:40am. wondering difference between Next plan vs. 2yr contract if you're getting a discounted or free phone either way. Thanks.
I'm an existing AT&T customer. Wireless only. Not already on a Next plan. My line is at the end of it's two year commitment from when I bought my iPhone 6 Plus. I called AT&T about this and they told me the offer only applies to new incoming customers. I pressed and said the offer may have been updated recently. Was still told it's only for new incoming customers.
At various occasions I have through of dropping AT&T and go to someone else, but I just keep coming back. Recently, he upgraded me to bigger data plan without paying extra for being a loyal customer. Now as far as the phone goes, we have two phones under Apple Upgrade plans and two phones under AT&T Next 30 plan. I am waiting for the AT&T Next 30 plan to finish and move those phone to Apple Upgrade plan. Apple Upgrade plan just appears to be much better. The phones are unlocked, includes AppleCare (yes I know I am paying for it but the cost is spread across 24 months). I got into Apple Upgrade with 6s and now I can upgrade to 7 after 1 year and it would cost me same for a newer phone with double the capacity (128GB), I would do the same with 7s come out - My cost has been constant.
I've had good service (though their customer service can leave more than a bit to be desired) with AT&T. However, I will never buy another phone from them as long as their current unlocking procedure is in place.
The very first time I tried to get a phone unlocked, i.e. I had never unlocked a phone of any kind before, they denied the request because I had too many unlock requests that year. Took me a month to get it straightened out.
It took my daughter two months to get hers unlocked. Every time she tried to use the AT&T unlock web site, it failed because the website was "having a problem." When she called a representative, they couldn't process it either, because they use the very same website, which wouldn't work for them, either. It took going to the AT&T store and my son-in-law saying "We either leave her with an unlocked phone, or we leave here to talk to a lawyer about your failure to comply with the law."
Made the switch. T-Mobile gave me a Jet Black iPhone 7 256GB for $150 for trading in my iPhone 6 128GB. And I should get it next week. My son went from his 5 to a 7 128GB for $99. My daughter got the 7+ 128GB for $159 for trading in her 6 16GB. Saved us some money. Using AT&T's 2 year upgrade pricing would have cost us $299, $199, and $349 respectively. T-Mobile's unlimited plan is cheaper than what we were paying at AT&T too.
We've been with AT&T since iPhone 1, loyalty gets you nowhere... now back to T-Mobile.
Yes but you could've sold your old phone for $300+ why don't people realize this? T Mobile gave you a phone for $150 but you could've been paid to upgrade with ATT if you had sold yours and signed a new 2yr contract. Silly.
Made the switch. T-Mobile gave me a Jet Black iPhone 7 256GB for $150 for trading in my iPhone 6 128GB. And I should get it next week. My son went from his 5 to a 7 128GB for $99. My daughter got the 7+ 128GB for $159 for trading in her 6 16GB. Saved us some money. Using AT&T's 2 year upgrade pricing would have cost us $299, $199, and $349 respectively. T-Mobile's unlimited plan is cheaper than what we were paying at AT&T too.
We've been with AT&T since iPhone 1, loyalty gets you nowhere... now back to T-Mobile.
Made the switch. T-Mobile gave me a Jet Black iPhone 7 256GB for $150 for trading in my iPhone 6 128GB. And I should get it next week. My son went from his 5 to a 7 128GB for $99. My daughter got the 7+ 128GB for $159 for trading in her 6 16GB. Saved us some money. Using AT&T's 2 year upgrade pricing would have cost us $299, $199, and $349 respectively. T-Mobile's unlimited plan is cheaper than what we were paying at AT&T too.
We've been with AT&T since iPhone 1, loyalty gets you nowhere... now back to T-Mobile.
So so silly. You got hosed.
How so? AT&T won't do the subsidized 2 year contract price anymore (which is still more than what I am paying at T-Mobile) and AT&T is way more expensive monthly (grandfathered unlimited plans) than T-Mobile. They won't do it (even if you are a VIP). Two of these were iPhone 6 not 6s, and one was a 5, not even a 5s. And remember, this is not paying $150 up front and then paying monthly... this is $150 up front for the $849 256GB model, $159 upfront for the $869 128GB Plus, and $99 for the $749 for my son. And that's it. T-Mobile pays the rest. Did I mention that T-Mobile's unlimited plan is a lot cheaper than AT&T's legacy unlimited plan? Oh, I did. How about free internet and texting when we go and visit family in France once or twice a year... I've always used my old (finally) unlocked AT&T iPhone on those trips before and bought a new sim over there. Now I will be able to actually use my primary phone.
The Verizon offer is not a free iPhone. Line charges throughout those two years will more than cover for the phone. My paid-for iPhone, on the other hand, means that I'm getting a $15 discount with every Verizon bill, which amounts to $360 in two years.
To add to davidswelt's comment. The Verizon credit for bringing your own equipment goes up to $25/month if you have an 8GB or more data plan. That's worth $600 over a 2 year "contract". I have five phones all off-contract that share a 10GB plan. The phone service costs me only $15 per line (net cost) while the data plan costs $80/month for a total cost of $155/month (plus taxes) for 5 lines sharing 10GB.
Given that you have to surrender a working (and salable) iPhone 6 or 6S in order to get the $650 credit it's not such a great deal. I prefer paying full-price and taking the $25/month credit. Which, by the way, does not end. So if you upgrade only every 3 years then the line savings are $900/phone.
You keep that $15 or $25 per line discount with this Verizon offer. I have confirmed that both by going through the checkout process to see what the Verizon website says the line and data charges will be after doing this trade-in upgrade and by speaking with a Verizon representative.
So if, e.g., you currently have the More Everything plan with 6GB of data and 4 lines you might be paying $130 (plus various taxes and fees) per month not including device installment payments if you have them. That's $70 for the data package and $15 per line ($40 per line minus the $25 discount for not having a subsidized phone - they call it a Month2Month discount if you've already paid for the phone or a Device Payment discount if you're still making installment payments on it). With this trade-in upgrade deal you keep that monthly pricing for your service.
If you're still making installment payments on your phone you do have to pay the balance before you can trade that phone in though, but that is money you were going to have to pay over the next 6 or 12 or however many months anyway. You also have to pay a $20 activation fee and the sales tax for the new phone. But assuming you get the base model iPhone 7, this deal won't cost you anything else - your monthly service costs don't go up. You do however have to keep that line active for 2 years in order to realize the full $650 credit for your trade in.
For any iPhone7 holdouts, or perhaps just wanting to upgrade the kids phones, ATT has the "Buy One Get One Free" promo running again thru Christmas Eve.
Comments
I've had good service (though their customer service can leave more than a bit to be desired) with AT&T. However, I will never buy another phone from them as long as their current unlocking procedure is in place.
The very first time I tried to get a phone unlocked, i.e. I had never unlocked a phone of any kind before, they denied the request because I had too many unlock requests that year. Took me a month to get it straightened out.
It took my daughter two months to get hers unlocked. Every time she tried to use the AT&T unlock web site, it failed because the website was "having a problem." When she called a representative, they couldn't process it either, because they use the very same website, which wouldn't work for them, either. It took going to the AT&T store and my son-in-law saying "We either leave her with an unlocked phone, or we leave here to talk to a lawyer about your failure to comply with the law."
T-Mobile gave me a Jet Black iPhone 7 256GB for $150 for trading in my iPhone 6 128GB. And I should get it next week.
My son went from his 5 to a 7 128GB for $99. My daughter got the 7+ 128GB for $159 for trading in her 6 16GB.
Saved us some money. Using AT&T's 2 year upgrade pricing would have cost us $299, $199, and $349 respectively.
T-Mobile's unlimited plan is cheaper than what we were paying at AT&T too.
We've been with AT&T since iPhone 1, loyalty gets you nowhere... now back to T-Mobile.
AT&T won't do the subsidized 2 year contract price anymore (which is still more than what I am paying at T-Mobile) and AT&T is way more expensive monthly (grandfathered unlimited plans) than T-Mobile. They won't do it (even if you are a VIP).
Two of these were iPhone 6 not 6s, and one was a 5, not even a 5s.
And remember, this is not paying $150 up front and then paying monthly... this is $150 up front for the $849 256GB model, $159 upfront for the $869 128GB Plus, and $99 for the $749 for my son. And that's it. T-Mobile pays the rest.
Did I mention that T-Mobile's unlimited plan is a lot cheaper than AT&T's legacy unlimited plan? Oh, I did. How about free internet and texting when we go and visit family in France once or twice a year... I've always used my old (finally) unlocked AT&T iPhone on those trips before and bought a new sim over there. Now I will be able to actually use my primary phone.
What's so silly about that?
So if, e.g., you currently have the More Everything plan with 6GB of data and 4 lines you might be paying $130 (plus various taxes and fees) per month not including device installment payments if you have them. That's $70 for the data package and $15 per line ($40 per line minus the $25 discount for not having a subsidized phone - they call it a Month2Month discount if you've already paid for the phone or a Device Payment discount if you're still making installment payments on it). With this trade-in upgrade deal you keep that monthly pricing for your service.
If you're still making installment payments on your phone you do have to pay the balance before you can trade that phone in though, but that is money you were going to have to pay over the next 6 or 12 or however many months anyway. You also have to pay a $20 activation fee and the sales tax for the new phone. But assuming you get the base model iPhone 7, this deal won't cost you anything else - your monthly service costs don't go up. You do however have to keep that line active for 2 years in order to realize the full $650 credit for your trade in.