for those who bought it in July, August or September of last year get the upgrade pricing- sounds good to me- what's the problem?
You weren't paying attention to the b!tching then. It's the people that have to wait until December or next July to upgrade that are complaining more. The number of people complaining they had to wait until September of this year hardly registered in comparison.
I'm not saying the complaining in those cases is necessarily justifiable, but to come here and be this ignorant of it is quite baffling.
You weren't paying attention to the b!tching then. It's the people that have to wait until December or next July to upgrade that are complaining more. The number of people complaining they had to wait until September of this year hardly registered in comparison.
I was going to have to wait til August 1, and now I'll get to order it tomorrow. I'm bitching now because I'm pissed that all the other bitching worked! And our society continues to go to the babies.
1. I am on a FamilyTalk plan with my wife. We have two iPhones on this plan. But the plan specifically is made to save us money. Our total monthly bill never went over $190 for the combined use. We both got our 3G phones on Day 1 of release. But now we get the shaft because we were on the plan. Way to screw over your best customers AT&T (that family that is ALL on ATT with ALL iPhones).
2. The company I worked for put a promo code on my account last year so I could get a corporate discount. It was a nice benefit from my company and free from them. It put my bill below $200/month. Now ATT is going to penalize me for that? Again, screw you ATT.
I bought TWO iPhone 3G's on DAY 1, as well as TWO iPhone 2G's on DAY 1. I was with ATT (then Cingular, and even before that ATT Wireless) even before the iPhone was announced. I have never had a late payment. I am one of their BEST non-corporate customers. Yet we get screwed on this?
You weren't paying attention to the b!tching then. It's the people that have to wait until December or next July to upgrade that are complaining more. The number of people complaining they had to wait until September of this year hardly registered in comparison.
I'm not saying the complaining in those cases is necessarily justifiable, but to come here and be ignorant of it is quote baffling.
Well, I kept my original 1st gen for precisely this reason. I anticipated the 3g would be eclipsed significantly by the next year's iPhone and I was right. So now I get a significant jump with a discount. i will buy it knowing that next year I may have to upgrade at full price.
Well, I kept my original 1st gen for precisely this reason. I anticipated the 3g would be eclipsed significantly by the next year's iPhone and I was right. So now I get a significant jump with a discount. i will buy it knowing that next year I may have to upgrade at full price.
It seems simple...
Don't get me wrong about that, I agree on those points.
Personally, I don't see why people should expect to pay the discounted, subsidized rate to upgrade an expensive smartphone every year.
Not sure it is an issue of fault. Apple needed a carrier. AT&T was the only one willing to play ball under Apple's terms (e.g. change the network around for features like selective voice mail, and let it have exclusive control over the hardware and inventory channel). To get the freedom it wanted to be itself, Apple needed to make an exclusive deal. I hate AT&T, but I understand why Apple had to make the deal.
Two hundred bucks a month for two phones? Wow, that seems like a lot. I hope you guys talk a lot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethanwa
This pisses me off for two reasons:
1. I am on a FamilyTalk plan with my wife. We have two iPhones on this plan. But the plan specifically is made to save us money. Our total monthly bill never went over $190 for the combined use. We both got our 3G phones on Day 1 of release. But now we get the shaft because we were on the plan. Way to screw over your best customers AT&T (that family that is ALL on ATT with ALL iPhones).
2. The company I worked for put a promo code on my account last year so I could get a corporate discount. It was a nice benefit from my company and free from them. It put my bill below $200/month. Now ATT is going to penalize me for that? Again, screw you ATT.
I bought TWO iPhone 3G's on DAY 1, as well as TWO iPhone 2G's on DAY 1. I was with ATT (then Cingular, and even before that ATT Wireless) even before the iPhone was announced. I have never had a late payment. I am one of their BEST non-corporate customers. Yet we get screwed on this?
Now I know I want to get a 3G S since I can pay the lower price (I got my 3G at the end of July 2008). Can I simply give my old 3G to my wife and just put her SIM card in it and get the appropriate data plan, or will we have to wait until she is upgrade eligible at the end of this year? Still some confusion abounding. \
1. I am on a FamilyTalk plan with my wife. We have two iPhones on this plan. But the plan specifically is made to save us money. Our total monthly bill never went over $190 for the combined use. We both got our 3G phones on Day 1 of release. But now we get the shaft because we were on the plan. Way to screw over your best customers AT&T (that family that is ALL on ATT with ALL iPhones).
2. The company I worked for put a promo code on my account last year so I could get a corporate discount. It was a nice benefit from my company and free from them. It put my bill below $200/month. Now ATT is going to penalize me for that? Again, screw you ATT..
Uh hello McFly? Are you from Russia?
ATT's best customers don't have promo codes on their accounts to save them money! Nor do they have family plans to, wait for it, wait for it... save them money.
Maybe you didn't noodle this through, but do you have any idea who loses that money when you save it?
That's right! The very company that you're now expecting to do you a solid by tearing up the contract you signed!
But but I prefer Eight, at least that's what my GF said .. god lying bit... wait where was i, Oh yes, sorry I just didn't see any GREAT news in the video, granted the fact that they aren't deciding to charge more for MMS is actually a really good thing, I was expecting some whole different pricing plan for that, so I will give you that. The tethering, well I'm sure someone will come out with a way to do that (even though for me personality it isn't something I foresee using right at this moment in time).
And I do agree that people need to stop whining about the 3 month window, and if it was a 4 month window then people that are 5 months out would whine and so on and so on and so on.
Fine we can be friends, Nine is a sacred number . now that you know you will start to see 9 all over the place.
And i am just so suprised at how ca-razed this whole iphone deal has become .
YET it is the 3GS !!!!!!!!
So after consulting nine i have an answer.ARE you ready ?ok here goe's .
Ahem AHEM.To all those who really really want the iphone now. BUT have to pay an extra $200
US dollars to get it, because you are NOT yet eligble. I have a way to address this situation so you can get your iphone now >>> not in 6 months from now.
Take the 200 smackeroonee's and divide by 720 days < 2yrs > and you get .32 cents a day .
So FOR 32 measly cents a day you can get the IPHONE 3GS . NOW.
Or you could not get it but feed a staving child for the same money.
Well, I kept my original 1st gen for precisely this reason. I anticipated the 3g would be eclipsed significantly by the next year's iPhone and I was right. So now I get a significant jump with a discount. i will buy it knowing that next year I may have to upgrade at full price.
It seems simple...
See here's the way I look at it.
I got the original when it hit a price I was willing to pay ($399 for the 8 GB). I got the 3G in Sept 08 because the lines had gone away in my area. I will apparently get the 3GS in a week or so after ordering it tomorrow.
For $200 you kept using the original iPhone for an extra year. That's 365 days of using an old, and getting older, iPhone. Now, you did save money on the plan, but you did that at the cost of vastly inferior usage (just wait til you get the 3G data transfer, you'll agree).
For about 50 cents a day more than you already spent, you could have had the 3G for the past year instead of the 2G. To me, holding out for a whole year when the benefit I get from the 3G is way more than 50 cents a day was just pointless.
Next year when Apple comes out with a new model, I'll buy it too. Because for $200 extra it's worth it for me to have something nice when I'm going to be holding it, listening to it, writing and reading on it for many hours a day. If I'm using it for 4 hours a day (which is conservative if you add up the iPod time) that means it's costing me 10 cents an hour for the better device.
AT&T has gotten more new business & contracts because of Apple and iPhone than they ever would have for any other reason. The upgrade surcharge is pure screw-the-customer gravy for them. There's no way a new 3G (sans S) costs more than $200 to manufacture - and we've paid back R&D and marketing and then some by now.
AT&T is still pure SUCK and as soon as I can jump back to a decent carrier I will gladly pay an early termination fee to do so. It'll be refreshing to hate Verizon for a change.
All you AT&T apologists...you have my sympathies. You are apparently the ones who will buy anything.
You don't know much about manufacturing, distribution, warrantee and advertising costs.
NO ONE WILL QUALIFY! The rotten thing here is that they requier 18 months to "qualify to upgrade" so no one who bought the phone in June 08 would qualify untill Dec 2009 or Jan 2010 depending on billing cycle...so...who is gong to qualify?
On top of everything else ATT has screwed up, this is like a fuck you to the most loyal customers.
If I cant upgrade now, I will just wait till the 4th itteration of the iphone comes out...hopefully not on an ATT network
Ok people, from what i understand from 'reading' this AI article is;
if you purchased your iPhone 3G last July 11 (like i did) you DO NOT have to wait 18 months or 24 months to get the subsidized price ($199. for 16GB or $299 for 32 GB)
don't know what happened to the video post here cause it won't play - but the link to the letter should spell it out for those who care to READ
i went to the Apple Store in Soho, NYC, today and the AT&T store right after i left there and asked reps at both stores and was told the same thing about the 18 month waiting period then i got home and read this post here and FREAKED OUT!!!! i am sooooooo getting my iPhone 3GS July 11, 2009 when "according to the posting here" i should be eligible for my new baby for $199. (heck, i might even get the 32 GB version now..... how much do u think i can get for my 16 iPhone 3G for on craigslist ???
ONE HAPPY CAMPER HERE!!!!!!! woooooooooooo hoooooooooooo...
Not for everyone. I'd say only for a minority of them. You probably need to read the article to the end.
With all the whining having been obviously successful, there will be a rolling three-month grace period, I'll wager. (I.e., someone like me who was told I'd have to wait until Jan 2010 will now get it in Oct 2009. But only if I whine....... But first, I've got to figure out this twitter thing.....)
Eh, I wasn't expecting to upgrade so it isn't a biggie
Though, I do expect a good backlash from those that pay under $99
Of course there will be a backlash - what do you expect?
At this point, ATT might as well declare victory, take a loss (or figure out some sneaky way to make it up somewhere else), and give it out to anyone that wants it for the subsidized price. (Perhaps they should ask for the previous iPhone to be turned in, and start a trade in the used iPhones to make up some of the loss).
The sense of entitlement that people have is quite sad at one level. But, at another level, given the fact that companies (and even the government) regularly seem to cave whenever such caterwauling gets loud and persistent makes it perfectly rational behavior, I suppose.
Someone made a comment today that really opened my eyes about where ATT's motivations really should be (and may be) for the iPhone upgrades.
Think about it, every iPhone out there that does NOT get upgraded equals one cell account for ATT.
But every time an iPhone user upgrades for $200, they now have two iPhones. What are the chances that one of those iPhones is going to go to a kid, a relative, or CL? My guess is that the majority of iPhones remain on an active account, even if it's second hand.
Those iPhones are already paid for by ATT. The way I see it, the quicker ATT gets the 3Gs out of the hands of the current owners and into the next owners' hands, the quicker ATT's revenue goes up. My assumption here is that ATT's marginal costs per subscriber are very low. That $200 subsidy is quickly swamped by the second user's monthly revenue after maybe 3 months.
Another factor is that as an iPhone ages, it is more likely (of course) to get beat up and eventually broken. So maybe an iPhone is given away after 12 months, and then after 4 more it gets dropped and broken. Boom, new phone at retail price, and you are still on the hook for that data contract.
I received an email from the Apple Store tonight stating as a result of the new pricing policy of AT&T that they will be refunding me $200 since I fall in the window. It also went on to state that my invoice will not reflect the new pricing since it is in the process of shipping; however, I would receive a credit posted to my method of payment within 5 days... WOW kind of refreshing since I just bought a new MacBook Pro (now previous version \) from BB a couple of weeks ago and it is now discounted by $400 .
I just happened to stumble across the new price on-line and then had to call and go through a process that took about 20 minutes to get me my refund... my point here that is was not automatic and if I didn't see it on-line then what seems to be BB policy is oh well... you loose and we win. Not very customer friendly but since they are only really the national retailer... I guess they figure where else are you going to go.
Glad to see AT&T come around... now if they could offer all the features at launch... but wait perhaps this is why we are getting the regular upgrade rate since they were not ready...
I have the original iPhone. Doe this mean I can get the current 3G for today $99, and then upgrade to the 3GS on Friday for $199, and then sell the 3G?
Nope.
the deal is good only for those that according to the ATT math would be eligible between july - sept.
if you buy the 3g now, you will be eligible in no less than a year, depending on your rate plan (if you get the baseline it will be more like 18-20 months from now).
Quote:
Originally Posted by fraklinc
This must be a joke cause no one that brought the 3G last year at launch will qualify
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_greer
NO ONE WILL QUALIFY! The rotten thing here is that they requier 18 months to "qualify to upgrade"
not true. those with only the base plan won't, but those on higher plans like the unlimited get an earlier qualification cause ATT doesn't want to lose that much money every month.
Comments
for those who bought it in July, August or September of last year get the upgrade pricing- sounds good to me- what's the problem?
You weren't paying attention to the b!tching then. It's the people that have to wait until December or next July to upgrade that are complaining more. The number of people complaining they had to wait until September of this year hardly registered in comparison.
I'm not saying the complaining in those cases is necessarily justifiable, but to come here and be this ignorant of it is quite baffling.
You weren't paying attention to the b!tching then. It's the people that have to wait until December or next July to upgrade that are complaining more. The number of people complaining they had to wait until September of this year hardly registered in comparison.
I was going to have to wait til August 1, and now I'll get to order it tomorrow. I'm bitching now because I'm pissed that all the other bitching worked! And our society continues to go to the babies.
1. I am on a FamilyTalk plan with my wife. We have two iPhones on this plan. But the plan specifically is made to save us money. Our total monthly bill never went over $190 for the combined use. We both got our 3G phones on Day 1 of release. But now we get the shaft because we were on the plan. Way to screw over your best customers AT&T (that family that is ALL on ATT with ALL iPhones).
2. The company I worked for put a promo code on my account last year so I could get a corporate discount. It was a nice benefit from my company and free from them. It put my bill below $200/month. Now ATT is going to penalize me for that? Again, screw you ATT.
I bought TWO iPhone 3G's on DAY 1, as well as TWO iPhone 2G's on DAY 1. I was with ATT (then Cingular, and even before that ATT Wireless) even before the iPhone was announced. I have never had a late payment. I am one of their BEST non-corporate customers. Yet we get screwed on this?
SCREW YOU ATT.
You weren't paying attention to the b!tching then. It's the people that have to wait until December or next July to upgrade that are complaining more. The number of people complaining they had to wait until September of this year hardly registered in comparison.
I'm not saying the complaining in those cases is necessarily justifiable, but to come here and be ignorant of it is quote baffling.
Well, I kept my original 1st gen for precisely this reason. I anticipated the 3g would be eclipsed significantly by the next year's iPhone and I was right. So now I get a significant jump with a discount. i will buy it knowing that next year I may have to upgrade at full price.
It seems simple...
Well, I kept my original 1st gen for precisely this reason. I anticipated the 3g would be eclipsed significantly by the next year's iPhone and I was right. So now I get a significant jump with a discount. i will buy it knowing that next year I may have to upgrade at full price.
It seems simple...
Don't get me wrong about that, I agree on those points.
Personally, I don't see why people should expect to pay the discounted, subsidized rate to upgrade an expensive smartphone every year.
And who's fault is that?
This pisses me off for two reasons:
1. I am on a FamilyTalk plan with my wife. We have two iPhones on this plan. But the plan specifically is made to save us money. Our total monthly bill never went over $190 for the combined use. We both got our 3G phones on Day 1 of release. But now we get the shaft because we were on the plan. Way to screw over your best customers AT&T (that family that is ALL on ATT with ALL iPhones).
2. The company I worked for put a promo code on my account last year so I could get a corporate discount. It was a nice benefit from my company and free from them. It put my bill below $200/month. Now ATT is going to penalize me for that? Again, screw you ATT.
I bought TWO iPhone 3G's on DAY 1, as well as TWO iPhone 2G's on DAY 1. I was with ATT (then Cingular, and even before that ATT Wireless) even before the iPhone was announced. I have never had a late payment. I am one of their BEST non-corporate customers. Yet we get screwed on this?
SCREW YOU ATT.
Though, I do expect a good backlash from those that pay under $99
This pisses me off for two reasons:
1. I am on a FamilyTalk plan with my wife. We have two iPhones on this plan. But the plan specifically is made to save us money. Our total monthly bill never went over $190 for the combined use. We both got our 3G phones on Day 1 of release. But now we get the shaft because we were on the plan. Way to screw over your best customers AT&T (that family that is ALL on ATT with ALL iPhones).
2. The company I worked for put a promo code on my account last year so I could get a corporate discount. It was a nice benefit from my company and free from them. It put my bill below $200/month. Now ATT is going to penalize me for that? Again, screw you ATT..
Uh hello McFly? Are you from Russia?
ATT's best customers don't have promo codes on their accounts to save them money! Nor do they have family plans to, wait for it, wait for it... save them money.
Maybe you didn't noodle this through, but do you have any idea who loses that money when you save it?
That's right! The very company that you're now expecting to do you a solid by tearing up the contract you signed!
Duh!
But but I prefer Eight, at least that's what my GF said .. god lying bit... wait where was i, Oh yes, sorry I just didn't see any GREAT news in the video, granted the fact that they aren't deciding to charge more for MMS is actually a really good thing, I was expecting some whole different pricing plan for that, so I will give you that. The tethering, well I'm sure someone will come out with a way to do that (even though for me personality it isn't something I foresee using right at this moment in time).
And I do agree that people need to stop whining about the 3 month window, and if it was a 4 month window then people that are 5 months out would whine and so on and so on and so on.
Fine we can be friends, Nine is a sacred number . now that you know you will start to see 9 all over the place.
And i am just so suprised at how ca-razed this whole iphone deal has become .
YET it is the 3GS !!!!!!!!
So after consulting nine i have an answer.ARE you ready ?ok here goe's .
Ahem AHEM.To all those who really really want the iphone now. BUT have to pay an extra $200
US dollars to get it, because you are NOT yet eligble. I have a way to address this situation so you can get your iphone now >>> not in 6 months from now.
Take the 200 smackeroonee's and divide by 720 days < 2yrs > and you get .32 cents a day .
So FOR 32 measly cents a day you can get the IPHONE 3GS . NOW.
Or you could not get it but feed a staving child for the same money.
Just a thought to help you guys.
peace
9
Well, I kept my original 1st gen for precisely this reason. I anticipated the 3g would be eclipsed significantly by the next year's iPhone and I was right. So now I get a significant jump with a discount. i will buy it knowing that next year I may have to upgrade at full price.
It seems simple...
See here's the way I look at it.
I got the original when it hit a price I was willing to pay ($399 for the 8 GB). I got the 3G in Sept 08 because the lines had gone away in my area. I will apparently get the 3GS in a week or so after ordering it tomorrow.
For $200 you kept using the original iPhone for an extra year. That's 365 days of using an old, and getting older, iPhone. Now, you did save money on the plan, but you did that at the cost of vastly inferior usage (just wait til you get the 3G data transfer, you'll agree).
For about 50 cents a day more than you already spent, you could have had the 3G for the past year instead of the 2G. To me, holding out for a whole year when the benefit I get from the 3G is way more than 50 cents a day was just pointless.
Next year when Apple comes out with a new model, I'll buy it too. Because for $200 extra it's worth it for me to have something nice when I'm going to be holding it, listening to it, writing and reading on it for many hours a day. If I'm using it for 4 hours a day (which is conservative if you add up the iPod time) that means it's costing me 10 cents an hour for the better device.
Pretty easy decision!
AT&T has gotten more new business & contracts because of Apple and iPhone than they ever would have for any other reason. The upgrade surcharge is pure screw-the-customer gravy for them. There's no way a new 3G (sans S) costs more than $200 to manufacture - and we've paid back R&D and marketing and then some by now.
AT&T is still pure SUCK and as soon as I can jump back to a decent carrier I will gladly pay an early termination fee to do so. It'll be refreshing to hate Verizon for a change.
All you AT&T apologists...you have my sympathies. You are apparently the ones who will buy anything.
You don't know much about manufacturing, distribution, warrantee and advertising costs.
NO ONE WILL QUALIFY! The rotten thing here is that they requier 18 months to "qualify to upgrade" so no one who bought the phone in June 08 would qualify untill Dec 2009 or Jan 2010 depending on billing cycle...so...who is gong to qualify?
On top of everything else ATT has screwed up, this is like a fuck you to the most loyal customers.
If I cant upgrade now, I will just wait till the 4th itteration of the iphone comes out...hopefully not on an ATT network
Ok people, from what i understand from 'reading' this AI article is;
if you purchased your iPhone 3G last July 11 (like i did) you DO NOT have to wait 18 months or 24 months to get the subsidized price ($199. for 16GB or $299 for 32 GB)
don't know what happened to the video post here cause it won't play - but the link to the letter should spell it out for those who care to READ
i went to the Apple Store in Soho, NYC, today and the AT&T store right after i left there and asked reps at both stores and was told the same thing about the 18 month waiting period then i got home and read this post here and FREAKED OUT!!!! i am sooooooo getting my iPhone 3GS July 11, 2009 when "according to the posting here" i should be eligible for my new baby for $199. (heck, i might even get the 32 GB version now..... how much do u think i can get for my 16 iPhone 3G for on craigslist ???
ONE HAPPY CAMPER HERE!!!!!!! woooooooooooo hoooooooooooo...
Not for everyone. I'd say only for a minority of them. You probably need to read the article to the end.
With all the whining having been obviously successful, there will be a rolling three-month grace period, I'll wager. (I.e., someone like me who was told I'd have to wait until Jan 2010 will now get it in Oct 2009. But only if I whine....... But first, I've got to figure out this twitter thing.....)
Eh, I wasn't expecting to upgrade so it isn't a biggie
Though, I do expect a good backlash from those that pay under $99
Of course there will be a backlash - what do you expect?
At this point, ATT might as well declare victory, take a loss (or figure out some sneaky way to make it up somewhere else), and give it out to anyone that wants it for the subsidized price. (Perhaps they should ask for the previous iPhone to be turned in, and start a trade in the used iPhones to make up some of the loss).
The sense of entitlement that people have is quite sad at one level. But, at another level, given the fact that companies (and even the government) regularly seem to cave whenever such caterwauling gets loud and persistent makes it perfectly rational behavior, I suppose.
Think about it, every iPhone out there that does NOT get upgraded equals one cell account for ATT.
But every time an iPhone user upgrades for $200, they now have two iPhones. What are the chances that one of those iPhones is going to go to a kid, a relative, or CL? My guess is that the majority of iPhones remain on an active account, even if it's second hand.
Those iPhones are already paid for by ATT. The way I see it, the quicker ATT gets the 3Gs out of the hands of the current owners and into the next owners' hands, the quicker ATT's revenue goes up. My assumption here is that ATT's marginal costs per subscriber are very low. That $200 subsidy is quickly swamped by the second user's monthly revenue after maybe 3 months.
Another factor is that as an iPhone ages, it is more likely (of course) to get beat up and eventually broken. So maybe an iPhone is given away after 12 months, and then after 4 more it gets dropped and broken. Boom, new phone at retail price, and you are still on the hook for that data contract.
Thoughts?
I just happened to stumble across the new price on-line and then had to call and go through a process that took about 20 minutes to get me my refund... my point here that is was not automatic and if I didn't see it on-line then what seems to be BB policy is oh well... you loose and we win. Not very customer friendly but since they are only really the national retailer... I guess they figure where else are you going to go.
Glad to see AT&T come around... now if they could offer all the features at launch... but wait perhaps this is why we are getting the regular upgrade rate since they were not ready...
I have the original iPhone. Doe this mean I can get the current 3G for today $99, and then upgrade to the 3GS on Friday for $199, and then sell the 3G?
Nope.
the deal is good only for those that according to the ATT math would be eligible between july - sept.
if you buy the 3g now, you will be eligible in no less than a year, depending on your rate plan (if you get the baseline it will be more like 18-20 months from now).
This must be a joke cause no one that brought the 3G last year at launch will qualify
NO ONE WILL QUALIFY! The rotten thing here is that they requier 18 months to "qualify to upgrade"
not true. those with only the base plan won't, but those on higher plans like the unlimited get an earlier qualification cause ATT doesn't want to lose that much money every month.