Who else has to pay 399 for 16gb Iphone 3GS

[Kmax82]

The main issue with most carriers are the employees. Of course, one could argue that the employees are only driven by corporate policy. But anyway, most of them work on commission, and they get commission from contracts, new phones, etc... not for just being a good customer service agent. It sucks, because of the fact that they rope you into contracts like they did with you BD2003. I would just keep calling until someone fixes it. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Kmax82
The main issue with most carriers are the employees. Of course, one could argue that the employees are only driven by corporate policy. But anyway, most of them work on commission, and they get commission from contracts, new phones, etc... not for just being a good customer service agent. It sucks, because of the fact that they rope you into contracts like they did with you BD2003. I would just keep calling until someone fixes it. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Here's a [horror] story from Verizon...first off, I'd been a Verizon customer for 8 years, from June of 2000 (to Sept. 2008). That's FOREVER and a day in the cell phone world. I'm not sure how long Verizon has existed (it was a conglomeration of other companies) but it's probably like 10 years. So you'd think they might have a little loyalty, but I guess not, as we'll see....

(PS: I'm kinda still drunk from last night, so forgive me)

Anyway, so last August or something, I had a ton of calls to non Verizon customers, like tech support holds and stuff, so I was at 405 minutes (out of 425 or something) with like 10 days to go. Remembering the lesson from my $200 bill one month (the CSR nicely told me I can upgrade or downgrade my plan at any time...AFTER I had huge overages) I figured I'd call and get more minutes. The next plan up was like $20 more or something, for 700 minutes, and at 45 cents a minute if I used more than 50 minutes I'd come out ahead.

So I call the person and say "hey! I'd like to upgrade my plan so I don't have any overages." She says cool, and blamo, I have the 700 minute plan. Awesome! So, I go about my business, making calls.

Then the bill comes. And I have like $60 in overages. Um...WHAT?

Here's what the freakin' MORON did: When you sign a plan, weirdly, they prorate your plan per day. So 425 / 30 = 14 and change. So you get about 14 minutes per day to use, which makes no sense, because obviously sometimes you use more minutes and sometimes you use none, but apparently that's what they do. So, since I was in the 20th day of my plan, I was "entitled" to 280 minutes (14 x 20). Remember how many i'd used? 405? So, what the idiot did is pretty much give me a 20 day, 280 minute plan (which I went WAY over, at 405) and then a 10 day, 700 minute plan, prorated to 230 minutes (700 / 30 * 10 days).

So, in other words, buying MORE minutes before my pay period expired, when I was UNDER my minutes, incurred overages.

Um, really? Really Verizon? That's okay? We're going to try and get away with that?

Um, no. Sorry.

So when I get the bill, and a CSR explains that to me, I'm upset. I say "listen, I know this isn't your fault, but you've got to be fucking kidding me....". The CSR tells me "I don't have to listen to that kind of language and hangs up.

"Luckily", I got it sorted out, they refunded the overages, but the CSR neglected to tell me that when I switched back to the lesser plan (since I only needed the bigger plan that one month) it couldn't be back dated (even though I'd used way less than even 425 minutes), so i had to pay for another 25 days or so of the more expensive plan (which I didn't need).

So anyway, long story short, Verizon will never get another penny of my money.

 

[Kmax82]

Ouch scootermaster. That sucks. I had a problem with verizon as well. They lost one of my payments in their system so I had to pay twice for one month (to avoid being cutoff and having to pay $36 in activation fees) and then they told me that it was my problem to get it back since they're system showed that it hadn't ever gone through their system. Took me 5 CSR calls and numerous amounts of paperwork but I got my money back after 2 months of hassle.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
I don't think you guys understand how the pricing works.

AT&T is subsidizing the cost of every iPhone sold to Apple upfront to make back a profit on the back-end with the contract.

When you don't fulfill your full iPhone contract term, they lose a certain amount of expected profit.

AT&T isn't a charity; they are a business. Stick to your current iPhone 3G contract until you are eligible for the lower cost upgrade.

FYI, this is how cellular providers offer every phone at a reduced cost; they subsidize the lower retail price by their back-end profit on the contract.

You keep making this argument seemingly implying that the contract is only 1 year...when in reality it would be 2 years + remainder of current They make the exact same amount of money, lock up people for even more time AND do right by loyal customers. But you're right, they should just piss off the people giving them all their profits so when exclusivity runs out everybody jumps to a more competent provider. Great business decision.

And the reason this is different than ever before is because there has NEVER been a product like this before. There has never been a phone with these kinds of sales this fast. Why can't they change the business model and adapt to the market? "Because this is the way its always been" is not a valid argument.

edit- thought this was a new thread 🙂 , but argument still stands.

 

[Tweak155]

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: jpeyton
I don't think you guys understand how the pricing works.

AT&T is subsidizing the cost of every iPhone sold to Apple upfront to make back a profit on the back-end with the contract.

When you don't fulfill your full iPhone contract term, they lose a certain amount of expected profit.

AT&T isn't a charity; they are a business. Stick to your current iPhone 3G contract until you are eligible for the lower cost upgrade.

FYI, this is how cellular providers offer every phone at a reduced cost; they subsidize the lower retail price by their back-end profit on the contract.

You keep making this argument seemingly implying that the contract is only 1 year...when in reality it would be 2 years + remainder of current They make the exact same amount of money, lock up people for even more time AND do right by loyal customers. But you're right, they should just piss off the people giving them all their profits so when exclusivity runs out everybody jumps to a more competent provider. Great business decision.

And the reason this is different than ever before is because there has NEVER been a product like this before. There has never been a phone with these kinds of sales this fast. Why can't they change the business model and adapt to the market? "Because this is the way its always been" is not a valid argument.

edit- thought this was a new thread 🙂 , but argument still stands.

I've pretty much been staying out of these arguments but everyone that is pissed off is sticking to this "tack on 2 years at the end" crap.

All that does is give AT&T more liability. Just because they say hey here is 2 more years (and now your ETF should be higher - don't forget that), doesn't mean you will pay them a penny. Extending your contract isn't some impossible to get around scenario that guarantees them money as you try to make it sound. People leave their HOUSES these days.

They get theoretically the same amount of money and keep their liabilities low at the same time . If you didn't like the contract, you shouldn't have signed it / agreed to it.

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: Tweak155

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: jpeyton
I don't think you guys understand how the pricing works.

AT&T is subsidizing the cost of every iPhone sold to Apple upfront to make back a profit on the back-end with the contract.

When you don't fulfill your full iPhone contract term, they lose a certain amount of expected profit.

AT&T isn't a charity; they are a business. Stick to your current iPhone 3G contract until you are eligible for the lower cost upgrade.

FYI, this is how cellular providers offer every phone at a reduced cost; they subsidize the lower retail price by their back-end profit on the contract.

You keep making this argument seemingly implying that the contract is only 1 year...when in reality it would be 2 years + remainder of current They make the exact same amount of money, lock up people for even more time AND do right by loyal customers. But you're right, they should just piss off the people giving them all their profits so when exclusivity runs out everybody jumps to a more competent provider. Great business decision.

And the reason this is different than ever before is because there has NEVER been a product like this before. There has never been a phone with these kinds of sales this fast. Why can't they change the business model and adapt to the market? "Because this is the way its always been" is not a valid argument.

edit- thought this was a new thread 🙂 , but argument still stands.

I've pretty much been staying out of these arguments but everyone that is pissed off is sticking to this "tack on 2 years at the end" crap.

All that does is give AT&T more liability. Just because they say hey here is 2 more years (and now your ETF should be higher - don't forget that), doesn't mean you will pay them a penny. Extending your contract isn't some impossible to get around scenario that guarantees them money as you try to make it sound. People leave their HOUSES these days.

They get theoretically the same amount of money and keep their liabilities low at the same time . If you didn't like the contract, you shouldn't have signed it / agreed to it.

No idea what that has to do with anything. By that logic, why do they have contracts at all? If a contract is such a huge liability, then why the fuck do they even offer them in the first place? The funny thing about a CONTRACT is it does gurantee them money, whether it be monthly or ETF.

Its pretty simple; ATT should be locking up as many fucking customers as they can with how shitty they have been lately. Make the etf normal + subsidized discount if its such a massive "liability". Instead they just keep piling up the ill will of their customers and Apple. I wish them luck both negotiating with apple for more exclusivity (which at this point seems laughable) and keeping all these customers when Verizon/Sprint/Tmobile offer better service for a cheaper price.

 

[Tweak155]

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: Tweak155

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: jpeyton
I don't think you guys understand how the pricing works.

AT&T is subsidizing the cost of every iPhone sold to Apple upfront to make back a profit on the back-end with the contract.

When you don't fulfill your full iPhone contract term, they lose a certain amount of expected profit.

AT&T isn't a charity; they are a business. Stick to your current iPhone 3G contract until you are eligible for the lower cost upgrade.

FYI, this is how cellular providers offer every phone at a reduced cost; they subsidize the lower retail price by their back-end profit on the contract.

You keep making this argument seemingly implying that the contract is only 1 year...when in reality it would be 2 years + remainder of current They make the exact same amount of money, lock up people for even more time AND do right by loyal customers. But you're right, they should just piss off the people giving them all their profits so when exclusivity runs out everybody jumps to a more competent provider. Great business decision.

And the reason this is different than ever before is because there has NEVER been a product like this before. There has never been a phone with these kinds of sales this fast. Why can't they change the business model and adapt to the market? "Because this is the way its always been" is not a valid argument.

edit- thought this was a new thread 🙂 , but argument still stands.

I've pretty much been staying out of these arguments but everyone that is pissed off is sticking to this "tack on 2 years at the end" crap.

All that does is give AT&T more liability. Just because they say hey here is 2 more years (and now your ETF should be higher - don't forget that), doesn't mean you will pay them a penny. Extending your contract isn't some impossible to get around scenario that guarantees them money as you try to make it sound. People leave their HOUSES these days.

They get theoretically the same amount of money and keep their liabilities low at the same time . If you didn't like the contract, you shouldn't have signed it / agreed to it.

No idea what that has to do with anything. By that logic, why do they have contracts at all? If a contract is such a huge liability, then why the ____ do they even offer them in the first place? The funny thing about a CONTRACT is it does gurantee them money, whether it be monthly or ETF.

Its pretty simple; ATT should be locking up as many _____ customers as they can with how ____ they have been lately. Make the etf normal + subsidized discount if its such a massive "liability". Instead they just keep piling up the ill will of their customers and Apple. I wish them luck both negotiating with apple for more exclusivity (which at this point seems laughable) and keeping all these customers when Verizon/Sprint/Tmobile offer better service for a cheaper price.

Swearing doesn't prove a point any more than without it - but I digress.

Contracts are MEANT to guarantee money - just like a mortgage. It isn't always the case. I just used that as an example.

A smaller liability is better than a larger. And if you don't like the contract then don't sign it and quit whining.

End of story.

 

[Koing]

You got to pay to pay with technology mate.

I had full price for my 2g iphone 8gb of £275 with an 18month contact. Later when the 3G was out I paid a discounted price for it of £175 for the 16Gb one. Sure it would be nice to have a 3GS but it isn't worth it for me to upgrade with the feature set that it has. I can wait for something else. Hell I only just got around to setting up my 3G phone today and I've had the phone since 24/08/08! I can now have 3G speeds on my commute 😛

When has a company given us upgrades in features that were free? Non of my previous phones have.

I can finally cut and paste now 😛 the lack of deleting a txt entry and not a whole txt conversation is ANNOYING though along with a few other negligees...

Koing

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: Tweak155

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: Tweak155

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: jpeyton
I don't think you guys understand how the pricing works.

AT&T is subsidizing the cost of every iPhone sold to Apple upfront to make back a profit on the back-end with the contract.

When you don't fulfill your full iPhone contract term, they lose a certain amount of expected profit.

AT&T isn't a charity; they are a business. Stick to your current iPhone 3G contract until you are eligible for the lower cost upgrade.

FYI, this is how cellular providers offer every phone at a reduced cost; they subsidize the lower retail price by their back-end profit on the contract.

You keep making this argument seemingly implying that the contract is only 1 year...when in reality it would be 2 years + remainder of current They make the exact same amount of money, lock up people for even more time AND do right by loyal customers. But you're right, they should just piss off the people giving them all their profits so when exclusivity runs out everybody jumps to a more competent provider. Great business decision.

And the reason this is different than ever before is because there has NEVER been a product like this before. There has never been a phone with these kinds of sales this fast. Why can't they change the business model and adapt to the market? "Because this is the way its always been" is not a valid argument.

edit- thought this was a new thread 🙂 , but argument still stands.

I've pretty much been staying out of these arguments but everyone that is pissed off is sticking to this "tack on 2 years at the end" crap.

All that does is give AT&T more liability. Just because they say hey here is 2 more years (and now your ETF should be higher - don't forget that), doesn't mean you will pay them a penny. Extending your contract isn't some impossible to get around scenario that guarantees them money as you try to make it sound. People leave their HOUSES these days.

They get theoretically the same amount of money and keep their liabilities low at the same time . If you didn't like the contract, you shouldn't have signed it / agreed to it.

No idea what that has to do with anything. By that logic, why do they have contracts at all? If a contract is such a huge liability, then why the ____ do they even offer them in the first place? The funny thing about a CONTRACT is it does gurantee them money, whether it be monthly or ETF.

Its pretty simple; ATT should be locking up as many _____ customers as they can with how ____ they have been lately. Make the etf normal + subsidized discount if its such a massive "liability". Instead they just keep piling up the ill will of their customers and Apple. I wish them luck both negotiating with apple for more exclusivity (which at this point seems laughable) and keeping all these customers when Verizon/Sprint/Tmobile offer better service for a cheaper price.

Swearing doesn't prove a point any more than without it - but I digress.

Contracts are MEANT to guarantee money - just like a mortgage. It isn't always the case. I just used that as an example.

A smaller liability is better than a larger. And if you don't like the contract then don't sign it and quit whining.

End of story.

Bringing up grammar/swearing points to a lack of argument - but I digress

If you honestly think its a larger liability to lock up thousands of customers and a smaller liability to piss them off and push them to other providers next year....then I really hope you are not in charge of anything important. Your logic on contracts is pretty hilarious considering almost our entire culture is based around them.

But anyway, your argument is horribly weak and you didn't address any of the points I made, so congrats. I'm not personally affected by this shit, I just get angry when large businesses make such idiotic business decisions.

 

[Tweak155]

Originally posted by: ric1287

Originally posted by: Tweak155
Swearing doesn't prove a point any more than without it - but I digress.

Contracts are MEANT to guarantee money - just like a mortgage. It isn't always the case. I just used that as an example.

A smaller liability is better than a larger. And if you don't like the contract then don't sign it and quit whining.

End of story.

Bringing up grammar/swearing points to a lack of argument - but I digress

If you honestly think its a larger liability to lock up thousands of customers and a smaller liability to piss them off and push them to other providers next year....then I really hope you are not in charge of anything important. Your logic on contracts is pretty hilarious considering almost our entire culture is based around them.

But anyway, your argument is horribly weak and you didn't address any of the points I made, so congrats. I'm not personally affected by this ____, I just get angry when large businesses make such idiotic business decisions.

I brought it up so you could stop sounding like a kid. Not trying to be insulting - just telling you why I did it.

If a company doesn't hold someone to their contract then they are a bad company. This "extension" was not in your original contract when you signed it - therefor they "have" to do and what YOU think they "should" do are mutually exclusive.

Just because you think there is no good reason they shouldn't offer it doesn't mean there isn't one. And just because you don't like mine doesn't mean it doesn't have any weight.

You say I haven't addressed what you stated but you simply tried to say what I said held no weight, which would cause me to say the same thing - again.

If you can't understand that a longer term contract and upping the ETF to a higher amount that may not get paid is a larger liability, I can't help you.