Grow up! Did you not understand that a 2 year contract last 2 years? I can’t believe how childish so many iPhone 3G owners are being. You are embarrassing the rest of us who have no problem honoring our contract, or coughing up the money if we want to move sooner. You should take a step back and try to realize how bad you are making every Apple supporter look.

Do you think you have some inalienable right to endless discounts for iPhones? I would rather pay Apple’s full list price than act like a spoiled brat. Please stop cursing like a child throwing a fit on the floor.

As much as it sucks, I have to agree with those who point out that AT&T subsidized half the cost of the phone through the two year contract with the iPhone 3G. That was the reason for the prices being lower on intro than they were for the original iPhone.

I wouldn’t like it either, but I think there are a lot more valid complaints about AT&T to be found.

What a bunch of sniveling, self-entitled pussies. What about a two-year contract do they not understand? You have to wait at least 18 months with ALL subsidized cell phones, not just the iPhone. Get a grip!

‘Twititions’ is the dumbest fucking thing I’ve read all day. Do we really have to invent a bunch of new words just because they are facilitated by Twitter? I’m tweetraged by this twucking twractice.

I still don’t own an iPhone, and won’t, until AT&T goes away. Disappears. Vanishes. I love the service provider I have now (Credo) and will never give my hard-earned money to the criminals at AT&T.

Rob, you missed the whole point. FYI: AT&T offered upgrades to 3G iPhone after only 1st year of contract. Cant you say “Ass” on this blog?

Sad to say but Apple made a bad deal with AT&T.

Well, if the ATT “subsidy” is only US$200, then what’s the point? ATT makes that back in two months because the average bill is around US$100/month. Once that’s done, ATT should remove the SIM lock because it made back its subsidy and people are on contract anyway…

If they insist on selling it at full price, then sell it unlocked. If they sell it with “subsidy”, then people on contract that have fulfilled the “subsidy” cost ($200) of being a subscriber should be able to upgrade with the advertised price.

I’m glad to see there are sane people out there who understand how the cellular business works. A&T can be criticized for many things (unreliable service, less then stellar customer service, etc) but this complaint just looks like a bunch of petulant children stomping their feet and pouting to get what they want (except they are doing it on Twitter instead of mommy or daddy). Some people truly do have an absurd sense of entitlement and very little shame.

This same thing would have happened to them if they were on Verizon and new Blackberry came out and they just got last years model with a two year contract as well. Its just the way the subsidization system works. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been with a company for 10 years, they still have to cover the cost of yo9ur phones. If you don’t like the system then stop buying subsidized phones! Its like people think that these phones just magically pay for themselves.

Whining and complaining with feigned outrage all over Twitter that you might actually be expected to honor a service contract you willingly signed in exchange for below cost hardware is unreasonable, immature and yes, very much like the tantrum of a petulant child. If you really want the iPhone you know what you have to do to get it…. pay a higher price to offset the loss AT&T will have to take on your original phone or buy an unsubsidized phone each year. Its very simple math.

Whether you are an “early adopter” or an “enthusiast” is irrelevant. Elite tech status does nothing to pay back the money that a carrier is owed for a smartphone for which they paid full price and sold at a loss. “Good business” does not mean taking a loss every year a new phone comes out and all the early adopter feels they are entitled to the newest hardware at the lowest possible price.

Its acceptable because its the way subsidized hardware works in the US (and has worked for over 20 years). There is nothing new happening here. It’s an industry standard. If you had bought the hardware unsubsidized you would not be indebted to AT&T and you would never have had to sign a contract at all and none of this would be an issue.

The only thing that is new is the fact that people have grown accustomed to raising a stink, no matter how unreasonable, on Twitter and getting companies to give them what they want just to shut them up. Personally, I hope AT&T stands their ground.

If these people were making a valid, reasonable complaint against AT&T (for example the crappy call quality, the dropped data and cellular connections, etc) I’d be right behind them. But they are just throwing a tantrum because they don;t think they should have to honor their contacts that pay for the cheap phones they were given.

AT&T has the worst customer service. It took an hour and half just to add an international data plan. I can’t wait for my contract to end since they won’t let me out of it even though we get no cell service at our house in the middle of southern california.

This is just the beginning of AT&T’s shenannigans.

All internet service customers have now got to go through YAHOO to check their email…yahoo… GARBAGE!

well people, if u want to do something about it, stop buying all this useless technology junk; seems like once they come up with something new, there all these idiots buying and buying;
just stop…..

then they will come down on prices and be willing to make deals;

otherwise, wake up at 6am , go to work and do not complain when u spend your weekly check on some piece of music player or cell phone or whatever ,that does not really make u happy, just kind of keeping u with the crowd ……..
homeless have cell phones now, god, welfare supports apple now, did anyone know?? hahhahahahha

I’m ok with the premium pricing and have come to terms with the 2-year contract, but AT&T service is atrocious. It is basically down all day every weekday for me — absolutely unacceptable in one of the biggest metro areas in the U.S. after charging me an extra $40/month more than what I was paying before for the same service. Apple’s authoritarian policies in regards to Google Voice, Skype, and other apps don’t help.

I’m stuck in this tarpit for two years, but I’m advising everyone to stay away.

I tried to move to a iphone plan and get phones. not knowing that much about them i went thru the website and used the upgrade option and i was taken to the Bank of America employee pricing plan they had refurbished 3gs 16 gb for $49. I tried to order 2,one for each line. when i tried to add them to the carti would get page cannot be displayed errors. i called cust service was placed on hold and after 30 mins of waiting the rep came back and said that they confirmed the price however it was a error but they would honor it and that i would get a email with my order number that they are working with another department i asked how much longer it would be they said i did not have to wait any longer that it was done.

I wish this was true. 2 weeks later i still have not gotten the phones but i did get 2 texts stating that the $30 data line was added. i called cust service and the girl reversed it because i had not gotten the phones and said that she could not find the order and asked me to call back the next day because the area i needed to speak with was closed.

i called the next day and was transferred over and over to many times. and told we cant find your order and we will not honor the price. And yet they cant explain the data change to my acct which clearly shows something was done. i was transferred to Apple from ATT because they said that whoi needed to talk to the apple rep put me thru to their corporate executive relations dept they called ATT and told them that they dont handle the refurbished phones and there are no pricing restrictions set by Apple on refurb iphones. we were on a way call for 1 1/2 hours and the ATT supervisor said he would take care of it. After the Apple rep dropped off the call the same super said that he would not do anything.

i called the executive office for ATT and spoke to 2 people there they called me back and said they would not fix the issue or honor the price and on top of that they were going to have my eligibility for upgrade revoked even tho im not under contract any more because i satisfied the latest one. And charge me $110 to my bill for a warranty replacement phone that was sent back that the notes state it was received by ATT. I asked to speak to a supervisor and the girl just kept talking over me would not allow me to speak at all i kept asking for a super and she finally said no and hung up. i called again and spoke to someone that put me thru to her super’s voicemail.

the next day i get a voicemail from the first executive rep stating that she is giving me a verbal warning to stop calling the executive offices. later that day her super calls and just like before without wanting any info as to what has happened she stated the same thing as the other.

i have been with ATT since the beeper age and ever since the merger with cingular i have had several billings issues do to being removed from an att blue plan that was supposed to be grandfathered in per a letter that i have from them. i was getting bills well over $700 for 4 months before they got it fixed after having a lawyer send a demand letter. the told me that because of that they have already shown me that they appreciate my business. they act like fixing their wrong doing is a act of courtesy as if they just gave you something you should not have gotten. This has to be the worst customer service on the planet. And i work for Bank of America and we have a bad reputation.