Did you buy a shiny new iPhone 6 from AT&T Wireless? You might want to check your next monthly bill for an increased charge.
Some AT&T customers upgrading to the iPhone 6 received a surprising text alert this morning saying the carrier has hiked the monthly “smartphone access charge” to $40 for anyone renewing a two-year Mobile Share Value plan agreement. Naturally, the carrier waited until it was swamped with an unprecedented amount of iPhone 6 pre-orders before telling customers they’d be paying an extra $600 over two years — nearly enough to buy an unlocked iPhone 6 outright.
AT&T says certain users are “no longer eligible for the discounted pricing” that reduced the $40 monthly access charge down to $15 or $25, depending upon when they signed up.
The increased charge applies to people who buy a discounted phone under the traditional pricing structure, where the carrier recoups the purchase price over the course of the two-year contract. Those who buy a new phone at full price or opt into AT&T Next — which charges subscribers an extra monthly fee but lets them upgrade to a new device each year — can still get the discounted access charge.
Customers who noticed the increased fee are not happy, as can be seen by angry reactions on Twitter:
@cultofmac Yep! I did. Called them and they seemed to not give a shit. Told me the only way to keep my plan was to pay more on NEXT.
— Stefanie Valle (@stef_valle) September 18, 2014
During previous iPhone launches, when AT&T customers renewed a two-year agreement they received the iPhone at a discounted price, with the carrier recouping the costs over the course of the contract. Now AT&T charges users between $15 and $25 extra per month as part of the access fee if they choose a new two-year plan. That’s on top of the $40 upgrade fee you also pay when you buy your iPhone 6.
It’s all part of the changing landscape of the mobile industry, where T-Mobile’s innovative pricing is shaking things up and forcing bigger players like AT&T and Verizon Wireless to evolve. AT&T appears to be using the popularity of the iPhone to help push customers toward its AT&T Next offering.
@ATTCustomerCare so buy the phone retail price or pay you monthly for the phone. Still sounds like customer loses. So it’s @TMobile for me
— cr0ssed (@cr0ssed) September 18, 2014
An AT&T spokesman said the upset customers likely had been on a Mobile Share Value plan with a phone that was out of contract, or were using AT&T Next for their previous phone, or chose to pay full price for the their previous phone — all scenarios in which they would have been paying the discounted access charge.
“In any of those cases, if they just chose to get a new phone under contract, they would be seeing the higher access charge,” said AT&T rep Seth Bloom in an email to Cult of Mac. “Put another way, the only customers who would see the higher access charges are those on two-year contracts and who are getting a subsidy from us.”
AT&T apparently failed to mention the change to customers until pre-orders were already on the way, and the carrier’s Mobile Share Value webpage obfuscates the details by listing pricing terms prior to 2/2/14 and 3/9/14.
Meanwhile, the AT&T customer support account on Twitter is directing angry customers to a notice on their site that offers “important information about your recent device upgrade.”
It basically says, “No no no. We’re not charging you extra now. We’re just removing a $15 discount from the $40 monthly charge this year. Even though we touted that access charge as a flat $25 fee the last few years.”
Here’s the explanation from the website:
Thanks for upgrading to a new smartphone and selecting the 2-year wireless service agreement option, which does not take advantage of our best-ever pricing with Mobile Share Value.
Upgrading your new device on a 2-year wireless agreement means you are no longer eligible for your Mobile Share Value monthly smartphone access charge discount. This discount is $15 off the $40 per month 2-year agreement rate access charge for Mobile Share Value plans that include less than 10GB of data.
Yikes. So now AT&T is going to punish you if you want to upgrade your contract every two years like you always did. But if you do want to get your discount back, you totally can — AT&T conveniently left a ransom note:
“If you’d like to get your Mobile Share Value monthly smartphone access charge discount back, just return your phone within 14 days of your upgrade to the store where you completed the upgrade, and take advantage of one of these options: 1. Repurchase the phone with AT&T Next 2. Pay full retail price for the phone
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
142 responses to “AT&T quietly jacks up monthly fee for iPhone 6 upgraders”
What a ridiculous and misleading article. Here’s how it actually works:
If you buy the phone on a 2-year contract you pay an upfront cost (starting at $0 for the 5C up to $499 for the 6+ 128 GB phone) plus a monthly device cost of $40 for 2 years. After two years the cost goes down to $15 or $25 a month depending on your data plan.
If you buy the phone on Next you pay no upfront cost, however the cost of the device is spread out over either 20 or 24 months, though you can upgrade at either 12 or 18 months by trading in your device. On top of that you pay $15 or $25 a month depending on your data plan.
If you buy the phone upfront, you pay the full price of the device but ONLY pay $15 or $25 a month. This is also true if you already have a device that’s no longer on contract.
ATT has many issues, but they aren’t jacking up the prices for people who upgrade, they are simply charging these people for the device in one of three ways. If you don’t want your monthly bill to go up, you have to pay for the whole device yourself. Period.
I’m glad we both saw and posted this at the same time. Yay for agreement.
Obviously you didn’t notice the most important part of the article: AT&T didn’t TELL consumers of the price increase until their iPhone’s had been ordered and, in some cases, already shipped. You don’t need to explain how the discount works, it’s the not mentioning the price increase at the time of purchase that is the news.
Users should always be checking the carriers site before ordering anything new, regardless of the devices popularity or mfg. They didn’t because they were focused on getting the iphone and didn’t read. Ignorance is bliss but it won’t stand up in court. The Lawyers. That used to be on the side of a building I passed everyday to work and you know what they were right.
Att did tell users before the pre-order date. I knew of it by asking att specifically about what changes would happen to my plan a month ago. But it was also featured and explained in detail in many blog posts before the preorder date.
ATT told me as I placed the preorder (and before)
When the customer switched to the mobile share value plan they where aware of the price increase. They just decided to wait for the new iPhone and forgot or didn’t listen. These plans have been in affect since February
This makes me laugh. Nobody “told” me about the “increase”. I found out myself by reading the the website.
Also it isn’t an increase. You received a discount that only applies to off contract people.
You people are ridiculous.
You were told in your customer service contract.
As explained above, there is no price increase.
This has been happening for over a year. ANY user who chooses to upgrade with a 2-year contract loses their discount on the line. It doesn’t matter if they get an iPhone, or an Android, or a Windows phone. It’s completely irrelevant. This article is making a mountain out of a mole hill. Not to mention, they tell you in your customer service contract that the price of your line will increase! If people PAID ATTENTION to what they’re signing, they would KNOW this. This article is outlining NOTHING new!
Actually when ATT first offered a discount earlier this year they said that would happen. People thought their bills were just going down for no apparent reason. But the whole goal was to get people either on the NEXT plan or get them to buy the phones outright. If not they would have to charge more monthly to subsidize the phone until your contract was up. I asked ATT right when they started offering the new plans what was the catch. People need to ask more questions instead of blaming others.
Actually they did, it was all written on the webpage for the iPhone 6 (and all their other phones) when you ordered it and chose the rate plan.
When I went through my what-ifs on the website, before ordering, AT&T most definitely DID tell me it would go up to $40 a month if I continued on a new 2 year contract with the phone. People just did not read or understand what they were reading or care to look.
Not only that, but ATT announced this a while ago. I knew about it when I upgraded my iPhone 5 to 6. Terrible journalism.
I understand how it works, but in some cases (like our 5 line family plan), there’s only one of us (my father) who bought his phone on ATT Next, but we’re ALL getting the line discount. Even me, who has a 5S, which only came out 12 months ago, and has 12 months left on my 2 year contract.
ATT even says in small print somewhere that some longtime customers are given the discount even while still on a traditional contract (we’ve had ATT since back when it was pre-Cingular ATT).
But now, we’ll get a price increase either way from upgrading – sign a 2 year contract and lose the $25 monthly discount (we’re on the 20 GB share plan), or keep the discount but pay an additional $27 per month for the phone. About the same per month either way, but the 2 year contract folks are actually paying $200 more up front, since the Next pricing is $0 down (or $100, $200 down for 64 or 128 GB, vs. $299 or $399 on contract).
The moral of the story is that, in this new pricing scheme, the ATT Next plan, as sleazy and confusing as it seems, is actually a better deal than a 2 year contract now.
The carriers are going to phase our subsidies and because of Tmobile proof of concept, they’re now nudging you to do thst
Yes, AT&T moved people who still had phones in the middle of the contract period to the discounted mobile share value plans (I think if at least one line was on it). When this was done for me, the AT&T rep (in store — we were adding a wifi hotspot device for a couple months while we waited for our broadband install in the office) was clear that if we went on another contract subsidized phone in the future the discount would be lost again. (And when AT&T did this, you still were under contract on the original phone though they applied the discount for you when one line was changed to qualify)
David K, you explained the Mobile Share/Next plan almost perfectly. You should have written this article. The only thing I can think to add is that this applies to all upgrades, and not just iPhone 6 upgrades like the ridiculous title implies. The article also fails to mention that Verizon is doing the same exact thing to their customers! The author is obviously biased and/or too lazy to research the facts. I’m appalled at the writer’s narrow minded and poorly chosen words.
I just have one question why I am paying $15 or $25 after paying full price upfront for the phone. Also I am already paying monthly service fee. So what is this $15 or $25 additional for…
That is the monthly service fee for each line.
typical cult of mac trying to start crap.
I recently considered switching to their data share plan but noticed the clause that would cause this price increase when I upgraded. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is the most ridiculous charge ever – and it’s clearly just AT&T trying to get you to switch to their next plan – but this is NOT just a thing for the iPhone and it is NOT something they just threw out after people ordered their phone. This was available information well before this release and, in all honesty, AT&T didn’t even have to warn people at all.
For the record, I despise AT&T and will not be getting my iPhone tomorrow because of their jacked up ordering process – I just hate when scum “bloggers” (I refuse to consider you legitimate journalists) skew stories in a way to get a rise out of people.
You can chose to pay off the phone on the next plan just like you do on a typical 2 year plan and enjoy the discounts, and either trade in after a year and continue on with a new phone and discount or keep it for 2 years, then its paid for and you can still get a couple hundred for it and sign a new Next plan and enjoy profit on both ends.
Click bait… And it works… Blogs have tons of ridiculous iPhone postings. Where are all the 6S rumors
I honestly hope that AT&T is stupid enough to attempt this. We could really hurt them economically long term. They deserve it for being the bunch of cheating pieces of garbage that they have been for so long. They don’t deserve their customer base at all. Please AT&T try to tap an extra 40 on my bill each month. I dare you. You can all please feel free to repost this with my face and name. I used to work there. We’re old friends.
Um… No…
See the other comments.
You know they have to make a profit right? You do understand T-Mobiles business model will crash and burn? My AT&T bill is the lowest it’s every been in my life. And they give you the option of owning or essentially renting the phone you are buying for incremental costs relative to the time you decide you want to use the phone? Whats so sinister about this???
That’s why T-Mobile turned a profit last quarter, right?
Don’t get a new phone and you’ll be fine. Or, if you haven’t switched to this plan, then don’t. You’ll be fine.
Better yet, own your phone & gp prepaid.
Then you best read the fine print for all providers before you judge any upgrade. All are going that way. OPEN YOUR EYES.
@CELL PHONE “SPECIALIST” So you suggest that we just bend over and take it? OPEN YOUR MIND!
You will with any major provider. Read the fine print then before you switch or upgrade. Then you decide what you want to do.
Unless you’re with Tmobile. The only way ATT or Verizon will change is if people leave. Take advantage of Tmobile free one week trial & see if the coverage works in your area. If it does, they’ll buy you out of your ATT contract & odds are their rates will be cheaper. The pricing is also pretty straightforward.. And no overages
You hit the nail on the head Dakota. I liked this little comment on Daring Fireball as well: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2014/09/19/bott-iphone-price
I hate to rain on the parade, but when our family joined the Family Share Plan, it was made very clear that the discounted device fee was contingent upon using AT&T Next for our device acquisitions. Last week an AT&T rep in our local store told me the same thing.
Yet their website said nothing about the price increase while they were taking iPhone 6 pre-orders. Shouldn’t consumers know exactly what they are paying before they buy something?
Well no, because that would mean AT&T is being honest.
Please quit using hyperbole. It was clearly on website. Not everything has to be in 18 point bold font for it to be noticeable
It actually wasn’t listed anywhere if you ordered thru apple and no note from at&t came up stating that, but they had a lot of information on AT&T next. It was written in fine print on AT&T site, so if you upgrade thru Apple site there wasn’t any information provided.
Yes it was. I ordered 2 phone through Apple’s site and one phone through AT&Ts site to upgrade my 3 lines and all of them spelled out the monthly as well as up front costs for service as well as any device if on installment plan. I also did a ton of what-ifs on both sites. It was clear.
What many of you are missing is that this is not a change in the price of the iphone 6, it is a change in the price of using the phone to access AT&T mobile share plans. AT&T actually gave users a break by charging existing customers the lower access fee provided they enrolled in the mobile share plan. It was all over their promotional materials for those plans. They are not going to give you a double subsidy (subsidizing both the phone’s retail price and the connection fee). Be mad all you want, but the object of your anger should be the person in the mirror, not AT&T.
It’s like any other promotion. People need to read what theyre signing. When you order online, it doesnt say what your monthly price would be? I know it dies for new customers. Ive never heard anything good about ATT.
They did. When you went through the site, it told you exactly what your bill would be. I did a lot of what-ifs as well as one complete order through AT&T website (and 2 through Apple’s) and I saw it. It comes from people who don’t understand that they were on a plan for someone who owned their phone (or used Next), which AT&T let you switch to (even when your contract was not up). If they get a new contract, then the discount for not having a contract phone goes away. Very simple. People were just not paying attention.
If you’re dumb enough to not educate yourself before changing a plan its your own fault. Att never “quietly” changed the plan its been like that since feb. Customers just never chose to read the fine between the lines.
When MY family changed to this plan, it was NEVER mentioned or hinted at that this would happen. Shame on my for not reading the fine print, but as I am typing this my Iphone 6 is on the FedEx truck to be delivered to me. It is going back to the store as soon as I get it. I am not happy.
AND to top it off, when I placed my order online, I DID see the fee of $40 a month and I immediately CALLED them. The man on the other end point blank told me not to worry, there is NO extra charge. He clearly was wrong and/or lying.
Its not a new fee. Its the per-line monthly charge for service that you get in the family plan. When your phone goes out of contract, the family share plans drop by $25 per line (since they are no longer subsidizing 2/3 of the cost of the phone). When you go back on contract, they charge you the contract rate, since ATT is paying Apple $400 of the $600 retail price of the phone.
Technically they drop $25 or $15, depending on how much data your plan has in it. You need a 10GB or more per month plan to get the full $25
Enjoy that $50 restocking fee!
I have another, more insidious, issue with ATT. I tried to sign up for the iPhone 6 Plus 128gb yesterday morning. All week the monthly 18-month Next contract price had been $37.35. The order mysteriously didn’t go through although I have an order confirmation number. Finally, after waiting 12 hours (and after multiple calls to ATT support) I was told that it had never been completely processed and to simply sign up again. I did this and suddenly the monthly Next 18-month contract price jumped $2.12 to $39.47. Calls to ATT only resulted in their saying “the price of the phone must have gone up”. WTF??? The price is fixed by Apple and has not changed!!! No answer just dead air. Now, $2.12 per month doesn’t seem like much, butttt……x20 months of the actual contract (before you can dump out and get the new phone) actually adds up to $42.40. SHOCKINGLY CLOSE TO THIS SAME $40 BS they are trying to extract now and had promised I would be avoiding if I signed up for Next. Thoughts?
It’s simple really take the price of the phone you buying divide by 24 and that is your next payment plain and simple. This is nothing new they started this plan over a year ago
Seems like there is some kind of calculation error on their site since $949/24 = $39.54 so based on that you should be paying that price.
attcalc.com/next/
Then you decide.
You’re first mistake (god i hope i’m making the assumption and there was really no way in your case to avoid it) was using ATT Next. That thing is a straight up out and out scam. I am beyond pissed that in a climate where users want to upgrade yearly that carriers are getting this greedy. I knew they were greedy before but these are new levels.
Agreed, I’ve been an ATT customer for about 18 years ATT/Cingualar and back again. They suck. Service is shitty. The Customer service is beyond shitty. they’ll shit all over you and you wont get a name or a number to complain. but this NEXT shit is the biggest scam ever. Im probably going to verizon for the 6-6+. ATT has faster data networks. but to you want the worst customer experience of you f@#$ing life ?
PS: Always been a 2 year contract and upgrade every 18 months too
they no longer allow that..
Good luck. Getting crappy customer service. Just because they wont give you a free phone it doesnt make them a bad company.
Exactly. I was an ATT CSR in one of their call centers for a time. It’s unbelievable how many people call in wanting a free phone because their previous free/crappy Android broke or they’ve been a customer for x-amount of years. Then when they get denied because they have no insurance or no other valid claim they instantly think ATT and the CSR’s are all terrible. Common sense goes a long way but many do not have enough.
Who’s the fool if you hate your carrier so much but have been with then for nearly 2 decades. Why would they change when customers like you do whatever they want. Kinda like iPhone users with Apple. Switch carriers. Consumer reporter Clark Howard always says dont go with ATT unless you have no other choice
yeah I’m fool for keeping my Apple 20% discount and unlimited data for 30$ lol #grandfathered you #troll ..pfft kids get born and think they know it all.
you mean your 5GB soft capped data for $30? Still overpaying compared to T-Mobile (who, by the way, also offers Apple discounts still)
Verizon is just as bad unfortunately. Better coverage though.
Please explain how it is a scam again? You do know that you have a very clear option to pay off your old phone when you upgrade to a new one. That doesn’t sound like much of a scan to me. That’s just asking people to pay for a phone instead of getting it for half price
attcalc.com/next/
If you actually do upgrade every year, its not a scam.
(using the 16 GB iPhone as an example here):
Before, if you signed a 2 year contract, you were buying a $650 phone (16 GB) for $200 up front, and ATT was charging you an additional $25 a month (you may not have realized this, because it was rolled into the “monthly line access” on the family plan) to cover their “subsidy”. So if you stuck with the whole two-year contract, you were actually shelling out $800 ($25×24 + $200) for a $650 phone. After the contract was over, they stopped charging the $25 a month subsidy, so your bill went down to $15 per line.
Now, you have the option of not signing a contract, and paying full price ($600) for the phone in installments of $27 a month with $0 up front. After 12 months (i.e. after having paid $325) you can trade in your used phone and get the iPhone 7 (or whatever) for $0 down again. Or you can hold onto your phone and keep paying $27 a month until its paid off, totaling $650 for the phone, then sell it (but you probably won’t get $325 for a two year old phone on the trade in market).
So basically, the Next plan saves you $150 over the life of the phone.
AT&T Next is not a scam. Just don’t trade your phone in at 12 or 18 months and pay the whole 20 or 24 month term and keep your phone. I have a 10GB plan and upgraded 3 lines using AT&T Next and my overall cost per phone for the 24 months (to match a contract) is less than getting a contract phone at the same length and amount of service plan. And every time I have needed AT&T customer service, they have been very good and solved my problems, gave me credit, or whatever I needed. Most recently, my BIL and Sister and their family moved to France for a year. He is in the military and started off their move with a few weeks in Germany for the military, and was able to get military deferment on their contract until they get back next year due to that. No problems and no arguments. AT&T has done much better for me than Sprint ever did and just as good or better than when I was on T-Mobile (switched to AT&T with the original iPhone in Dec 2007 so don’t have recent T-MObile experience; Sprint experience is also older).
When I called to cancel my u-verse service because my contract was up, they said instead of discounting u-verse, they could discount my cell service. They said it was a new offering and had no strings attached. I even asked when the discount would expire, and I was told it would not expire. They never said anything about the discount being tied to this next bullshit.
I had a very similar experience with AT&T. I was told that I was able to change my cell service to get a lower rate. Never once was it mentioned to me that it would be a discount that would go away when I upgraded.
Don’t upgrade with a new contact and you keep the same pricing. On contract pricing is different than the non contract pricing.
This isn’t a new policy; ATT implemented it some time ago.
Best bet, CoM, would be to just delete this entire article and pretend it never happened. Seriously.
Verizon does the same thing, its called profit margins. They like them big, fat and in their wallet. If you pay full price you lose, if you go 2 year contracts you lose, if you do anything on a US wireless carrier you lose.
Both carriers switched to mobile share and their rates skyrocketed. I remember I was poised to sign with Verizon and overnight the plan went up $30/mos
People. This article is correct. Look at it this way. Before when new phone came out I paid $199 for the iPhone every two years and all u had to do is renew the contract. Now u renew contract and the difference in cost over the two years is the full price cost of the phobe. Whichever way you sugar coat it, you are spending more money. $199 is a lot less than paying Att Next at least $20 per month for 24 months.
But with AT&T Next paid for phone your per month charge is less. IN my case, the cheaper per month plus cost of phone with AT&T next (total cost over 24 months) is LESS than getting a phone on contract and paying the standard monthly rate. If you have less than 10GB data plan, it comes out to be very close to the same, but if you have 10GB or bigger data plan, the cost is a lot less with Next.
How do you figure that? when I looked into a week ago the cost for service would drop $10 if you purchased the phone on the next plan.
thats a savings of $240 over the 2 years.
The cost of subsidized phone was $200 and the full retail was $650, so by not having them subsidize your phone AT&T is making an additional $210 off of you over 2 years with little actual benefit to you at all.
Well, do the math correctly. The price difference is MORE than $10 (at least in many if not most cases) — $15 I believe — and if you have a 10GB plan or greater the difference can be $25 per month cheaper. $25×24 is $600. Plus you don’t get charged the $40 upgrade fee on a Next funded phone plan. A contract phone is $199 + $40 + ($40 x 24) = $1199 over 24 months (plus taxes fees etc). An AT&T Next phone is $649 + either 24 x $25 or 24 x $15 = $1249 for less than 10GB plan (as I said, they are close, $1199 and $1249 are close) or $1009 if your data plan is 10GB or more. And last I looked $1009 is a lot less than $1199. 10GB plan or greater does not seem to give you a discount on the per phone price when I do a what-if on the Apple Store website.
After doing some more research I realize is only the individual plans that get the shaft, with some of the family share plans you might make out better.
Actually, I only see mobile share plans on the AT&T website, whether you have one or four phones. And the math I gave is valid for a single line plan or a multi-line plan per phone.
Your right, I’ve confused myself with all the comparison shopping. I’m on AT&T and considering switching to Verizon because they have better service in my home area. Last time I got a phone was 2 years ago and all this is new to me.. family plans, off contract phones.. You literally have to do math and read all the fine print to make sense of it to make sure your not getting screwed. In the end though the phone companies have us by the balls, they could double their service fee’s and we would gladly pay it or go back to being unconnected humans no better than apes.
That they do (have us by the family jewels)!
The fact is that all the carriers suck. The past year ATT kept calling and texting me that they could reduce my cell bill but when you looked into the share plans they were pushing,they screwed you on the updates. Rule number one: anytime they offer you deal it is only because it is good for them and you get the shaft.
Buster I hope reportingnisnt your day job
at this point I’m so happy i kept my unlimited data plan
They’re under no obligation to honor that though since you’re not on a contract. Just be aware they can take that away whenever they want
Regardless, AT&T is scum. They screwed me last year with 5s. Took all 3 lines to Tmobile. Service is a bit worse, but I never have to deal with the scum like AT&T
Thiis article is right on!
I bought an iPhone plus 64gb for – $399.00
And received the same text msg and are now being charged $25 extra each month…..which after the two years will end up paying $600.00
So when it’s all said and done,I would have paid $999.99 + $40 upgrade fee..
Isn’t it better to just buy the iPhone right out for $849.00
I truly wish I had known this ahead of time or while doing the pre order, at&t should have said. Hey it will cost you $25/month for the next two years to get this iPhone. I would have instantly gone back and paid for the phone roght out. All these carriers are the same…they want money in their pocket and they will find a way to take your money one way or the other….
in a way this feels like you pay, sign and get locked into a 2yr contract, and u get punished for staying with AT&T.
People are still signing contracts?
So…can I get my phone and buy out of my contract for $325, right? How is that not a better deal? $25/month for the next 2 years is $600 so the $325 right now would save me in the long run, right? Or am I not doing the math right?
Nice little loophole. Hopefully they don’t close it.
Technically you are right on! $199 + $325 = $524
Wait, there is more. If you renew your contract there is a $40 activation fee. So tack that onto the price.
Then, the first month you will at least get hit with the $25 for being on the contract.
So $524 + $40 + $25 = $589 which is a $61 savings on a 16GB.
I am assuming that your $325 is an accurate number and if it isn’t, then that throws this whole thing off.
I spent over an hour on the phone with an AT&T rep 2 days ago trying to answer the question: “How much will the iPhone 6 cost me over 2 years on a 2-year contract versus an AT&T Next 18 month plan?”. My rep was a nice girl, but it took her over an hour to get this information for me (you’d think she’d have this information at her fingertips). I found out by continually asking for the exact costs, that AT&T Next actually costs me about $150 – $200 more–even though AT&T says I can save money on their discounted rates! This information is cleverly hidden, and even their own reps don’t know this. The advertising on their site about Next being cheaper is a complete lie.
I decided to order my iPhone 6 on my regular 2-year contract as usual, since it was cheaper. Now that AT&T is removing the discount from the 2-year plan, I’m screwed any way. I’m very upset with this, enough to cancel my order and change carriers. I’ve been with AT&T for my wireless since 2000, but this unannounced price increase AFTER I ordered the phone is too shady for me.
The next plan on AT&T has no residual value and you have to return the phone. its the best scam ever. What I suggest is to go to T-Moble and check your location coverage if it is good on your area. You can finance the iPhone 6 for $27 a month with zero interest payment plan top of your monthly bill. And you get to keep the phone. You only have to pay for the tax of the iPhone 6 up front and the sim card for $10. The best part there is no activation fee.
Actually Tmobile will let you test out their network free for a week with an iPhone (probably a 5S for now but test the network). You have to do it on the website. That way you can test the coverage at home, work, and wherever you must frequent. Also read about their wifi calling, international texting & music freedom if u use services like Pandora. You brought up a good point. People think Next is a copy of what Tmobile is doing but as their CEO John Legere says, ItS even a greater scam. Ive had Tmobile before and may go back if I but a new phone but Straight Talk is still cheapest for me cuz I get 3gb of LTE for $45..Tmobile would be $15 more a month plus fees
You don’t have to return the phone if you pay the full 20 or 24 months. It is yours; you paid for the whole thing. The only time you have to return the phone is if you upgrade after 12 or 18 months to a new phone (i.e., don’t finish paying for the original).
An iPhone 6 with less than 10GB of data plan is about $50 more with AT&T Next than the two year contract (figured using the 16GB model but should be about the same on the others). If you have a 10GB or higher plan, it is actually almost $200 less than on contract.
All of these rates were disclosed when they launched the share plans a few months ago… I went into an AT&T store and after discussing for about 30 min. I realized that this would happen and kept my existing plan, where I’ll end up paying less even as I pay for data overages on my 3GB of data, while my wife uses less than 1GB of her 3GB plan.
You can get an ATT Sim from Straight Talk and get 3gb for $45 if you own your phone
AT&T sent me a text msg 2 day before about WTF
AT&T SENT ME THAT MSG 2 DAY BEFORE WTF FUK AT&T
Instead of trying to slander AT&Ts name know that tmobile started the whole installment program and quickly verizon and speing started doing the same thing. Just because you want an expensive phone for free doesnt mean at&t is robbing you. You want to pay less then get a flip phone. Get boost or metro pcs. But if you want high quality service with the latest device pay your bill. Demand is high for high quality…it doesnt mean at&t should just hand you an iphone. I wipe my butt with what ever degree you might have in journalism because you cant get your facts right. Did you know the mobile share plan saves customers more money than having the old minute two year plan? Yeah you dont because you obviouly cant read. Also know it comes with unlimited talk and text. Grow the hell up and do research before you feed BS to a consumer.
So I bought the 64gb Iphone for $339. Am I still going to be charged more on my monthly bill or is it just the at&t next users
Read the fine print too – if you do have “buyer’s remorse” (because you had no idea this was coming) and you do decide to fall for the ATT Next so you can get the discount back, you get to pay a $35 RESTOCKING fee. Even if you are right there in the store, returning the one account upgrade, signing up for a new one. This is ridiculous.
My gripe with ATT’s policy (or maybe it was Apple’s web site) was that this came as a surprise. Had I known this, I would have purchased an unlocked phone — it would have been less over the long run. And I would have the option of shopping around when the other contracts are up.
If you bought the phone, you could have gotten an ATT Sim from Straight Talk. I get 3gb of LTE for $45. There are no hidden fees or activation charges. Maybe you can still try that. If you own a GSM phone, it prob would work with Tmobile and other mvno so you’d have several other options like solavei
ADDITIONAL WARNING: Your “14 days to return” begin ON THE DAY THE PHONE SHIPS (which for most who ordered was Wednesday) so your really have only TEN days to return. AT&T has not told most people this. In addition, if you switch, you are still stuck paying the activation charge (which is waived for NEXT purchasers) and (you will love this) a RESTOCKING CHARGE even though you are not physically returning your phone.
I didn’t even get a iphone 6. I went to HTC One and got tacked with this. Needless to say, I left bad reviews on their survery. My wife is getting the iphone 6, and I know I am gunna get tacked with another one. It seems all the carriers are doing this though. I spoke to a Verizon rep and he knew exactly what was going on, and admitted Verizon does it too. It seems the carrier has to make up the price of the phone somehow since the ATT Next and Verizon Edge plans tend to loose money with the frequent upgrades. They should have stuck with the original contracted model to keep this cost out.
Not all. Tmobile is pretty clear. ATT tactics are what are getting people to switch, esp when Tmobile will reimburse you cancellation fee. Next and all that is copying what Tmobile did. Subsidies will slowly disappear. The problem with ATT and Verizon contacts and plans are that they are more confusing than ever, and have increased substantially by forcing you into mobile share plans. And God forbid, you use alot of data
I am on the side of they DID NOT hike up prices. Instead, people do not understand what they are buying. This is how it works and I don’t work for ATT. I merely was trying to get the best deal possible which is what prompted me to do this research. BTW… this applies to the 5’s as well.
If you renew your contract, there is an upgrade fee first off. Its like $40 or something (I don’t remember the exact cost as I would never go this route). Then, you pay $199 for a 16GB iphone. Then they tack on $25 a month, if you are upgrading from an existing phone that is OUT OF CONTRACT. Note that you are already paying a smart phone access charge (whatever they call it) of $15. That is btw…. where that $40 per month comes from ($15 smart phone cost + $25 phone on contract). So your 2 year cost to go with a new contract is $824. Cheaper to have bought the phone out right. This assumes you already had an iphone and was already paying the $15 a month.
Next plan?? No upgrade fees. Take the cost of the phone and divide it by the months on the next plan. For example, 20 month plan would be 650 / 20 = $32.50 per month. That is what your bill will increase by. This is of course assuming you already had an iphone to begin with that was NOT in contract. Note that there will still be a cost of having a smart phone added to your bill of $15 (if you did not have a smart phone that was out of contract on your service). But they do not add the $25 a month like they would if you renew your contract nor will there be a phone upgrade fee.
Why not buy the phone outright (which is the route I wanted to take). Some reason ATT nor Apple had their systems setup to buy the phone outright. I tried them both and even got on the phone with ATT and did chat with Apple. So because I wanted to upgrade, ATT said that I can go the NEXT plan route then just pay the phone off early. The manager approved it and the person on the phone put it in the notes. Who knows what will happen when I call to pay it off. But basically, no change in my plan at all except for the cost of the phone.
One little note: your per month charge is either $25 or $15 depending on how much data you have in the plan. You need a 10GB or higher data plan to get the $15 per month charge, otherwise it is $25.
In reading thru some of the comments, I just realized a pattern. People are thinking that it is still like the old days. You pay $199 for the phone as a discounted price for the device as long as you sign a 2 year contract. Those days are long gone. I would say around a year ago, ATT did away with that whole concept and basically want you to pay the entire phone one way or another. This is the part I don’t like but all the carriers are doing it so you are stuck with it no matter what. This is what halted me from getting the 5.
So for those that are still thinking that $199 contract mentality where you are getting a $650 phone at a discount for $199 because you are signing a contract. That is no more. You will pay the entire phone one way or another. Cheapest option would be to buy it outright or go the NEXT plan which divides it over 20 or 24 months.
I have to add though that before you jump into the NEXT Plan, is this. They sell it as a “Hey you can upgrade in 12 months if you are on a 20 month Next plan.” Your phone has to be 100% functional when you TRADE your phone in. Meaning, you get nothing for it. You were just in essence renting your phone. Then when you get your new phone down the line, back to square one. Rent that phone again. You basically never own the phone on the Next plan IF YOU TRADE IT IN.
If you decide to keep paying on it for 20 months. You will then own the phone and no reason to trade it in. Instead, just get into a new Next plan and sell your now 20 month old phone.
You’ve always paid. Theres never been charity. Rate plans were artificially high to pay back the subsidy over 2 years. If you didn’t upgrade, carriers profited more because your rate didn’t decrease even though your subsidy was paid back. Tmobile has changed all that with transparency and separating devices and rate plans. You decide how much you want to pay when & when you own the device, your rate goes down. The other carriers are all copying in one way or another. In a few years, all subsidies will be gone. Let’s be real though. Most Americans are dumb and they think an iPhone is only $200
Tmobile has a free 1 week iPhone trial… If people wanna test the network, I suggest taking them up. If you get ok coverage, they’ll buy you out of your ATT contract and you’ll likely save money to boot
Dakota, you are correct. They always hid it in the cost of the contract. But it was not something you could itemize out. It was just a “smart phone fee” and that was that. Oddly enough, it is now more clear.
This will not stand. You watch AT&T will cave. How I read it is that data plans under 10gb would lose your $15 discount but 10gb plans and up would still get the $25 discount.
Ultimately all these corporation are her to rob you, period. First Financial institutions looted us, Now its Telecom’s turn. SO be prepared for more legal looting from these corporations.
As long as they have lobbyist cozying up with our politicians, nothing is going to change in this nation. Everyone is corrupt.
So after talking to AT&T customer service they suggest either pay full price, or pay extra $15 each month or shift to AT&T Next or Jump to Verizon ( When I told they offer $60 for 2GB data unlimited call/text plan ).
So I’m jumping AT&T ship … I know verizon is not better… but at least for same data plan I will be paying $60+ tax instead of $80+ tax.
Remember back when you could keep the same plan no matter how many times you upgraded? Those were the good old days.
It’s called Tmobile. They’ll even give you unlimited data
As a retail phone rep, I can say the author is mistaken and the article misleading. Not about the price hike, but about it’s timing and his reasoning. The bump up to $40 from $15 has been in place as long as they have been advertising the “4 lines for 130” deal. Everyone who upgrades pays the higher fee.
At&t has ALWAYS charged you for tje phones, but it was hidden in your regular plan bill. They were NOT giving you $650 phones for $100 as a present. The extra was just built into the plan price. When you finished paying for the phone, you still kept paying the same price. There was tons of bad press about the lack od transparency. NOW, when a contract is up, or a phone is paid off on NEXT, the price drops down again. The phone is paid for and you have a lower bill. Unfortunately, it appears that in the race to get bonus points by setting people up on the 10 GB plan and take advantage of the promotion, many salespeople neglected to tell thier clients how the plan actually works.
Why be honest and lose a commission?
The problem as always with the ATT and general corporate approach is it aims to obfuscate and confuse rather than inform. ATT employees are often wrong regarding the advice they offer (only 4 phones allowed on a Next plan), important details are hidden in small print and offered without clear illustrations. Add that to the generalized incompetence regarding customer service and the labyrinthe of a website and presto! you get paranoid and intolerant customers. So while the details of the fee may have been out there from a legal and technical point of view ATT by their own actions has created a frustrated, mistrustful, and quick to flare customer base. Somewhere at Harvard Business School there must be a case study on how not to trreat your customers like ATT and Comcast.
Which explains why Tmobile is growing so fast
AT&T is actually doing it right. If you don’t get a subsidized phone or do their payment plan you get a discount on your monthly fee. If you get a subsidized phone you lose your discount if you are out of contract. Its written all over their website and under every page they show you the rates and device info.
Im going to do the Next program, $39 per month 24 payment 0% interest for the 6+ 128GB, it doesn’t renew my contract, I get the discount on my monthly rate and I own the phone. Sounds like a good and fair deal to me.
What’s the rate plan
god people haz the stupid and dont read things.. this has been already stated… if you upgrade your line charge goes from $15—>$40 if you’re on one of the new plans. If you didn’t know that then i’m sorry that’s a you problem.
I left #ATTfail for TMobile because of billing surprises like this. I should have learned when the original unlimited plan for iPhone went from $20, to $30, to $40, to [“We’re lying, it’s not] Unlimited”, to “[throttled, unusable, capped] Unlimited”, to “Unlimited [is 2 gigs ONLY]”, to [“F### you, you’re] Tiered, and finally [“Oh, hey, we QUADRUPLED your total bill for] Basic Plan.
Whether this “new” issue is fair or unfair or new or not seems obvious.
How angry are the majority of your customers? …that know about it.
#ATTfail
If T-Mobile wasn’t deplorable service in my home town, I would make the switch too. I pray for market saturation in my area.
Have you looked into Straight Talk. If you own a phone, you can get 3gb of ATT LTE for only &$45
I honestly love how people are defending ATT’s predatory billing practices on the eve of a new phone release (which is a HUGE profit maker for any carrier). Its akin to buying your children Christmas presents only to have to pay “Uncle Sal” $100 extra before you can open then. Believe me, those who will flame me for saying what I said above, I get the NEXT program, I understand that sooner or later we will have to go to it, like all carriers they don’t want to subsidize phone costs anymore, its not in their best interests when companies like T-Mob will pay your termination fee and you can trot with your shiny 3 month old [insert fanboy phone-camp name here] to their network.
What I take issue with is THE WAY it was done. Via text message. Think about it, no one wants to get a message like that… Whether it be: “John, I’m pregnant”, “Baby, its not working out, I am breaking up with you”, or “If you upgrade your phone we’re taking away your $25 a month discount you didnt know you were getting as a discount”. Every one of those examples are the same. You are getting a big one, right in the pooper. I think we can all agree on that, and it isn’t cool.
I did buy an iPhone, I opted NOT to go with next, and I purchased my phone via apple.com. I check my bill MONTHLY as I have to expense it for work (yeah I know I shouldn’t be bitching if I can expense my phone, leave me alone). Never, before this month did I see anything about a “discount” for owning my own phone. I had my 10GB family share plan with 2 lines, at $15 per phone line. So yes. I was a little upset when I realized my bill will now increase by $50 monthly. I called ATT and they “explained” just like a few of you did in the chat here, that it was a discount that I was opting out of by not moving to NEXT. It was canned, cut&paste text (as I used “click to chat” with the CSR). I asked for their email and sent them the last 3 months PDF bills where the $15 per line fee for my family share plan is, as well as this months bill with the *$15 per line item with a – $25 for off contract discount. She told me that this was being applied since February because I was off contract using my own phone. I told her that can’t be true because I technically went off contract in July, so why was I getting a discount Feb, March, April, May, and June… She said “you’re right, I can’t say any more about it, but you’re right.” I was passed to a “Senior account rep” and they credited my account for the “new iPhone activations” along with an apology to do better by customers.
Like I said, if you do your research the fee and discount was slipped in there, the article is correct. I get why they are doing it, but its a dirty way to do business.
Why do people stay with ATT. If Tmobile coverage works I’m your area, that’s probably cheaper. I use Straight Talk which gives me an ATT LTE SIM and 3gb a month with unlimited calls & texts for only $45. No stupid added fees. No activation or upgrade charges. Just a buck fifty in taxes. Yes, you have to bring your own phone so if you can’t pay for it upfront, it may not work for you. ATT has always been supremely arrogant.
Because we are locked in with AT&T dedicated devices. I have 6 devices counting my two iPads for my family plan. We are screwed and getting unscrewed would be quite expensive. Don’t even suggest jail breaking to those of us who are unsophisticated users. I won’t even go into the poor reception at my house which is tolerable with AT&T’s “microcell” thingy but which T-Mobile has no equivilant device.
AT&T is the worst. I was with them for a year and regretted every day of it.
So glad I made the decision to go with T-Mobile already and got my phone from them. No hidden pricing. All up front, not surprise.
I wish I could. Tried Tmobile and it really sucked.
When I went to an ATT store this past year and they explained the new plan and rate, I stayed in there almost an hour trying to understand things. It didn’t exactly seem right. Especially since my wife was midway through her 2-year contract. Essentially she got the discount and her phone is no longer subsidized.
When planning to purchase the iPhone 6 i “ran the numbers” to see which of the three buying/plan options was best. Even with the increase to $40 our best option is for me to go on a 2-year contract. NEXT would have cost $50-75 more over 2 years.
Now, if you have 10Gb plan it is cheaper to go NEXT. Actually if you are 6gb it is cheaper to go 10Gb and NEXT.
Unfortunately, too many people don’t do the proper consumer research before making a big purchase-or a monthly recurring payment plan.
I won’t be upgrading. $90 a month is more than enough to already be spending on a monthly phone bill. I hope AT&T and apple are hearing this.
Good reason to move to T-Mobile after being AT&T subscriber for 9 years. Goodbye to the worst mobile carrier in the US. Can’t tell you the problems I’ve had with them through the years. Good bye AT&T.
Two people from AT&T (phone and chat) have tried to explain this “policy” to me. It’s basically bait & switch to enroll people in the Mobile Share Value plan in the first place. Either you end up paying an extra $600 in monthly fees for the next two years (if you buy the phone for the subsidized price) or you pay at least the same in “Next” charges on the installment plan. Either way, a ripoff.
This is not “jacking up the service charge” the standard fee for an iphone or smartphone if you are on the 2 year plan and under contract is $40. That’s what mine is and has been and I have an iphone 5.
AT&T had been doing this for at least a year now. Upgrade on a 2 year contract you pay more monthly, than vs. Next. This isn’t new, it’s in the “fine print” whether you upgrade in store or online.
I don’t see why people are so pissed about it. We were paying $30 per line before and $160 for 15GB of data. Now we’re paying $15 per line and $130 for the data. The only difference is you pay $650+ for the phone instead of $200+ for the phone but it’s broken up over 20-24 months. In my case it would have been this under our old “grandfathered-in” pricing for the lines alone for my iPhone 6 with 64GB: $30 per line*24 months + $40 activation fee + $300 for the phone. $1060 over 2 years. $15*24 months + no activation fee + $37.50*20 months (or $750 outright – same cost either way) which is $1,110. So I guess the cost of the line plus the phone is a little more expensive – $40 over 2 years – but if we were on our old plan that was $160 per month for 15GB vs. the new plan that’s $130 for 15GB. So maybe if you had switched to the new pricing structure in February when they changed it you’d be paying more than you think you should, but we were still paying the old rates. I’ll gladly pay an extra $50 over two years to know I have no contract and can leave at any time.
How’s that new? It’s been $40 for contact users ever since the mobile share plans came out. Looks like some pseudo journalist didn’t do their homework
I learned of this “discount” that I presently have after repeated phone calls to the DeathStar. Lovely how ATT “gave” us a discount for individual lines as part of the plan upgrade to the 4 phones/$160. Other than going to a smartphone for the first time (adding data), never before has getting a new phone effected your existing plan. THIS IS PURE ATT MARKETING GENIUS!
It’s this simple, YOU are paying for the device, one way or another. Get a subsidized phone and pay for it every month. Brilliant! Either the Next plan or by changing your plan (thus losing this illustrious “discount”). In my case, I have 3 phones, so my plan will jump another $75, just by getting a single new device.
ATT can cram it. This market is always changing and when I get the chance to split this relationship with ATT, I’m gone. Calling their reps is even more hilarious. They’ve are well prepared and polished is their terminology. I personally thank TMob for starting the “spread it out as you go” payment plans. ATT has only copied it and added a “discount” (I’m dying every time I even write that, LOL) on each individual plan – on a family plan.
And they ask me why I drink.
The writer of this article is very uninformed. This quote, for example.
It basically says, “No no no. We’re not charging you extra now. We’re just removing a $15 discount from the $40 monthly charge this year. Even though we touted that access charge as a flat $25 fee the last few years.”
The mobile share value plans launched in mid December last year, and were revised in February and March. So no, not the last few years, it has not been out for a year. Also, the previous rate plans were inflated to incorporate the $450 subsidy on phones. AT&T removed the subsidy and reduced the plans when you are out of contract. So Next is a better deal on the Value plan.
Example: Previously, 450 minutes of talk, unlimited text, and 2GB of data cost $85 no matter what, contract or no contract. Now it’s $65. If you get a new phone, add the installment to the $65. If not, it’s only $65.