I got my new phone with my wife the same time her sister and husband did. They just informed us that all new plans now make you pay the full cost of the phone instead of getting a 500$ phone for 100$ plus paying a 2 year contract.. they make you pay like 20$ a month extra each month until the FULL price of the phone is paid.. WTF? We pay 140$ for both phones unlimited talk,text, and data. So I guess now we end up paying a lot more when we go to get new phones at the end of this month?
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Plan ended WTH happened to contracts?
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Uhm no. Calculate the actual costs first. With a contract you usually pay a few hundred extra over the span of the contract. Remember, you have to pay that initial fee up front, and the contract price. On Verizon this is $40 vs the $15 if you are on month-to-month with 10gb or above. A $750 phone would cost $300 up front, and $25 more monthly. While it would cost ~$31.25 monthly with the financing cost, which is $6.25 more, for 24 months. That is $150 vs $300 you have to pay up front with the contract. You also don't have to pay the activation fee of $40 on Verizon if you do the financing.
Not sure how it is on other carriers, but it ends up being cheaper on Verizon.
leezard
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This has been the norm for a while now. when I was with ATT it didnt increase my bill any, in fact I think it actually went down 5 or 10 bucks.
Before they would add in the cost of the phone you for for "free" or "heavily discounted" into your monthly rate. One way or another it wasnt free or cheap. Now ATT knocks off $15 per month I think on your monthly plan since you arent getting s subsidized phone.
I'm with tmobile now and it is essentially the same thing
Before they would add in the cost of the phone you for for "free" or "heavily discounted" into your monthly rate. One way or another it wasnt free or cheap. Now ATT knocks off $15 per month I think on your monthly plan since you arent getting s subsidized phone.
I'm with tmobile now and it is essentially the same thing
This. Contracts are extinct now. You pretty much lease a phone until you pay it off.
TMobile was the first to do it, about 2 years ago.
Wow, my sprint phone was like 100$ up front and then 140$ a month for 2 phones for 2 years. SO lets figure that out.. 200$ for two phones devided by 24 months.. 8.33$ a month if I paid that out monthly. Hell throw in 100$ for activation fee.. 25$ a month on top of the 140 we pay now for both phones thanks to a work discount.. 165 a month.. so your telling me my new plan won't cost more than that with two new phones? I will for sure reply back with what happens. Crap is all new to me.... I think it sucks.. I was fine with my cheap bill and a little bit up front. I never minded the contracts because I haven't changed in years. Wish they had left it optional to go either way. I was looking forward to slapping down some cash for a new phone and keeping things they way they have been for freakin ever.
So is it better to lease or buy the phone? I have heard with the lease some are providing cases and the glass protection covers..
We had contracts with free phones also.. apparently those days are gone. The higher end phones were much cheaper than their regular retail cost. My contract ends in December guess I will find out soon if its more or not.
paperwastage
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it really depends on the provider and what your (legacy) plan covers
some providers allow you to continue to stay on your legacy plan, same price, allow 2-yr contract with "free"/subsidized phones. some don't
either way, the "free"/subsidized way is going away... the new plans typically have you saving money by NOT getting a new phone, or paying the phone's exact cost thru 0% interest equipment financing (or via leasing)
example: (I assume you're on Sprint)
http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-rel...ext-and-high-speed-data-for-only-100month.htm
Sprint has a BestBuy family plan (2 lines, unlimited, 2 samsung s6 phones) for $140 (roughly what you are paying, maybe more due to taxes). you have the option of NOT getting the new phones and staying at $100/month
one question for you: do you really need a flagship top-of-line smartphone costing $649 (divided by 24 months)? Otherwise, get an older phone for <$400 and call it even
(People on ATT/Tmobile have the option of a cheap $200 moto G 3rd gen or asus zenfone, sprint/verizon have limited options like nexus 5X at $400)
fo a long time, customers don't know they can get a $200 phone instead of a 2-year "subsidized" "free" S6 with the cost hidden within the monthly fee
Your absolute best bet in terms of cash outlay, is to find a generation old or so new phone on Ebay and go to a pre-paid service that uses whatever towers are most prevalent in your area.
For instance, I'm seeing brand new Nokia 1520's (6" monster flagship released a little over a year ago) for less than $200.
For instance, I'm seeing brand new Nokia 1520's (6" monster flagship released a little over a year ago) for less than $200.
I'd agree. I've always bought my phone outright - new or refurbished. Never had a contract with any mobile service provider.
Last few phones:
LG G1 <$200 new from Amazon.
LG G2 $240 refurbished from Ebay. Screen was flawless. Only one scratch in the back that no one would notice with a case on.
LG G3 $370 new from Netontherun in March.
AltTabbins
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Nothing's changed but the way they worded what you are paying. Over the 2 year span, you are paying the same amount for the phone and service. Now carriers can say that their plans are cheaper in commercials to draw people into the store not realizing it's the same old shit with a new way of chopping up the cost of what you pay.
Zepher
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I pay $50/mo for my service with Sprint. My iPhone 5S was $200 and it's mine forever.
With the new change, I'd pay $50/mo for service and $20/mo for a 6S for 24 months and have to turn in the phone or pay off the balance of it, like $300 and I can keep it, so saying nothing has changed is wrong.
$200 for the phone with the subsidized contract plans vs $700+ for the phone with the new lease to own contract plans.
If I don't buyout the lease at the end of the 24 months, I basically paid $480 to use the phone. I'd rather pay $200 and own it than pay more than double to just use it.
If they lowered my plan to $30 and charged me $20 to lease, then I'd be fine with that, it would cost me just a little more at the end if I decide to buyout the lease.
YeuEmMaiMai
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they started offering no contract back in 2K10....
They'll knock $X off your monthly plan when you finance the phone. Seems like a good deal at first, but they've restructured their fees at the same time as switching to financing phones instead of purchasing outright.
You used to pay $100-300 for a phone up front and sign a contract for 24 months. The remainder of the cost of the phone was then baked into the 24 monthly payments. With the new plans, you don't have to pay anything up front, but you're still paying for the full cost of the phone over time.
It's both good and bad from my point of view. Less up front costs is a plus, but if you have a grandfathered plan like me, switching to one of the new plans where you finance the phone will likely end up costing you an extra $100 or so over the course of the payment plan.
The carriers have made their new contract-based plans a worse deal than the phone financing plans, but comparatively the older contract-based plans are cheaper than both.
You used to pay $100-300 for a phone up front and sign a contract for 24 months. The remainder of the cost of the phone was then baked into the 24 monthly payments. With the new plans, you don't have to pay anything up front, but you're still paying for the full cost of the phone over time.
It's both good and bad from my point of view. Less up front costs is a plus, but if you have a grandfathered plan like me, switching to one of the new plans where you finance the phone will likely end up costing you an extra $100 or so over the course of the payment plan.
The carriers have made their new contract-based plans a worse deal than the phone financing plans, but comparatively the older contract-based plans are cheaper than both.
Finally the US is catching up to the rest of the world. There's no actual reason now to go with a big carrier - buy your own phone, go with MVNO of your choice and you can easily save a lot of money for the exact same service.
And contracts did have a purpose. I am on Verizon unlimited grandfathered plan for which I pay $50/month for 450min and unlimited data, which makes a lot more sense than unlimited calling (which no one actually uses) and being charged a lot for data.
The US carriers realized a few years ago it was a lot cheaper (free basically for them) to offer unlimited calls/texts and charge for data, then they figured out the various early upgrade programs like Edge, and now its the end of contracts.
The only reason more people don't go with MVNOs is marketing.
And contracts did have a purpose. I am on Verizon unlimited grandfathered plan for which I pay $50/month for 450min and unlimited data, which makes a lot more sense than unlimited calling (which no one actually uses) and being charged a lot for data.
The US carriers realized a few years ago it was a lot cheaper (free basically for them) to offer unlimited calls/texts and charge for data, then they figured out the various early upgrade programs like Edge, and now its the end of contracts.
The only reason more people don't go with MVNOs is marketing.
Zepher
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That is not how it worked. This is how it worked,
Example, you choose plan A, it is $50/mo for a 2 year contract and you have the option of getting a cheap or older model phone for free, or paying some money for a nicer phone.
Person 1 gets the free phone and pays $1,200 over the course of 2 years.
Person 2 bought the iPhone for $200 and pays a total of $1400 over 2 years.
Person 3 paid full price for the iPhone, $699, and paid a total of $1,899 over 2 years.
Who got the better deal.
Everyone paid the same $50/mo since that was the chosen plan, regardless if you supplied your own phone or bought a subsidized phone.
The 2 year contract was used to subsidize the cost of the phones for the carriers.
That's how it DID work, specifically designed to fuck you no matter what. It is not how it works now: person a and person c have different plans, person C pays less per month than person a and person c actually saves a significant amount of money. This was always an option with MVNOs and some of the big carriers, but wasn't well known.
Zepher
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With the current system, why would Person 1 and 3 have different plans?
We're talking the same plan for all parties in the examples, you can't compare savings if there are different plans involved.
The way it is now is you are paying full price for your phone over 2 years in monthly installments, so the one who pays monthly on a new phone vs the person that buys the phone outright will pay the same at the end of 2 years.
the only difference is the person who paid outright doesn't have the monthly phone fee, is that why you say Person C pays less per month?
leezard
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They would have the same plan, but the cost is different.
when i was with ATT and they switched me to next or jump (whatever its called) I had the same plan but the cost of the plan decreased as I was no longer under contract or getting a subsidized phone, but you then add the cost of the monthly payments for the new phone and your bill comes out close to the same as it was prior.
I made the payments on the phone for about a year then just paid it off. It ended up costing $1 more than if i had bought it outright from the start.
So, now it goes something like this, all have the same plan
1. 2 year contract with subsidized phone, his plan is $50 a month
2. No contract, with "leased to own" phone his plan is $35 a month + $15 a month for phone
3. No contract with owned phone $35 a month
just to put this in perspective, your asking why you accruing debt is no longer automatic is a good thing. Think about that. This way, way more transparent. The companies usually have a way for you to still finance a phone through them like you were before if your the type who needs that. Additionally Apple is coming out with there own plan where you pay x a year and get a new iphone every year or some such.
I havn't bought a phone through my carrier in 5 years and have been really happy about it. I'm getting ready to do my first upgrade in 5 years because my battery isn't doing so hot. To do some basic math, when i had sprint i was paying somewhere around 80 bux a month. thats 25$ month over my current plan. That is 300$ a year. 2 year contract thats 600 dollars. That was with an HTC evo which full retail price was 600 and the sale price was down in the 450 range. So either i'm paying full retail price or paying over what its worth in 2 years. My current phone was 475 when i bought it, right off the bat i've saved 125$ just in the 2 year time frame, add the fact that i've had it for 5 years and its over 1k in savings.
I bring this up because i have noticed that many people look at bills and the like as monthlies. O i can afford this car its only x dollars a month. Instead of worrying about the overall cost of something.
paperwastage
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Zepher:
For other people/current plans - there is an option to opt for no "2-yr phone subsidy" for a discount, or stay on current plan at the same cost with a 2-yr phone subsidy
For your (legacy?) plan, Sprint does not offer this for you.... you'll go directly to a new phone plan at the same monthly cost without a "free subsidized" phone. You should call them and ask if they can do something for you ("retentions" or something, remain on same phone plan with same cost and same 2-yr subsidized phone)
For other people/current plans - there is an option to opt for no "2-yr phone subsidy" for a discount, or stay on current plan at the same cost with a 2-yr phone subsidy
For your (legacy?) plan, Sprint does not offer this for you.... you'll go directly to a new phone plan at the same monthly cost without a "free subsidized" phone. You should call them and ask if they can do something for you ("retentions" or something, remain on same phone plan with same cost and same 2-yr subsidized phone)
Zepher
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EDIT: I just looked at Sprints current offering, the cheapest total 2 year plan where you own the phone is if you do 24mo Easy Pay.
$60/mo + $40/mo for the phone vs, $500 for the phone and $85/mo and you own the phone right away. This is the 6S Plus 128GB.
I'll give them a call and see what they can do, but I am not in a hurry really.
Ya, I have the SERO Premium plan with a free Airave device, $50/mo, around $58 after taxes.
This is an old bill but nothing has changed, except the phone, I have a 5S currently.
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collegeboy69us
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Which is why I'm patiently waiting for my Nexus 6P on Google Fi.
It's the most straight forward plan I can possibly see. 20/month for basic service, $10/1GB (refundable for what you don't use)
And you have the option to buy the phone outright, or finance it at zero cost.
I'm getting a brand new top tier phone, that will work on any carrier, combined with service, and my monthly bill is going down (From Verizon)
Can't wait till Nov 10th when I supposedly get it.
It's the most straight forward plan I can possibly see. 20/month for basic service, $10/1GB (refundable for what you don't use)
And you have the option to buy the phone outright, or finance it at zero cost.
I'm getting a brand new top tier phone, that will work on any carrier, combined with service, and my monthly bill is going down (From Verizon)
Can't wait till Nov 10th when I supposedly get it.
T4rd
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Yeah, Fi looks like a good plan if you only use a few GBs a month or so. I'm on WiFi a lot, but even for the times I'm not, I still use 4-6 GBs/month minimum and some months I'm away and use 20-30 GBs. So I think if I leave my UDP on Verizon, it'll have to be for T-Mo so I can up my plan for times when I'll be away or something. Otherwise I would definitely go with Fi.