Upgrade credit

[Helplz]

Can someone explain to me how a hardware upgrade credit works? I received a letter in the mail stating that I could get $200 credit towards a new phone. I went to a Bell Store and asked how much a new 32gb Iphone cost. I didn't tell them i was an existing customer, and she told me it was $199 for the 32gb and $149 for the 16gb version. I asked if I could upgrade my phone to that, and she said I could but I would have to pay the full $199 for the 32gb because the 'hardware upgrade credit' only could be discounted towards the full retail price which was over $800.

Does this make sense to anyone? It seems that it would be cheaper to move to a different carrier and that Bell doesn't care if you move or not.

[sexy-tristan1989]

$200 is the upgrade credit you get that straight off the bat, but if you choose a data device and you take a data plan you get the difference in price off as a data discount, so if you take the 32GB iphone and you take the $200 then its $599, you get an extra $350 when you take a data plan taking you down to $149, its kind of like a mini subsidy

[Linsb07]

Here's a much better way to explain it:

Carriers offer credits towards new devices, and this credit is based on the contract length that you are signing for.

If you are not eligible to "upgrade" this means there is no way to extend your contract further, that you would not get the "promo" price that a new customer, or a customer who IS ELIGIBLE to extend their contract would.

Essentially, phones DO cost that "full price" for the carrier to purchase them. The carrier "subsidizes" that price by getting people to extend contracts. This is how they can offer such huge discounts when the phone's "full price" is hundreds of dollars.

If you really do not wish to pay that much, ask your carrier if you can finance the amount. It will cost more in the long run, but you'll get the new phone right away.

[Linsb07]

...and the fact that you are getting 200$ off in hardware is awesome. You should use it... I don't think I have seen that done by other carriers before.

It sounds like you would get a discount if you are purchasing a phone outright, and that you are eligible to upgrade. You need to think of it as getting more than 600$ off... Carriers don't make money off of devices. They make money off of the services and the accessories they sell.

It would not be cheaper, because you would likely be cancelling your contract and paying cancellation fees.

Bell likely does care if you switch carriers, but often sales staff grow tired of people who think they should constantly get phones for free when they don't understand how much they actually cost. Sorry if you got the impression that someone didn't care, but really... people threaten to switch carriers every day thinking it will get them something. It doesn't. LOL sorry...