AT&T's Next phone upgrade plans are a huge ripoff | The Verge
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This really shouldn't surprise anyone. What have carriers done lately that saves consumers money, with the possible exception of T-Mobile introducing value plans a year or two ago?
http://forums.crackberry.com/news-ru...xt-830580-new/
What's most ridiculous to me is that, similar to T-Mobile, Verizon already offers a device installment plan which allows qualified customers (good payment history, decent credit) to purchase a phone at full retail price at any time, without extending their contract, and pay it off over a 12-month period - all they put up front is the taxes and the first monthly installment. YET people act like T-Mobile is the only one who does anything like it.
These new early upgrade programs are a joke merely because they're actually what stupid consumers are demanding - you have no idea how many people I talk to on a daily basis who say they'd gladly turn in their old phone to get a new phone, if their carrier would only let them. Of course these new programs have higher rates than the normal subsidies because they're based on the assumption that the customer will trade in their phone within that first year. If the customer is going to wait 2 years to get a new phone, they don't need these early upgrade programs anyways. AT&T is a complete ripoff, of course, because the customer shouldn't have to trade in the old phone once it's fully paid for but, honestly, this is literally what customers are asking for. This is why our country is in the economic sewer it's in right now...
Posted via CB10 on my AWESOME VZW STL100-4 Z10!
If you people do not like your carrier, then leave for another! Complaining about your carrier AFTER you sign a new 2 year contract is YOUR FAULT! These carriers are here to make money.
I guess you would want the government to take over your cell phone service, too! LOL! Maybe it is time for your own obamaphone!
I am not on ATT, so I never really looked at the particulars. After reading the article posted by the OP, all I can say is, ... , wow.... LOL.
What will be more surprising will be how many people will actually DO it. It never ceases to amaze me how many consumers fall into traps like that, and other similiar ones.
Like leasing a car. For some, who own businesses, leasing MAY make sense, if the tax and write off incentives push the cash flow diagram to that realm... but for the average car buyer, leasing is fleecing, but a LOT of consumers still do it.
Many people have limited choice as to which provide to select due to the coverage provided. So according to you they should be satisfied with whatever service is given to them. For those buying a Z10 on launch day from AT&T a 2 yr contract seem to be the norm. Now that T-Mobile has offered their changes an AT&T customer would have to pay EFT to leave. The carriers are there to make money but at the same time they should be providing the services being paid for by their customers.
I would guess an Obamaphone would have more updates released than what has been done by AT&T and Verizon.