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Pre Paid iPhone

kgarchar said:
ok guys


DO NOT

DO NOT

go the prepaid route if you're easily annoyed...

you'll be getting "the last transaction cost 0.00 USD. Your account balance is xx.xx USD every 5 or 10 minutes

it's unbearable...I'm figuring out what the hell i need to do to get a regular plan because this is just absurd
Click to expand...

I don't plan on EVER using any of the voice or even text features of the phone. I'm literally using it in places where I'll be either using the Data or just the Wifi. That's it.

BTW, does the GoPhone plan offer International Data rates too? (it'll probably by ridiculously high, but I just wanted to know)
 
You get the message after placing a call, sending a SMS or using Edge. It does not randomly pop up.
 
iPhonePhan said:
I don't plan on EVER using any of the voice or even text features of the phone. I'm literally using it in places where I'll be either using the Data or just the Wifi. That's it.

BTW, does the GoPhone plan offer International Data rates too? (it'll probably by ridiculously high, but I just wanted to know)
Click to expand...

International Long Distance*
Keep in touch with friends, family and associates who are outside of the U.S.
All Pick Your Plan customers can make international calls at standard international calling rates or choose the Cingular World Connect Package for discounted rates - Great for customers who make frequent international calls!
Cingular World Connect Package: $3.99 per month

International rates are on this page:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/long-distance/go-phone-international.jsp
 
How is the "message" delivered??? Is it a text message you receive?

The GoPhone I had never once sent me a message unless my balance was low.
 
Carlos E said:
International Long Distance*
Keep in touch with friends, family and associates who are outside of the U.S.
All Pick Your Plan customers can make international calls at standard international calling rates or choose the Cingular World Connect Package for discounted rates - Great for customers who make frequent international calls!
Cingular World Connect Package: $3.99 per month

International rates are on this page:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/long-distance/go-phone-international.jsp
Click to expand...

Thanks Carlos - you're the best dude, really :)

So I did everything that was mentioned in this thread and got an email from Apple and at&t telling me to wait until I receive an activation email.

I'm going to try and speed things up by calling their iPhone hotline (1877-800-3701 I think) and see if they can manually activate it.

How long did it take for you to get the email telling you to proceed to the "Pick your Plan" site? A couple of hours/day(s)?
 
Carlos E said:
You get the message after placing a call, sending a SMS or using Edge. It does not randomly pop up.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but if you do each of those a few times. It adds up. I've gotten OVER 150 of those in the past 24 hours. I'm pretty sure it's taking a toll on my battery life also.
 
is there any way you can just block the number? i mean, have a setting where your iphone doesnt accept txts from w/e number att uses to distribute the msgs?
 
its not a sms message or email its like built in to the phone it hovers over everything and theres a "dismiss" button you press to clear it. I'm not sure if there is a way to deactivate it but its not horribly annoying i have noticed that if you are on a page that constantly refreshes it gets baaaad so before you put it to sleep just go to google and then it wont do it. I really didnt want to go the whole pickyourplan route but they wanted a 500 dollar deposit which i said **** you to and i had the phone already so i wasnt gonna say **** this and not get it, i found it wierd though cause i checked my credit with att the week prior to see how much my deposit would be and they said 300 then but they said the iphone credit check was different, in my opinion it should be cheaper cause the phone is only gonna work on att network so they know that your gonna have to sign up with them...It sucks but it works for me...
 
xfsasx said:
its not a sms message or email its like built in to the phone it hovers over everything and theres a "dismiss" button you press to clear it. I'm not sure if there is a way to deactivate it but its not horribly annoying i have noticed that if you are on a page that constantly refreshes it gets baaaad so before you put it to sleep just go to google and then it wont do it. I really didnt want to go the whole pickyourplan route but they wanted a 500 dollar deposit which i said **** you to and i had the phone already so i wasnt gonna say **** this and not get it, i found it wierd though cause i checked my credit with att the week prior to see how much my deposit would be and they said 300 then but they said the iphone credit check was different, in my opinion it should be cheaper cause the phone is only gonna work on att network so they know that your gonna have to sign up with them...It sucks but it works for me...
Click to expand...

Annoying friggin popups are pissing me off now. Even if i don't send an sms, make a call or use EDGE, it still alerts me about my remaining balance. Anyone have any idea as to how i can stop this from happening?

Cheers.
 
I was thinking about siging up for pick your plan then getting an iphone and then perform an upgrade of my phone. All I would want is the IPod/Data feature. I was thiking since i would then have an account with them It would just be a phone upgrade so that i would not have to sign up for a 2 year contract. Think this would be possible?
 
Still no dice. I tried what others mentioned on the forum and I didn't get a Pre-Paid option. All I got was a "please call at&t" to complete your activation.

When I get on the phone, they tell me to go to an at&t store to either leave a deposit or request a Pay as You Go plan. I believe they're going to do everything in their power to get me to leave a deposit.

I just want a pay-as-you-go plan....ugh....anyone else run into any better luck?

If you did, please state step-by-step what you did, even what card you used and if you're under 20 (which I think is a deciding factor, since they would probably assume you don't have a credit history?)
 
Fabrice252 said:
Did you try activating with 999 999 999 as mentioned on tuaw?
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Yeah. But it still took me to the normal post-paid service and then told me it will send me an activation email. I then got an email 1 hour later telling me that I had to call at&t to call. So I called (basically, 2-3x already) and each time the person on the phone tells me that she doesn't have the authority to provide me the GoPhone option but to go to an at&t store and leave a deposit or try and convince them to let me have a GoPhone plan.

I'm bringing my foreign passport with me and I'll try and see if I can wing it.

But the Pre-Paid plan doesn't seem to hold true for everyone (why some people get it and not others is beyond me :( )
 
I can see two possible reasons:

(1) The articles are some basic hoaxes, or

(2) The system also uses an analysis of your registered debit/credit card (or some other elements) to ascertain that you have/have not a credit rating?
 
technicolor said:
With those crazy fees for not having a contract you will have already paid the cost of the ETF.
Click to expand...

Not really. For people who have limited phone use, going the pick your plan route with the cheapest plan (costing 50 bucks including unlimited data) is the best option. The cheapest plan on contract is 60 bucks and thats only if you are locked in for 2 years....2 years!!! With iPhone 2 coming out next year, why get locked into 2 when you can go pre-paid!

Again, its just a matter of what kinda usage you have. Heavy users should go the post-paid route and light users, the other way!
 
Fabrice252 said:
I can see two possible reasons:

(1) The articles are some basic hoaxes, or

(2) The system also uses an analysis of your registered debit/credit card (or some other elements) to ascertain that you have/have not a credit rating?
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the latter. There has to be something that indicates that I do have good credit or that I have an SSN. The weird thing is that the normal service option information appears to show up before I even input my fudged SSN number, like as if it "knew".

This sucks @$$. I just wanna activate the damn thing.:mad:
 
If I were you I'd go to ATT and tell them that you want a pick your plan thing. If they refuse, just go back to the hotline and report? Sometimes, when you complain to a hotline, they offer more than if you don't...
 
iPhonePhan said:
Thanks Carlos - you're the best dude, really :)

So I did everything that was mentioned in this thread and got an email from Apple and at&t telling me to wait until I receive an activation email.

I'm going to try and speed things up by calling their iPhone hotline (1877-800-3701 I think) and see if they can manually activate it.

How long did it take for you to get the email telling you to proceed to the "Pick your Plan" site? A couple of hours/day(s)?
Click to expand...
I activated my iPhone Friday night so it took over an hour to get the email. Also, the email went to my spam folder so if I hadn't check my spam I would not have seen it.
 
Fabrice252 said:
If I were you I'd go to ATT and tell them that you want a pick your plan thing. If they refuse, just go back to the hotline and report? Sometimes, when you complain to a hotline, they offer more than if you don't...
Click to expand...

Good idea Fabrice. But I think complaints are just about the last thing they want. Usually just being super nice works but I will say that now the 2x's I've been nice, this has not worked. Hmmmm...:mad:
 
kgarchar said:
Yeah, but if you do each of those a few times. It adds up. I've gotten OVER 150 of those in the past 24 hours. I'm pretty sure it's taking a toll on my battery life also.
Click to expand...

Dude, what are you doing on your phone? I used my phone all day today. Texting, browsing using edge and made a few calls. I got the message at the end of the phone calls, and I got the message AFTER using safari/edge for 40 minutes. The message is sent when you're at a stopping point. Not while using the services. If you are getting that many messages something is wrong with your account. You should call them.
AaronICT said:
How is the "message" delivered??? Is it a text message you receive?

The GoPhone I had never once sent me a message unless my balance was low.
Click to expand...
It's not a text message. It's a message that over lays the iPhone screen with a green dismiss button at the bottom. Sorry for the blurry photo but you get the idea.

prepay%20message.jpg
 
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