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chimelime

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2014
222
173
I understand the frustration, the down payment is very high, but it ultimately reduces the total monthly payment you make over the course of 2 years.

It also places some of the risk on the customer, it's not just this carefree upgrade where you pay taxes and maybe faster shipping, it makes you think, do i reallllly need this phone??

Happy for everyone that did decide to upgrade though, congrats!!! Hope you get your phone on time and in working order. Now lets go track some planes!!!!
 

Shaqtus

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2014
172
107
Ordered. 11 Pro Max. 256. Midnight green.

JOD 259 down payment. 1-3 business day shipping because im not paying 20$ for overnight lol.
 
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unobtainium

macrumors 68030
Mar 27, 2011
2,650
4,086
So it seems like the big down payment just reduces monthly payments. So it’s not as big a deal as people are saying. I had a lower down payment for my XS Max but my payments every month are double what people are saying here. In the end it seems like you’ll end up paying roughly the same over a year..
 
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md1801

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2014
108
86
St. Louis, MO
So it seems like the big down payment just reduces monthly payments. So it’s not as big a deal as people are saying. I had a lower down payment for my XS Max but my payments every month are double what people are saying here. In the end it seems like you’ll end up paying roughly the same over a year..

Correct. Everyone needs to relax on the concept and just do the math. You’re going to pay the same amount one way or another, they’re just collecting more up front this year.
 

DADDYDC650

macrumors 6502
Sep 26, 2015
306
239
They had free 2-3 day shipping, but I'm impatient so I paid extra for 2nd day air
Everyone usually gets next day shipping regardless.
[doublepost=1568380491][/doublepost]
JoD sucks on 11 Pro. It is stupid to put a lot of money down on a lease phone, when you don't own it and will simply turn it in within 18 months (12 months usually for me). I said screw it and just did JOD jump to 11 128GB Black. Only $29 down. I'll live with it and then budget to get a 11S Pro (or whatever they call it) with 5G built in... on EIP or just outright. Not putting down heavy money on a lease.
Ouch. No OLED for you pal.
 

Xangelkiller

macrumors member
Sep 17, 2014
75
102
So it seems like the big down payment just reduces monthly payments. So it’s not as big a deal as people are saying. I had a lower down payment for my XS Max but my payments every month are double what people are saying here. In the end it seems like you’ll end up paying roughly the same over a year..
While I agree with the spirit of this, it’s not great when you compare it to other carriers. Even Apple doesn’t require a down payment. We can try to justify it however we want, but at the end of the day, T-Mobile is the only carrier forcing customers to pay large down payments.

It’s even worse for JOD customers as it eliminates the purpose of the program if you have a high down payment. If the intent is to slow down JOD upgrades (because JOD became a beast that got out of hand, mostly due to their lack of foresight), just eliminate the program entirely or evolve it.
 
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Agent OrangeZ

macrumors 68040
Mar 17, 2010
3,022
3,016
Planet Earth
Ouch. No OLED for you pal.

Actually.... OLED isn't the killer feature. The camera system was the seller for me. I owned the original X and the OLED fatigued my eyes more by the end of the day than the LCD. I eventually gave it to my son... and got myself the XR. So right now I am going from XR to 11. Not that bad. This year I was figuring that I would get the 11 Pro for the triple camera and the battery gains that likely help it catch up (last year the XR was the battery king). But not for these down payments... considering I JoD at least once per year. (I did have the OnePlus 6T for a while too)
 

4sallypat

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2016
4,035
3,785
So Calif
While I agree with the spirit of this, it’s not great when you compare it to other carriers. Even Apple doesn’t require a down payment. We can try to justify it however we want, but at the end of the day, T-Mobile is the only carrier forcing customers to pay large down payments.

It’s even worse for JOD customers as it eliminates the purpose of the program if you have a high down payment. If the intent is to slow down JOD upgrades (because JOD became a beast that got out of hand, mostly due to their lack of foresight), just eliminate the program entirely or evolve it.
I ordered from Apple and there was no down payment (pre-approved thru Citizen's Bank), only paying first month plus sales tax upfront on my Apple Card if it ever shows...

Also got the second phone thru T-Mobile and they wanted the tax upfront which they charged me already on my card. $0 down, 0% interest for 24 months, $350 trade in on my iPhone 7 32GB which was was a steal considering all other reselling sites nor Apple's trade in would give $200....
 

nateatlarge

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 20, 2015
2,074
1,734
Washington State

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ORUCoachSto

macrumors newbie
Sep 20, 2014
27
28
Ordered my Pro Max, Midnight Green 64gb. I had the XS Max, but recently coming from a One Plus 7 Pro. I'm going to try it out, I really love my One Plus, but entire family is iPhone and they don't like me at the moment lol...

Order was placed at 6:54 CST. I always call in early. First rep wouldn't take my order, the second rep was like " I got you!!!"

Let the madness begin...
 

4sallypat

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2016
4,035
3,785
So Calif
Ordered my Pro Max, Midnight Green 64gb. I had the XS Max, but recently coming from a One Plus 7 Pro. I'm going to try it out, I really love my One Plus, but entire family is iPhone and they don't like me at the moment lol...

Order was placed at 6:54 CST. I always call in early. First rep wouldn't take my order, the second rep was like " I got you!!!"

Let the madness begin...
Did they charge you $20 extra for phone service ??
 

briankeith513

macrumors 6502a
Feb 6, 2011
996
172
Atlanta, GA
Correct. Everyone needs to relax on the concept and just do the math. You’re going to pay the same amount one way or another, they’re just collecting more up front this year.

I don't think that the "math" is the issue. Maybe people weren't expecting to jump from paying less than $200 upfront last year, to over double that amount upfront the very next year.
 

NotSoSuper

macrumors member
Sep 13, 2016
64
124
Los Angeles, California
Preordered the 11 Max Pro Space Gray 64gb via JOD. First several reps claimed JOD for this phone wasn’t available until the 20th and wanted me to buy out my XS max and do an EIP installment. Finally got it though and payed for overnight shipping because last year I was an unfortunate soul who opted for 2-day free shipping and didn’t get it until the Wednesday after release. I hopefully could get a credit for that shipping by asking T-Force
 

unobtainium

macrumors 68030
Mar 27, 2011
2,650
4,086
While I agree with the spirit of this, it’s not great when you compare it to other carriers. Even Apple doesn’t require a down payment. We can try to justify it however we want, but at the end of the day, T-Mobile is the only carrier forcing customers to pay large down payments.

It’s even worse for JOD customers as it eliminates the purpose of the program if you have a high down payment. If the intent is to slow down JOD upgrades (because JOD became a beast that got out of hand, mostly due to their lack of foresight), just eliminate the program entirely or evolve it.

Apple doesn’t require a down payment but your monthly payments will therefore be significantly higher. Same with other carriers. If you make a large down payment up front it just reduces your monthly cost. One way or another you will pay the same over 12 months. I agree that if you’re using JOD to upgrade more often than once a year, you’re probably not getting good value with the big down payments.
 

nateatlarge

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 20, 2015
2,074
1,734
Washington State
Preordered the 11 Max Pro Space Gray 64gb via JOD. First several reps claimed JOD for this phone wasn’t available until the 20th and wanted me to buy out my XS max and do an EIP installment. Finally got it though and payed for overnight shipping because last year I was an unfortunate soul who opted for 2-day free shipping and didn’t get it until the Wednesday after release. I hopefully could get a credit for that shipping by asking T-Force
They tried the same thing with me on my iPhone 11 GREEN 128GB.
I said nope. Read your document again
 

gjm87

macrumors regular
Mar 17, 2014
127
27
Got $100 statement credit from Tmobile since I said there deals weren't as good as Apple Trade in.
 

md1801

macrumors regular
Sep 10, 2014
108
86
St. Louis, MO
They tried the same thing with me on my iPhone 11 GREEN 128GB.
I said nope. Read your document again

JOD is a loss leader for them in this age of insanely expensive hardware. I wonder when they’ll get rid of the program. They have definitely been more aggressive in pushing the EIP route. I’d also not be surprised to see them
starting to tack on an interest charge to those plans at some point.
 
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born2runak

macrumors regular
Aug 21, 2012
232
114
I don't have JOD, but for people complaining about the large downpayment...I look at it like this. When phones were subsidized on contract, you normally still payed a purchase fee to upgrade. I recall spending 3-400 dollars for my last phone on contract through ATT and had a higher monthly bill then what I pay Tmobile now.But that is the reality for the high sale price on these phones now.

I would rather have a lower monthly payment, but that's me. The down payment for the pro max 256 @499 plus tax is high, but my monthly is only going up by 1.25, coming from a X 256 (which I put down 429). I will no doubt sell my phone as I usually do ( though recent horror stories have me sketched out a bit) which covers my initial downpayment.
 

vbctv

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2013
886
687
Cleveland, OH
JOD is a loss leader for them in this age of insanely expensive hardware. I wonder when they’ll get rid of the program. They have definitely been more aggressive in pushing the EIP route. I’d also not be surprised to see them
starting to tack on an interest charge to those plans at some point.

I think it would be hard for them to get rid of JOD, from what I remember they were gonna make changes a few years ago and we got an email about it even and they aborted those changes. Too many customers would complain, so by doing what they are instead by forcing high downpayment, it's a way to weed out customers and discourage from program. If they were to just get rid of it, what would you do with those customers on it, you can't exactly just switch them to EIP or force them to pay off their device.
 
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