Other Who else misses subsidies

[Steve28]

It amazes me that people only care about monthly cost...and never do the math. People will gladly pay $50/mo for a year rather than $500 now

 

[BigMcGuire]

I don’t. Once that ended I stopped going to Verizon stores. Wife and I had a really bad experience at one store when we refused to buy insurance. Ever since then the Apple Upgrade Plan has been heaven and I have not set foot in a Verizon store again. Nor do I ever plan to. Everything online. Granted it’s been since the 6+...
[doublepost=1537156839][/doublepost]

It amazes me that people only care about monthly cost...and never do the math. People will gladly pay $50/mo for a year rather than $500 now

Duh. Cuz the $50 is cheaper than the $500!!!

 

[shady281]

Biggest thing I get from this is that people think unlimited plans from 5 years ago are still good. They aren’t. I have 2 lines unlimited for $90/mo. Thats less than I paid 8 years ago for one line.


It’s no coincidence that about the same time hidden phone costs in cell plans faded out, largely thanks to competition from t-mobile, phone sales leveled out. Carriers and phone makers had a close union for a long, long time.

 

[x-evil-x]

You with AT&T? Why wouldn't you go to the new unlimited plan? $80/mo (plus tax) Unl Talk / TXT / Data (Assuming Auto Pay/Paperless), 15gb hotspot, plus free premium movie channel and 30+ free channels of live tv to watch on phone. Also a $15/mo credit if you're a DTV or UVERSE (tv) user.

its 95 a month from the last time I checked. mines still 90. unless they raised the price once again
[doublepost=1537159504][/doublepost]

Bingo. You have to realize that folks like you on the old unlimited plans are getting screwed by Verizon and AT&T. Technically, they should have reduced the monthly by $20, but they didn't to force you off the plan.

For everyone else, the non-subsidy model saves you money if you don't upgrade every two years. Otherwise, is a wash.

youre saying the price of single unlimited plans for att used to be 60$. ive had this plan since 08.
single line plans aren't the best.
[doublepost=1537159797][/doublepost]

I’m in Canada and the carriers still offer the subsidy programs (no iPhone upgrade program here yet). I actually would love the iUP program if it were offered. $0 down and just pay a monthly fee. Makes it a little easier to upgrade once a year.

Right now, an iPhone XS Max 64GB on a 2 year subsidy here is $790 upfront. I get the exchange rate, but still it’s a lot to come up with at once. Luckily, I’m getting about $800 for my one year old X so that will cover it. But if you are coming from an old phone, it’s a lot to come up with.

thats seems about right from what I remember my 6+ was 400$ for a 64 gig subsidy( 849 full price).
So if they had that with the 1099 price of the X max(64 gig) it would be 649 down 0 monthly.
[doublepost=1537159942][/doublepost]

Biggest thing I get from this is that people think unlimited plans from 5 years ago are still good. They aren’t. I have 2 lines unlimited for $90/mo. Thats less than I paid 8 years ago for one line.


It’s no coincidence that about the same time hidden phone costs in cell plans faded out, largely thanks to competition from t-mobile, phone sales leveled out. Carriers and phone makers had a close union for a long, long time.

what carrier are you on?

 

[Wahlstrm]

I remember the good old days when phones where "free" and you only paid like ≈$0.5/minute to call, ≈$0.2 per text and ≈$15/MB to use the internet..

 

[Ortiz83]

It does not seem like the plans actually got any cheaper when subsidies went away.

Mine went down. Prices are just going up. Your price would still have gone up as well with subsidies. I had ATT and mobile share plan.

 

[John webstar44]

i miss paying 300$ for a new phone with a phone plan I was never planning on getting rid of. It wasn’t 300$ and 20$ each month it was one small amount and just keep your service for two years and the phone is yours. Sell it and pays for your new subsidy.
I miss these days. People seem happy to be paying 55$ a month for their phone with the phone plan they where always planning on keeping nowadays it seems.

lol, I remember the good old day here in the uk SAMSUNG Galaxy s4 no upfront cost £35 a month unlimited everything or the iPhone 4 £35 a month unlimited everything
now we are paying £80 -£90 each month.

 

[Deguello]

Yeah. I guess what I am saying is that the bills have not gone down. So my bill has not gone down now that the subsidies have gone away. Maybe I am wrong though and it has.

That's a separate issue and there's no reason to believe they wouldn't have gone up anyway.

It wasn't very long ago that you got X minutes of talk time during prime hours. Comparing unlimited talk and text and "unlimited" LTE data to what you were probably getting back in the iPhone 3 days isn't even Apple to Apple, it's like Apple to watermelon.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

I don't miss them, it's cheaper now. I am proud to say that I personally called Randall Stephenson's office and had long conversations with a couple of AT&T board members about stopping it. I complained about locking down phone, and they came back with that I could buy a phone outright from Apple and it wouldn't be locked. I told them it would be stupid for me to buy a phone outright but pay the same price for my plan as someone who is subsidized...they agreed and told me they were going fix it in the future. I am glad I was part of the solution or at least I feel like I was.

You're welcome

 

[Steve686]

My bill was never higher. I’ve always paid 80$ for the grandfathered att plan.
How is that a higher single line bill?
I never really paid for a phone since 08 until they dropped doing it upgrading every two years.

Your bill was never higher, but it was too high if you kept paying for a phone you already paid off Outside of your 2 year agreement.

To make it simple.

Your actual cellular service charge was $55/month and you paid $25/month(combined with actual cell service equals $80/month total) for the cost of the phone after a $300 down payment.

However, your cell service and phone cost were lumped together into the one $80/month charge. After your two year contract was up and you did not upgrade your phone! You STILL paid $80/month, meaning you were still paying $25/month for a phone you already owned.

Now, the charges are separated and you know exactly what you are paying per month.

 

[Dld23]

You were always paying the $20 per month or whatever as it was “baked in” to your cellphone bill. It never explicitly stated “phone cost”, but you *were* paying for it in full over those 2 years.

The difference is that back then, you continued to “pay for” the phone, even after it was actually paid off unless you upgraded.

Some people still prefer the subsidized way, but as others mentioned, you were losing money if you didn’t upgrade every 2 years- whether you wanted to or not.

Take crucket vs att. Cricket top plan is 55 with autopay and att is 80. With att I get a 25$ discount on streaming directv now(which I use on all my tvs, top package that costs me 45.. would be 70 otherwise). So it works out the same except the perk of being able to pay phone cost monthly with att and update every year or 2.(I use next every year personally)

 

[Webb]

Ha ha I remember I got the LG G4 for $1.00 and a free 32 inches TV at Best Buy.

 

[havenyoung]

I ordered my XS Max through AT&T Premier and they still offer subsidized price.
$450 discount for two-year contract. Nothing new here, just something they preserved for corporate accounts only.

 

[Oridus]

its 95 a month from the last time I checked. mines still 90. unless they raised the price once again

AT&T Unlimited & More Premium

$55 Rate Plan
$35 Monthly Access Fee
=$90

$90
-$10 (Autopay/Paperless billing)
=$80 Unl Talk/Txt/Data (with 22gb threshold for congestion), 30+ channels on Watch TV app, 15 GB hotspot/Free premium channel (Stars/HBO/Cinemax/Showtime) or Pandora, Amazon Prime Music, or VRV tv.

 

[Crazyj414]

Not me. I would probably have to have a flip phone. I’m ok with having payments.

 

[Two Stacks]

Those old $25-40 subsidy charges were charged to customers for 2 years. when you add them up with the subsidy price, you're still paying the full price of your phone. what people should do now is:

1. buy a phone on device payment and keep it for the 2 years. when it's time for a new phone sell or trade in, which ever gets more money. take that money and use it to buy new phone, coming up with the rest out of pocket. do the same the next time you need a phone. I did a Device payment on my 7 plus because it was so cheap and again on my X cause I really wanted the phone. Next year, I will pay off my X and buy the next iphone outright. this time I will get apple care since the cost of my bill will be cheaper.

 

[Small White Car]

How was 20$ baked into my deal back then? My plan wasn’t 60$. It was 80. I just paid the subsidy of 3-400$ and that was it. No charges. Plan stayed at 80.

Yes, sure. AT&T bought you a phone every year because they really really like you and wanted you to be happy.

How can this seriously be your argument? You don't think that sounds a liiiiitle bit unlikely?

 

[brand]

I would rather pay for the phone in full up front and it be mine so I never have to mess with or worry about it again, that is until I want a new phone.

 

[x-evil-x]

Yes, sure. AT&T bought you a phone every year because they really really like you and wanted you to be happy.

How can this seriously be your argument? You don't think that sounds a liiiiitle bit unlikely?

Where was the payment on the phone? The plan at the time was 35$. Texting was 20$ and minutes where 20 from what I r

Yes, sure. AT&T bought you a phone every year because they really really like you and wanted you to be happy.

How can this seriously be your argument? You don't think that sounds a liiiiitle bit unlikely?

Let’s add this up so you understand.
National rollover 450 minutes was 40$. The unlimited data plan was 35$ at the start and unlimited texting was 20$.
That’s 95$ without a phone.
I have a discount from my school and got them to do the texting for 10$ a month because of issues so that brings it down to 85$ and the discount was 8$ or something.
So 77$ plus tax = 80$

How am I paying for a phone then? I don’t see the charges.
The phone bill alone wasn’t 60$ it never was.
I wasn’t paying for a cell phone minus giving them 3-400 for the subsidy one time payment.
The phone was 850$ when the subsidy was 400$. So how am I making payments on a phone if my bill is 80$?
Makes absolutely no sense.

 

[comptr]

I would rather pay for the phone in full up front and it be mine so I never have to mess with or worry about it again, that is until I want a new phone.

What is the difference ? with device payments they bill it to your account which comes on your bill. As long as you pay your bill on time you good.

 

[Menel]

i miss paying 300$ for a new phone with a phone plan I was never planning on getting rid of. It wasn’t 300$ and 20$ each month it was one small amount and just keep your service for two years and the phone is yours. Sell it and pays for your new subsidy.
I miss these days. People seem happy to be paying 55$ a month for their phone with the phone plan they where always planning on keeping nowadays it seems.

No. It was like $75-80 for the grandfathered ATT smartphone plan.

I pay ~$15 now. And just but the phone when I want for lump sum and swap sim.

$650 iPhone 6 costs were recovered in less than contract term, and I kept it for 3 years til the X. Its cost will also be recovered in less than 24mo... and I anticipate using it for 4years. We’ll see.

Been doing this since the 5. Its great. And upgrade time is super easy not worrying about any hokey fine print.

 

[Menel]

My bill was never higher. I’ve always paid 80$ for the grandfathered att plan.
How is that a higher single line bill?
I never really paid for a phone since 08 until they dropped doing it upgrading every two years.

$$$$$

Prepaid was less.

Aio and StraightTalk could get you ATT towers for as low as $30/mo. Thats $50/mo you could have been pocketing.

CM is costing me $15/mo now. Thats comparatively $65/mo. Adds up fast.

 

[Menel]

I don’t miss paying the same expensive bill whether I upgraded or not. Phone and plan prices have gone up in general though.

Plan prices have crashed through floor.

Base model iPhone should be $1183 if it followed inflation, but it hasn’t. Staying under inflation.

 

[Small White Car]

The phone was 850$ when the subsidy was 400$. So how am I making payments on a phone if my bill is 80$?
Makes absolutely no sense.

So your theory is that AT&T decided to just give you a $450 gift every two years. They're not charging anyone for it. They're just giving money away.

It doesn't matter how many numbers you type, it all boils down to that argument.

And if you think THAT makes sense, I don't know what else to say here.

How am I paying for a phone then? I don’t see the charges.

Ok, I lied. I can't let this one go.

This is like saying your car came with a free engine because the contract didn't say "CAR + ENGINE" when you signed it. That doesn't mean you didn't pay for the engine when you bought the car.

 

[Menel]

The plans were the same price before and after the iPhone... The subsidy was an excellent deal - $400 savings up front.
I really miss them.

iPhone 8 = $199
iPhone XR = $349
iPhone XS = $599... and so on.

$450.
Most of the $199 subsidy iPhones (4-6s anyway) were $650 retail.


“The two initial models, a 4 GB model priced at US$499 and an 8 GB model at US$599 (both requiring a two-year contract)”

499+450 = original iPhone $949 what value!