att and Costco

The people who man the kiosks inside on Costco (or Sams or Target or BJs) do NOT work for AT&T.  They work for a company called Smart Circle.  I have no idea about the products they sell.

@pugetsound66  As mentioned, these independents are totally separate from AT&T, are owned and operated by someone else (Smart Circle for example), not staffed with AT&T employees, and AT&T has little to no control over how they sell AT&T goods and services.

$250 seems excessive.  Do you have a breakdown of that?  Usually all have to pay is the sales tax up front.  Also possibly an upgrade fee, but that usually comes on the first bill, and normally you don’t pay the first bill until it comes, not ahead of time.  Did you have to pay some of the price of the phone up front because of poor credit or something?  Also, not sure what you mean by “rent”.  You’re buying a phone, either paying in full at time of purchase, or on a 36 month installment plan.  At least that’s how the AT&T plans work.  Did you sign up for some plan that only Costco offers?

Well I'm having some issues as well and they are putting Att by Costco on their paperwork. To me that sends the signs that Costco has some involvement. They sold me and my wife Iphone 13 for ATT. The deal they said was since your due for an upgrade the activation would be waved. The price of the phone on an upgrade monthly is $5.00 a month which came out to $180 dollars plus tax on each phone for $55. Which i paid and they said i would get 2 $100 costco gift cards. Well now it begins where ATT put me on a payment plan for $15 a month! If they are not going to hold up the deal Costco needs to help?

Costco has some involvement in that they "rented" the space in their store to an independent reseller of AT&T goods and services. If you are owed 2, Costco $100 gift cards then you need to take that up with Costco Management because they are Costco gift cards, not AT&T gift cards. Whatever deal the reseller sold you has to be listed on the AT&T website as far an upgrades etc (the Costco gift card is Costco's thing).  Otherwise AT&T won't honor the promo or deal because technically it's not theirs. This is a common sales tactic by some independents just to make a sale.

Most of the reduced price deals involve a monthly bill credit.  In other words, you get a bill showing a normal monthly installment payment for the phone, and then another line item with an offsetting credit on the bill.  For example, a “$5 per month” phone will show on the bill as $15 phone payment and a $10 credit.  Also, most of the deals require a minimum unlimited data plan of $75 a month or more.  Finally, you pay sales take on the full price of the phone up front when you buy.

I appreciate your comment. I’m ok with the Costco credit and hopefully it comes. The way it was explained to me is if you upgraded the phone with ATT they would charge you $15 a month but bc your a Costco member your membership you get a promotional price of $5 a month. My bill doesn’t show any discount in fact it shows the $180 I paid was considered a phone down payment. He kept saying and $5.00 time 36 months is $180. Since I was due for upgrade I would get the activation fee waved after 2nd billing cycle. Not there yet. When I call ATT they say I owe $500 still. I’m hoping this all gets resolved and what they told me is true. I escalated the matter with their ATT Costco service line and they keep saying they will email me the proper documents and fix the issue with ATT.