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imissjerryg's profile

Contributor

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2 Messages

Sunday, August 17th, 2014 8:08 AM

AT&T lied about the Next plan

Back in May my Motorola Atrix was pretty much unusable. It had a cracked screen and I was no longer able to use the touch screen. My upgrade wasn't until October but on several occasions a representative from AT&T has allowed me to upgrade a little early. I usually upgrade and get a $50-$100 device. I went into an AT&T store in my neighborhood to see what they could do. The representative told me that he could definitely give me an early upgrade. He also told me he could make my plan much better for cheaper! He told me to pick out any phone I wanted and that I would only have to pay $50. I thought this was amazing that I could pick any phone and kept asking "Is there some kind of fine print I am missing?" or something along those lines. He said nope and that I only had to pay $50. Sweet! So I went ahead and got the device and a case and was on my way after paying. Three weeks later I get my bill and it's $352!!! My bill is normally around $130 for two lines with 4 gigs of data and 450 anytime minutes plus unlimited texting. I called AT&T to find out what the problem is and was told I was placed on the Next plan. I asked why my plan was changed and they said that I changed it when I got a new phone and explained the charges. I was put on a 10 gig plan plus unlimited talk/text and I was paying $25 for my device for 18 months. I explained that I had no idea I was having to pay in full for the device and that I was never told about the $25 monthly installment for 18 months for the phone. They said they were sorry and lowered my plan to 6 gigs and told me my bill would go back down to around $130. Well, the next bill comes around and it's $170... $40 more than I am used to paying. I called again and explained that I was put on this Next plan due to negligance of the worker at the AT&T store and asked if there was anyway I could get out of this plan and not have to pay for the device. They explained that two weeks had passed and there was no way I could get out of paying for the device. I told them that if I would have known I would be paying $25 a month for 18 months for a new device that I would have just gotten a crappy go phone and waited until October. I escalated this case to management and filed a case. The rep told me that management would be in contact with me the next day. Well, the next day comes and goes and four to five days later I finally call back for probably the 4th time. The person I spoke with this time told me that the case was closed because the 14 days had passed. I was infuriated! I was told to go into the AT&T store and speak with a manager about what had happened. I went to the store and the manager pretty much talked to me like I was stupid, explaining that I had the newest phone and that it was actually a great deal. I told him I didn't care if it was the newest phone and that if I would have known I would be paying $25 for 18 months for a new phone that I would have just gotten a go phone until October. He did absolutely nothing for me. I am so beyond frustrated with this whole situation. AT&T Next is a huge scam and now I am stuck with a ridiculously expensive phone plan for the next year and a half. I cannot wait until my contract is up so I can finally switch carriers after ten years of lies from AT&T!

Mentor

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47 Messages

10 years ago

Att put me on the family share plan without explaining any changes i wanted my old plan back they said no. I understand the frustration as far as the phone for 50 should have read the papers you signed either in the store or online.

Contributor

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2 Messages

10 years ago

I did read the papers. I was unaware the mobile share plan was different
from my family plan. Nowhere on the papers does it say I agreed to a
monthly installment and nowhere on there does it say anything about the
AT&T Next plan. Plus why are you talking about your issue on my post?

Contributor

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3 Messages

10 years ago

The next plan is complete crap. And the reps just get you into it without disclosing MAJOR details.

I was put into the plan on February of this year and was told that I would be able to get the Iphone 6 when it came out.

Anticipating the release day, I logged in to preorder it and this notification came out that in order for me to preorder it, I had to pay $250 and turn in my current device.

Im furious because I have spoken to multiple reps over the phone and they all just pass the buck.

Its not their fault and that I'm stuck in the program.

No one over the phone is being helpful and they all say they'll call me back but none of them ever do.

Im at the point where I just want to cancel all my lines and go with another provider.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

7 years ago

Yes the Next Plan is a great big lie.  The deal was that after your 24 month contract, you could either 1) Keep your same phone and your bill would go down $20/month per phone, or 2) Upgrade for FREE to the NEXT Phone they offered you in the store.  My phone died about a month or 2 before the 24 months was up (operating system problem, not phone damage), and my husband's phone was still fine.  We paid an outrageous amount for me to upgrade before my contract was up (had to pay for the insurance  AND pay off my phone).  But when they sent me an LGV10 through the mail, they gave my husband an LGV20 in the store.  My bill did NOT stay the same.  It went up, and they said it was to pay for my husband's phone, which is considerably more expensive than mine (according to them).  But I argued the Next plan said we would take whatever phone they gave us and the plan would stay the same.  I called to complain.  The girl complied with me.  Bill was fine for one month.  The next month the bill went up again and she said the last girl I spoke to did not have approval to discount my husband's phone cost by 50%.  I said she put me on hold and got permission.  I am tired of being lied to by AT&T.  I'm now awaiting a call back from a supervisor in 24 to 72 hours.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

7 years ago

And my Verizon TV and internet contract is up next month.  And guess who will not be going with AT&T /Direct TV Now) ?

ACE - Expert

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16.5K Messages

7 years ago


@Anonymous wrote:

Yes the Next Plan is a great big lie.  The deal was that after your 24 month contract, you could either 1) Keep your same phone and your bill would go down $20/month per phone, or

You'd need to make sure you are off a contract plan for that to happen. Next is not a contract.

 

2) Upgrade for FREE to the NEXT Phone they offered you in the store. 

For FREE??? No way!

In all the posts I've read (I'd guess 40,000 or more) I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone make that claim.

 

Next is basically a no interest credit card. Once you take the phone you owe for it, just like if you got it on Visa/MasterCard. The only difference is when you get to a fixed point in the plan, they will buy it from you for the cost of the rest of the payments IF it's it great condition AND IF you buy a new phone on a Next plan (hint, it's often worth more than they pay you so price it out before your do it). 

 

We paid an outrageous amount for me to upgrade before my contract was up (had to pay for the insurance  AND pay off my phone). 

I'd think after 20 months, the deductible would be pretty low.  

 

If by "upgrade" you mean "get a replacement phone" then you shouldn't have had to pay anything off farther on the phone, but you'd still need to continue payments (just like Visa/MC)

 

If by "upgrade" you mean "get a new Next phone" (on Next, no insurance claim). You'd probably have to pay the rest of the payments off, since you can't trade in a non-working phone. Next-24 was 30 payments, so you'd need to pay off 8 more payments if you were at 22 months. (This might make more sense than an insurance claim). If you had Next-18 then you only had 2 more months to full pay off.

 

(This revised answer is way different than my previous one)

 

Personally, I don't do their insurance, it's pretty pricey compared to the deductible, especially in the early months.

 

But when they sent me an LGV10 through the mail, they gave my husband an LGV20 in the store. 

I'm confused as why you got two phones, if only one was broken?

 


 

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

7 years ago

@Anonymous You clearly don't understand the Next plan because everything you said is wrong. A Next plan is simply a 0% interest loan for the price of a phone paid off in monthly installments. That monthly phone payment is the price of the phone divided by the number of installments. So a $650 phone on a 24 month plan is 27.08 per month. If you upgrade and buy a $700 phone, the monthly installment goes up to $29.16. Plus you don't take whatever phone they give you, you pick whatever phone you want but you pay whatever the price of that phone is. Prices for new phones are anywhere from $600-$1000. If you pay off your phone and don't upgrade, your bill goes down by whatever your monthly phone payment was. Regardless of whether you upgrade or not, once you payoff the phone it is yours to keep.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

7 years ago

@sandblaster  The deal I signed for was, sure, if you wanted a more expensive phone, your monthly bill would go up, but if you took what they were offering as the "NEXT" phone, your cost would remain the same.  That is what they were selling.  It's all over the internet how they ripped people off.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

7 years ago

[Per Guidelines:  Keep it Relevant and Appropriate]. If AT&T thinks we don't know how to research these things, they are mistaken.  I know the definition of a contract.  I help up my end.  They did not.

Employee

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3.5K Messages

7 years ago

There is no specific "Next" phone because ALL phones are eligible for Next. No one is forced to do anything. You pick a device, it's price is divided by the installment plans and that's it.

 

Paying zero down is not the same as free. All terminology states you pay zero down. Not free.

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