Teacher
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Mobile Share Value Plans Questions and Discussion
Beware.. The $160 per month plan for 4 smart phones with ATT is pretty shadey. They don't tell you that you are required to pay for 4 smart phones at full retail price. Maybe that small detail is buried somewhere in the fine print when the adds on TV play, but make sure you know exactly what you are paying for before jumping onto this.... It's very, very tricky.
*susie*
Contributor
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2 Messages
10 years ago
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kdfederer
ACE - Expert
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13.1K Messages
10 years ago
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*susie*
Contributor
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2 Messages
10 years ago
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loganic
Former Employee
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636 Messages
10 years ago
Plans, upgrades have gotten just a tad more complex. Usually, if you take the time to figure it, it makes sense.
Use this site to get a good idea about the various details.
www.myattrpc.com
Spend some time looking at your plan, and the alternatives.
Sometimes the specials (contracts starting before XX/XX for smartphones), will make some plans better than others temporarily.
-Alex
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
10 years ago
The thing is, based on the OP's post we don't know if the higher bill they are seeing is because of buying subsidized phones and paying $40 per phone instead of $15 or because of buying phones on the Next program. It's also possible that higher bill is because of monthly installments for their new phones. Since the OP said the activation fee was waived, I would tend to think it's the latter since activation fees are waived when upgrading via Next.
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kede341
Teacher
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7 Messages
10 years ago
I'm glad I called before signing up for the $160 - 10gb family of 4 plan.
My current bill is $259 for 4 phones with 3gb data for each and Unlimited text. We never use our minutes each month, we always have rollover minutes. We are all either close to or ready for an upgraded phone.
She told me the plan is $100 plus $15 for each of the 4 phones ($60) we "currently" have.
She explained that if I signed up now at the $160, each phone I upgraded after signing up would cost $40 instead of $15.
Which will be an additional $160 instead of $60 after upgrading all of our phones.
Which would bring my total monthly bill to $260. So I will be right back where I started but with 2gb data less than when I started.
Just another crazy plan that doesn't make any sense to switch too because eventually we will all upgrade our phones.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
10 years ago
That is only true if you upgrade at the 2 year contract subsidized price. You also have the option of upgrading via the Next program which would keep your per phone cost at $15. You also don't have to pay the $36 upgrade fee on Next. Of course, then you have to factor in paying a monthly installment for each phone. Which way is cheaper? That all depends on when and how often you upgrade but for some people (myself included), it works out cheaper to go with the mobile share plan and upgrade via Next. If you absolutely intend to upgrade all 4 phones at the same time and also upgrade them every 2 years, you probably won't save anything with the new plan and Next but you really should do the math. If you keep your phones longer than 2 years, you may find that mobile share and Next actually works out cheaper in the long run.
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kede341
Teacher
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7 Messages
10 years ago
Having been a customer for many many years, I have never had to pay over $50 for a phone. I use the 2 year upgrade option for every phone. Most phones we have had were free this way. We all have iphones. I plan never to pay $600 for a phone. That's a house payment! So NEXT is completely out for us. But for those who must have the most recent "cool" phone, I suppose NEXT is the way. I'm alright not being "cool". 🙂
Was just wanting those who enjoy their discounted 2 year plan upgrade phones to understand the new $160 plan before signing up.
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loganic
Former Employee
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636 Messages
10 years ago
The $160 price is advertised as no contract, basically each line gets a $25 discount when they're out of contract.
So, the guys you talked to were offereing to change you to this plan that's normally only $1 more than your current one, AND offered to get you those discounts now?
So you'd save quite a bit of money until you've completely upgraded all the lines, and you'd continue to save money later if one of your lines ever didn't immediately upgrade when their contract was done?
I'm not sure what math you're doing, but in my book that few hundred dollar temporary savings over the course of months would more than make up the $1 increase.
Edit:
@kede341, your old plans have been inflated to cover the cost of your phones. I expect your totals won't be much different whether you keep payment what you're paying now vs the Mobile Share value plans + AT&T Next. For some people, it's a little more, others a little less than their current rate, but it usually pretty close. It's worth a shot checking, but one way or another, the phone's gotta be paid for.
These new plans are are aimed at being more transparent than the old ones essentialy
-Alex
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wingrider01
Expert
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12.2K Messages
10 years ago
Most smartphone owners are more into the latest and greatest cool new toy, so a low monthly payment with no finance charge but with the ability to trade up every 12 months is more enticing then getting a 649.00 for for 199.00 a 2 year commitment with ETF charges and not being able to upgrade the next year when the new version comes out. The US market is moving in the same direction as the overseas market has been using for years - no subsidized phones and a price cut in the plan charges
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