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.
sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
10 years ago
Presuming you are on mobile share, your bill should only increase $25. Even with the $36 upgrade fee, that is only $61, not $90. You'll have to do a line by line comparison of new bill vs old bill to see what else was added.
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sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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64.7K Messages
10 years ago
Sorry you feel the Next pricing is shady but personally, I realized that Next was a plan to pay full price for your phone the day it was announced. The price for a phone under Next is the same regardless of which option you pick, the only difference is how many months you pay and neither option is for 12 months. If a store rep told you there were only 12 payments, they were wrong. What you can do is discontinue payments after 12 months by trading in your phone for another phone (i.e. upgrading). Of course, you would then have to pay for the new phone. Optionally, you continue paying off your phone until you own it.
Good luck with Verizon, they have the exact same plan as Next, they call it Edge. They also have pretty much the same pricing on their share plans meaning you will have to pay full price for your phones with them also in order to get the lowest service pricing. If you're thinking about T-Mobile, they call their plan Jump and they don't even offer the discounted 2 year contract price for phones any more.
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jane697
Scholar
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397 Messages
10 years ago
What you were told (above) is stated in the TOS when purchasing a smartphone to be used on a line that's under a MSV account. To put it simply--if you purchase a new smartphone on a line that's on a MSV account and you elect to pay the subsidized (i.e., discounted) price for said phone rather than pay full price OOP or go with Next--that line will no longer receive the per-line discount (in your case, $25).
Why some people feel that they should be able to pay just the discounted/subsidized pricing for a new smartphone under MSV and still think they should rightfully not lose their per-line discount is beyond me--this is clearly a matter of those folks "wanting/having their cake and eating it too". Not gonna happen under the MSV plans--if you want a new smartphone under MSV, you're gonna have to either: be willing to give up the per-line discount ($15 or $25 per line) if you go subsidized phone pricing on each line for which you go this route, pay for it under Next, or pay full price OOP. Gone are the days where you can get a new smartphone for cheap AND not see your monthly bill go up even after having signed a 2-year contract...people may not like it, but that's the way wireless companies are rolling these days--for better or for worse.
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NewtCubbie1
Tutor
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2 Messages
10 years ago
I signed up for this a few months ago. Wow, I thought, my bill is actually about $100 lower than it was before. Well, just wait until it is time to use an upgrade. My son's phone was damaged but he was timed for an upgrade, so I called our local store and guess what? Once you upgrade you no longer get the family share discount on that line. Yes, it would be an extra $25 per month. So, if you have three more smartphones and you need to upgrade, guess what? The whole discount is gone. Oh, but, ATT says that's OK. Just try our Next plan, then it only goes up about $15 per line, becasue of the monthly rental. What a racquet. They are 100% shameless. How many out there know that, unlike broadband, there is no competition for data access using cellular. That's right. ATT doesn't have to pay anything extra to provide data, and it doesn't have to compete like a cable company. That's why T-Mobile can offer the plans it does. ATT is criminal. The FCC should investigate this.
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NewtCubbie1
Tutor
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2 Messages
10 years ago
After upgrading four lines, I will be back to the same monthly fee I was at before I signed up for the value share plan.
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GeekBoy
Master
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4.1K Messages
10 years ago
I agree with you, it is such a racket they they give you a $25 per month discount if you are not under a contract! Everyone should pay the same higher fee, contract or not!!! It's an even bigger racket that they gave you a discount on your phones that were under contract as a "good will gesture" (if your contract was originated before a certain date) because they wanted to cement their racket on under-charging you for being a "loyal customer". They are without any shame for those despicable actions!
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kdfederer
ACE - Expert
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13.1K Messages
10 years ago
People were complaining about the line costs once a phone was out of contract. If you didn't upgrade every 2 years, you paid for it anyway. That is why the cell providers have offered A DISCOUNT if you don't have a subsidized upgrade. The plan prices were reduced, which everyone was happy about, until they try to upgrade, then the price increases. YOU PAY FOR THE SUBSIDIZED PHONE COST, on way or another. You can't have it both ways - Lower prices AND subsidized phones.
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oldphone123
Tutor
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5 Messages
10 years ago
I agree! Right now I have the 10gb family plane. Went to upgrade and was told it would be 40 a month for the phone. right now i pay 15 per phone for access, i think it is so confusing. I do not want to pay anymore. I am afraid to make a move any where accept ot another carrier. Why would att want to do this to their customers. Why does it have to be so confusing. For the people who say it stated so clear, you either work for Att or your a lawyer who completely understands the ins and outs of contracts. Is this what is next to have a lawyer read Att contract before you agree to anything.
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kdfederer
ACE - Expert
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13.1K Messages
10 years ago
One way or another, you pay for the subsidized phone. You can't have it both ways, cheaper phone line AND subsidized phone.
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Travisimo
Teacher
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9 Messages
10 years ago
I'm currently on Verizon looking to switch to AT&T. I am also an employee of the USPS, so I am eligible for the Premier program with a 25% discount on service. I have a few questions, however:
1). I noticed on the Premier website, the data is discounted but the phone device charge is not. For example, even if I choose the 10GB+ data plan option, it does not show the $25 discount for the line. It still shows the $40 charge for each line, even though I want to bring my own phone and not be under contract. Is this how the Premier program works? If I bring my family over (all bringing our own devices), I think it would be cheaper to NOT use Premier and each line only be charged $15 and just pay full price for the data plan, no?
2). Years ago, I was on AT&T with the USPS and I had to sign a 2-year commitment to get the discount. I was told by a CSR that this is no longer the case, but I don't want to get burned. Can anyone confirm that you can indeed get the discount on Premier without having to sign a 2-yr commitment. I want to stay off-contract.
Here's an example of what I'm seeing on the website if I were to switch my 4 Verizon lines to AT&T:
Standard Service (not Premiere):
15GB data plan = $130
Device charge = $15 (with $25 no contract discount) X 4 = $60
TOTAL = $190 for 4 lines and 15GB of data
Premiere Service:
15GB data plan = $97.50 (25% discount)
Device charge = $40 (no device discount with Premiere???)
TOTAL = $257.50
According to this, I would be paying significantly MORE on Premiere than if I just got the standard service. Or am I missing something? Can anyonen confirm if the device charge is still discounted if you are off-contract on Premiere? Or do you have to sign a contract?
Thanks!
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