Unlimited data plan price hike again

some of us have stuck with the unlimited plan so we don't have to think about overage charges or ATT nickel and diming us. In months where I use less data than the tiered plans should AT&T be giving me a refund? I guess they can't legally end our plans or they would've already, I'll just leave Pandora or WatchESPN streaming overnight for the next 2 years to make sure I get my money's worth. 

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@cayers13 wrote:

some of us have stuck with the unlimited plan so we don't have to think about overage charges or ATT nickel and diming us. In months where I use less data than the tiered plans should AT&T be giving me a refund?

I'm on a 20GB plan, they don't refund me any when I use 6GB, so don't count on it.. (That's TWO plans lower)

I guess they can't legally end our plans or they would've already,

It sure seems like they could end it if they wanted to. They stop offering channels on u-verse/DirecTV. They eliminated 2G service, seems like they should be able to eliminate an old plan. At some point they're going to have way to many old plans to manage.

I'll just leave Pandora or WatchESPN streaming overnight for the next 2 years to make sure I get my money's worth. 

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And be sure to leave the water running overnight in your apartment since it "doesn't cost anything".

Those are the kind of things that drives the plan costs up!

@mllawson wrote:
Yes, people with grandfathered plans are being discriminated against.
Here's why, we pay separately for everything - text msg, family talk and
data in addition to the monthly plan rate; the so-called "unlimited data"
really isn't unlimited because I am not a high utilizer, yet I am throttled
based upon the utilization by the collective group of "unlimited data"
customers in my area from month to month; the rates continue to increase
and now more frequently than in the past.

If you're getting to the amount of data where they reprioritze you (NOT throttle) then you're using 22GB+ and I would say that is a high utilizer.  If that's not what you're saying, and you're not a high utilizer then dump it.

The key thing is, you have been making a constant CHOICE to keep that plan.  

The only plan that has that limitation (reprioritization) is the unlimited plan and that's the downside of discounted unlimited.

AND, because I refuse to let go of my grandfathered plan, I have two separate plans. There are two lines on
the grandfathered plan which costs $212/month vs four lines and an Ipad on
the mobile share plan which costs $330/month.

Again, a choice you make. 

For that much money you could:

1. Add 30GB-40GB to that plan (instead of the seperate $212) and have all the phones on one plan (probably more data if you talked to customer care/retention).
2. Buy DirecTV and put all 6 lines and the iPad on the current Unlimited Plan for $300, plus the DirecTV Cost ($70-$100) with a savings around $140+. And if you like DirectTV you count ditch your current TV service and save more.

(You said PLAN not plan and phones, so my cost savings are based on that)

Let's not forget that th
mobile share plans are throttled and DO NOT pay overage fees.

To be clear, Mobile Share Advantage plans do not pay overage fees, but Mobile Share Value plans do.

But I'm not sure why you are bringing this up. 

I'll clarify more, Mobile Share Advantage is not throttled, it is basically crippled if you exceed the account data limit. 

Regardless, if they use more data in their plan to use more they need to pay overages or switch to a larger plan. Which means paying more money.

Finally, this is not limited to grandfathered plans but applies to all
plans. Since AT&T switched from contract to "next" plans, the cell phone
cost became an additional fee (up to $42+) financed over 2 (or more) years.
This in addition to the other cost increase make AT&T cell phones
unaffordable and thereby forcing many to leave AT&T for other service
providers.

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Not really.

For example, if you had an older minute plans with three lines with 3GB (let's say a 700 minute plan), and you converted them to a 10GB Mobile Share plan, you'd save the cost of the phone subsidy (plus have an extra GB, shared data, rollover, Mexico and Canada roaming AND tethering), I switched from this and saved about much and one of my lines was a $15 line and we still saved about that much (the extra $15 probably put us over).

There is NO point in bringing up a $42 month cell phone. AT&T would have never given you a $1000 cell phone. They charged $199 down for a $650 phone, if you bought a $750 phone you paid $299 down which was exactly the extra $100 (either way they are subsidizing you about $18.75 when getting that price of phone). If you'd gotten a $1000 cellphone, they'd likely make you put $350 down and you'd still only be getting the $18.75 a month (the hidden subsidy). 

That $199 worked out to over $8 a month (you need to factor that into comparisons) that most people didn't notice because it was up front. So even the people paying currently paying $27.09 could be paying less than $19 if the put $199 down on the purchase.

In general, of course there are always exceptions. I just traded in my paid off iPhone 6s to AT&T for an iPhone 7 and paid $0 to do it, so there are other promos.

I am considering switching to T-mobile.  it is difficult to even contact anyone in writing 

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@edv9500 wrote:

I am considering switching to T-mobile.  it is difficult to even contact anyone in writing 

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Does T-Mobile have a system for e-mail support?

To say that AT&T would be out of business and that they make no money from unlimited users is just wrong, it must be. First, let me put unlimted in quotes from now on because lets face it, there is no such thing as truly unlimited in the wireless world. So, an average smartphone user racks up between 2-3 GB a month. Data for heavy users on unlimted plans is sparse from my brief search, but as an "unlimited" user for a long time now I can tell you that I rarely exceed 5 GB a month. I've kept the "unlimited" plan because occasionally I go on long road trips and I rely heavily on my phone for GPS, and more importantly, in-car entertainment. So lets say I average 5GB a month, which is very close to what I actually use. I pay for an "unlimted" grandfathered plan. This costs $35 for "unlimted" data, and since im grandfathered in, im required to keep the $39.99 450 with rollover and $20 messaging unlimited because , if i make any changes I lose the "unlimted" data. That totals $94.99 a month; $15 more than the 10GB plan that AT&T offers. I wager that the vast majority of "unlimited" users dont use a significant amount of data on average. So, to say that AT&T wasn't, isn't, or wouldn't make any money off the "unlimited" plans is ABSURD. Those of us grandfathered in cant even tether. Im finally looking at changing, and while AT&T does offer the 10 GB plan, which is what I would go with should I stay, I am not a fan of how they have handled their PR and customer relations over the years.

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@HylianKnight wrote:

To say that AT&T would be out of business and that they make no money from unlimited users is just wrong, it must be. First, let me put unlimted in quotes from now on because lets face it, there is no such thing as truly unlimited in the wireless world. So, an average smartphone user racks up between 2-3 GB a month. Data for heavy users on unlimted plans is sparse from my brief search, but as an "unlimited" user for a long time now I can tell you that I rarely exceed 5 GB a month. I've kept the "unlimited" plan because occasionally I go on long road trips and I rely heavily on my phone for GPS, and more importantly, in-car entertainment. So lets say I average 5GB a month, which is very close to what I actually use. I pay for an "unlimted" grandfathered plan. This costs $35 for "unlimted" data, and since im grandfathered in, im required to keep the $39.99 450 with rollover and $20 messaging unlimited because , if i make any changes I lose the "unlimted" data. That totals $94.99 a month; $15 more than the 10GB plan that AT&T offers. I wager that the vast majority of "unlimited" users dont use a significant amount of data on average. So, to say that AT&T wasn't, isn't, or wouldn't make any money off the "unlimited" plans is ABSURD. Those of us grandfathered in cant even tether. Im finally looking at changing, and while AT&T does offer the 10 GB plan, which is what I would go with should I stay, I am not a fan of how they have handled their PR and customer relations over the years.

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You aren't costing AT&T significant amounts, it's the people using more than 100GB and the ones using more than 200GB a month.  The 100GB plan costs $450 a month...

I dumped my unlimited plan last year. I use even more now (because I can tether) and we all pay less (3 lines) over all.