[Q] Anybody exploit the loopholes in AT&T billing? - AT&T Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Let's say you are on the 1gb $50 plan. You are 15 days into your bill cycle and used 900MB. You then switch to the 2GB $65 plan. You get full use of the new 2GB plan's data for the rest of the bill cycle. Yet you pay a prorated $50 bill and a prorated $65 bill. You get your 900MB and another 2GB of the new plan and you avoid the overage charge. Right after your bill cycle ends, you change it back to the 1GB plan and again and repeat as necessary. I just confirmed with the rep that you get the full use of the new plan's allowed data.
Upon more research, it seems AT&T backdate your plan change therefore you will be paying a full price for the new plan and leaving you with only 1.1 GB the rest of the cycle. If that is the case, I've been misinformed again by the bright people known as AT&T reps. So does AT&T still backdate the bill cycle or do they pro rate both plans for those that have tried it.
Upon even more research, I saw that Verizon will prorate both plans but calculates your data allowance daily. Meaning if you used 1GB in 15 days and you are on the 30 days 1GB plan and change your plan mid cycle, you will get hit with a 500MB overage charge, since you are only allowed 500MB in the 15 days period. So common advice was to backdate the higher plan to avoid overage charge. In conclusion, there is no loophole if this is how they calculate the prorated bill.
I heard AIO does not do that and allowed you to use the new plan's entire data allowances when you change plan.
In conclusion, ignore this thread. I was misinformed by the AT&T reps. The best way to avoid overage charge is to BACKDATE the new plan, otherwise you will likely incure an overage charge since that is calculated as a daily allowance.

Related

Internet Sharing Experiences

I know this has been addressed already, but I was wondering what every one's experience has been with Internet Sharing with AT&T. I'm wondering if you don't have tethering added on to your account will they charge you extra on you bill for using internet sharing. I have heard some people say yes they do (On this forum) and some people say no they don't (On this forum) so I am just trying to figure out which one is true hopefully the latter of the two
well, i've got the $15 media net package on my phone, and they have never complained about that (since you are supposed to have the $30 pda personal plan).
And occasionally I tether to my laptop when I absolutely need to. (I always connect to the wap.cingular access point)
I think as long as you don't go completely crazy with your data usage, they don't complain. I think I average 100 to 150 MB per month.
But if your data usage is big (over 1 GB?) I think that raises some flags.
I've used my 19.99 media max package for downloading large files from my PDA as well as tethered to my laptop. The previous poster summed it up quite nicely. However there are some rumors that AT&T will be changing their whole unlimited data system, but it's unclear when.
Ok, that gives me a better understanding of what the other posters were talking about. I think at&t already changed their media max plans, but if you already have the old one they wont make you change it. (or at least they didn't make me I have unlimited.)
I forgot to say thanks for you guy's help. Thanks
I have the $30 "Unlimited" package, but it's the same story with all the providers (as far as I know, or at least Verizon and AT&T) where there is a limit of 5gb a month. If you go over that they have the right to terminate your service as well as then charging you the $200 dollars or so for an early termination. In all honesty though you'd have to be trying to go over 5gb.
The other plans that aren't "Unlimited" have a specific limit per month that they will straight out tell you.
wizardlizard111 said:
I have the $30 "Unlimited" package, but it's the same story with all the providers (as far as I know, or at least Verizon and AT&T) where there is a limit of 5gb a month. If you go over that they have the right to terminate your service as well as then charging you the $200 dollars or so for an early termination. In all honesty though you'd have to be trying to go over 5gb.
The other plans that aren't "Unlimited" have a specific limit per month that they will straight out tell you.
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Thank you thats the plan I have and thats info I needed.

why are contract so much in usa

just been looking at some posts and seen the price some of you guys pay in the usa,how come its so much.
If I recall market coverage I've read correctly, the US contracts reflect higher bundled minutes per month and subsidies for purchasing a phone. Both of these "features" aren't typical in other parts of the world (most notably Europe) where the minutes/month is either lower or non-existant and the carriers don't provide a discount for the phone that you pick up.
Many analysts expect the US model to migrate more towards the European model as time passes due to market pressures.
so for a average price plan what do you get for your money,here in the uk you get a free phone eg the diamond 600mins and say free web for 18months and for 35 uk£
Over here in the UK, phones are certainly subsidised. As for, higher minutes? I'm paying T-Mobile £37/month, for an 18 month contract. For that, I get 1000 voice minutes, 'unlimited' texts, 'unlimited' web, and a free MDA Vario 3 (Kaiser).
Big US companys are incredibly greedy, care nothing about the customer, don't care about improving the customer expirience, and only really care about the money.
that's why!
Edit:
For a US individual AT&T customer, you'll run...
$40 - 450 talk minutes... not even unlimited *5000* night and weekend minutes
$35 - unlimited data/ internet usage
$20 - unlimited texting
so for an individual who wants to text and use his tilt that even with a REBATE he spent 200 dollars on, for internet usage, he pays 95 us dollars per month. this is using the edge network most places in the US *only get HSDPA in metropolitan areas* which is quite slow :-S
sdconvoy said:
Big US companys are incredibly greedy, care nothing about the customer, don't care about improving the customer expirience, and only really care about the money.
that's why!
Edit:
For a US individual AT&T customer, you'll run...
$40 - 450 talk minutes... not even unlimited *5000* night and weekend minutes
$35 - unlimited data/ internet usage
$20 - unlimited texting
so for an individual who wants to text and use his tilt that even with a REBATE he spent 200 dollars on, for internet usage, he pays 95 us dollars per month. this is using the edge network most places in the US *only get HSDPA in metropolitan areas* which is quite slow :-S
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That is a fact...and a very sad one at that.
o2xdaexec said:
so for a average price plan what do you get for your money,here in the uk you get a free phone eg the diamond 600mins and say free web for 18months and for 35 uk£
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this might be a stupid q, but are the 600 mins per month or for the whole 18 months?
AthenaLod said:
this might be a stupid q, but are the 600 mins per month or for the whole 18 months?
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600 minutes per month
sdconvoy said:
Big US companys are incredibly greedy, care nothing about the customer, don't care about improving the customer expirience, and only really care about the money.
that's why!
Edit:
For a US individual AT&T customer, you'll run...
$40 - 450 talk minutes... not even unlimited *5000* night and weekend minutes
$35 - unlimited data/ internet usage
$20 - unlimited texting
so for an individual who wants to text and use his tilt that even with a REBATE he spent 200 dollars on, for internet usage, he pays 95 us dollars per month. this is using the edge network most places in the US *only get HSDPA in metropolitan areas* which is quite slow :-S
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Corporate greed knows no borders, we have T-Mobile in the U.S., they are a German corporation, and Verizon Wireless, Vodafone has a big stake in them. I get HSDPA in my area, and it's VERY rural, so you'd be wrong about HSDPA only being available in metro areas, I live in a county (Mendocino, NW CA) that is HUGE at 3800 sq.miles in size, has a population of 88,000 and is very mountainous and rural. The nearest Metropolitan area to me is San Francisco, 115 miles south of where I live.
Edit-To be fair, while many of the bigger carriers, like AT&T and Verizon may not be as customer oriented as they should be, you have to remember the U.S. has many smaller and regional carriers as well, like US Cellular, Golden State Cellular, Inland Cellular (to name a few), and they are often VERY customer oriented, and tend to provide more personal service to their customers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_phone_companies
Try here (Switzerland).
Prices are approximate due to conversion but gives an idea:
For $30/month:
250MB data/month
NO free calls, $0.45/min to other mobile networks (there are 3 so the chance the other person isn't on the same as you is quite high), $0.45/hour (you pay that amount regardless whether the call lasts 1 min or 59 mins) to same network or landline.
NO free texts ($0.15 each).
And as the retail value of a Kaiser is $1100 here, youl'll still pay it $650 with a 1-year contract or $450 with 2 years.
The billing model for all phone providers have now gone to that "per hour" fee on landlines and same network, and same amount per minute for other networks.
The one network that is usually always a bit in advance regarding their offers has gone for plans where your monthly fee becomes a credit and you can use it up, basically removing the base monthly fee IF you use it up entirely. But free minutes/texts are basically non-existant apart for the top ($70/month range) plans.
It is probably worth mentioning that, at the current exchange rate, one US dollar is worth approx. .6844 Euro.
Call that a buck and a half per Euro.
So a 40 EU contract is worth $60.
I pay $73USD per month to AT&T. For that I get:
450 Peak Minutes
5000 Nights and Weekend Minutes
Unlimited Data
1000 Messages (any combination of message types)
Weird Al's Canadian Idiot greeting my callers until I answer.
I don't see how this is such a bad deal. In order to exceed the 5000 minutes of off-peak time, you would need to be on the phone 1 minute for every 4.94 minutes during the off-peak periods. Let us also remember that AT&T has Rollover, so our unused peak minutes hang around for 12 months.
NotATreoFan said:
I pay $73USD per month to AT&T. For that I get:
450 Peak Minutes
5000 Nights and Weekend Minutes
Unlimited Data
1000 Messages (any combination of message types)
Weird Al's Canadian Idiot greeting my callers until I answer.
I don't see how this is such a bad deal. In order to exceed the 5000 minutes of off-peak time, you would need to be on the phone 1 minute for every 4.94 minutes during the off-peak periods. Let us also remember that AT&T has Rollover, so our unused peak minutes hang around for 12 months.
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I get a tad of a discount so mines a bit less. I pay 120 USD for the following
National Family plan 700 mins ( I can go anywhere with 0 roaming fees here in the states )
Unlimited data PDA Connect for one line ( believe me I use it more than ATT might like lol )
1500 sms/txt per line
Longer Free nights and weekends
I bought 1 tilt from Ebay and 1 from the retail store. Even though I paid almost 700USD for the 1 from the start ( when it first came out ), I don't regret a second of it. I feel the prices for the plans themselves are quite fair.
wron wrong WRONG!!!
Comjon now! stop complaining about how high our monthly contracts are!! (My wife's idiot brother in law once had a $900 bill come to him--his wife was happy) but that's besides the point. How else are we going to contribute to our gov'ts 1.7 TRILLION bail out? lol
telegraph0000 said:
Comjon now! stop complaining about how high our monthly contracts are!! (My wife's idiot brother in law once had a $900 bill come to him--his wife was happy) but that's besides the point. How else are we going to contribute to our gov'ts 1.7 TRILLION bail out? lol
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India is pretty cheap when it comes to mobile usage...Vodafone charges me 13$ per month upto 1GB data plan free per month and about 0.02$ per minute outgoing and free incoming with some text msgs free per month dont remember how many now...here you need to buy the phone seperately a decent WM device can cost upto 200$ appx but its a one time buy and you can switch SIM cards (i.e the phones are unlocked so you free to switch service providers) My average bill for a month comes upto 32$ including the rental charges.
Cheers
FCC plays a big part of why contracts are so much. Just look at the last auction they had for the 700mhz spectrum. If you want cheap rates, Sprint had a SERO plan for $30 a month for 500min anytime, $50 for 1250 min, $100 for 2500 min, all plans include Unlimited Text Messaging, Unlimited Data, Free Nights & Weekends Starting at 7pm. SERO is no longer offered but instead Everything Plus. $60 for 500 min $80 for 1000 min both plan include what SERO had.
MetroPCS also has pretty cheap plans.
For me I have 700 min/mo rollover family plan shared with 5 phones. My phone has PDA data plan and 1500 txt/sms. 2nd phone has unlimited medianet and 200 txt/sms. Rest just voice. I pay $137 a month for all 5 lines because I have a FAN account. I got about 1500 minutes of rollover minutes so it doesnt cost anything if I go over my minutes. Besides if I ran out of minutes, theres always Skype on my tilt and on my N75.
PerfAlbion said:
If I recall market coverage I've read correctly, the US contracts reflect higher bundled minutes per month and subsidies for purchasing a phone. Both of these "features" aren't typical in other parts of the world (most notably Europe) where the minutes/month is either lower or non-existant and the carriers don't provide a discount for the phone that you pick up.
Many analysts expect the US model to migrate more towards the European model as time passes due to market pressures.
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Click to collapse
Erm, I paid the most I have ever paid for a phone for my Tytn II, 85eur for the phone, 35 Eur (250 outgoing minutes (all incoming calls are free)) a month plan, 10 Eur for unlimited FUP 3G internet. I pay just under 45 Eur a month for a 2 year plan.
I hope people in the US go towards a EU type policy. I cannot believe people still pay for local incoming calls.
Hmmm
How far do you get to call without paying extra? We get all of the USA, which is pretty big. Maybe we pay more to get more, our network is a bit large.
Here in the UK, mobile numbers don't have area codes (which I believe is the case in the US, although I stand prepared to be shot down in flames if I've got that one wrong).
Therefore, we don't pay more to call 'further'. Fixed lines, however can be geographic (with area codes), or non-geographic (freephone and premium rate numbers), so call can vary there. Calls to mobiles and geographic numbers usually are taken off the minutes bundled with the tariff before being charged; non-geographic numbers are generally charged.
As a result, I can call my brother who lives at the other end of the UK from me, and it comes out of my free minutes. If I had used all of those, however, it wouldn't cost me any more than if he were down the street.
Do any of your europeland companies let you keep your anytime minutes if you don't use them? That was my draw to AT&T when I first signed up.
My current plan is $68/month. approx 46.25 euros a month
Tilt came free to me for being a professional
450 anytime minutes, 5000 n&w
Unlimited data
1000 texts/mms/etc

Bell User in Canada: Internet Fees?

I hate Bell with a passion. After two short 1 week vacations in the states, I was charged for nearly $200 of money I didn't use, apparently for roamer packet data.
I never want to put myself in any situation where my phone sucks money out of my wallet without me knowing.
After installing Android (Thanks Myn!) on my HTC Touch (From Bell), I've been using it for a day and I wonder whether or not my internet access will cause my extra charges.
I used to have an unlimited data plan on my HTC Touch running WM 6.1, but is that transferred when I use Android? Essentially my phone now thinks its American, yet runs via Bell Mobility.
Should I stop using internet?
I too am on Bell's network with the unlimited mobile browser plan and do not get charged extra fees using any data on Android (while within Canada). This also goes for tethering. Although this is the vogue forum, I want to save confusion and let you know i am on an HTC Touch from Bell (Vogue).
I have the fun 15 bundle with Bell and have never been charged for data. From what I understand, Bell does not consider the Vogue to be a smartphone, and therefore allows you to take the Fun 15 (or other unlimited mobile browser package).
Cheers
shadoslayer said:
I have the fun 15 bundle with Bell and have never been charged for data. From what I understand, Bell does not consider the Vogue to be a smartphone, and therefore allows you to take the Fun 15 (or other unlimited mobile browser package).
Cheers
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Seriously? I've been paying extra for data... I'm with Bell and have the Touch.
I just need to put this out there. This question has been answered MANY times. If you had searched you would have found the answer
ThomasHW said:
Seriously? I've been paying extra for data... I'm with Bell and have the Touch.
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If you have Unlimited Mobile Browser and the Touch, then you shouldn't be paying any extra for data from Bell.
Liko said:
If you have Unlimited Mobile Browser and the Touch, then you shouldn't be paying any extra for data from Bell.
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I don't have unlimited browser, but I'm assuming a plan with that would be far cheaper than the $65 I'm paying?
ThomasHW said:
I don't have unlimited browser, but I'm assuming a plan with that would be far cheaper than the $65 I'm paying?
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You can add the Unlimited Browser option for $10 to any current plan. For $15 you can add Fun 15 Bundle which includes the Unlimited Browser, Call Display, Voicemail and 250 text sent.
I have to Touches with Bell both with unlimited, one is a postpaid and the other is prepaid and never get charged extra EXCEPT for one time I was in Niagara Falls right on the border, I ended up getting charged about 20 dollars for one day extra in Data fees they said because I was on the US towers, weird but I never left canada and still got charged.
Bell are horrible in everything except the unlimited data for the vogue lol.
Yep, as everyone stated, there should be no charges with UMB. For some its reason enough to try and get every last drop out of the vogue. I do look at some of the devices out there and wonder though.
I too was charged roaming data rates when in the South part of Vancouver Island (good old Sooke, BC). I guess I was on the US towers and checked my email a few times. I think charges were around $25. Be careful when close to the US!
Yes, I am on the $7 unlimited data plan and also have not paid a cent extra
bobjr said:
Yep, as everyone stated, there should be no charges with UMB. For some its reason enough to try and get every last drop out of the vogue. I do look at some of the devices out there and wonder though.
I too was charged roaming data rates when in the South part of Vancouver Island (good old Sooke, BC). I guess I was on the US towers and checked my email a few times. I think charges were around $25. Be careful when close to the US!
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masalma said:
I have to Touches with Bell both with unlimited, one is a postpaid and the other is prepaid and never get charged extra EXCEPT for one time I was in Niagara Falls right on the border, I ended up getting charged about 20 dollars for one day extra in Data fees they said because I was on the US towers, weird but I never left canada and still got charged.
Bell are horrible in everything except the unlimited data for the vogue lol.
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You can contest those charges. Let them know where you were and they'll remove the fees.
prairiefire said:
You can contest those charges. Let them know where you were and they'll remove the fees.
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Click to collapse
Trust me I did, no go.
Off topic: I once had added 500 long distance minutes for $30 I think from bell, and towards the end of the month I felt like I was getting close, so I called in to ask if I can add more, and the lady on the phone said since I am a student I can get a plan where I can make/receive unlimited nationwide calls from/to 10 numbers, all I have to do is go into a store and show my id and ask them to add the plan.
Next day I head down to a Bell store, tell them I want the student plan, and to add to my plan 40 long distance minutes for $7 just in case I call or receive any long distance calls outside of these numbers.
Well what the girl did, she added the student plan, and the $7 plan, but she took off the 500min for $30. When I got my phone bill it was close to $400 for that month because they ended up charging me for the 500 minutes of long distance. Lets just say it took about 3-4 months to get them to issue a refund, and with so much time spent on the phone, at the store, with managers.
basically screw Bell, if they didn't have this unlimited browser for the Vogue, I wouldn't even touch them.
rant over
I feel your pain. Any time they screw up, it's a guarantee you'll be spending time measured in days for them to correct it. I love it when you call back and find out that the previous person on the phone didn't keep any notes in their system and you have to start from scratch.
Unfortunately I think every other provider is equally crappy.
pretty much every time I call bell for anything I immediatly tell them I want to talk to 'retentions'. When the rep asks why I say cause I'm going to cancel my plan, pay it out a switch carriers.. They transfer me to retentions who is much more organized to deal with.
lol
Well.. I phoned Bell and asked why they were charging me for data when my phone wasn't considered a "smart phone" and why they didn't tell me this when I switched phones (I called in to switch). They gave me some garbage, and I said "yes... but I could have been paying $15 less a month and would of had the same service." He went and talked to his manager and they're reimbursing me for a few months and are switching my plan.
don't use data in the States
NEVER use your Touch in the States.
I was in Vegas for a week and a few checks of my email and a few Twitter updates (everything that automatically used data- push mail, MyPhone backup, weather- was disabled) and I've used 67 meg of data.
And $2000 tab from Bell Canada....
For the entire year of 2009 Bell reported to me that I used 120 meg, they falsely report your unlimited mobile browser usage to you by capping each mobile packet data session (check your bell bill, each session has the same total).. But when you go to the states (or another country that supports Bell CDMA) the provider that you are piggy-backing service from is reporting back to Bell what what your actual data usage is (like you were using any data device -blackberry, iphone etc.)..
it gets better..
Bell bills this, out of plan, mobile browser foreign usage at $30 per megabyte - it bills actual data phone foreign usage at $6 per megabyte.
I had naively bought the 2meg $20 US mobile browser thinking this should cover my usage while in the states..oops
I've talked to a dozen different people at Bell from CSR's, supervisors, managers to different people in the executive office; they all say after consulting with their "data expert" that there was nothing wrong or abnormal about my usage in the states. 100% true I used my phone data normally, they are looking for a one time large or abnormal usage.
But as we're not getting billed normally, we are not able to make informed decisions about a) pre-buying a US mobile browser package or b) monitoring mobile browser usage in the US. And getting forced to pay 5X what other data phone users are paying for their data usage in the US.
Zadabest said:
I hate Bell with a passion. After two short 1 week vacations in the states, I was charged for nearly $200 of money I didn't use, apparently for roamer packet data.
I never want to put myself in any situation where my phone sucks money out of my wallet without me knowing.
After installing Android (Thanks Myn!) on my HTC Touch (From Bell), I've been using it for a day and I wonder whether or not my internet access will cause my extra charges.
I used to have an unlimited data plan on my HTC Touch running WM 6.1, but is that transferred when I use Android? Essentially my phone now thinks its American, yet runs via Bell Mobility.
Should I stop using internet?
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ahh there is a god..
I finally got resolution to my $2000 bill from bell for US mobile browser usage.. they had offered a 50% reduction..
I finally got a sane person at the Executive Office who charged me $45 for the new US 1GB package and has wiped out the outstanding US browser charges. The 'data-expert' that was to return my call is no longer with Bell... and NO body at Bell understands the difference between mobile browser usage (capped) and Data usage (uncapped).. even better when you bill says "roamer data usage"
... good timing too as the accounts receivable bastards had disabled both my phones with Bell Mobility and I had borrowed $1500 to reactive them.
Be polite, but persistent..
Now on my next trip to the US should I try and pre-purchase the 1GB US data package for $45.. LOL
wow. that is a horror story if i've ever heard one. i have seen how the UMB shows capped packet data but never understood why they would do that. It doesn't make sense. Are they not recording the correct data internally or just not reporting it correctly?
10$ for it? damn... i'm glad I got in before the price hikes... it might only be a couple dollars but it adds up. When I signed up, it was 5$, and I was enrolled for some promo that knocked it down to 3$ a month. About a year ago I got a letter saying it was going up to 7$, but the promo's still on my account knocking off 2$ every month so I only pay 5 for it... Kinda wondering what to do when my contract finally expires in 6 months, since I'm quite enjoying the vogue with android for 40$ a month after taxes... (200 minutes, 500 texts, unlimited data etc etc) and I know they won't renew my contract at that rate :/

How I saved money buying my M8 and then switching to a Framily plan.

I figured I would share this because it saved me (or will save) some money. I was planning on switching to a Framily plan to lower the bill significantly and was told about how phone upgrading is different on that plan. You pay full price, put down 15% and the rest is split between 24 payments on your bill. So on a $650 phone with $200 down the payment is about $19 a month for 24 months. However, if you purchase the phone with your existing contract upgrade and then switch to Frankly you only pay a $15 a month fee for the upgrade. The best part is that if you are paying for unlimited data you only pay that $15 for one year. Unfortunately, if you don't pay for unlimited data then you're paying $15 for two years. For many though it's still the better deal. Paying $4 less a month for two years adds up. Or only paying the fee for one year saves even more.
Also, I was told using a discount for belonging to a credit union gets activation fees waived automagically so I switched my discount to the credit union since my original discount didn't provide me the waiving of activation fees.
So after getting the phone on Amazon for $150 I ended up (or will) saving a chunk of change switching to a Framily plan.
I didn't proofread this. Posting from my phone.
I put 100 down and my payment is only 20. Edit: doesn't add up to 649 though.
And they told me it wasn't possible to upgrade with an early upgrade fee. Figured they were full of **** cause they usually don't know what they're talking about.
Sent from my M8 only on the XDA & MikForums

Something I did not know when I switched to AT&T's data share plan

To the forum moderator, if this is in the wrong forum, please relocate it.
As I recall, under the family plan I had before switching to the Shared Data Plan, four devices sharing 10gb data with unlimited talk and text, I could upgrade any of the four smart phones with a two year extension to my contract and my monthly cost would not change. Under the new plan, your monthly cost will increase by $25 for the length of the two year contract. That's $600. Add the $100 I paid for my Galaxy s5, that means I will be paying $700 for the phone.
retnuh said:
To the forum moderator, if this is in the wrong forum, please relocate it.
As I recall, under the family plan I had before switching to the Shared Data Plan, four devices sharing 10gb data with unlimited talk and text, I could upgrade any of the four smart phones with a two year extension to my contract and my monthly cost would not change. Under the new plan, your monthly cost will increase by $25 for the length of the two year contract. That's $600. Add the $100 I paid for my Galaxy s5, that means I will be paying $700 for the phone.
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Yeah, they got us with that one too. At first they told us we could upgrade so when my son married, we added his wife and she got the Note 3. We though it should be the 15 per month and we even had it in writing but when the first bill came it was 40 instead of 15. Of course I called and complained and they told me that was how it worked but they could give me a discount for a few months. Since I had it in writing I escalated it to the "Presidents Office" and I ended up getting 18 months credit so she only had to pay 25 for 6 months.
I think they are very deceptive about this or they really didn't understand how the program worked. It was very frustrating.
retnuh said:
To the forum moderator, if this is in the wrong forum, please relocate it.
As I recall, under the family plan I had before switching to the Shared Data Plan, four devices sharing 10gb data with unlimited talk and text, I could upgrade any of the four smart phones with a two year extension to my contract and my monthly cost would not change. Under the new plan, your monthly cost will increase by $25 for the length of the two year contract. That's $600. Add the $100 I paid for my Galaxy s5, that means I will be paying $700 for the phone.
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Click to collapse
It is a little confusing, but I had the opposite experience. It actually seems like a good deal to me. In the old days, once your contract was up, you'd still pay an inflated price for service, so it made financial sense to upgrade at every opportunity if you don't mind being locked in for another 2 years. Now, once your contract is up, you stop paying for the phone.
When I switched myself online, I did a ton of research on the actual cost because I knew the original shared data plans' pricing would have cost me a ton more than I was already paying, but I knew they had restructured them. I personally did not miss the part on the web page about the cost being $25 less if you brought your own phone, but I could see that being glossed over by a sales rep.
Since I own my GS5 outright, I am ahead by $25/mo now that I switched to the new plan. It's still an outrageous amount to pay for data but at least I'm not paying $25 extra for nothing, in perpetuity. The funny thing is my contract should have a few months left but perhaps because I was using the GS5 when I switched, it ended early. I'm not complaining.
So yeah, you're paying $700 over 2 years for a phone that would cost you $650 up front with no contract. Better interest rate than you'd get on a credit card. Did you think we were really getting those phones for "free" before?
Its because the price is for the SERVICE, not the device. Your device is extra. If you buy phones outright, (full price, no subsidy) then you get the cheaper price, no addon per month. Like what I did, 120/mo for shared 10gb, 3 lines, unlimited talk & text. But that doesn't include phones, so I bought mine outright so it would stay 120/mo. Or you can buy phones cheap like what 99.9% of people assume is "normal" price, pay the subsidy and the monthly charges added on. Read the details on your service contract instead of just signing the line.:cyclops:
retnuh said:
To the forum moderator, if this is in the wrong forum, please relocate it.
As I recall, under the family plan I had before switching to the Shared Data Plan, four devices sharing 10gb data with unlimited talk and text, I could upgrade any of the four smart phones with a two year extension to my contract and my monthly cost would not change. Under the new plan, your monthly cost will increase by $25 for the length of the two year contract. That's $600. Add the $100 I paid for my Galaxy s5, that means I will be paying $700 for the phone.
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that is the "Next" plan you can upgrade every year but your paying full price for the phone only in payments not all at once.
jdock said:
In the old days, once your contract was up, you'd still pay an inflated price for service
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All I did was to call them up saying that my contract is up, and I would like to switch to prepaid cos its cheaper, and she gave me $25 off for the next 12 months, and no contract extension, just to retain me.
Just do NEXT, it's a lot cheaper long term and you get two phones for the price of one! I got my S5 on next and got one for my sister also, we pay $30 a month for our device cost, and get a $25 bill discount for each line. Our total for three lines on a 10GB Shared Plan is $190 including both devices. We have a third line for mom with a Moto G. Our total service cost is $130.

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