Comments on: Some early iPhone 3G S adopters subject to $200 surcharge
The iPhone 3G and 3G S are both subsidized, selling for a significantly reduced price if you are eligible. Early iPhone 3G adopters, however, are finding themselves subject to a $200 higher price tag for the iPhone 3G S upgrade.
Only works if you don't care about your phone number.
It isn't a surcharge. Its not special to only iphone 3g users. every single company does this for every single cell phone. If you sign a two year contract, they give you the discount because they will make it up in the time of the contract. So when you stupid 3G buyers signed the 2 year contract and got your phone for say $199, you agreed to pay ATT for service for two years so they could make up the roughly 400 hundred bucks they lost on you with giving you the discount. Because it is only a year after, you are NOT elible for the discount because they still haven't made up for the money they gave you for the phone. If you bought a dare (like me) from verizon, its the same story. I just went in yesterday to ask if i could sign a new contract and get the upgrade price on the env touch and they said not until twenty months of my contract was up. THIS IS HOW IT IS FOR EVERYONE WHO SIGNS A CONTRACT.
You apple guys screaming about customer loyalty should shove it. I've bought LG phones for a few years now but that doesn't mean i expect to not actually pay for their products
You received the "3G" at a major discount, saving $200-300 only about a year ago. Why should AT&T do it again for you so soon? That's ridiculous. Talk about petty and ungrateful. Yes, it's business, but they only recoup their money by having you as a customer in a contractual 2yr obligation. If they turned around and kept giving high-end phones away every 12 months, they'd be bankrupt eventually. Your lucky it isn't every two years. There was a time when it was.
You still have the phone that is your property and will never be given back to AT&T/Apple. It will always be an amazing iPod for you if you choose to upgrade on your own to the 3G S. Or you can give it to someone else and they can have AT&T program it for their use/plan.
It was that long ago that iPods came out and were $399 without ANY thought of subsidy and we all bit the bullet. Now the expectations are way too high even though the devices are light-years ahead of the iPods of yesteryear.
I just don't understand why Apple stays with a company that plays so dirty. Since i paid full price for my original iphone and signed a 2 year contract, they don't have to make any money back from giving me a discount right? Also...Since 2007, new contract rules apply and the termination fees change according to how many months are left in your contract but those new rules don't apply to anyone who signed up at the original iphone launch because we signed our contract before those rules went into effect. I also found out recently that my contract term was for 25 months (instead of the traditional 24). Noone at AT&T was able to explain why so they fixed it.
I am truly looking forward to the day when AT&T Mobility loses this iphone buffer zone.
Other cell phone companies do this all the time.
You sign up for a 2 year contract and can't get the next "Latest & Greatest".
Seriously, you bought a phone last year!
Where is it written that you absolutely MUST funnel the cash into Apple's greedy wallet with every single upgrade?
I am the type who enjoys my purchase for many years.
Be happy with your phone, the 3GS is certainly not worth upgrading for.
You are NOT eligible on your anniversary. That has nothing to do with it at all. IF you spend more than 98$/month on your AT&T service (on ONE line), THEN, and only then, are you eligible to upgrade once a year. I have 2 iPhone 3Gs on my account, both purchased on 7/11/08, the primary line that has an 80$ voice plan, a 30$ iPhone 3G data plan, and a 30$ family text plan is eligible every 12 mos for upgrade. The other iphone 3G which is a secondary line is not eligible until march of 2009 as it only has 40$ worth of charges on it.
Get your facts straight please.
I tried to call and talk to an apple rep and he said that there might be something that can be done if i go down to the apple tore and explain it to them but there was nothing that he /they could do -- it was up to the store that sold it to me or try rthe apple store suggestion. I hope all this made sense I just didn't know what I wanted untill I tried them out for real and this was the only way i could afford to do it . any ideas on how I could convince them to let me get the new 3Gs?
Early adopters always end up paying more in the end, you all should know that, so stop getting upset about it.
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not all other caryiers treat thaeir older users with old Tech products this bad? Infact they go out of their way to make them happy. What world do you live in?
My hobbies are bicycling and music. It's worth my money to do those things. If your hobby is being an early adopter, then paying t he price is a non-issue. If it is, then the life of the early adopter is not for you.
Or you can go onto a family plan and add a new line and get the new iphone 3GS and get the New iPhone at the Subsidized price of $199 (16 GB) or $299 (32 GB) plus the $36 activation fee. So you would walk out paying Price of Phone + TAX+ $36 activation fee.
Then you say what good does that do me then i Have an iPhone 3G (original) and an iPhone 3GS. the 3G having a One year and a month contract left (if you bought the 3G at launch day) Then you have a two year contract with the new iPhone 3GS.
Well then you just take your internet fee off of the iPhone 3G and make it a regular phone. So you would have basically a phone with a phone number that shares minutes with your other iphone for $10 a month.
Just continue paying for your old phone at $10 a month and get the new iphone at subsidized price. so to have the extra number you would only pay $10 a month or $130 total which is still less then paying the $200 upgrade fee for being a previous iphone 3G customer.
total=
iphone 3GS (32 gb) (doing it this way) you pay
iphone +tax=fee = $366 and then you have two phones and numbers
and paying the $10 a month for remainder of old contract =$130 which is only $5 more then paying the termination fee on your old iphone contract, doing it this way you get an extra number that shares your minutes, to able to someone or have for emergencies .
Termination fee Normally is $175 then subtract $5 a month for every month you have used up in your contract
Doing My way in the long run still saves you about $30 bucks
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by ivandrago
June 14, 2009 10:34 AM PDT
- This might have been the first iPhone I would have considered getting now that they have the data tethering option. Except that they're tied to AT&T which seems to be trying to fail on an epic level in terms of price, speed, and call quality.
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