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iPhone Users Angry Over AT&T Upgrade Policy
All is not sweetness and light in the wake of the Apple WWDC kickoff announcements, especially concerning the evolution of the iPhone. Reader Hugh Pickens writes: "AT&T will offer the new iPhone 3G S when it debuts later this month at a cost of $199 and $299 for the 16GB and 32GB models, but only to new customers and those who qualify for the discounted price. AT&T subscribers with an iPhone 3G who are not eligible for an upgrade — those not near the end of their two-year contracts — will have to pay $200 more — $399 for the 16GB model and $499 for the 32GB model. 'This is ridiculous and slap in the face to long-time loyal iPhone customers like me who switched from T-Mobile and the only reason was the iPhone,' writes one unhappy iPhone customer. 'We have to mount a vigorous campaign to change this policy. Call your local AT&T and ask for the manager and complain. Send e-mails and post in forums everywhere.' The issue is spurring heavy debate on support discussion forums, with some customers supporting AT&T. 'The option you have is to honor the contract you freely committed yourself to,' says one forum member. 'If you want to upgrade early then you will have to pay full price with no subsidy discount. You can't blame anyone but yourself for your predicament.'"
You know Apple releases a new phone every year, and you know AT&T makes you sign a 2-year contract. Either pay the higher price for the upgrade or live through the horror of not having the latest shiny product until your contract runs out.
So the issue is that a new model has been released and only people who are eligible for a new phone can get it at a discount? Apple never should have caved on the iphone price change retroactivity, now they can't improve anything without the existing users demanding free upgrades for life.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
How every other carrier and every other phone works. Just because they were generous when the 3G came out, does not obligate them to do so again.
Looks like only one user was upset in that forum. The rest all saw the logic and understood what a subsidy is used for.
'We have to mount a vigorous campaign to change this policy.'
A vigorous campaign? Really? I'm sorry, but in this context, the author simply sounds pathetic.
The general consensus here on Slashdot so far:
1)"tsfroggy"(RTA) agreed to his/her terms in a contract and has to deal with the pricing like everyone else.
2)A past discount is not an obligation for a future discount.
3)"tsfroggy" is a whiner.
4)AT&T is clearly in the right on this, even if the pricing is too high.
I must say, Congrats gentlemen. I'll be interested in seeing how long this lasts in this particular thread.
This is totally out of left field. It's a good thing the US is chock-a-block with better wireless carriers and the iPhone is portable between them.
Very funny, and for some reason it makes me want to throw up.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
When did we as a society get our collective sense of entitlement?
It started sometime back in the mid-sixties, and it's been all downhill ever since.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Honestly, given the current state of our economy, I'm surprised more people aren't ashamed to post such nonsense.... Even though we don't yet know exactly what will be in the latest revision of the iPhone, all indications point to a few relatively minor tweaks, like a built in compass and ability to use the faster tier of 3G cellular data network. Oh, and likely a faster graphics processor, which is nice -- but did anyone honestly have issues with it updating too slowly before? This will only matter for some games that want to push the envelope a little further with how much you can do on a phone. FAR from a necessity, especially for those of us who'd rather play "real" games on a home computer or console system anyway!
Heck, I bought one of the very early 1st. gen. iPhones, and I didn't WANT to go to the 3G model. The version using the slower EDGE network was about $10 cheaper per month to keep a contract on, and I thought it had a more "solid" feel to it than the plastic-backed, sloped wedge shape of the current model. But finally, when mine started acting up, outside the warranty period, it just made more sense to buy a new phone.
If you can get past the pointless "keeping up with the Jones'" attitude for a minute, I fail to see why a 3G iPhone owner would be that compelled to rush out and upgrade at all? Those that have that irrational need to "show off" by having one first? Well, let them pay full retail price!
How does one user complaining about upgrade policies on a forum, with almost all the other users thinking the policies aren't so bad, qualify as a "collective sense of entitlement"?
Because you're essentially running up "debt" that way, that the phone company is going to take longer and longer to recoup. When they give you a discount on that phone, they're essentially loaning the money for a set time. Asking for a year's extension on that time costs them. Imagine if a customer did that every year as the new models came out. They extend their contract to 3 years now. Next year they're up to 4 if they switch out. Pretty soon they're racking up owed contract years that they'll either newer get to, or they're going to have to eventually wait out for an extremely long amount of time before they can get a new phone.
I mean honestly, if this guy is whining now about this model - do you honestly think he's going to get this one and then wait THREE years (an eternity on the cell phone market) before picking up the newest model? No, he's going to want the latest and greatest every time. If he wants that then fine, but he needs to cowboy up and pay the full price.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
Bunch of crybabies.
No, its a bunch of rabid apple fanboys who want to piss away more money to apple, but can't stand the idea of paying AT&T a little extra cash for the contract they willingly accepted.
I'd be upset too, if I didn't know that apple released new products yearly with their masterplan of planned obsolescence.
Actually, the terms were *always* onerous and unfair. It's just that there was never a phone available that really made people say "i want that" often enough to notice that they were getting shafted.
Now the iPhone is out and it's become the banner to rally behind.
Frankly, I think it's too much for the phone companies to be allowed to sell the phones. They've shown they can't play fair when they have that ball. Twice. Once with the regular phone market, and now with the cellular phone market.
They probably ought to be forbidden at this point from selling the phones at all. If people want to finance their phones that should be their own business.
'This is ridiculous and slap in the face to long-time loyal iPhone customers like me who switched from T-Mobile and the only reason was the iPhone,' writes one unhappy iPhone customer.
Long-time? Even if you bought an iPhone the day it was released (June 29, 2007), you are not yet at the end of your initial 2-year contract. How "long-time loyal" can you be?
Advice: on VPS providers
This is perfectly normal, they give a $200 discount so people sign a 2 year agreement. A few give reduced discounts before the contract is up but a majority only give discount prices when your out of contract. Anyone who doesn't understand this and feels its a 'slap in the face' should grow up, it's not like they hide this fact at signup.
The Goal: A long simple life filled with many complex toys.
How is AT&T supposed to make money giving away subsidized phones before they pay back the ones they've already subsidized?
The overpriced data plan that they force you to sign up for?