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So, currently I have a grandfathered unlimited data/minutes family plan with 3 lines. The Unlimited Data is only on one line of the plan. From my understanding, if I were to attempt to get the two other lines that don't have unlimited data over to the Mobile Share Value Plan, I'd have to buy separate minutes for the Unlimited Data line to retain Unlimited Data, is that correct? Basically having to pay for two plans. Any further info would be useful. One of the lines (Line 1) I want to move over has 3GB for $30 a month, and the other (Line 2) doesn't have data, but we were thinking of adding it as I scored a cheap smartphone, and doing a Mobile Share for those two lines at 5GB. All Phones are Out of Contract. Plan Breakdown: FamilyTalk Unity Nation 1400 with Rollover - $80 FTUnlimited SMS-MMS-M2AM - $30 Line 1 Access Charge - None???!?!? Line 1 DATAPRO 3GB LTE - $30 Line 2 Access Charge - $9.99 Line 3 Access Charge - $9.99 Line 3 Unlimited Data (LTE UNL SMT VVMT) - $30 Thanks! PS: afaik, on my current plan, to be able to tether on non-unlimited data lines requires I purchase the 5GB plan at $50. What's the tethering rules for the Mobile Share? BeAuMaN fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Aug 17, 2015 |
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Aug 17, 2015 03:59
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BeAuMaN posted:So, currently I have a grandfathered unlimited data/minutes family plan with 3 lines. The Unlimited Data is only on one line of the plan. How much data does the unlimited plan use? Basically, do you need the unlimited plan? It's become fairly unlikely they can even convert your unlimited plan from a family plan to individual plan, the system just won't create it. Even if they can, having two plans is going to be more than a family plan whichever way. So if you need unlimited data, stay and just upgrade through the old system, if you don't just put all 3 lines on the 15GB plan.
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Aug 17, 2015 13:41
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Thanks. Usage has varied on the Unlimited Plan (mine), depending on how much video streaming I do when I'm away from home. Usually I'll hit my 5GB softcap almost every month, and some months exceed it. I live/work in a rural area with a lack of wifi hotspots (farming), and even when I'm not (college), there aren't a lot of wifi hotspots available in the nearest city where I frequent (Fresno). Last I heard though on the Unlimited front, that AT&T changed their policy from "always soft-cap" to "soft-cap only during nebulously defined high-traffic network conditions" to placate the FCC, right?
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Aug 17, 2015 16:41
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I am really hoping AT&T does a "use your phone in Canada/Mexico" thing for their postpaid stuff. I hate having to get a T-Mobile sim each time I head up there for usable data.
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Aug 17, 2015 18:57
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BeAuMaN posted:Thanks. Usage has varied on the Unlimited Plan (mine), depending on how much video streaming I do when I'm away from home. Usually I'll hit my 5GB softcap almost every month, and some months exceed it. I live/work in a rural area with a lack of wifi hotspots (farming), and even when I'm not (college), there aren't a lot of wifi hotspots available in the nearest city where I frequent (Fresno). Correct, ATT does not throttle unlimited plans anymore, outside of congestion scenarios. If you use about 5-7GB then it just depends on what the others use. I would tell you 3 lines on the $100 15GB plan is def cheaper than 3 smart phones on the older family plans like what you have now. It's just whether you are willing to sacrifice unlimited for a better rate plus tethering options (and tethering obviously uses data). If you happen to use a lot of streaming, you could always get a phone with higher storage and keep more music on the phone. Just a thought.
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Aug 17, 2015 20:08
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Duckman2008 posted:Correct, ATT does not throttle unlimited plans anymore, outside of congestion scenarios. I'm still doing the unlimited thing. If my math is correct, it's the same price for me as the 5gb plan but I don't have to worry about going over. My plan: 450 min: $40 Unlimited Text: $20 Unlimited Data: $30 Total = $90 The other option would be: 5 gb plan: $50 In-contract smartphone: $40 Total = $90 I usually use around 5gb of data so I definitely don't want to go with less. I think it would only be worth switching off if I had more devices.
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Aug 17, 2015 21:06
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GoodBee posted:I'm still doing the unlimited thing. If my math is correct, it's the same price for me as the 5gb plan but I don't have to worry about going over. Right, but your plan is different than Baeumans, so it'll always be plan to plan which one is a better recommendation. If you use under 5GB every month you could argue the 5Gb will be cheaper off contract, which is true, but the savings in your case probably isn't worth the hassle.
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Aug 17, 2015 21:49
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bigtom posted:15 GB for $100, which is the most significant change and replaces AT&T's 10 GB for $100 plan, which had been its most popular plan. That 20 GB plan is odd. Are there people who reliably use 17-20 GB every month? (15-17 you are better off just paying the overage fees)
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Aug 17, 2015 21:58
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smackfu posted:That 20 GB plan is odd. Are there people who reliably use 17-20 GB every month? (15-17 you are better off just paying the overage fees) I'm not sure - I only bumped up to 15 because I'm adding two more smartphones to my plan (girlfriend and her daughter coming off Sprint). Not sure how much data they are going to chew up since on Sprint they had awful service - I average between 6 and 8 per month, but changed it to 15 just to be on the safe side.
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Aug 17, 2015 22:51
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smackfu posted:That 20 GB plan is odd. Are there people who reliably use 17-20 GB every month? (15-17 you are better off just paying the overage fees)
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Aug 17, 2015 23:12
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smackfu posted:That 20 GB plan is odd. Are there people who reliably use 17-20 GB every month? (15-17 you are better off just paying the overage fees) Do discounts apply to overages? Because any AT&T discount comes off the share plan and not the per-line add-ons and what not. That could pretty easily make it worthwhile to get the 20gig instead of worrying about per-gig overages. Generally though the scenario is a family with multiple phones/tablets/whatevers.
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Aug 18, 2015 04:52
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FunOne posted:Do discounts apply to overages? Because any AT&T discount comes off the share plan and not the per-line add-ons and what not. Discounts do not apply to overages. Only the base share plan part.
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Aug 18, 2015 14:01
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Oh yeah, I wasn't really arguing that no one would use 20 GB. A family plan could easily use it if there are some heavy users. More that no one would reliably use exactly 20 GB often enough that the plan would make sense to many people.
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Aug 18, 2015 14:19
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Can a sim card or bad provisioning be responsible for bad service and dropped calls? My wife had service issues at her work where there is almost no signal inside, and outside and has good signal until she places a call, then it almost disappears. I go up there and have no problems at all. We replaced her 2013 Moto X with a 2014 Moto X and she still has the same problem. The only thing in common between the phones is manufacturer and SIM card. It's really frustrating because the call quality is unusable, with only about half the audio coming through. We reported it to ATT, but they either didn't find a problem there or just sent a text saying something about improving the network in that area (about a year ago). Last time we called ATT about this, they just insisted that they've had network outages in our area, except it's an ongoing problem for 9 months at that point. The network map shows good service, Sensorly shows good service, I have good service. I'd suggest a microcell for her work, but she has sections of her commute where it drops out as well, and her works internet connection is wireless between two buildings and would probably have similarly patchy audio.
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Aug 21, 2015 14:53
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Mr. Powers posted:Can a sim card or bad provisioning be responsible for bad service and dropped calls? My wife had service issues at her work where there is almost no signal inside, and outside and has good signal until she places a call, then it almost disappears. I go up there and have no problems at all. That's a tough one. I mean, changing the SIM won't hurt, but I definitely wouldn't guarantee anything. What's weird about your statement is you are saying you go to her work with your ATT phone, and her phone doesn't work, yours does (similar phones on the same network are showing different results)? There really isn't a huge difference in coverage between different model phones anymore, so that makes it potentially more than just "sorry bad signal."
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Aug 21, 2015 15:28
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I don't see why the SIM would cause these issues, the SIM is simply there to authenticate you with the network. The phone's radio chipset, antenna and software take care of the rest.
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Aug 21, 2015 15:48
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mAlfunkti0n posted:I don't see why the SIM would cause these issues, the SIM is simply there to authenticate you with the network. The phone's radio chipset, antenna and software take care of the rest. It does happen, although not too often (the SIMs that come with iPhones I have notice conk out a lot for whatever reason), so it would be a first step to take.
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Aug 21, 2015 16:49
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Duckman2008 posted:It does happen, although not too often (the SIMs that come with iPhones I have notice conk out a lot for whatever reason), so it would be a first step to take. They "conk" out but again this is generally due to it not being able to authenticate with the network, it's not going to cause the radio to malfunction.
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Aug 21, 2015 18:58
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I did some reading and there was a Canadian carrier with a batch of SIMs that actually did something similar to what I'm describing. I didn't think the SIM would actually cause reception issues, but something like bad provisioning, or something wrong with authentication that caused the phone to get booted off the correct tower. I'm grasping at straws because I have no other explanation. Moto X 2013 & 2014 both have issues with her SIM. Nexus 5 works fine with mine. I haven't tried swapping SIMs at all to see if the problem goes away, though.
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Aug 21, 2015 23:11
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Question: since I'm on the family minutes plan with $9.99 access fee, I forget... do we pay additional if the phone is in a 2 year contract like mobileshare? If so, how much?
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Aug 23, 2015 02:06
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BeAuMaN posted:Question: since I'm on the family minutes plan with $9.99 access fee, I forget... do we pay additional if the phone is in a 2 year contract like mobileshare? If so, how much? It doesn't work by contract, it works by type of phone. On those plans, feature phones are $9.99 monthly. Smartphones add a $30 fee for 3GB of data.
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Aug 23, 2015 02:43
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Duckman2008 posted:It doesn't work by contract, it works by type of phone. On those plans, feature phones are $9.99 monthly. Smartphones add a $30 fee for 3GB of data. Right, so I'm not going to have to pay extra each month if I grab the Note 4 on a 2-year contract for $0 since I already have data plans (Apart from the $45 activation fee and the gently caress-You California Tax (Note: California requires you to pay sales tax on the full -value- of the phone, not the subsidized amount you paid for it)). I currently have a Note 2, and I really don't have much interest in the Note 5 (because screw no SD card or removable battery). I appreciate all the help Duckman! BeAuMaN fucked around with this message at 04:08 on Aug 23, 2015 |
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Aug 23, 2015 03:16
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Called AT&T, got forwarded to retentions. They said something about unable to do much with both legacy and combined bills, especially with matching competitors plans, and took $10 off my unlimited family text ($20 a month now), waived the activation/upgrade fees for two Note 4s on contract (Which I'll get for free), and will give me a free case and a car charger. They also gave me the phone number for the Discount Verification Team, since I went to try getting my Note 4 via online, and it said I should get my FAN discount on my unlimited data plan, despite not getting it for my main plan (CSR said otherwise). At the time though the Discount Verification Team was closed, so I'll call them tomorrow and see if I get that 17% off my unlimited data, heh. If I remove a few things, then along with the unlimited text discount and if I can get my Unlimited data discount, I can cut my plan down by $41 per month, which will help. So Duckman (or whoever), is it the case that sometimes checking out Online can do things that CSR or Retentions can't? Like I said, this popped up under promotions when I was going to get the Note 4 contract via the online portal: 
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Aug 24, 2015 05:56
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BeAuMaN posted:Called AT&T, got forwarded to retentions. They said something about unable to do much with both legacy and combined bills, especially with matching competitors plans, and took $10 off my unlimited family text ($20 a month now), waived the activation/upgrade fees for two Note 4s on contract (Which I'll get for free), and will give me a free case and a car charger. For your discount you're just getting service reps that don't know the old plans. Keep in mind the plans haven't been around since like, 2009, and 90% of customers have now moved off, so they simply don't see it enough to have learned. You don't have to do anything, the 17% FAN discount goes off the $30 unlimited data plan, I checked the math, and 17% off $30 is $24.90, so that's why it shows that way.
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Aug 24, 2015 13:06
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Yeah, I checked the math too. It's just weird that I was the only one seeing it  .Anyhow, All is well (for now). Called the Discount Verification Line, they said scram and forwarded me to billing. Then billing (Lady who was ESL) looked at my account and said that the Unity Family Talk 1400 is the same thing as the Family Talk 1400, with the exact same features and the exact same pricing, except the unity is ineligible for employee discount for some reason. It doesn't even change my AT&T to AT&T free calling or my A List or M2M or whatever. So then she applied that, got my 17% corporate discount applied to the main plan as well as the data plan, but refused to email me any proof, and it doesn't show on my end. Then I attempt to call retentions, speak to a wonderful CSR who I thought was retentions but was a CSR buffer between retentions . She told me that my corporate plan actually waived activation/upgrade fees, free shipping, etc. Then I got forwarded to retentions finally, had him follow up with trying to do the deal I was promised yesterday, various confused moments as he looked at the wrong listing of the Note 4 and said it was $50 with contract, and then some weird stuff where he had to override the activation fee waiver, and then he was able to give the case for free but the charger he could only give it to me for $5 so then he gave me a $25 bill credit because  Retentions and Override Codes and Billing is a Mystery . I then tried to get him to e-mail me notes with all the details, and mysteriously it didn't work unlike the last retention rep (it didn't work twice actually) but I got a text message with details and codes. I also probably got the little $25 bill credit because I didn't push super hard to shake down retentions for poo poo, because I actually like AT&T when they aren't trying to take away my Anyhow, important thing I learned today? Only the Retentions Department can write non-scripted e-mails, and then they might mysteriously disappear. AT&T has literally locked out all of their CSRs from being able to write non-scripted emails, but they can write texts! Whatever, I'm happy that my bill is lower now and I can (hopefully) not bother with this for another 3-4 years or whatever.
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Aug 25, 2015 08:01
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So I randomly got a text from At&t saying my mobile data was doubled for the length of my contract, at no additional cost, is there some specific reason they did this? I don't see any reason for it and am curious. Also, does Mobile Share Value include tethering or do I need some $30 dollar more a month bullshit?
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Aug 26, 2015 18:53
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thebushcommander posted:So I randomly got a text from At&t saying my mobile data was doubled for the length of my contract, at no additional cost, is there some specific reason they did this? I don't see any reason for it and am curious. What plan did you have exactly? There was a shakeup where Mobile Share Data Packages were changed. Lower end packages (below 5GB) were either eliminated or upgraded, while higher end packages (5GB and above) were made larger, with 10GB now being 15GB for the same price. Here's their ad page: https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-plans.html I'm not sure on the tethering for Mobile Share Data Packages... I thought it had to be 5GB or above to tether/hotspot/whatever bullshit for "free", but the real pro here (Duckman) could probably tell you.
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Aug 26, 2015 23:33
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BeAuMaN posted:What plan did you have exactly? I had a 6GB mobile share value and it's now 12 I guess. Although I am a little mad since we seemed to use like 3GB at most per month so I had a lot of rollover data built up that is now just gone, but I guess if I continue to only use 3GB a month the remaining 9GB rollover will be nice. Edit: Deep in the depths of my plan details it said it includes mobile tethering, so that's nice even though I probably won't ever use that. thebushcommander fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Aug 27, 2015 |
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Aug 27, 2015 20:11
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BeAuMaN posted:What plan did you have exactly? I've had a 1gb Mobile share plan for over a year and I've never been charged for using tethering/hotspot. One of the selling points for the share plans back when they first came out was avoiding charges on that stuff, if I recall correctly.
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Aug 27, 2015 20:46
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thebushcommander posted:I had a 6GB mobile share value and it's now 12 I guess. Although I am a little mad since we seemed to use like 3GB at most per month so I had a lot of rollover data built up that is now just gone, but I guess if I continue to only use 3GB a month the remaining 9GB rollover will be nice. Data only rolls over for one month so if they doubled you from 6GB to 12GB you will have more data now even before rollover.
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Aug 27, 2015 21:26
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Zonekeeper posted:One of the selling points for the share plans back when they first came out was avoiding charges on that stuff, if I recall correctly. Yeah, tethering's on all Mobile Share plans. You'd be loving nuts to try it on the 300MB plan, but it's included across the board.
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Aug 28, 2015 04:05
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Three Olives posted:Data only rolls over for one month so if they doubled you from 6GB to 12GB you will have more data now even before rollover. Yeah, I didn't know that. That kind of makes it less appealing I guess.
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Aug 28, 2015 18:51
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For one phone on our Mobile Share Value plan that is newer than two years., it has this:quote:Congratulations! This line is upgrade eligible for a new smartphone with $0 down on AT&T Next; a new way to upgrade each year and get our new lower rate plans. This line may be eligible for an upgrade with a 2-year service agreement on 11/27/2015. For another phone that is older than two years, it has this: quote:This line is eligible for an AT&T NEXT installment plan upgrade. Or upgrade with a 2-year service agreement. Is there any practical difference between these if we want to get a new Next phone?
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Aug 28, 2015 20:33
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Unless there's some additional promo running, I'm pretty sure they're both the same. NEXT is already setup as an installment agreement where you can pay $0 down (except for Sales Tax). You can check the ATT store online to confirm.
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Aug 29, 2015 03:49
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So I kind of feel like I am in a spot, my phone (LG G3) works-ish now but it has issues and I don't think it will make it another year. Since everyone is now timing their smartphones for summer I'm thinking I need to go ahead and upgrade now to stay in cycle with the upgrades. Is there a good reason to not get a new phone now (Probably the S6 or Note 5) on Next 12 with the full intention of upgrading in 12 months to probably the iPhone 7? I understand that it is basically a lease and the trade in will be less than stellar but realistically I'm not going to private party sell the phone and I do want to upgrade next cycle, it seems like everyone has embraced the Apple tick tock summer launch.
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Aug 29, 2015 14:46
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Three Olives posted:So I kind of feel like I am in a spot, my phone (LG G3) works-ish now but it has issues and I don't think it will make it another year. Since everyone is now timing their smartphones for summer I'm thinking I need to go ahead and upgrade now to stay in cycle with the upgrades. I can't see any reason why you shouldn't do this. Next 12 seems tailor made for your current desires.
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Aug 29, 2015 15:22
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Duckman2008 posted:ATT was aggressive for the last year or so on not doing two year, so I'm pretty good at explaining it to customers. As a former ATT honcho, can you write a rundown of what you would tell someone interested in the internal workings of their decision to abandon 2-years? I guess this applies to the industry as a whole now. I've googled quite a bit but can't find some exact reasoning from the company. Was it because people were just walking out on the contracts after buying a subsidized phone?
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Aug 29, 2015 16:43
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Michael Scott posted:As a former ATT honcho, can you write a rundown of what you would tell someone interested in the internal workings of their decision to abandon 2-years? I guess this applies to the industry as a whole now. I've googled quite a bit but can't find some exact reasoning from the company. Was it because people were just walking out on the contracts after buying a subsidized phone? That's part of it. Additionally, it gives buyers a distorted view of a phones value and thus an better understanding of insurance and why it can be a good idea for some. Then there's the manufacturer's side; it was not uncommon to see 2 phones sell for the same subsidized price, but have different MSRPs. Now that consumers are more likely to buy a phone at MSRP (outright or over time) they may choose to go with cheaper phones instead of equally prices but not equal phones. This will hopefully drive the cost of phones down overtime, except iPhones because Apple doesn't give a gently caress and you'll buy their poo poo anyway.
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Aug 29, 2015 17:07
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Michael Scott posted:As a former ATT honcho, can you write a rundown of what you would tell someone interested in the internal workings of their decision to abandon 2-years? I guess this applies to the industry as a whole now. I've googled quite a bit but can't find some exact reasoning from the company. Was it because people were just walking out on the contracts after buying a subsidized phone? Someone is going to have to explain why people are upset about abandoning 2 year contracts to me... The phone prices are the same and the carriers are offering zero interest loans on them with flexible terms. I bought my tablet on Next and I searched up and down to for the catch and I could not find one. Three Olives fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Aug 29, 2015 |
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Aug 29, 2015 18:14
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Three Olives posted:Someone is going to have to explain why people are upset about abandoning 2 year contracts to me... Most customers are ignorant fuckwits.
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Aug 29, 2015 18:21
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