Verizon/AT&T Question

J.C.

J.C.

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Apr 18, 2005
Location
Greensboro, NC
Why are the major cell companies trying to get me to switch from my grandfathered contract plan to the new device payment, month to month plans? I am looking to get new phones and it is much more expensive to stay with my old plan than move to the month to month plan. What gives?
 
They don't continue to loose money when you go month payment.

Before, when you signed a contract and got a discounted price for the phone, the carrier covered the remainder of the cost. They got their money back on the plans over the 2 yr period.

Now you can take it home for the cost of tax, but monthly payments cover the entire cost of the phone.

Most of the companies cut their plan rates to keep the overall cost comparable. You can use an existing phone or pay full price and not worry about monthly rates.
 
Look carefully at the plans and what they include. The old plans included a certain amount per month to recover the phone cost over the length of the contract. The new plans often recover the device cost differently. The advertised plan cost might not include the device recovery cost, which may be an additional $10 or $20 a month or whatever. So keep that in mind when looking at plans. The new plans are often more flexible though, because they are often designed to work if you bring your own phone to the party. If you buy your phone yourself, you might be able to save a significant amount of money instead of paying a certain amount up front and then a certain amount per month, etc.

Really what I'm getting at is that you need to look at what the total cost will be, because the total cost is often just broken into different parts now instead of just being a single lump that includes the plan, data, and phone.

I bought my own phone directly from Motorola, and by my math I'll save a few hundred dollars over the next two years by buying it outright instead of buying it through Verizon and making payments.
 
J.C. said:
So.......stay or switch is the question.
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Look at the costs (especially if you're getting a new phone), but the answer is probably switch. You'll likely get more for your money than on your old plan.


Salespeople at the store loooove to answer those questions, just sayin'.... :D

If you have Verizon (I know this because I use Verizon) then you can do existing and new plan comparisons if you're logged into your account on the Verizon site.
 
If you have unlimited data plan stay. New phones and tech uses more data and data=$$
 
I had Verizon with unlimited data (900 minutes, no texting), was paying $142/month for two phones. We were always fine on minutes, and used google voice for texting so it was free. This past bill they raised my bill by $40/month ($20 per phone) just to keep unlimited data. Don't get me wrong I liked the unlimited data, but not enough to pay $182/month for two phones. It was going to be about $115/month to switch to a unlimited talk/text with 6gb data to share, that did not include paying $20-$25/month if I wanted a new phone (mine had just stopped working so it was time to get something new anyways). I wasn't going to pay the same price for much less data (I only use about 3gb/month and that was with me not paying attention to how much I used it.

I switched to Republic Wireless, my plan with them is 3gb per phone, unlimited talk/text. I got the higher end phones ($250 each). The big plus side is they refund you whatever data you DON'T use. I've had the phone 8 days and have only used 25MB of data, I am MUCH more careful now to make sure I am on WiFi (luckily I have Wifi at home and work). My wife has used even less than I have (she works from home). I expect my bill to be less than $50/month, but I got the 3gb plan just in case I need it if I am out somewhere.

NOTE: Republic seems to have it's quirks, service inside Lowes today was not good, and sometimes when it is using WiFi for calls it is a little glitchy, but overall I'm pleased with the service in my area and surrounding areas. They use Sprint towers, if no sprint signal they switch to Verizon. My advice, switch and save you some $$$$...
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
I also have a coworker with Republic & likes it. Biggest downsides, they have limited phone selection and use Sprint towers.
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I got the moto x. I have always been a fan of Motorola, I like this better than my Samsung galaxy 4. Never again will I buy another Samsung...
 
If you want a badass phone for $400 that no one at the phone stores has heard of (because none of them carry it), look at the Moto X Pure. It's unlocked so can be used on any carrier (mine is on Verizon) and can be customized and ordered directly through Motorola's site. I've had all 3 of the Moto X models (small 1st gen, not so small 2nd gen, now the big Pure), and this one is a badass phone that really punches above its weight for the price. It's slightly huge though, compared to the standard Moto X gen2.

Once you go with a screen this size, you know what they say...
 
Whatever you do, do your research up front to be sure of what you're paying before taxes and fees, what you get for that price, and what you'll be paying after switching. In my experience, the CSRs in the store will compare the cost of your current plan after tax to the new plan before tax, or they'll look at how little data you've been using with your old busted phone with the dead battery and use that number to estimate how much data you'll need on your new swanky phone that has to redownload all of your shit from the cloud.

Bottom line is that the guy in the store is a salesman first. Its on you to figure out when they're full of shit.

"I have good news! You're eligible for a free tablet! Don't you want a free tablet that only costs you $10/mo for the next 24 months? Its free!!!" Etc
 
Noon News, just announced that AT&T will no longer offer contracts after Jan. 8th. Phones will be full price! Also in the Paper today all TV & Internet carriers, plan on Raising their rates. It's complicated, & depending on your plan, your cost may go up a little, or A Lot! Since AT&T bought Direct, Both services plan price increases. Google will get up & running at some point, no date offered.
 
rodney eppes said:
Noon News, just announced that AT&T will no longer offer contracts after Jan. 8th. Phones will be full price! Also in the Paper today all TV & Internet carriers, plan on Raising their rates. It's complicated, & depending on your plan, your cost may go up a little, or A Lot! Since AT&T bought Direct, Both services plan price increases. Google will get up & running at some point, no date offered.
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As long as you're prepared to pay the $300+ installation fee that Google is charging. Oh yeah, and you have to do it the first time they solicit if you want to get their service ever.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
As long as you're prepared to pay the $300+ installation fee that Google is charging. Oh yeah, and you have to do it the first time they solicit if you want to get their service ever.
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You only pay the installation fee if you get the free internet service. If you do TV+Internet or gigabit internet, the connection fee is waived with a 12mo contract. That's basically the same deal you'll get with anybody else.
 
rodney eppes said:
all TV & Internet carriers, plan on Raising their rates. It's complicated, & depending on your plan, your cost may go up a little, or A Lot! Since AT&T bought Direct, Both services plan price increases.
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Cable TV death spiral. The more people cancel, the more they have to raise rates, which leads to more cancellations. Just wait until it trickles down to pro and college sports.
 
shawn said:
Cable TV death spiral. The more people cancel, the more they have to raise rates, which leads to more cancellations. Just wait until it trickles down to pro and college sports.
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They keep raising rates because they keep signing rediculously expensive contracts with a couple of networks. Almost all of the cost of the entire channel package is down to a very small handful of networks (mostly sports if I remember).

We haven't had cable for a few years, we got tired of paying for sports channels we didnt watch, instead of channels that we wanted to watch but couldn't get without the upper tier plans. Fuck cable companies.
 
TARider said:
What's this cable you people speak of? I thought tv was free with an antenna?
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Actually, i have both! I watch a lot of MeTV, & AntennaTV, plus when the weather knocks Dish out, I can still get local channels. But That free antenna, still goes out on windy days!
I do enjoy watching Nascar, History, & a few other channels, on Satellite.
 
Fabrik8 said:
Almost all of the cost of the entire channel package is down to a very small handful of networks (mostly sports if I remember).
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Ed Zachary. And how much money did ESPN lose this year? What can't go on forever, won't.

rodney eppes said:
when the weather knocks Dish out, I can still get local channels. But That free antenna, still goes out on windy days!
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You need to dial that shit in. Back when we had DirecTV, it would only drop during the absolute worst storms. There's no reason for your antenna to drop out. Sounds like it might be getting blown around. Stick it in the attic and put an amp on it if necessary. Or strap it down better than it is.
 
shawn said:
You only pay the installation fee if you get the free internet service. If you do TV+Internet or gigabit internet, the connection fee is waived with a 12mo contract. That's basically the same deal you'll get with anybody else.
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In KC & Austin that wasn't the case. Glad to see its changing.

They are definitely changing the market, but don't plan on dealing with Google forever, as I believe they will sell in a few years.

Can't speak from the consumer side but from the vendor side, AT&T is more technically intelligent and better to work with. I consider Google the Walmart of the telecom world.
 
I agree tv is in a spiral. The Directv deal was all about video franchises and extra service capabilites such as TV on your iPad and such.

I also think it will only go on for so long. VZ has already won a court case that allows them (and likely other providers) the right to throttle certain parts of their data stream (think Netflix, Hulu, etc).
 
RatLabGuy said:
When did this become about cable?

SlingTV is a great alternative btw
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rodney eppes said:
Also in the Paper today all TV & Internet carriers, plan on Raising their rates. It's complicated, & depending on your plan, your cost may go up a little, or A Lot! Since AT&T bought Direct, Both services plan price increases. Google will get up & running at some point, no date offered.
Click to expand...
 
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