Where are the deals? T-Mobile needs to compete with the $99 ATT 520

[Gunbust3r]

Why are there no deals for the 521, ATT has the 520 out for $99 and the best we can get is $119 at HSN.

They have a ton of people showing off what a great phone the 521 is and they go and effectively raise the price to mess with any word of mouth advertising. What the heck is wrong with T-Mobile?

 

[KitN]

I have to agree. There's no reason the T-Mobile 521 shouldn't be standard priced @ $99. Even MetroPCS is selling their 521 @ $99 yet T-Mobile is greedy as hell.

 

[groundzero2121]

It was $99 on HSN with a car charger, case, and earphones

 

[jlangner]

Because with tthe $0 down and $6\month they have now, lowering would just go to $4\month...not that big a difference and a lot prefer the monthly route. I actually convinced my wife to upgrade her feature phone to a 521 yesterday and we went the $6 route.

 

[mase123987]

I think T-Mobile is low enough that most people aren't going to choose AT&T's 520 over the 521 for $20 or so. Obviously people want cheaper prices, but I don't see this as an big issue.

 

[mogelijk]

I'm getting frustrated with the way T-Mobile is handling their prepaid, they seem to be trying to push people away from prepaid. T-Mobile is typically marking prices up on their Prepaid phones (at least on their website) by $50, or if you buy them outright without a plan. Additionally, again on their website, they are also including a $50 card, which they charge an additional $50 for -- pushing the price up by $100 vs. buying the phone outright on a postpaid plan. Fortunately, other vendors (Walmart, Amazon, HSN, etc.) tend to be charging a price closer to what the phone should sell for. The issue, then, is that so few phones are available to be purchased outright through these vendors.

Ultimately, I think this is going to hurt T-Mobile. AT&T is starting to find ways to compete more effectively against T-Mobile, pricing the GoPhone smartphone plans competitively with T-Mobile (though with less data) and also starting AIO. For example, you can buy a GoPhone plan for $60 that is roughly the same as the T-Mobile $60 plan, just that it only comes with 2 GB of data rather than 2.5 GB. They also have a $40 plan that contrasts with the $30 T-Mobile plan; it has 500 minutes of talk but only 200 MB of high speed data -- but I think that likely fits more people than the T-Mobile $30 plan that has only 100 minutes but 5 GB high speed data. And not only does AT&T have the 520 at $99 for GoPhone, they are also now selling the Lumia 620 through AIO for $99 (and the 620 has a choice of 4 colors).

It is also worth noting that the 520 on AT&T already has both GDR2 and the Amber updates, despite being cheaper.

 

[Oakdale Dude]

Since T-Mo switched to their No Contract Simple Choice plans, I'm surprised that they still even offer pre-paid options.

 

[mogelijk]

Since T-Mo switched to their No Contract Simple Choice plans, I'm surprised that they still even offer pre-paid options.

I believe they have three main reasons for keeping the prepaid plans.

First, there are a not insignificant group of people that either, for privacy reasons, don't want a phone company looking at their credit or they have poor credit and know they can't pass the credit check. To get on one of the Simple Choice plans, you still have to agree to having T-Mobile check your credit and pay a deposit if your credit is poor.

The second reason is that there are "bargain hunters" who just want inexpensive cell service and, if T-Mobile removed their prepaid options, they would move to another inexpensive prepaid carrier. In this case, most of those are likely on the $30 plan and would likely switch to a company like Straight Talk or Solavei. Even AT&T has a $40 prepaid smartphone plan now.

 

[Oakdale Dude]

You don't need a credit check just to get on the Simple Choice plan. You need a credit check to be able to pay for a new device on an installment plan that they offer.

You can bring your own device and use it on a Simple Choice plan. Since there is no long-term contract, there is no plan committment other than month to month.

 

[mogelijk]

You don't need a credit check just to get on the Simple Choice plan. You need a credit check to be able to pay for a new device on an installment plan that they offer.

You can bring your own device and use it on a Simple Choice plan. Since there is no long-term contract, there is no plan committment other than month to month.

I may be mistaken, but my understanding is that they do a credit check, even if you do not purchase a phone. The reason for this is because it is postpaid -- they want to make sure they are going to get their money each month for the service you have already used. At least part of the reason for the credit check is that you can go a month or two without paying and still get service -- meaning when they turn off your phone you would owe them over a hundred dollars, at a minimum. If you have a family plan, it could be several hundred dollars that you owe.

Actually, to double check my information, I just went to their website and tried to buy a SIM card with the $50 plan and it did require a credit check. It did have an option for not performing the credit check, but when I clicked on the option it went to the Prepaid website.

 

[Oakdale Dude]

All I can tell you is that I did not have to agree to a credit check when I brought in my own phone. I did my business in-store so maybe that is different. I did not have to agree to a credit check either when I bought my current Lumia 521 from HSN and activated it with a Simple Choice Plan

 

[mogelijk]

Did you give them your SSN?

 

[mogelijk]

It looks like the way to buy the Lumia 521 is to buy it from MetroPCS, and switch to their service. You can currently buy the L521 from Best Buy for $99 or locally (it isn't available from their website atm). The downside is that they don't have a $30 plan but their other plans are $10 cheaper than T-Mobile (Unlimited talk and text, then 500 MB data for $40, with 2.5 GB data for $50, or completely Unlimted for $60). The phone is basically a T-Mobile 521 and the service looks to be roughly equivalent to T-Mobile prepaid. Also, since it is a GSM phone (meaning it runs on T-Mobile's network), you can buy it nationwide, just not in the old MetroPCS areas.

 

[petergoogle]

You can use the $99 Nokia 520 on T-Mobile as well. Or therefore any of the prepaid resellers under these 2 networks.

 

[mogelijk]

The L520 is going to be locked to AT&T, so you cannot use the L520 on T-Mobile (or a T-Mobile MVNO) unless you get the phone unlocked first. The second issue, the L520 does not have the 1700 or 2100 Mhz frequencies that T-Mobile uses for 3G. Unless you are in an area where the 1900 Mhz band has been refarmed (map), you will only get 2G speeds on the L520.

 

[mogelijk]

I should have mentioned, if you live in a MetroPCS area, you can get the MetroPCS L521 for $99. If it is locked like the T-Mobile 521, then it seems like it should work on T-Mobile and the T-Mobile MVNOs -- but I am not sure how tightly it is locked to MetroPCS. T-Mobile, since purchasing MetroPCS, is slowing expanding MetroPCS into all the current T-Mobile markets.

 

[Shawn Magm]

It looks like with the flood of these phones, they're selling cheap on eBay. Of course, they will be used and no warranty.

 

[Dustin Hodges]

I may be mistaken, but my understanding is that they do a credit check, even if you do not purchase a phone. The reason for this is because it is postpaid -- they want to make sure they are going to get their money each month for the service you have already used. At least part of the reason for the credit check is that you can go a month or two without paying and still get service -- meaning when they turn off your phone you would owe them over a hundred dollars, at a minimum. If you have a family plan, it could be several hundred dollars that you owe.

Actually, to double check my information, I just went to their website and tried to buy a SIM card with the $50 plan and it did require a credit check. It did have an option for not performing the credit check, but when I clicked on the option it went to the Prepaid website.

Another reason you forgot is minors. Minors cannot legally sign a cellular contract, so prepaid is good for teens and young adults not quite yet 18.