AT&T intros yearly upgrade plan called Next

[HeyCori]

Does few favors for your wallet.

AT&T Next to offer yearly upgrades as part of new monthly installment plan

 

[ejb222]

Biggest scam ever. Pay double the price for a phone...sounds like a scam to me. People have said it's like leasing a car, but you dont pay twice for the same car do you? AT&T has already included a subsidy in you phone plan, then want to charge you directly for the phone each month. Where do they get off!

 

[Graven Pshya]

Biggest scam ever. Pay double the price for a phone...sounds like a scam to me. People have said it's like leasing a car, but you dont pay twice for the same car do you? AT&T has already included a subsidy in you phone plan, then want to charge you directly for the phone each month. Where do they get off!

Where does it say you pay double? Can you site the source please?

 

[kg4icg]

You are on a 2 year contract in which you are paying a subsidy on your phone, AT&T hasn't done away with that, then you are also paying so you can have the privilege of upgrading earlier anywhere from 10 to 50 dollars a month on top of your cellphone bill.

 

[metalchick719]

Looks like they're sort of ripping off T-Mobile's new JUMP! program. Whatever...

 

[ejb222]

Where does it say you pay double? Can you site the source please?

Are you serious?! Let me spell this out for you. If you take one of those $99 Lumia with 2 year contract, the 2 year contract or early termination fee is to cover the susidized phone. You are paying an increased rate for your service to cover the actual cost of the phone since it is not $99. But carriers have not reduced the plan prices once the contract is expired or phone is paid off. No with the Next program, you are basically paying the subsidized phone plan cost AND the added cost of the phone on top of that. THAT is the rip off. ATT services are priced to cover the cost of subsidized phones. Your NEXT program is actually covering the cost of the phone so the subsidy cost should be removed..but they dont. So you are getting screwed.
Easy enough to understand?

 

[gsquared]

Some of you fellas are smarter than I give you credit for. I tip my hat to ya for that.

 

[stmav]

AT&T sucks! Enough said!

[WARN]Make Relevant & Meaningful Posts - Do your best at all times to make relevant, meaningful and helpful posts in our communities.[/WARN]

 

[mrmdj31675]

How about we apply the same logic for everyone bashing other carriers in an equal way as well without any intelligent reasons (example: the thousands of posts similar in regards to Sprint/Verizon/etc...) I'll delete my post, but have in mind if it applies to me, i expect it to apply to others.

 

[mrmdj31675]

And don't take this the wrong way. I just want to see more consistency on how things operate here, which at times some of us feel there is a bias.

 

[stmav]

There was no need to delete it. Just a warning as this has been going on with some of your posts. And if you see a post that you feel needs attention, then please report it.

 

[mrmdj31675]

Fair enough.

 

[HeyCori]

I think we already knew

AT&T's Next phone upgrade plans are a huge ripoff | The Verge

 

[stmav]

The sad part is that there are those who don't want to wait the full upgrade cycle to get a new phone. So there will be some that fall for it. The comments suggesting google buy tmobile made me cringe though.

 

[Kebero]

Everyone ignores the fact that AT&T charges the same rates, regardless of how you buy your phone. If you buy a phone at full retail with no contract, you do NOT get a discounted rate plan. The only way you "save" is to buy on contract and stick out your 24 months. The Next program is basically buying retail, just with the payments spread out and the option to switch phones every 12 months if you choose.

 

[Kebero]

Just some counterpoint:

Subsidies, contracts and how the upgrade plans of T-Mobile JUMP!, AT&T Next and Verizon Edge add up

 

[MXI]

Just wanted to share... Just went to take a look at the 1020 at the AT&T store and I was complaining about how I cannot take advantage of NEXT because I'm in contract and there is nothing for AT&T to lose (Since you are paying for the device in full anyway). He went on to tell me that it wasn't "fully baked" yet and that what I'm asking for (along with other changes) are in the works and to hold off. Not sure what to make of it, but thought I'd share.

 

[nyc_rock]

Hold on for a second. You are paying the $20 a month subsidy in your plan to cover your once every two year upgrade, correct? ATT isnt getting rid of that and you pay that regardless of if you use Next or not. So lets say you start a new plan with ATT. You first phone is purchased at reduced price with a two year contract. So far so good. A year after that, you want a new phone so you use the next plan. You pay nothing down but get the monthly payment added to your bill. A year after that, you are once again eligible for the discounted price and re-upping into a new two year contract. At that point, you can sell the phone you purchased via next on Ebay, use the proceeds for that to pay off the remaining balance and away you go. So basically, Next is a zero interest 24 month payment plan. If you use it for what it is, I dont understand why ATT is ripping you off.

 

[Kebero]

This "$20 subsidy" thing is a myth. The ETF is how both ATT and VZW recoup the subsidized money.

If you either BOYD or buy retail, you still pay the same rates, only you aren't locked into a contract. T-Mobile simply has lower rates in general, and doesn't offer any sort of subsidized pricing. You either "finance" or buy outright.

 

[HeyCori]

Hold on for a second. You are paying the $20 a month subsidy in your plan to cover your once every two year upgrade, correct? ATT isnt getting rid of that and you pay that regardless of if you use Next or not. So lets say you start a new plan with ATT. You first phone is purchased at reduced price with a two year contract. So far so good. A year after that, you want a new phone so you use the next plan. You pay nothing down but get the monthly payment added to your bill. A year after that, you are once again eligible for the discounted price and re-upping into a new two year contract. At that point, you can sell the phone you purchased via next on Ebay, use the proceeds for that to pay off the remaining balance and away you go. So basically, Next is a zero interest 24 month payment plan. If you use it for what it is, I dont understand why ATT is ripping you off.

If you don't trade in your phone then you're getting ripped off even worse.

You have to remember that AT&T inflates the price of their monthly plans to cover the device subsidy. One of the biggest complaints against AT&T is that you can never truly pay off your device. Your monthly bill remains the same even after two years of subsidy payments. There is no such things as BYOD on AT&T. They're making you pay for that subsidy whether you own the phone or not. Now factor in Next and you're paying the original subsidy plus a subsidy for the next device. The breakdown looks something like this,

Basic monthly bill (inflated to cover subsidy)
+
Next (added subsidy for 20 months and original subsidy payments)
+
12-Month upgrade (basic monthly bill and the purchase of new device/wireless agreement & service plan)

I took the bold part straight from AT&T's website.

When you upgrade in a year that adds another 20-months of Next payments that you're contractually obligated to pay. If you don't upgrade every year then you still have to make subsidy payments. And if you do upgrade, then you're on the hook for another 20-months of subsidy payments.