AT&T intros yearly upgrade plan called Next

[nyc_rock]

"Next (added subsidy for 20 months and original subsidy payments)"

The next payment is not a subsidy. Its a equal share of the full retail price divided by 24 months. So, for instance, the Galaxy S4 Active. Full retail price is 595.00, so instead of paying up front, you pay 29.75 per month. After a year, you would still owe $238 which you could easily fetch on Ebay. I think people are conflating the Next program with ATT's usual bill structure. Maybe they are mis-representing it, but I dont agree they are ripping you off. And again, you are paying the real subsidy every month regardless of the Next program.

"When you upgrade in a year that adds another 20-months of Next payments that you're contractually obligated to pay"

Of course you are, why wouldn't you? Again, this is nothing more than an interest free loan.

As always, its "buyer beware". If you understand what it is, and use it as such, you aren't getting ripped off. Or I should say, any more than we are getting ripped off already.

 

[Duvi]

Not trying to be a criminal... but if a go-phone ends up on that line I used the Next program on, which is likely as I used one of my six lines to get phones and put it on my main... Do I just trade in that old flip phone? Lol.

 

[HeyCori]

"Next (added subsidy for 20 months and original subsidy payments)"

The next payment is not a subsidy. Its a equal share of the full retail price divided by 24 months. So, for instance, the Galaxy S4 Active. Full retail price is 595.00, so instead of paying up front, you pay 29.75 per month. After a year, you would still owe $238 which you could easily fetch on Ebay. I think people are conflating the Next program with ATT's usual bill structure. Maybe they are mis-representing it, but I dont agree they are ripping you off. And again, you are paying the real subsidy every month regardless of the Next program.

"When you upgrade in a year that adds another 20-months of Next payments that you're contractually obligated to pay"

Of course you are, why wouldn't you? Again, this is nothing more than an interest free loan.

As always, its "buyer beware". If you understand what it is, and use it as such, you aren't getting ripped off. Or I should say, any more than we are getting ripped off already.

After a year you're still on the line for an additional 8 months. You could leave Next and start a regular 2-year but you're still contractually obligated to pay for that remaining 8 months. Technically speaking, AT&T has the G4 at $640, so a remaining $256 after 8 months. You can make that up if your phone retains its value and if you manage to sell it at all. And that's minus the money you could have made selling your original device because you're forced to trade it in. So if you don't keep updating each year then you're paying an additional fee and getting nothing in return. You're right in that the terminology is probably wrong, but that doesn't change that you're paying way too much. The Verge has a more thorough breakdown of how much more money you pay with Next in comparison to Jump.

Jump, Edge, or Next: which mobile carrier's early upgrade plan screws you the least? | The Verge

 

[Kebero]

After a year you're still on the line for an additional 8 months. You could leave Next and start a regular 2-year but you're still contractually obligated to pay for that remaining 8 months. Technically speaking, AT&T has the G4 at $640, so a remaining $256 after 8 months. You can make that up if your phone retains its value and if you manage to sell it at all. And that's minus the money you could have made selling your original device because you're forced to trade it in. So if you don't keep updating each year then you're paying an additional fee and getting nothing in return. You're right in that the terminology is probably wrong, but that doesn't change that you're paying way too much. The Verge has a more thorough breakdown of how much more money you pay with Next in comparison to Jump.

1. What Next does is take the full retail cost of the device and spread it across 20 months. You are, in essence, purchasing a phone without any sort of subsidy.

2. After a year, if you choose to upgrade to a new device, you turn in your old one and cease paying for it. You then start over with a new device and a new, 20-month payment plan.

3. If you cancel the Next program, you are not required to keep paying over the next however-many months. Instead, you are required to immediately pay off the balance of the device. In this regards, Next is not that different from buying a phone on contract, cancelling early, and paying the remainder of the ETF (excepting, of course, that the ETF does go down over time).

 

[HeyCori]

2. After a year, if you choose to upgrade to a new device, you turn in your old one and cease paying for it. You then start over with a new device and a new, 20-month payment plan.

That wasn't in question.

3. If you cancel the Next program, you are not required to keep paying over the next however-many months. Instead, you are required to immediately pay off the balance of the device. In this regards, Next is not that different from buying a phone on contract, cancelling early, and paying the remainder of the ETF (excepting, of course, that the ETF does go down over time).

But you're still on the hook for the remaining months. Then you're right back to losing money if you don't upgrade.

 

[ninjaap]

What is this subsidy you people keep referring too? Even if you came in with your own unlocked smartphone, you still pay the same amount as people on a 24 month contract pay for.

• The Next plan is a great option for people who like to buy the phone off contract; pay full retail.
• Its an interest free installment plan that is divided into 20 months.
• You can pay it off at any time and move on to a new phone.
• Or you can just wait 12 months and trade it in and get a new phone.
• Zero activation fee.

Full retail: $660 + $36 activation fee = $696
Next plan: @$33 x 20 months + $0 activation fee = $660

24 months contract: $300 + $36 activation fee = $336
Next plan 12 months: @$33 x 12 months + $0 activation fee = $396

Choose the option that meets your needs. Its only a ripoff if you plan to stay the whole 24 month contract course. For those who usually pay full retail to avoid contract or would like to be able to upgrade more often, this is a great option.

 

[HeyCori]

What is this subsidy you people keep referring too? Even if you came in with your own unlocked smartphone, you still pay the same amount as people on a 24 month contract pay for.

That is what I was trying to explain in my earlier post. AT&T's monthly price is inflated to cover the cost of your subsidized phone. So say you drop $200 for a GS4 and start a standard 2-year contract, the inflated monthly plan is to help cover that other $440 that you didn't have to pay. But after X amount of months your bill never gets cheaper like with T-Mobile. You're not truly paying off the subsidy because the bill never changes. AT&T justifies the inflated cost because of the subsidy but you can never actually pay the difference. But whatever terminology you guys want to use is irrelevant to me since the price remains the same.

 

[ninjaap]

That is what I was trying to explain in my earlier post. AT&T's monthly price is inflated to cover the cost of your subsidized phone. So say you drop $200 for a GS4 and start a standard 2-year contract, the inflated monthly plan is to help cover that other $440 that you didn't have to pay. But after X amount of months your bill never gets cheaper like with T-Mobile. You're not truly paying off the subsidy because the bill never changes. AT&T justifies the inflated cost because of the subsidy but you can never actually pay the difference. But whatever terminology you guys want to use is irrelevant to me since the price remains the same.

Then why even make that the basis of your argument? People already know that they're going to pay the same amount. There are people who have been paying full retail for phones for years, regardless of the subsidy or no subsisdy. They have their reasons. Like I said, the next plan is a great option for those (full retail) consumers, because its a flexible interest free installment plan with zero activation fee; saves them money. It doesn't affect people who buy on contract at a lower price. Why be up in arms about it (not pointing at you directly, just in general)? Just choose the option that's good for you.

 

[Kebero]

We're still assuming that ATT and VZW plans cost what they do because of some imagined "subsidy fee."

 

[ninjaap]

We're still assuming that ATT and VZW plans cost what they do because of some imagined "subsidy fee."

I think we have to start accepting the fact the ATT and VZW subsidy fee is not measured in dollars, but in contractual months.

 

[HeyCori]

Then why even make that the basis of your argument? People already know that they're going to pay the same amount. There are people who have been paying full retail for phones for years, regardless of the subsidy or no subsisdy. They have their reasons. Like I said, the next plan is a great option for those (full retail) consumers, because its a flexible interest free installment plan with zero activation fee; saves them money. It doesn't affect people who buy on contract at a lower price. Why be up in arms about it (not pointing at you directly, just in general)? Just choose the option that's good for you.

You're right in that I should have referred to Next as "hardware payments" instead of subsidies because that's what AT&T refers to it as. Regardless, the math is the same. The original point I made is that so many people hate AT&T because their higher monthly plans is to make up for selling you a subsidized phone, but the higher rate plan never disappears no matter how many payments you make towards this so-called subsidy. And since AT&T doesn't exist in a bubble, we see in T-Mobile (and in pretty much every carrier overseas) that having a lower monthly payment post-subsidy is possible. I don't think it's unfair that customers expect lower prices after paying off their so-called subsidized phone. The Next plan doesn't address the fact that their standard monthly prices are inflated.

 

[ninjaap]

That would be nice. But as someone who has been with ATT since before they took over cellular one in the early 90s, this has never been true and has never changed. I don't know why people expect anything different now. Even when I sold phones in the early 90s it was never in writing that there was a direct cost added to your monthly plan. It was has always been "we'll sell you the phone cheaper, but in exchange you stay on a year contract". Then about a decade later it changed to a 2 year contract. I think people just has been assuming this added monthly subsidy, because it is present in other carrier plans. But fact of the matter is, its not on ATT.

 

[inteller]

the Next way to rip you off....only from the dreadful partner.

 

[21stNow]

What is this subsidy you people keep referring too? Even if you came in with your own unlocked smartphone, you still pay the same amount as people on a 24 month contract pay for.

• The Next plan is a great option for people who like to buy the phone off contract; pay full retail.
• Its an interest free installment plan that is divided into 20 months.
• You can pay it off at any time and move on to a new phone.
• Or you can just wait 12 months and trade it in and get a new phone.
• Zero activation fee.

Full retail: $660 + $36 activation fee = $696
Next plan: @$33 x 20 months + $0 activation fee = $660

24 months contract: $300 + $36 activation fee = $336
Next plan 12 months: @$33 x 12 months + $0 activation fee = $396

Choose the option that meets your needs. Its only a ripoff if you plan to stay the whole 24 month contract course. For those who usually pay full retail to avoid contract or would like to be able to upgrade more often, this is a great option.

If you do this, you lose the "advantage" of having the remaining balance forgiven on the current phone before you get the new phone. This may not be a bad thing for those that like to sell their phones on the after-market but for those that don't, it would take away a "perk" of the Next program.

 

[gfiz]

When were kids, my grandparents would send me and my sister a $20 bill for the both of us to split. I'd take it and then give my sister a $10 bill. She'd cry and cry because "I was getting more". I suspect Verizon and ATT are advertising to people like my sister with their edge and next plans.

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