Cheapest way to get a new 1020 is to break a contract....and that is sad.

[inteller]

SO lets say you get in on one of the random Amazon $99 1020 deals.

Then you go and break your contract 15 days later.

$99 + $325 is 424.

I'm not going to count the service cost and fees, because you'd need to get service anywhere, but for giggles lets just put that here: $36 activation + $45 (15 days service of a $90 plan)


Why in the **** is ATT/Amazon, et al charging $800 sim free for this phone? It is stupid and ludicrous. I can even get an UNLOCKED INTERNATIONAL version on Amazon for $654.

I hate regulation, but we need some sort of regulation on this price fixing. The $800 is to force people to contracts plain and simple. It bears no relation to the actual cost of the phone.

 

[gsquared]

I just checked the AT&T off-contract price and I am seeing $609.00. Don't know where you get $800.00 from. Also, if you go and break a contract that is likely going to follow you for the next seven years on your credit report.

Someone told me once never f^%(-over the phone company. It will follow you forever.

 

[rdubmu]

I just checked the AT&T off-contract price and I am seeing $609.00. Don't know where you get $800.00 from. Also, if you go and break a contract that is likely going to follow you for the next seven years on your credit report.

Someone told me once never f^%(-over the phone company. It will follow you forever.

Why would breaking your contract follow you for 7 years. Only if you don't pay the remaining balance.

If you buy a phone from amazon, like best buy they have their own early termination fee as well on top of at&ts

Sent from my LG-D801 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

 

[inteller]

I just checked the AT&T off-contract price and I am seeing $609.00. Don't know where you get $800.00 from. Also, if you go and break a contract that is likely going to follow you for the next seven years on your credit report.

Someone told me once never f^%(-over the phone company. It will follow you forever.

no buddy I've read the terms...Amazon adhere's strictly to ATT's ETF terms, there is nothing on top of theirs.

Here is the $800 1020 Amazon.com: Nokia Lumia 1020, Yellow (AT&T): Cell Phones & Accessories

contract breaks don't go on your credit report. people break contracts all the time...if contract breaks went on your credit report there would be an uproar....just think if someone broke one month before contract was up......sorry dude that just doesn't happen.

 

[gsquared]

Not stating that as fact. I really don't know. Credit reports contain more information than if you simply owe a balance.

 

[inteller]

then stop making statements that support that claim. Fact is, only time anything would show up is if you owed a balance and they sent it to collections. Even that depends on the company. I owed $15 to Blockbuster once upon a time that collectors bothered me about but it never showed up on my credit report.

 

[loribinca]

i got mine with the ATT Next program - 12 payments of $27 = $324 - then I'll swap it out for whatever is newer in a years time.

I personally think this is the way to go .. every phone I've 'bought' just ends up in a box at home when i upgrade anyway.

it's like leasing a car I guess..

 

[gsquared]

This topic spurred my interest so I looked it up.

Breaking the contract itself is cause for reporting against your credit. However, the early termination fee is the cost a consumer pays to keep this from happening.

 

[inteller]

Great, so my argument still stands that it is ridiculous to break contract, pay etf, and get the phone cheaper than it is to just buy it outright. ATT is not gaining anything here and the hassle only breeds more ill will.

 

[mnjoe]

Paying an Early Termination Fee to terminate a contract is actually "fulfilling a contract" not, "breaking a contract". The ETF clauses are part of the contract, and they are one of the consumer's methods of properly fulfilling a contract. (Although not a pleasant one to many consumers)

That said, this has little to do with inteller's original point. It just might be more clear to post "Cheapest way to get a new 1020 is to terminate a contract and pay the ETF...and that is sad."

 

[Indistinguishable]

Paying an Early Termination Fee to terminate a contract is actually "fulfilling a contract" not, "breaking a contract". The ETF clauses are part of the contract, and they are one of the consumer's methods of properly fulfilling a contract. (Although not a pleasant one to many consumers)

That said, this has little to do with inteller's original point. It just might be more clear to post "Cheapest way to get a new 1020 is to terminate a contract and pay the ETF...and that is sad."

And he's right. It is sad. This is what happens when one carrier has an exclusive contract on a niche device like this. They can charge up the wazoo for it, then drop the price tremendously when the exclusivity period ends.