iPhone 3G: AT&T Rewards New Customers, Can Punish Current Customers on iPhone 3G Pricing
Wednesday July 2, 2008
Image © Apple, Inc.
Was the $199 and $299 pricing – instead of the $399 and $499 for the first iPhone – too good to be true or just a sick joke?
AT&T on Monday effectively unbunched the collective world’s panties by flinging about numbers like $199 and then $299 and then $399 and then $499 and then – excuse me? – $599 and even $699. And it gets worse, too.
Before you set your heart on the new iPhone 3G, make sure to first read all about the true reality behind AT&T’s pricing for the hotly anticipated iPhone 3G.
If there’s one clear takeaway from this AT&T news, it’s that you can’t consider it cut and dry that an iPhone 3G would only cost $199 or $299 for you. Depending on many factors and your unique situation, your price could be a good deal more. Read on for clarity. Also, a poll is below.
Update on iPhone 3G launch day (July 11, 2008): Here’s a new poll for you to chime in about what you think from having an iPhone 3G in hand.
Comments
I’m holding out. Everyone else has a cell phone in the family and unless i’m with one of them, I’m usually home alone with my land line. Can’t see any thing so small anyhow LOL
Can’t see a small cell phone screen? Check out http://www.thephonemonocle.com.
I know touch screens are the latest and greatest when it comes to cell phones, but I’m really not a big fan. I’m still stuck on Blackberry - it’s like a computer in my palm!
Years ago one of my students from another country asked me why Americans let the cell phone companies charge us for incoming calls. Apparently in other parts of the world cell phones, like land lines don’t have these charges. What was I supposed to say, “Americans are dumb”?
I blame AT&T for the price duplicity. I bought the first iPhone and when I went to activate my service, they wouldn’t let me get the special iPhone rate because I was already an AT&T customer (not by choice; I was originally on Cingular). Instead I had to pay a data service charge over my existing plan.
My husband wants the new iPhone, but I’ll bet we won’t be able to get the $199 deal for the same reason, since we’re on a family plan.
I don’t think it’s good business for a company to penalize loyal, existing customers. The minute another cell phone service is available for iPhone, I’m outta here!
Att service doesn’t work well in Maine so an iphone is out. I wish I had the decision to make.
The ridiculous aspect of AT&T’s $399 iPhone price point for an existing customer who isn’t “upgrade eligible” is that it would be cheaper to terminate service, pay the $175 ETF, and then sign up for an iPhone as a new customer ($399 vs. $374, or $175 + $199). The pricing that AT&T has introduced is a classic bait and switch and stings of greed. Existing, upgrade ineligible customers pay $399 while the rest of the USA pays $199. How is that logical? It’s simply bad business.
Even the lowest price ($199) is not really any cheaper than the old iPhone. Price increases within the AT&T plan more than wipe out the “$200 discount”.
I learned about it from Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal:
Apple’s exclusive carrier in the U.S., AT&T Inc., has effectively negated the iPhone’s up-front price cut by jacking up its monthly fee for unlimited data use by $10. Over the course of the two-year contract you must sign to get the lower hardware prices, that adds $240, overwhelming the $200 savings on the phone itself. If you want text messaging, the cost rises further. With the first iPhone, 200 text messages a month came free. Now, 200 messages will cost $5 a month, or another $120 over the two-year contract.
Despite all that, I’m still thinking about getting my first iPhone when the 3G is released. I’m tired of the crappy mobile browsers out there and would love to get my hands on the first (and only) fully functional web browser on a mobile device.
Wow. I really cannot believe how the level of stupidity of some people. I listen to these types of complaints all day long. “Upgrade ineligible” simply means that you haven’t fulfilled enough of previous commitment YOU made with the wireless service provider. Where do you people get off thinking you should be given another discounted device whenever you realize that you made a bad choice of devices and don’t want to live up to your end of the deal?
Actually, Ciaran, “upgrade ineligible” is legalese for “We don’t care about our customers and would steal their first born child if we could. We screw people over for a living and charge outrageous, ridiculous prices for *terrible* service that DOESN’T EVEN WORK half the time, and to top it all off, we make up hidden fees, taxes and loopholes for fun, because a 10000000000000000% profit isn’t quite disgustingly greedy enough for us.” YOU EVEN CHARGE US EXTRA FOR 911 CALLS! Doing our best to prevent them from taking any more of our money is *smart*, not stupid.
Part of their implicit ‘deal’ with us (or what it *should* be, reasonably) is to provide good service, quality products, and SOME kind of honesty about the true cost. How often do they deliver? What kind of company charges loyal customers MORE? And about ‘bad choice of devices’, my phone probably cost them $5 to make (if that) in some 3rd world country where they dump their toxic ewaste and leave small children disabled, with ZERO accountability - I’ve paid you sleazebags over $1500 so far - for countless dropped calls, shoddy customer service, bad reception, my phone suddenly deciding it doesn’t feel like ringing, and giving me my messages sometimes *days* after they were left. And you want to talk about my end of the deal? There is no deal, because we have no choice, and they like it that way. Do we pay a ridiculous amount of money to devil #1, devil#2, or devil#3? Ideally, I’d go with the devil who AT LEAST doesn’t punish me for being a loyal customer who always pays on time. I hope they go under.
Ciaran you know what else you need to realize is that I was fully ready and willing to pay FULL price for an iphone and AT&T told me I STILL couldn’t buy the phone because I wasn’t a new customer AND my contract hadn’t expired. As a loyal customer of 6 years that’s a HUGE slap in the face and when my contract is up, see ya AT&T…
…the sale rep told me I needed to buy the iphone used or, from an “outside source” and then activate it with them…it was the only way I could get one.
I really want an iPhone, but the complaints I hear from their customers about At&T’s actual service is the only thing holding me back. I have been with the same cell provider for four years and while I’m not please with the lack of the unlimited data plan, the customer service etc. has never been an issue. I would just like to see the iPhone offered by my provider. I’d certainly buy one then.
I’ve been an AT&T customer for many years, since they were first in business. Two months ago, I bought an iPhone 3g for $299 with a new 2 year plan and now they tell me that I can’t even purchase a new iPhone 3gS (something like $700), which doesn’t make any sense. I would not spend $700 for the additional features which I will never use anyway, however, I would trade in my current iPhone for the new one, and pay a reasonable upgrade fee ($100 or $150 and go on with life) to get this latest gadget, which I do not really need. Even the performance and battery life of my current 3g is great.