Hellobee Boards

Did you actually talk to someone at ATT? When we were up to upgrade I got a 16gb iPhone 5C for $99 and DH spent over $200 ($280 maybe?) on the Samsung Note. I think we had like a $20 upgrade charge.

If you are doing the new data share plan (we switched to it) it's in the fine print that you do not get upgrade phone prices. So maybe that's your issue. When we found that out we complained and had them switch us back to the "regular" plan (not Next, ugh, and not that plan that shares 10gigs of data- the lines on that are $15 each but if you upgrade your phone it's increased to $40 a line) When we got back on a "normal" plan (unlimited talk/text, and 2gb data, 2 lines) we got the upgrade prices for phones when we were eligible and it was fairly easy. I priced them and verizon (the only services worth a crap in my area) and verizon ended up being way more.

@hotchildinthecity @Mamaof2: I read about this in a news article a few months about how cell phone companies were starting to shift from their current practice of subsidizing part of the cost of the phone to passing that cost on to the consumer entirely. To make the deal more "attractive," they'd offer a somewhat lower monthly bill in exchange for the higher upfront cost of the phone. The article was saying that if you did the math, this new practice would still cost way more than the traditional pay a small amount to upgrade every 2 yrs and have regular monthly fees. Some companies like Verizon are still offering both plans but I think others are starting to eliminate the old plans altogether maybe like the OP described.

Ugh these places seriously try to rip you off and they just spin things in a new way every year or so to confuse you!!

I'm due to renew or upgrade in Oct and I still can't figure out what to do or what's the cheapest option!

We have run into this with TMobile too. I wanted the Nexus 5 and it cost more through TMobile, instead I bought it unlocked straight from Google for less. Can you just buy it outright? Is it possible to just buy it straight from Apple?

@bluestriped bee: yes because your two years are probably not up yet. When did you get your last phone? I got mine september 2012 and i'm not eligible for a reduced price upgrade until this september.

Pp is right. You can "upgrade" whenever you want. But then you end up paying full price for the phone.

I went to AT&T and they explained all this to me. So instead I just went to Target, got the Iphone5s for $99 (while they had a sale), and just upgraded my plan 2 years. I didn't have to get involved with the Next plan at all

Like PP said, are you not due for an upgrade? Even at AT&T when I went in there, if I didn't do the Next plan, the Iphone5s was only $200. I just went to Target because they were having a sale.

@bluestriped bee: I just got a new 5s for free when I traded in my old 4 at Verizon. I prefer Verizon anyway, so that's something to look into!

@bluestriped bee: yeah just call at &t and see when your contract is up. In the meantime can you just back your phone up on a hard drive to free some space? I would definitely take advantage of the reduced price for the upgrade and get the newest phone possible since you're stuck with it for two years.

I dont have any interest in the at&t next plan either