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#1 2009-01-24 4:11 pm
- eas
- Member
- Registered: 2006-02-20
- Posts: 9
Apple and ATT loyalty smoitly minor rant
Arrgh.
I have had Apple computers exclusively for 20 years. 7 laptops.
I have been an ATT wireless customer for 10 years--ATT to Cingular to ATT.
I am not allowed by these two lovely companies to purchase an iPhone unless I pay a $200 penalty.
I understand the marketing behind this but it is such a small amount of money for the two companies to create such ill will in their customers.
I have not drunk the Kool Aid.
Has anyone succeeded in prying an iPhone out of these companies without an eligible upgrade?
Anyone?
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#2 2009-01-24 10:31 pm
- icebook1
- That college kid
- From: Virginia
- Registered: 2001-05-27
- Posts: 1384
Re: Apple and ATT loyalty smoitly minor rant
No, and you won't either.
The iPhone is sold just like any other cell phone - with a subsidized price. Let me explain this further. I'll be using a Samsung A737 slider. It's being sold new on AT&T and the price is "free" with a two-year contract.
Look above at the "No Commitment" pricing. It suddenly goes from a free phone to a $209 phone. AT&T (and all other US phone co's) subsidize their phones to make you extend your contract. Now, let's say you just upgraded your phone say, six months ago. Now you see this A737 and think it's quite the hot phone. Well, AT&T just gave you a discount on your new phone six months ago. You have 18 months to go until they'll discount another phone for you. If you want the 737, it's $209.
Same deal for the iPhone. The $199/$299 pricing is assuming you are eligible. Otherwise you add $200 to the price for an un-subsidized phone. Yep, it sucks. Be patient. One of my friends has until June 25 until he can get out of Alltel. My parents just got their iPhones because they couldn't dump Verizon until this past November.
Remember, loyalty discounts only apply when buying cars. Apple and AT&T won't discount the phone. If I could get a loyalty discount on Apple swag, it would end up being free.
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#3 2009-01-24 11:08 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator
- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18103
Re: Apple and ATT loyalty smoitly minor rant
Well, the new contract pricing is a loyalty discount - it's just preemptive.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#4 2009-01-25 1:25 pm
- Ornery Critter
- Member
- Registered: 2006-05-11
- Posts: 33
Re: Apple and ATT loyalty smoitly minor rant
eas wrote:
Arrgh...I have not drunk the Kool Aid.
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#5 2009-02-25 12:47 am
Re: Apple and ATT loyalty smoitly minor rant
Just imagine being a Mac-user since you were a toddler, but never having committed to one single mobile phone company. Now imagine that one month after you switch off of AT&T to T-Mobile, Apple releases their iPhone exclusively to AT&T in the U.S. Also realizing that T-Mobile in the U.K. carries iPhones.
I also find it perturbing that one is punished for owning such an expensive device as the iPhone, and must pay at least $60/mo ($90 if they like to text).
Now understand my excitement, when iPhones begin to get unlocked/jailbroken, and I can now own one with T-Mobile, and pay less than AT&T users. 
Ah, the world of computer electronics... Pirates of Silicone Valley, anyone?
Apple MacBook Pro 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2GB RAM 120GB int HD ~~SOLD~~ - Apple iPhone 3G S 16GB (white) - http://aguysfit.wordpress.com/ - Core i5 750 @ 2.66Ghz - P55 UD3L mobo - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4890 - OCZ 2x2GB DDR3 - Samsung 500GB HDD - WinXP - Completed Oct 9, 2009 - Coming: W7-64, OC'd GPU & CPU, Replacing 4890 w/ GTX 260 - Xbox Live: Comedybility
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#6 2009-03-01 12:53 pm
- nayrk
- User Error
- From: Outland
- Registered: 2004-05-01
- Posts: 769
Re: Apple and ATT loyalty smoitly minor rant
As much as i really want an iPhone, i think i'll get a kindle. I read more books than surf the web...
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