IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

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newkidontheblock
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Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:59 am

IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by newkidontheblock »

Hi:

I am on a AT&T family plan. I placed an order for IPhone 6 on September 12th. This is the first time I have purchased a phone from Apple.
I chose to pay $199 for the phone and agree to 2 year contract extension.
I was wondering what will happen to my family plan and the associated charges.
Will they take away my current family plan and replace it with something else.
I am hoping that my current plan and the associated rate will stay the same and just the date will be extended by 2 years.
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FelixTheCat
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by FelixTheCat »

What did the screen say when you selected your carrier? When I purchased my 6, it told me exactly the plan I had from Verizon.
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Topic Author
newkidontheblock
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by newkidontheblock »

imgritz wrote:What did the screen say when you selected your carrier? When I purchased my 6, it told me exactly the plan I had from Verizon.
It did show the correct data plan, line charges etc but it only talked about my phone number but I have a family plan.
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FelixTheCat
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by FelixTheCat »

My purchase told me the exact minutes and data I had in my plan. Unless you requested something different, I guess that your plan will remain the same.
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bowest
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by bowest »

Is the family plan 'mobile share'?

Your monthly cost under the plan for that phone is now $40/month.

You'd pay $15/month under the "Next" plan or if you paid full price for the phone.
harrychan
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by harrychan »

If you had a dumbphone, you will be forced to add the 250mb for $25 / month or 3gb for $30 / month data plan for iPhones. You will not have to migrate to their mobile share plan. I confirmed this with an ATT rep.
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
vesalius
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by vesalius »

If this family plan was established more than a year ago you may want to compare to the newest mobile share plans from ATT that are cheaper, particularly with multiple smart phones. It is really easy to switch to the newer plans.
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TX_TURTLE
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by TX_TURTLE »

newkidontheblock wrote:Hi:

I am on a AT&T family plan. I placed an order for IPhone 6 on September 12th. This is the first time I have purchased a phone from Apple.
I chose to pay $199 for the phone and agree to 2 year contract extension.
I was wondering what will happen to my family plan and the associated charges.
Will they take away my current family plan and replace it with something else.
I am hoping that my current plan and the associated rate will stay the same and just the date will be extended by 2 years.
As a general rule upgrading to a new phone, the way you did, just extends your commitment to another two years. If the family plan changed, this would have been stated clearly when placing the order. Be aware that changing your mind before two years can be costly, because of the Early Termination Fees. You should be able to either log on the AT&T site or call their customer service to double check. If you do call, you may want to ask if there is any advantage in switching to their latest 'Mobile Share Value' plan (assuming this is not what you already have). I did this months ago, and my bill went down, while increasing the data allowance. AFAIK they have been forced to offer better plans due to the increased competition (from T-Mobile).
Topic Author
newkidontheblock
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by newkidontheblock »

Many thanks for your replies.
I had switched to new mobile share plans in March 2014. I bill at time used to be $165 for 2 lines.
I had switched to $90 per month for 2 GB mobile share, unlimited text and talk for 2 lines.

When I purchased the phone it showed a line charge of $40 and it said 2 GB data.
When I logged into AT&T it does not even show my phone number just my wife's phone number.
It does show the same 2 GB mobile share plan.
There is a cryptic message from AT&T in the mailbox telling me to fall in love my phone all over again.
It says something about Wifi calling.
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southerndoc
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by southerndoc »

Call AT&T BEFORE you set up your phone. They will have you set it up while they're on the phone and get you on the right plan. There are some serious kinks in AT&T's automatic computer systems.
monkeyking
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by monkeyking »

I think you might have changed data plans. I went in there and asked them about buying the phone on the two year contract and you can't do that and get the family shared data plan for $130, that also comes with unlimited talk and text. That $130 plan is for people that buy the phone on the next/step/whatever payment plan. The one where you basically make monthly payments and payoff the iphone over 24 months. You can pay the phone off early or just buy it outright, but if you are doing the subsidized phone on a 2 yr contract you are paying $40 a line and buying a data plan for that phone. From my umderstanding they won't do a contract with shared data now. At least that's what they told me. They want to trick you into paying for the phone yourself.

The reason you can't see your line is probably because you have conflicting data plans between your wife's phone line and yours. You want to use shared data for both phones but when you got the subsidized phone you took your line out of the family share. I don't think they'll let you share data now that you went with the contract. The big 10G shared data for $130 is their carrot to try to get the people still on the unlimited data plan to switch. That and it now costs $100 a month to have 450 min talk, unlimited text and data, and they throttle your data hard once you hit 5G. Anyway, I think you can keep your shared call and text, but it probably won't be unlimited.
vesalius
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by vesalius »

monkeyking wrote:I think you might have changed data plans. I went in there and asked them about buying the phone on the two year contract and you can't do that and get the family shared data plan for $130, that also comes with unlimited talk and text. That $130 plan is for people that buy the phone on the next/step/whatever payment plan. The one where you basically make monthly payments and payoff the iphone over 24 months. You can pay the phone off early or just buy it outright, but if you are doing the subsidized phone on a 2 yr contract you are paying $40 a line and buying a data plan for that phone. From my umderstanding they won't do a contract with shared data now. At least that's what they told me. They want to trick you into paying for the phone yourself.

The reason you can't see your line is probably because you have conflicting data plans between your wife's phone line and yours. You want to use shared data for both phones but when you got the subsidized phone you took your line out of the family share. I don't think they'll let you share data now that you went with the contract. The big 10G shared data for $130 is their carrot to try to get the people still on the unlimited data plan to switch. That and it now costs $100 a month to have 450 min talk, unlimited text and data, and they throttle your data hard once you hit 5G. Anyway, I think you can keep your shared call and text, but it probably won't be unlimited.
Realize that by "tricking you" into paying outright for the phone, they are actually saving you money over the total price of the 2 year subsidized contract.
angelescrest
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by angelescrest »

newkidontheblock wrote:Hi:

I am on a AT&T family plan. I placed an order for IPhone 6 on September 12th. This is the first time I have purchased a phone from Apple.
I chose to pay $199 for the phone and agree to 2 year contract extension.
I was wondering what will happen to my family plan and the associated charges.
Will they take away my current family plan and replace it with something else.
I am hoping that my current plan and the associated rate will stay the same and just the date will be extended by 2 years.
Are you sure you paid only $199 up front? There is a $40 upgrade fee that stopped me from upgrading. It's ridiculous, just like hotel resort fees.
vital15
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by vital15 »

I am in a similar situation. I did the math and found that it is a better deal to do the "AT&T NEXT" or just buy the phone outright. With the 2 year commitment they get you by increasing the monthly fee on the family plan from $15 to $40. Plus the $40 activation fee (which is waved for AT&T Next). So your incremental cost is $199+$40 + $25 per month. With AT&T next the incremental cost is just $30 something per month and nothing up front.
vesalius
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Re: IPhone 6 and AT&T Contract Extension

Post by vesalius »

vital15 wrote:I am in a similar situation. I did the math and found that it is a better deal to do the "AT&T NEXT" or just buy the phone outright. With the 2 year commitment they get you by increasing the monthly fee on the family plan from $15 to $40. Plus the $40 activation fee (which is waved for AT&T Next). So your incremental cost is $199+$40 + $25 per month. With AT&T next the incremental cost is just $30 something per month and nothing up front.
Exactly, the subsidized contract is like taking out a loan (with exorbitant % but low monthly payments) when you buy a car versus paying cash for the car (the unsubsidized contract) and moving on.
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