John Kreese said:
I've typically dismissed the idea of plans like the AT&T Next as a rip off but with their current promotion, and maybe I'm missing something, it seems like not such a bad deal.
I'm currently with Verizon but considered switching to AT&T and this is what I'm seeing for 2 iphone 6's (16gb and 64gb)
Under Next Plan
$1522 for phones ($650 16gb + $750 64gb + tax)
($720) plan discount for using Next ($15 per line X 24months)
($200) bill credit for Next activation ($100 per line credit)
$602 total cost with discounts
Under 2yr contract
$544 for phones ($199 16gb + $299 64gb +tax)
$80 activation fee ($40 per line)
$624 total
Am I missing anything here?
Only problem I see with that is you're leasing a phone. So when you're up for a new one you can't sell the one you have under this Next bull####. At least that's what I take out of it, I might be wrong.
You're correct.The Next plan is a rip off in my experience.
Signed up for the Note 3 a year ago, dropped it a few times and it's got a scratch or two and a small crack on the screen.
Since I'm on the next plans, I'm allowed to upgrade every year (mind you, this increased my bill 25 dollars per month because I was "leasing" the note through the NEXT plan)
They won't accept the Note 3 back in exchange for a new phone because it wasn't resellable. I could pay to have it repaired for 130 dollars and THEN turn it back into them if I wanted.
In other words, you'd better make sure there isn't a scratch on the phone when you go turn it in.
You're also paying for almost half the full retail price for the phone and you are forced to trade it in when you want to get the newest technology.
Meaning - you never really "own" your phone (unless you pay it off completely at the FULL retail price). You have a perpetual 25 dollars added to your cell phone bill and if you want to take advantage of Next, every year when you trade up, you have to return the phone you've been paying for.