In just the last week, three of the four national wireless providers have each announced their version of some sort of program to entice people to pay more for early upgrades. But AT&T and Verizon aren’t lowering their monthly rates to account for the higher phone prices (and T-Mobile is actually charging extra for the program), people who enroll in these offerings are really just paying for other customers’ phones. [More]
upgrades
Verizon Jumps On The “Pay For Early Upgrade” Bandwagon With New Edge Program
By 7.18.13
Yesterday we looked at the motives and math behind the new early upgrade programs from AT&T and T-Mobile and said that Verizon would likely be unveiling its own version of something similar. Well that day has come, with Verizon Wireless announcing its Edge program that let’s you upgrade as early as 6 months after getting your new phone, if you’re willing to pay a bit extra. [More]
Here’s Why Wireless Companies Are Going Gaga About Early Upgrade Programs
By 7.17.13
In the last year, AT&T did away with early upgrades for customers, then announced AT&T Next, an early upgrade program. Verizon was the first to get rid of early upgrades, but its soon-to-be-announced Edge program is expected to encourage early upgrades. Meanwhile, T-Mobile recently showed off its JUMP early upgrade plan to allow subscribers to get new devices up to twice a year. Why all the sudden, and seemingly contradictory, focus on early upgrades? [More]
AT&T Took Away My Unlimited Data, Says ‘Tough’
By 7.2.13
Brad stuck with AT&T Wireless through thick and thin, through the terrible dark days when iPhones could barely connect to the network in some metropolitan areas. He stayed partly because he signed up as a customer back when unlimited data plans were still a thing. Then he got an iPhone upgrade and AT&T took away his unlimited data even though he didn’t ask them to. He is sad. [More]
AT&T Customers Will Have To Wait Out Full Term Of Two-Year Contract To Upgrade Phones
By 6.10.13
AT&T, where customer loyalty means nothing, has decided that wireless subscribers no longer deserve the 20-month upgrade period they’ve been expecting, and instead will have to wait out the full two years of their contracts before they can get a newer device at a discount. [More]
Verizon Wireless Does Away With Early Upgrades
By 4.15.13
If you liked the 20-month early upgrade terms for Verizon Wireless customers, this will not be good news. On Friday, the company quietly announced that it lengthening that upgrade period to the full 24 months of your contract. [More]
AT&T Cuts My DSL Line In October 2012, Promises U-Verse That’s Still Not Here
By 2.25.13
Brie would like U-Verse service from AT&T. Well, that’s not quite true: she had DSL until five months ago, when she reports that the company disconnected it without notifying her first and said that they would be laying fiber and connecting her house soon. By “soon,” they meant “January.” Then they needed another six weeks. Six weeks later…well, that’s when she wrote to Consumerist, so you can guess how that turned out. AT&T isn’t really in a hurry to connect her to the Internet. [More]
Learn From My Stupid Mistake: Ask For Total If Hertz Offers You An Upgrade
By 1.17.13
Jon made a Hertz reservation through Hotwire.com, and his grand total was to be $110. At the counter, they offered him an upgrade, for $123. Here’s the problem, and what he wants to warn the Consumerist community about: he failed to clarify that the upgrade would be for $123 more than the original total, not a grand total of $123 and an upgrade fee of only a few bucks per day. [More]
Must Have An iPhone 5 Right Now? Maybe Your Carrier Will Effectively Pay You To Leave
By 9.18.12
Good news, Apple fans: if you absolutely must have the iPhone 5 right now, take the time to do some math and talk to your current carrier. It might be cheaper to just break up with your carrier, pay the early termination fees, sell your existing phone (or phones, on a family plan) and get a subsidized phone from a new carrier. One customer discovered that this was the case: that AT&T would effectively be paying him to leave, since the price of upgrading was so high. [More]
What's The Best Discount/Freebie You've Gotten Just By Asking For It?
By 9.17.12
For all the complaints we read about stubborn customer service reps who refuse to offer discounts/rebates/refunds/etc to customers who believe they’ve been wronged, we get the occasional story of people who get these things just by going through the proper channels. [More]
Do You Always Wait Until You're Eligible To Upgrade Your Phone?
By 9.12.12
Later today, Apple is slated to introduce its latest iPhone, which inevitably leads to fans of the popular device clamoring for an upgrade while they glare with disappointment at their iPhone 4S, asking “Why did I ever think I could love you?” But will people wait until they are eligible for an upgrade from their wireless carrier, or will they just say “screw it” and pony up some extra cash to have the newest and shiniest phone? [More]
Netflix's New Auto-Play Feature Enables TV Bingeing More Than Ever
By 8.10.12
Kristin’s complaint may be the archetypal definition of a first-world problem. But that’s okay, because it’s just annoying as all get out. She noticed when watching a TV series on Netflix streaming that when one episode finishes, the next one starts up right away. While this is extremely helpful if you want to, say, get through an entire season of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer in one glorious, slothful weekend day, Kristin doesn’t like it. She’s probably not alone in this. [More]
Get Service Credit For Crappy AT&T Reception, Get Upgrade Date Pushed Forward
By 6.8.12
In ads, AT&T has been hyping their 4G rollout. It is pretty exciting, Unless you’re a customer using 3G whose service has been taken out by the upgrade. Scott is trying to remain patient, but has sought compensation in the form of service credits for the crappy service he receives. Big Orange granted him these credits, but he got an irritating surprise when he checked his upgrade eligibility date. It had been moved ahead three months, because he was now giving AT&T less money. Because they were granting him service credits for their crappy service. [More]
Five Months Of Verizon Upgrade Runaround, Still No New Phone
By 5.11.12
Jeremy is eligible for an upgrade of his unreliable Droid X. Or maybe he isn’t. No, but today he totally is! It seems like every time he talks to someone new at Verizon, he gets a different answer. [More]
Verizon Wireless To Begin Charging $30 Upgrade Fee On April 22
By 4.11.12
If you’re an out-of-contract Verizon Wireless customer who just hasn’t gotten around to cashing in on your upgrade, you might want to do so now — or face a $30 fee. [More]
Sprint Gives Me An Early Upgrade, In Spite Of Employees' Worst Efforts
By 4.3.12
Most “happy ending” stories we post involve customer service reps who do a little more than what the script provides. But this story is slightly different, in that the customer still managed to get good customer service, even while dealing with people who didn’t seem to know what was going on. [More]
Verizon Upgrades My Smartphone, Downgrades My Data Plan
By 3.9.12
At the end of last year, Christopher and his girlfriend upgraded their Verizon phones to a pair of lovely matching Samsung Galaxy Nexuses. They’ve both had Verizon data plans long enough that they’re grandfathered in to unlimited data, and Christopher has unlimited international data as well. Or…. he did. After the upgrade, his unlimited plan is gone, the employee who turned it off has (apparently) fled the country, and no one at corporate or the local Verizon store knows how to get it back. [More]
Best Buy Upgrade & Save Promo: Upgrade, Don't Really Save All That Much
By 1.11.12
It seemed like a pretty solid promotion: bring in one of your old DVDs to Best Buy. Trade it in at the customer service desk. Receive a coupon for any $5 off Blu-Ray with a price of $9.99 and up. Step 4: Savings! Except, according to the employees on the floor while Carl was shopping, the deal changed while he ran out to his car to grab another DVD. [More]
