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04/19/2008 09:09:02 PM · #1 |
I thought I would share this with everyone who may not know, But first I should explain a bit.
I have AT&T as my wireless provider, My cell phone was on it's last leg, So I decided it was time to purchase a new one. I went and looked at a Motorola Razer. Because my contract with AT&T has expired and I have no desire to renew the contract, The phone would cost a fortune. I could either renew for a year and save 100 dollars off price of phone or renew for 2 years and save around 200 dollars. Or not renew at all and pay that crazy mark up price.
Or you can do this, Buy an AT&T pay as you go phone, It is the same phone in this case "the Razer" that they are selling at the counter around the corner from the shelf holding the PAYG phones, It is just with out the service contract, Then you swap out sim cards from your current phone. You just saved 200+ dollars and you do nothing but charge the battery and change the card.
Phone companies are ripping people off big time with phone upgrades or trapping you into using their service for the long term by reducing the price. Either way they will get your money, But at least by doing what I did, They are not forcing me into an extended contract. And I got a Razer for 120 dollars, Keep my service plan as is with out the contract keep same number etc...
Hopefully this will help someone save a few coins.
I believe this will work with other providers but it wouldn't hurt to ask a sales rep before you purchase.
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04/19/2008 09:36:13 PM · #2 |
I did that a couple, three of years back when my son's phone gave out before they would let me get a new one. I'd had the phone with one replacement less than 18 months. They said pay big bucks, do without, or go get a pay as you and just swap the card. It was Cingular back then and it was the Cingular sales guys that told me to do it. Worked perfectly. I did have to shell out $50 for the pay as you go phone. I just never used the card that came with it.
Last month my son complains that his now two plus year old pay as you go phone is starting to act up. So last week my wife came home with a $2 phone from a yard sale. Someone just had to have the latest and greatest, so he didn't need his old phone. We just swapped in my son's card, used his old card and he was were ready to go. The only catch with that approach is if you end up with a stolen phone you can't activate it. I understand that old phones are easy to come by on ebay - I just don't trust them.
On the other hand I just replaced my wife's phone with one of the free ones at Best Buy. I ended up with an $18 upgrade charge - that and a two year extension on the contract. Which in reality meant adding about two more months to the contract since I had just added my daughter the plan a couple of months back. So I was already tied in for almost two more years anyway.
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04/19/2008 09:39:58 PM · #3 |
I did that recently with my husband's TMobile phone. He dropped it in water, because he is in a contract they wanted us to pay full price for another Razr. I went to CompUSA's closeout sale and picked one up for $99, popped his sim card in and all worked great.
I have a Palm with Windows Mobile and unfortunately they do not have sim cards so if mine breaks I'm stuck with the full replacement cost (I carry insurance on mine for that reason). |
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04/19/2008 10:47:25 PM · #4 |
To give you a little in site on how much money the carrier makes off of people this is how much they were willing to pay me for every phone I sold. I will leave the name of the company out but some of you that know me, knows where I worked before retiring.
With Contract Actual Price Commission
Phone 7% of the Actual cost $350.00 $24.50
1 Accessory - $ ??.00 $ 5.00
2 Accessories N/A $ ??.00 $10.00
3 Accessories N/A $ ??.00 $15.00
The Warranty N/A $ 50.00 +/- $20.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associate Total Commission for one phone, 3 accessories, & Warr. $74.50
Now you see why the associates try their best to sell you a phone, as many accessories, and warranty on the phone. I have sold as many as 4 or 5 phones a day. I have seen associates pay checks over $2500 bi-weekly.
It may be different know but the above kind of gives you an example of how bad the wireless industry wants your business by paying this much commission just to get you under contract.
Message edited by author 2008-04-19 22:50:47. |
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04/19/2008 11:07:06 PM · #5 |
I've used throw aways for years.....
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04/20/2008 12:55:05 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by Bugzeye:
I thought I would share this with everyone who may not know, But first I should explain a bit.
I have AT&T as my wireless provider, My cell phone was on it's last leg, So I decided it was time to purchase a new one. I went and looked at a Motorola Razer. Because my contract with AT&T has expired and I have no desire to renew the contract, The phone would cost a fortune. I could either renew for a year and save 100 dollars off price of phone or renew for 2 years and save around 200 dollars. Or not renew at all and pay that crazy mark up price.
Or you can do this, Buy an AT&T pay as you go phone, It is the same phone in this case "the Razer" that they are selling at the counter around the corner from the shelf holding the PAYG phones, It is just with out the service contract, Then you swap out sim cards from your current phone. You just saved 200+ dollars and you do nothing but charge the battery and change the card.
Phone companies are ripping people off big time with phone upgrades or trapping you into using their service for the long term by reducing the price. Either way they will get your money, But at least by doing what I did, They are not forcing me into an extended contract. And I got a Razer for 120 dollars, Keep my service plan as is with out the contract keep same number etc...
Hopefully this will help someone save a few coins.
I believe this will work with other providers but it wouldn't hurt to ask a sales rep before you purchase. |
This assumes one uses a carrier that uses SIM cards, which my last carrier, Sprint did not. Still pissed at them for countless reasons. BOOOO, SPRINT! |
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04/20/2008 06:32:29 AM · #7 |
If you get your phone as part of a contract, you're still paying for it - just that the payments are in instalments and built into the contract pricing. Whenever I've needed to upgrade or replace a phone, I just bought a phone outright and moved the SIM card across. My carrier doesn't know (or need to know) or care what handset I've got my SIM card in.
There are plenty of phones on eBay or in shops, especially if you don't need/want the latest-and-greatest. Besides, the phones on offer on contracts aren't always the ones you want anyway - certainly they all have far more features than I wanted or needed, so paying extra $ for them is pointless. Managed to find myself a phone that didn't have built in camera, yada yada and saved a whole lot of money.
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04/20/2008 08:58:01 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by paddles:
If you get your phone as part of a contract, you're still paying for it - just that the payments are in instalments and built into the contract pricing. Whenever I've needed to upgrade or replace a phone, I just bought a phone outright and moved the SIM card across. My carrier doesn't know (or need to know) or care what handset I've got my SIM card in. |
Yes and No. Sure they up the contract price to pay for the phones. That is a given. But once my phone stops working I have a choice. I can get one of their "free" phones and extend the contract another two years. Or I can go out an buy a phone - yard sale, ebay, Amazon.com, or somewhere. Regardless of what I do I still end up paying the same monthly fee to the carrier. So I pay AT&T for a phone even if I get it elsewhere. If I am fairly certain I am going to keep the current plan another two years it can easily be less expensive to just take one of their "free" phones and go with it.
One other thing I learned way back it that the plan is phone specific. So when I was under the contract and my son moved out on his own he could take his phone/number and go look elsewhere for his carrier because his phone was over two years old.
With my second son, he will graduate college in just over a year. So if his phone goes (and it has twice now) he will not get a new phone under the contract. He will get one elsewhere so that his contract does not have to be extended for two years.
My only key date now is when my last kid gets out of college and I retire. Then I likely will want to move to a lower level plan. I just have to make sure that any extension of the contract does not go past that date.
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04/20/2008 09:05:03 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by fixedintime:
My only key date now is when my last kid gets out of college and I retire. Then I likely will want to move to a lower level plan. I just have to make sure that any extension of the contract does not go past that date. |
With most carriers, including AT&T, being in contract does not prevent you from changing plans. It only requires that you maintain service.
The only "gotcha" with changing plans on AT&T is that if you do change plans (up or down), you will forfeit any rollover minutes in excess of one plan-month. In other words, if you change from a 900-minute to a 450-minute plan, you will be allowed to keep no more than 450 of your rollover minutes.
~Terry
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04/20/2008 10:06:31 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:
The only "gotcha" with changing plans on AT&T is that if you do change plans (up or down), you will forfeit any rollover minutes in excess of one plan-month. In other words, if you change from a 900-minute to a 450-minute plan, you will be allowed to keep no more than 450 of your rollover minutes.
~Terry |
Tnx for the info Terry, I figured they would let me go up anytime, but I didn't think they would let me go down. Those rollover minutes have saved me big time a few times. I sort of figure it I have to go up I'll be out of rollover minutes anyway. It would be nice to be able to carry them all if I go down. I do wish they would not expire after a year.
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04/20/2008 10:14:19 AM · #11 |
| Ok, silly question....Whats a sim card? |
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04/20/2008 10:19:03 AM · #12 |
Originally posted by lunensa:
Ok, silly question....Whats a sim card? |
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIM_Card :)
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04/28/2008 02:03:46 PM · #13 |
So give me some more info here. Can you just swap the SIM card yourself or do you have to get someone else to do it because they need to alter something on your account reflecting the hardware change? My wife needs a new phone and I hate those two year contracts. I'm interested in doing this.
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04/28/2008 02:09:56 PM · #14 |
| Yes, you can just change the sim card yourself. My daughter has gone through tons of phones. I'd have a hundred year contract otherwise, lol. |
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04/28/2008 02:16:42 PM · #15 |
Jees - Cell phones in the states seem way more complicated than the UK!
The PAYG phones over here are normally very expensive (For the good phones), to prevent you just buying one and swapping SIM cards out.
Most Contracts are only a Year too, with 18 months becoming popular lately, although the phones don't tend to last that long, so I would NOT buy into an 18 month term right now.
Most companies will give free handset upgrades when you renew for another year, but my usage is somewhat low, so I have a hard time getting one for free and usually get charged around £40 for a fairly tidy handset.
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04/28/2008 02:20:07 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by Kelli:
Yes, you can just change the sim card yourself. My daughter has gone through tons of phones. I'd have a hundred year contract otherwise, lol. |
Do you lose your contact info (phone/address book), or does the sim card have memory that holds this data also? |
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04/28/2008 02:35:48 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by Kelli:
Yes, you can just change the sim card yourself. My daughter has gone through tons of phones. I'd have a hundred year contract otherwise, lol. |
Do you lose your contact info (phone/address book), or does the sim card have memory that holds this data also? |
That depends, I have the option on my phone to save to sim card/or phone. If the info is on the card, it will transfer. The only thing I've ever lost is ringtones. |
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04/28/2008 02:37:07 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by Kelli:
Yes, you can just change the sim card yourself. My daughter has gone through tons of phones. I'd have a hundred year contract otherwise, lol. |
Do you lose your contact info (phone/address book), or does the sim card have memory that holds this data also? |
they have memory. most phones have a "copy all contacts to sim card" option buried in the menu.
i've done this for my mother once and for my wife twice.
each time i've called at&t and told them about the new phone, but they worked before that anyway...
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04/28/2008 03:24:28 PM · #19 |
| Thanks guys...my wife's phone is on it's last legs, but she has a ton, I mean a TON, of contact info! I'll take a look at the settings on her phone. |
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04/28/2008 03:31:37 PM · #20 |
Does this work when changing from a Razr to a Smartphone/PDA type phone, or do I HAVE to go through Verizon to upgrade to this kind of phone?
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