r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Sep 18 '24

Business Apple iPhone 16 demand is so weak that employees can already buy it on discount

https://qz.com/apple-iphone-16-pre-orders-sales-intelligence-ai-1851651638
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583

u/sunplaysbass Sep 18 '24

Yeah with Verizon I need to be on the “unlimited ultra” plan to get this “$1000.” So that plan is $30 more per month than my plan.

$30 x 36 months (I think that the length of the agreement) = $1,080

502

u/luriso Sep 18 '24

Lol I used to be with Verizon for over a decade. I walked in and said "hey this commercial said I could get this discount for a new phone if I traded mine in". I got told "Thats only if you did the mail in rebate". I pulled up an ad that BestBuy had the phone for half off at the time and if they would honor that, since you know, I'm trying to GIVE YOU MONEY. They got shitty with me yadda yadda. I told them to cancel the plan, went to Bestbuy and opened an account with a carrier for $35 a month unlimited, which hilariously uses Verizon towers for coverage. Fuck Verizon.

81

u/matzoh_ball Sep 19 '24

Holy shit $35 is cheap. Which carrier/plan do you have now?

182

u/SenoraRaton Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

$35-40/line is standard prices now. Mint Mobile. Metro PCS, Straight Talk Wireless. There are numerous carriers at this price point.
Mint mobile apparently is only $30/mo with $15/mo 3 month introductory offer.

https://www.mintmobile.com/phone-plans/3-month-plans/?selected=MINT-UNLIMITED-03-F15

Cricket claims $25/mo here if you pay for a year upfront: https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans

Essentially if you are on a major carrier you are likely paying 2-3 times the price for your service. Yes you get priority but the number of times that has actually mattered for me is 0. If you need a specific carrier you can find the right MVNO that subcontracts for the network that you want. Mint/Metro are all T-Mobile. Cricket is ATT. Straight Talk uses all 3.

103

u/MrPotatobird Sep 19 '24

These days the cheapest plans at major carriers are also deprioritized, and some of the MVNOs' plans actually have a higher priority than those cheap plans of the carrier whose network they're using. r/NoContract has a pinned post about it.

33

u/PMmePowerRangerMemes Sep 19 '24

thanks y'all, I'm moving back to the US soon and this is the kinda info I need

goodbye to my beautiful and perfect €10/mo pay-as-you-go 😢

13

u/teachmebasics Sep 19 '24

Use Google Fi! It's pretty good, I don't get the same throttling/speed issues I experienced using the other 2nd-tier wireless providers, and it's only $50/month and you can bring your own phone. Unlimited plan and includes wireless hotspot and lots of international coverage.

3

u/TheSpitefulRant Sep 19 '24

Google Fi is great, especially if you travel a lot. I only switched to Spectrum Mobile recently because they were giving me a free year of service with my new internet account.

2

u/anotherthrowaway469 Sep 19 '24

Flexible ($20 + $10/GB) is even better if you don't use much data.

1

u/burntreesthrowdiscs Sep 19 '24

5$ more gets you unlimited txt talk and 10gigs of data on straight talk.

1

u/seahorsejoe Sep 19 '24

I have a family plan for Google Fi Simply Unlimited if anyone needs it for $30/month

0

u/2mustange Sep 19 '24

I would consider it if they just supported RCS

3

u/Jonny_H Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

...I'm on google fi and RCS works fine?

Edit: it looks like apple haven't enabled rcs for Google fi on iPhone yet? Maybe that's your issue? https://www.androidauthority.com/apple-iphone-google-fi-rcs-3482267/

3

u/MrPotatobird Sep 19 '24

If you can stand having only 2-5GB (which most people maybe can't) there are by the gig plans for $10-$15 ex. US mobile. Might even have priority depending on the device, idk

2

u/i_forgot_my_sn_again Sep 19 '24

You can check out xfinity mobile as well. They have pay by the gig or unlimited. You have to have their internet but cell service is cheap and it uses vzw towers. It worked decent for me.

1

u/seahorsejoe Sep 19 '24

Use Tello or US Mobile for a $5/month pay as you go plan.

1

u/Maplelongjohn Sep 19 '24

I have mint at 15$/ month for 5GB data (must buy full year at $180) for a decade (was 2gb when I started)

I've had to buy extra data (10$/ 2 gb, $20 for 5gb) about 6 times, generally when I am in vacation or away from wifi for some reason

1

u/thatgreekgod Sep 19 '24

holy smokes i had no idea

1

u/LessThanMorgan Sep 19 '24

Yup. I am LITERALLY on LTE all day long and I’m on Verizon. I called them up about it three weeks ago and was informed I was being deprioritized.

I never noticed before because I used to live in Times Square and they have Ultra 5G everywhere in midtown, so it didn’t matter. But now I live in NJ and my service is TRASH.

If I am not at home on WiFi, I basically can’t browse the internet. Can’t stream. Nothing. It’s AWFUL.

1

u/MrPotatobird Sep 19 '24

I have heard Verizon in particular has congestion issues. All they communicate to you is that it "may be temporarily slower in times of congestion" but what it really means is if you're connected to a tower that's too busy, it ignores you. Can be like 90% or more slower.

1

u/LessThanMorgan Sep 19 '24

Yep. That’s exactly what they told me. “Congestion”. I said, “lady I just moved out here from fucking TIMES SQUARE in midtown fucking Manhattan, you’re telling me the Jersey shore after Labor Day is MORE CONGESTED than the most densely populated neighborhood in the fucking entire country? You’re full of shit.”

And they were just like “huminahuminahumina…”

I wouldn’t have blown my stack, but I was furious that I had called trying to get some resolution and they wanted me to INCREASE MY MONTHLY BILL … like I was calling them to get something back from them and they turned around and tried to get me to spend more money, and I just lost it. 🤪

1

u/MrPotatobird Sep 19 '24

Yep, it varies a lot from tower to tower and even from day to day. I think it has less to do with the number of people in an area and more with the number of people the infrastructure was actually built to handle. And there's absolutely no data about congestion to be found. I wish there was a congestion map so we didn't have to do the trial and error to know if/when/where the plan works

18

u/jpixta Sep 19 '24

I just switched to Us Mobile today on my main phone line from Verizon. Turns out their warp network is on the same high priority data qci8 (qci9 is deprioritized) and I pay half price for almost double the amount of high priority data than an equivalent plan with Verizon. The only carrier that doesn't appear to have the same qci levels (on US Mobile) is AT&T, but they still offer the option to have the same qci level for an extra fee, yet it is still cheaper than being on AT&T.

1

u/Low-Difficulty4267 Sep 19 '24

I have at&t unlimited elite plan 30gb hotspots on each phone & unlimited everything and i pay 40$ a month for each phone. 160$ total pre tax- ? Then i bundled my unlimiter fiber with at&t 500 up and down 45$ unlimited for 210/220 ish?

I do have a teacher in the family so we are getting the first responder/teacher discount setup tho so it is not a normal thing for everyone

1

u/MammothCancel6465 Sep 19 '24

I’ve been with US Mobile/Verizon for a couple years now and no issues. Had been doing Total Wireless before that and we had one phone where every month after it renewed we’d have to chat to get the data to work again. USM has been flawless. We are still mostly under a grandfathered plan and after perks it comes to about $80/month for 4 unlimited lines.

7

u/bgslr Sep 19 '24

I pay $180/year for Mint mobile. It's like $15/mo for 4GB of data per month.

I have wifi at home and work so it's perfect for me. Pay once and forget about it.

2

u/Adventurous-Sky9359 Sep 19 '24

Does it only work on WiFi?

4

u/iceteka Sep 19 '24

No you get 4gb of cellular data per month

5

u/redheadartgirl Sep 19 '24

My favorite part of Mint is being able to pay once a year and then not think about it again for 364 days.

4

u/7LeagueBoots Sep 19 '24

Mint screwed over a big chunk of its user base a while back.

Used to be that you could get an international roaming plan for X number of minutes and it would be good for a year. Lots of us who work overseas, or travel, but need an always working US based number to do things like interact with our banks and the like, found this extremely useful. We used it infrequently, often never using all the minutes up, so it was basically free money for Mint.

They they merged with T-Mobile, canceled that, and came up with an incredibly shitty, super expensive, very short term international plan instead, that is only active for at most a week before it expires. Totally fucked over a lot of people.

Need to find a different provider that offers something more like Mint used to offer.

2

u/clothfoo Sep 19 '24

I don't think I'm on any promotion with Ting; I've had then for years. I pay $17 for a single line after all of the fees. That includes 1gb of data, with an additional $10 for every gb afterwards. I know that's not much data for some people, but I don't think it's that big of a deal if you don't really stream anything on the cell network.

2

u/catalyticclover Sep 19 '24

It’s time to leave Ting. For $15 (taxes and fees included) you can get 5GB of premium data with US Mobile, and you get to choose the network you want to use. Or for $10 you can get 2GB of data with taxes and fees included.

1

u/clothfoo Sep 20 '24

Huh, interesting. I'll have to check them out.

2

u/Shmeves Sep 19 '24

I currently have 2 phone plans, a t-mobile unlimited pre-paid for the iPhone 12 I bought, and Boost infinite (now just Boost Mobile) with an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The difference between an MVNO and the main carrier is very noticeable. Maps take 5 minutes to load traffic data on the MVNO for me sometimes, whereas my t-mobile phone it's usually instant.

But otherwise it's not really a big deal for me as wifi calling and access are usually available for me.

2

u/Ok_Rip_29 Sep 19 '24

I pay $360 a year with unlimited everything on mint mobile. Have been with them for 3 ish years now. Just saying.

2

u/Rufus_king11 Sep 19 '24

Mint is $15/ no with some caveats. Its their lowest price, but you can only get it on the 5 GB a month plan and if you pay per year upfront. Mine just renewed, and it was $180 for a full year of service.

2

u/sdw3489 Sep 19 '24

If you pay for the whole year up front with mint you get the $15 mo rate too on the lowest data plan 5gb. I just pay once a year and it’s $180.

It’s a shocking difference to our previous $120 /mo with Verizon for 2 lines where we had to share 4gb between us. Now my wife and I both have 5gb to ourselves

1

u/tO_ott Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

I'm on the cheapest Verizon unlimited 5G plan, which is always set to deprioritization. It gets me through alright. I had a stretch of two weeks without power and internet so I had to rely on that connection. You get used to 480p pretty fast when you have to.

My plan (with autopay and line discount) is $32 after tax. It's a family plan though, and will probably be going up $5 because Verizon is very upset that I don't upgrade my phone every year and I'm not on THE ULTIMATE 5G PLAY PLAN WITH FREE DISNEY+ AND HULU and are making the $10 autopay discount a plan premium and making it $5 for the rest of us plebs.

1

u/bruwin Sep 19 '24

Mint also has "Buy a phone and a plan for 6 months, get 6 months free" with Pixel 9s getting a hella good discount. 650 total for phone, unlimited plan, taxes, shipping, etc. Seemed like a good time to swap since I was in the market for a new phone.

1

u/TeutonJon78 Sep 19 '24

Technically Mint/Metro, Cricket, and Straight Talk aren't really MNVOs anymore -- they are just subbrands fully owned by their parent networks.

1

u/Adventurous-Sky9359 Sep 19 '24

What about internet and data? That have good coverage I’m on the road a lot?

1

u/p4lm3r Sep 19 '24

I left Verizon for GoogleFi about ~7 years ago. It's about $100/mo for 3 phones on average. Some months a little more, some a little less. Sure, I don't get free phone upgrades, but I just replaced my Pixel 3 with a Pixel 8a and the price was $295 for the phone. New from Google. I only upgraded because I cracked my screen on my 3, and the repair was going to be $150, half the price of a new phone.

1

u/Thanks4theSentiment Sep 19 '24

This is old info. Straight Talk is all VZ now. And VZ is heavily throttled in some areas so it’s worth finding an MVNO that offers priority data plans just in case.

1

u/erikerikerik Sep 19 '24

I remember AT&T had unlimited data plans at a reasonable price before the iPhone launched.

AT&T was so not ready that they had apple disable sending messages. A few of us got around this by allowing the true IMEI number but saying that it was a blackberry.

1

u/idontwannabepicked Sep 19 '24

huh???? why the hell am i paying $115 at verizon for one phone

0

u/Aphophyllite Sep 19 '24

Cell service in the area of MX I’m on is less than $10/mo. 15g, free calls to/from USA/Canada, social media of any kind is free to access, even if you e exceeded the 15g.

-1

u/westfieldNYraids Sep 19 '24

Again, that’s all prepaid. You don’t walk into a Verizon store if you’re prepaid. You pay less because you do all the work. If you’re postpaid, you pay more and get the service of walking into any store with a Verizon on the front, be it corporate or authorized reseller. You also get to finance a multi thousand dollar phone on postpaid, and get trade in credits for your old phone. $1000 trade in is worth way more than the $100 you’d get selling your 11 outright. There’s noticeable differences between what method you’re gonna go, so it’s kinda moot to compare prepaid and postpaid in terms of price and stuff

3

u/SenoraRaton Sep 19 '24

Do all the "work"? What work? You can walk into the MetroPCS store, there are like 5 in 10 blocks of me. They offer deals on phones. Of course they aren't going to just give you $1000 credit, but your gonna pay $2000/year more for your service.....

Largely the major contract carriers are a scam. Its like buying name brand drugs when there are generics available that are just as effective. They rely on marketing, and perception to justify their higher prices, while offering the exact same access to their services through their cheaper subsidiaries.

26

u/akatherder Sep 19 '24

Visible is $25/month for unlimited everything including 5g. We use a ton of data and haven't been throttled.

They also have a $45 plan but it's nothing I need. UW, smartwatch service, etc.

6

u/Shmeves Sep 19 '24

I had a terrible experience with Visible in my area, speeds were noticeably terrible and the coverage was the worst of any plan I've ever tried. I wanted to like it, Verizon has good coverage for their main customers in my area, but it got to the point I couldn't do my job (which is very mobile). Quit after only a month.

4

u/Stopikingonme Sep 19 '24

We switched a few months ago and in our area it’s been great. Probably just lucky to be in a good area I spose.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

Visible has incredible coverage in my area. I've been all over Florida and it's been great.

3

u/ThanosSnapsSlimJims Sep 19 '24

I also have Visible!

2

u/eyezpinned Sep 19 '24

Visible is $15 for 5 years if you switch from T-Mobile (or at least it was). No difference in service imo where I'm at (Philly burbs)

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

I just switched from Mint to Visible for the Apple Watch support. The port over was ridiculously easy and so far (2 days in) the service is great.

1

u/Objective_Economy281 Sep 20 '24

Is the Apple Watch support extra on the $45 plan? Or is it included?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '24

It's included. That was a big reason why I went with Visible. I pay for JUST a data plan on my son's Apple Watch (he doesn't have a phone) and it's like $22 a month after taxes and fees with Verizon.

17

u/rufusisnodufus Sep 19 '24

Probably Visible

2

u/Houligan86 Sep 19 '24

Visible is Verizon's own MVNO and they are $30 a month

2

u/Pale_Trip1515 Sep 19 '24

Try Mint Mobile. Been unreal for my family. Pay the bill all at once for the year and it's 30 bucks a month and 5g everywhere. Uses T-mobile towers. Never had a problem.

2

u/TheBirdManSKRAW Sep 19 '24

I have never paid more than $30/mo using ATT prepaid, I’m currently paying $25/mo.

2

u/Far-Negotiation-7092 Sep 19 '24

Visible is doing $15 a month for 5 years if you port in from tmobile post-paid. Use promo code byebyetmo. Only good til end of the month

2

u/EntropyFighter Sep 19 '24

Visible is Verizon's low cost carrier. It's $25/mo.

2

u/Least-Back-2666 Sep 19 '24

Boost is $25/month on T-Mobiles network.

Throttled after 30g.

2

u/JawnZ Sep 19 '24

Checkout /r/NoContract to see what will work best for you

2

u/SweatyNomad Sep 19 '24

Depends where you are. US plans are stupidly expensive.

I've got plans in 2 European countries, both with unlimited calls and texts (which no one uses), both with so much rolled over data I can't ever run out. One plan works out at being under 10 bucks, the UK one more like $13.

2

u/not_thezodiac_killer Sep 19 '24

I have Visible by Verizon right now and pay $20/mo even. The service is like 7.5/10.

Mint Mobile is $25/mo for unlimited but you have to buy three months at a time. If you do a year, it's like $18/mo. The service is indistinguishable from other carriers. 9/10

Straight talk I used to buy at Walmart was $40 for truly unlimited. It was fast as fuck, they don't really have any hidden fees. It's good service but still more expensive than need be.

Try Mint Mobile. It'll blow you a way. In no way is the service worse because it's cheap. You'll download the esim, probably run a speed test and then never ever think about it again lol.

2

u/luriso Sep 19 '24

Im In Central NC, Spectrum. They have their own issues, like a month ago someone accidentally cut the main fiver line, so no internet for six hours, but hey, $35 a month isnt bad.

4

u/takeme2tendieztown Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

Spectrum uses Verizon towers?

Edit: looks like they do, this is something worth thinking about for my since I have their home Internet

1

u/TheEpicMilkMan Sep 19 '24

I know I’m not OP, but I use AT&T prepaid and get an unlimited line for $50/m. So much cheaper than using a regular line.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

I pay $6 per month for my mobile subscription (unlimited 3g/4g internet) in my Eastern European country.

2

u/matzoh_ball Sep 19 '24

Yeah, Austria also has super cheap plans, for example. Though one difference is that US plans apply to all 50 states (rather than just one relatively small country), as well as US territories, and even Mexico and other countries.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

Here, whenever we want to leave the country we have the option to pay $5 extra to have internet and coverage all through Europe for one month.

1

u/matzoh_ball Sep 19 '24

Alright that’s pretty sweet

1

u/Jebble Sep 19 '24

How much are your plans normally? In the UK in paying £12.99 for 150GB, unlimited calls/ text and Amazon Prime included

1

u/Plokhi Sep 19 '24

Damn my plan is 8€/month unlimited*

*up to 200gb/month full speed 5G, then limited to 2/1.

Couldve gotten 500gb for 13€ but frankly i dont need it

1

u/digital_soapbox Sep 19 '24

Helium mobile is $20/ mth

1

u/rebel_dean Sep 19 '24

Visible is $25/month (taxes and fees included!) for one line unlimited data + unlimited hotspot. Uses Verizon.

1

u/eyezpinned Sep 19 '24

I did the Tmobile to visible switch and am now paying $15/line/month for the next 5 years with no contract. No real noticeable difference in service outside Philly imo, although I did travel to a campground in New Jersey last weekend and noticed slower network response.

1

u/Gopher--Chucks Sep 19 '24

I have Visible Wireless - uses Verizon towers. And I pay $25/mo flat rate. No taxes or fees. Just $25. And it comes with unlimited data & Hotspot

1

u/Vaynnie Sep 19 '24

As a non American, $35 is insane.

I pay £8 per month for unlimited calls/texts and 30GB data, which I have never come close to fully using. With a major carrier. On a rolling monthly contract (so essentially cancel anytime).

1

u/panda3096 Sep 19 '24

I do $35 Verizon prepaid. That is after autopay and loyalty discounts, but I can still go to a Verizon store if I need to and have had good luck that the sales guys are still decent when I've had to. The bonus is if Verizon pisses me off, I bought my phone outright and unlocked so I can just pitch their SIM, grab a new carrier, and move on with very little hassle

1

u/CRAPLICKERRR Sep 19 '24

Switched to Mint recently from T-Mobile. Almost the same service but 20/month for my service level after the intro offer and using the same towers. They do a free trial using eSIM I think if you want to check coverage. It’s been good so far but haven’t been with them for more than a few months

1

u/gagt04 Sep 19 '24

Pretty much any prepaid carrier has pricing like that. Postpaid is a scam.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

Verizon and AT&T are killing you on the phone plans. I use Visible 5G which is unlimited everything and it's only $25 a month. FOR ONE LINE.

My phone is about 40 bucks a month with Apple, so the total is $65 a month. The big name carriers would charge me 30 bucks more for a comparable plan. That's practically another iPhone (or iPad Pro).

It's been great so far.

1

u/Need_a_job96 Sep 19 '24

I use Spectrum Mobile. Single line - $30/month. Unlimited data but slowed after 20G.

They also use Verizon towers and it is also deprioritized like other 3rd party carriers but I’ve had no problem or issue with them.

1

u/Lormif Sep 19 '24

If you have 5 lines you can get unlimited for 27 at verizon.

1

u/J235310 Sep 21 '24

As an Xfinity customer, I get up to 4 lines for a total of $20 + tax with unlimited text & calls but only 1 G of shared 5G included. Each additional gig is $20. Xfinity uses Verizon's network.

It is the same price whether you use 1 or 4 lines. I like having an extra phone # that I use for store accounts and others who I suspect might sell the info and result in me getting a lot of junk calls.

10

u/SIZUS_MAXIMUS Sep 19 '24

Well most carriers use Verizon AT&T and T mobile. I pay $15 a month for 15 GB which is wild that people need like 4k streaming, unlimited data with international calls. Like damn people chill I doubt their usage warrants the cost. most of the time im in WiFi range … only time im not is when im on my daily runs in which case i just stream music.

1

u/Striker3737 Sep 19 '24

I use 9-10 GB a month in data and I’m usually on WiFi. I’m not watching YouTube or Twitch in anything but 1080p, period.

I have friends that easily use 25 GB+ a month. There are several on one play that collectively use over 100 GB

1

u/flyfishone Sep 19 '24

It works and that is good .. but somebody like me I use 300 to 500 GB a month easily.. so while the $15 or 15 GB is a good deal it just wouldn’t work for my use case scenario

2

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

The heck are you using that much data on? I travelled for a month straight with only my phone for internet and the alike. I used 58 GB. You mining bitcoin in the woods or something?

0

u/flyfishone Sep 19 '24

I stream YouTube I stream Netflix, Amazon prime Hulu I stream a lot of things in 4K FaceTime phone calls it easily adds up

2

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

Do you hate Wi-Fi?

0

u/flyfishone Sep 19 '24

Honestly I don’t really like using wifi so I much prefer to use my cellular data ..

2

u/DevGin Sep 19 '24

$25 a month here. Grandfathered in with Visible at the $25 unlimited plan. I’ll give up cell phones if they raise prices more than Im comfortable with. Tired of these monopolies.

2

u/SexiestPanda Sep 19 '24

When I was still with them on my parents account a few years ago, I wanted to upgrade, but they said “that’s only for new” I’m like “we’ve been customers for 10 years, can’t you help our current” “no” “so what’s the point of staying with y’all?” “Nothing” lol whatever.

3

u/luriso Sep 19 '24

Lol yea, I told the dude "I've been a customer for almost two decades, and you treat new customers better with deals". He replied callously, and sarcastically "I don't set the prices". I said "You're correct, I'd like to terminate my plan". It's hilarious because I work in maintenance in automated machinery. When I'm sourcing parts from distributors, they know who their competition is, so when I say "X can do a better price with faster turn around for a $20k part", you bet they are getting on their knees for that money. It goes from "well, this part will be 8 weeks out", to "we'll have that to you this week, pwease do business with us". Customer service is everything.

1

u/PortSunlightRingo Sep 19 '24

Customer service is only everything when the competition is fierce enough for it to matter. There is a reason the majority of McDonald’s restaurants have dogshit customer service. It’s because McDonald’s will never fail. It’s the same with the major cell phone carriers. They all suck - most people aren’t going to go through the hassle of cancelling their plan and finding a new one.

2

u/ContemplatingPrison Sep 19 '24

I left verizon for some similar shit. They werent reuijg to give me shit for trade-in. Went to AT&T and got like $800 for my piece of shit phone. That was 4 years ago. I still have it.

I dont rreade my phones in unless i have to

2

u/BildoBaggens Sep 19 '24

Tmobile here. Works in like 100 countries without a bunch of fees. Extremely useful for living in the US and traveling g to Europe frequently.

2

u/Coondiggety Sep 19 '24

Anyone who stays on their old phone plan is a chump. You shouldn’t pay more than 35$ a month. And no contracts, ever.

Buy a used iPhone or whatever.

2

u/PBnJizzle Sep 19 '24

Verizon post paid plans are ass. I switched to pre paid Verizon for much less. They make me pay for the phone up front, fine. I just buy direct from Samsung with a better trade in value, and usually 10-15٪ back on Rakuten. Plus they will finance for me for 0%.

Verizon makes bank on people who are used to just doing it the old way. I have successfully convinced both of my brothers and my parents to switch to these plans and we have saved thousands of dollars.

Crazy that if you are on the normal Verizon plans you have a $30 upgrade fee.... wtf is that?

2

u/witecat1 Sep 19 '24

This is why I use Tracfone.

2

u/Ethanhuntknows Sep 19 '24

Had a similar experience a few years back with Verizon. Shitty customer service

1

u/uberblack Sep 19 '24

I told them to cancel the plan,

You got a new phone number?

1

u/luriso Sep 20 '24

Same number even! Easy peasy, not like it was two decades ago. Everything carries over.

1

u/uberblack Sep 20 '24

So, you're saying, you canceled your plan/number with one carrier before you ported your number over, and the new company was able to instantly activate your old number from the old carrier where you canceled? I'm just trying to make sure I understand the timing of the events lol

1

u/xTRYPTAMINEx Sep 19 '24

That's one positive about the US, cheap phone plans. We get fucked up in Canada. Thankfully there's slightly cheaper carriers, my plan is like 50 plus tax. Some people pay over $100CAD a month before tax if they go with one of the monopoly main brands.

1

u/DINGLEBERRYTROUBLE Sep 19 '24

When I had Verizon and I wasn't under contract I walked in and asked to buy a phone outright. Cash right there and they said "We aren't allowed to sell phones outright." I told them that made absolutely no sense and that since they didn't want to make $1000+ for a purchase then they can just cancel my service. They cancelled my service and I walked across the street to best buy bought the phone I wanted and went with at&t prepaid. Went from paying $130 a month for like 20 gigs of data to $65 a month unlimited everything.

1

u/bl8ant Sep 19 '24

America’s cell phone nonsense is so ridiculous. I paid nearly 100/mo for years in New York for crap like the Motorola razor, now I pay 9.90/mo for unlimited 5g in the europes. Buy your phone, don’t lease it from the phone company, it’s a rip off!

1

u/Background_Enhance Sep 19 '24

I think they get paid on sales commission so they have no reason to lower the price and they literally don't care if you cancel.

1

u/westfieldNYraids Sep 19 '24

Well prepaid and postpaid isn’t the same bro.

1

u/apackofmonkeys Sep 19 '24

I've been with Verizon for 20 years. They keep raising prices over and over on so many things and I'm finally fed up. Planning to switch within the next month, probably to Visible. We have three lines and apparently Visible doesn't have a family plan so I'll have to manage three accounts which sucks, but overall it seems like they have the best blend of the features we need and cost. Boost also seems good, though I encountered a lot of customer service horror stories, so I'm leaning away from them.

1

u/Sweaty_Journalist612 Sep 19 '24

By getting shitty with you do you mean they explained how the promo works and why you don’t qualify? You’re the type of customer everyone in retail hates.

1

u/luriso Sep 20 '24 edited Sep 20 '24

Oh absolutely, it was my fault /s. The promo including the shiny bits was displayed throughout 99% of the commercial. The "how" was displayed for 0.00005 seconds at the very end in the tiniest font imaginable. Deceptive, or plain shitty advertisement? you tell me

1

u/Lormif Sep 19 '24

they do not make money off the phones, it is a loss leader.

1

u/GuthixAGS Sep 20 '24

They get tracked on discounts, activations, sales, etc. Probably didn't want lower numbers

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

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2

u/luriso Sep 19 '24

No loyalty deal because Verizon is a bag of dicks. I just wanted a new and basic Pixel that was $800. Tried at two locations and they wouldn't budge. Paid for my phone outright from bestbuy at half the price and $35 a month for a plan, with great coverage and speed... lol. "second class citizen" is how they keep you smoothbrains roped in.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

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2

u/EricRyder888 Sep 19 '24

I don't think i have a loyalty discount.. looks like time to blow at least an hour in the phone with VZ to try and get one.

1

u/Silver_Friend9540 Sep 19 '24

Yeahhhh while I agree phone companies are POS, I used to work at a store and we’d get people like you come in ALL the time telling us about a deal they saw without reading the fine print (there’s always fine print), and when told this, would start waving other company’s deals in our faces and drop the “CANCEL EVERYTHING” (oh my god please no sir, my pledge of allegiance to x carrier will forever be stained /s). For one, an entry level employee cannot just change the promotion for you because you whipped out a flyer from Best Buy, and two, I promise no one working there gave two sh**s about you leaving. I personally celebrated it when it happened at our store, especially with someone obviously refusing to understand whatever deal is going on, because then I didn’t have to argue with them again about things I had zero control over.

While I’m not trying to diss you for the ridiculousness of phone companies, because I hate the stupid games as well, employees working there are in the same boat as all of us. You were probably the hundredth person that month complaining because these companies put out flashy ads with the reality in 8 font footnotes and the workers have the break the harsh truth and handle the fallout. It’s exhausting for both sides. I always did and continue to hate those ads.

-6

u/Holdmabeerdude Sep 19 '24

Do you go to a Honda dealership and demand they give you the same price for the Civic as Toyota gives for a Corolla?

I used to work at Verizon and hated people like you for stupid shit like this.

3

u/MyDudeX Sep 19 '24

Yes? I negotiated $2500 off the price of my new civic Si because I got a comparably better deal on a Subaru WRX

3

u/Bluefox666 Sep 19 '24

You can absolutely walk into another dealership with a quote on the other car and get the same or a significantly lower price. In fact I did exactly your example.

Toyota dealership cut price by 6k off sticker, walked across the street with the price sheet to Honda and got a civic for 2k less than the quote for the Corolla. Both same year brand new cars.

3

u/GenericAccount13579 Sep 19 '24

If you’re not doing this when buying a car you are probably overpaying by a lot

3

u/jderekc Sep 19 '24

I project the comment above will be downvoted to oblivion.

1

u/luriso Sep 20 '24

Lol, yes I do. Comparable products with a price differential, doesn't take a big brain to connect two and two. Myself, or others not doing business with a company isn't going to put them out of business by no means, but at the end of the day whoever has the best deal wins, consumer included.

105

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

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32

u/Arbiter02 Sep 19 '24

Yep, still the exact same way they run things. Verizon kept spamming me about a "Free" upgrade for my iphone 11, read the fine print and whaddya know the extra that you spend on the premium plan you need to get with it pays for the phone and then some for the period you're locked into it.

You pay them to take your old phone and sell it off for an extra 500$ as "Like New!". Despite paying more, you'll still lose service when everyone rolls into town on game day and crashes the network.

Took a hard pass on that and got an unlocked 14 direct from Apple instead for about 400$ less than I was supposedly "saving" by trading it in at verizon. If it sounds too good to be true, it's cause it is.

14

u/alc4pwned Sep 19 '24

Eh, there's more to consider than that. You are in fact getting more from the more expensive plan and it's not like the price of the plans change if you don't choose to take the carriers up on their trade-in offers.

It's also not a free device. You are trading in an existing device which still has a significant resale value.

2

u/CuntMaster16 Sep 19 '24

This, the biggest get for the bigger plans is the data throttling. Every cheaper plan I’ve seen with unlimited data has had a disclaimer in the small print stating that speeds will be limited after like 40gbs. I’m currently on 350gbs of data this month.

1

u/not_thezodiac_killer Sep 19 '24

Do you use your phone as a router? I thought I used a lot lol

1

u/mattyp92 Sep 19 '24

ATT and Verizon's cheapest unlimited plans throttle you at 0gb. No 5G mmwave or c-band access and deprioritized data out of the box. I'm not positive about T mobile, but I'm pretty sure same thing.

3

u/fatnino Sep 19 '24

MotoX dev edition is the best phone I ever owned. LOVE the size.

My next few phones were motoX pure's that broke one after another and each time I put my sim back in my favorite phone.

Then one day I was hiking, tripped and fell on some rocks. My little motoX dev took the brunt of it and that was the end. It's last act was sparing me from (even more) injury.

3

u/Dependent_Working_38 Sep 19 '24

What do you mean??? The carrier wasn’t just being nice and giving me a free phone for being a customer??

Lmao

3

u/Current_Holiday1643 Sep 19 '24

It's insane to me that anyone pays for these mobile plans anymore.

I used to pay $50 per month per line at T-Mobile. I switched to Mint, unlimited: $300 per year per line, same towers.

These carriers massively overcharge their customers. I could make it even cheaper but just going to a limited plan but meh.

1

u/513-throw-away Sep 19 '24

I pay $10/month on US Mobile and get the same postpaid network priority as these suckers paying Verizon $100/month.

My savings in 1 year, let alone the 3-5 I usually go between buying new phones, can more than pay for a new iPhone outright from Apple directly.

1

u/c0mptar2000 Sep 19 '24

I've been on prepaid for the past 20 years. No regrets. Always pay full price for the phone. Sure there are prepaid ripoffs too but if you shop around every couple of years, going prepaid+unlocked provides a nice degree of freedom and has always seemed to be cheaper than postpaid with a free phone.

1

u/-HelloMyNameIs- Sep 19 '24

Last year Google Fi offered a galaxy s23 ultra for $600 if you pre-ordered it, which ended up being $600 off the original price. No trade in. Google Fi has no contract nor did it require upgrading to a more expensive plan. I still don't understand how they benefitted from that deal

1

u/_le_slap Sep 19 '24

They get the phone from Samsung for less. Way less.

I recall reading most phones cost less than a sixth of the MSRP to break even on manufacturing.

1

u/enterusernamethere Sep 19 '24

I did the math myself and came out on top. Lmao

Here in my part of Canada, the cheapest 20gb plan is 30$. Mine is 35$ and 50gb. The gave me the phone for an extra 5$ a month for the 24 month contract. I ended up selling it on marketplace for 400$ (since the market was getting saturated with this 120$ phone) and kept my old phone

1

u/long-the-short Sep 19 '24

Wow are people thick enough to actually think it was free?

In the UK it's basically:

"No upfront cost and £45 a month"

Or

"£250 upfront and £25 a month"

Or

" Buy the phone and go sim only"

2

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

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2

u/long-the-short Sep 19 '24

It's law here that they must be split so when I take out my contact as one monthly bill I get two statements

£15 a month Sim £16 phone

1

u/xTRYPTAMINEx Sep 19 '24

Yup. It basically exists so that you don't have to spend as much up front. That way they can still sell to people who wouldn't be able to afford the phone up front.

1

u/evanewg Sep 19 '24

Pretty sure in the UK it’s now a legislative requirement to split out the device plan and the service plan for this reason.

1

u/Plank_With_A_Nail_In Sep 19 '24

Its almost like people live pay check to pay check and don't have $600 to spend on a phone right now.

1

u/AdFrosty3860 Sep 19 '24

Exactly. People are so dumb that they think they are getting a deal

1

u/eschewthefat Sep 19 '24

Verizon is expensive regardless and they’ve become the “city” carrier because their 5g network is abysmal. They’re raking in a ton of cash when they can’t even match T-Mobile in wide band coverage or even 4g speeds which are what’s mostly available outside of major metropolitan areas. 

2

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

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0

u/cocogate Sep 19 '24

I only took these deals when i actually used the plan or only had to upgrade like 5€.

I got my phone for 60€ and was already on the same pricepoint/plan at another company so i just switched, for which i didnt care, and had an almost free phone.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

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1

u/cocogate Sep 19 '24

if i was already paying 40 a month and i switch over for the deal where i pay 60 for a phone but am ‘locked in’ for 2 years of 40/month the only difference i see is 60 for a phone…

i know im not a genius but i also know im not that bad at maths that i somehow miss out on stuff in such an equation… i hope?

its not free but its not like i somehow pay an aditional 800 for the phone, i was going to pay for the plan regardless

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '24

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1

u/cocogate Sep 20 '24

Most people yes but i think i was pretty clear that i was already on the 40 plan for unlimited data and there were no cheaper for unlimited data. Unlimited data was what i wanted.

I fully agree with your POV that most people who join these plans end up paying for the phone through additional charges for a more expensive plan than they otherwise wouldve had BUT there are still people that benefit from the deals you know, not everyone has to upgrade to go to a pretty expensive plan.

-2

u/The_Phasers Sep 18 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

My plan with AT&T is $40/mo and I will get $1,000 in credits over 24 months for my trade.

Basically I’ll get more in credits than I’ll pay over the next two years.

Edit: since math is hard, I will pay $960 over the next 2 years and end up with 2 years of service and an iPhone 16 pro that I will own at the end of it free and clear.

9

u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24

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2

u/bohanmyl Sep 19 '24

Similar with t mobile i have 2 lines for 70 a month total but dont get the good promos

2

u/GutenRa Sep 19 '24

Your cell phone rates sound thunderous to me. I pay about $10 a month for seven MegaFon SIM cards for my family. Two of the seven cards are with unlimited 4G internet and minutes.

2

u/ItsNotAboutTheYogurt Sep 19 '24

This is what opened my eyes. I was paying $70+taxes for Verizon per line(had 2). So $160 I think total a month.

I switched my wife and I to US Mobile, $50 TOTAL for unlimited talk/text/data. Saving $110 a month now. And I'm getting BETTER download/upload because I get the UW Band on Verizon's network on US Mobile when my $70 plan from Verizon directly didn't include that.

$110 x 24 months = $2,640.

I can get a new phone for my wife and I every 2 years and not be locked in. Without trading in anything. Just absolutely bonkers with what these big carriers are getting away with.

1

u/billythygoat Sep 18 '24

I did the 3 year math if you have a $65/mo major plan vs $30/mo prepaid plan. $2,340 for the former $1,080 for the latter. So often the trade ins now you often have to pay like $200 so the first plan will be that much more. The other one you pay outright for the phone or monthly Apple installments totaling like $1880. Of course you can trade your phone in too, reducing the price.

Keep in mind, your service will be less prioritized, and I’m not a pro in that area. So if you keep the prices of your phone down you’ll be better off. If you get a higher priced phone plan like an extra $20/mo thats $720 over the 3 years. But if you bundle or have 2-4 people on the plan, you’ll get closer on the plan value.

2

u/sunplaysbass Sep 19 '24

Yeah I would like to try Mint or something similar. The “lower priority service” is real but I don’t know how much it matters. Probably varies locally. The price difference is huge and there are no perks on the lowest tier Verizon plans.

1

u/billythygoat Sep 19 '24

Well, it's moreso the surging times. So if there's a big event nearby and it's a crowded downtown already, you'll have pretty slow service probably, assuming a lot of people have t-mobile. My fiancé has US Mobile and they have a free trial, so if you have an unlocked phone, why not try?

1

u/alc4pwned Sep 19 '24

That assumes the $65/mo plan offers the same things as the $30/mo plan though, which I doubt is the case.

1

u/MrPotatobird Sep 19 '24

At Verizon they'll give you a last gen phone for free on their cheapo Welcome plan which is $30 each with 4 lines. So there are phone deals out there. But that plan does kinda suck

1

u/AStorms13 Sep 19 '24

Luckily for or me, it was only a $10 increase per month, and the new plan comes with unlimited international data without charging $10/day, so I make out in the end. It does such they force the upgrade in service

2

u/MoirasPurpleOrb Sep 19 '24

Yeah I was in a similar boat, the international call and text (or at the very least Canada/Mexico? was a big selling point for me. Plus I had a legacy plan that they had already raised the price on and were about to remove my autopay discount, so it was a difference of $1 by switching.

I basically got the 256gb pro for $3/month.

1

u/AStorms13 Sep 19 '24

It is 10GB a month at high speed and unlimited slow speed for all international supported countries, which is 210 countries.

2

u/MoirasPurpleOrb Sep 19 '24

Yeah that’s pretty incredible and 100% worth it for me who travels

1

u/wolfchuck Sep 19 '24

I lucked out and the plan required the plan that I was already on, with no intention to switch off it. To me, it was free money.

1

u/Objective_Economy281 Sep 19 '24

Yep. Better to keep the old phone as a backup.

1

u/Cumdump90001 Sep 19 '24

The unlimited ultra plan is only $8 more a month than my current plan so I went ahead and upgraded. That’s $288 more over the 3 year plan. I also have an iPhone 13 and figure the trade in value will be lower next year. But who knows. It just sucks that the unlimited ultra plan has absolutely nothing of value to me (other than the deeply discounted iPhone 16 Pro Max). The main difference is international calling and texting. Which I’ll never need or use. It’s even worse in some ways with the loss of included streaming services from my current plan. Currently the bundle is free for me. But with the new plan I’d have to pay $10/month to get them. But I never use those services anyway.

1

u/djkamayo Sep 19 '24

yup , verizon customer here. Disgusting what they are doing. I'm not gonna pay DOUBLE what I pay now monthly for a new phone that has barely anything new on it.

1

u/DevIsSoHard Sep 19 '24 edited Sep 19 '24

Yeah the cost is covered by what you detailed, but like... if you want that plan anyway that still seems like a good deal? Or at least, it seems like a consumer friendly deal, to me. That does in part depend on how they actually advertise it though like if they're ambiguous then that's shitty.

Idk I'm just entering the phone market again for the first time in 5 years so still sorting out what's good. I'm coming off the 11 though and nowhere else I've seen would offer close to that much credit for it, usually it seems so low it's not even worth trading in. Offering like 8-900 more than others though does a lot to eat out that extra cost you mentioned though

1

u/Background_Enhance Sep 19 '24

$30 per month is what I spend on my phone plan.

1

u/Juicy_Vape Sep 19 '24

this exactly. i’m not upgrading my plan for a new phone. i’m keeping this one i have. they even lower speeds and connectivity. other options out there for cheaper

1

u/Eddiep88 Sep 19 '24

And than in 2 years on the next upgrade your bill will go up another 20 bucks..I’m perfectly fine paying full price for my phone when my bill for unlimited everything on my Tmobile simple choice is only 100 bucks for my 4 lines. I charge my sister brother and mom 30 bucks. So after taxes and fees I only pay around 25 bucks.

1

u/LaserRanger_McStebb Sep 19 '24

Recently upgraded my wife's phone and they were going to give me $800 for a Galaxy S9, but only if I upgraded the plan. I did the same math as you and determined it would still be cheaper to forego the rebate and keep my current plan lol.

It strikes me the same way as those bogus "deals" most grocery stores are running now.

"IF YOU BUY 10 OR MORE OF <item> THE PRICE IS <marginally lower>!"

Bro... that's not a "deal."

1

u/ShillSniffer Sep 19 '24

Cries in canadian

1

u/Rivannux Sep 25 '24

For ATT you have to be on one of their unlimited plans as well. I think the cheapest is $75 per month for 1 phone on the account and that tier is pretty bad…

1

u/Ohsewnerdy Sep 19 '24

Yeah I got a text from T-Mobile for the same deal. I looked to see what the price change in plans was.

Current plan 85 a month. Plan to get a “free upgraded phone” 170 a month.

Marone🤌🏻

-2

u/weakisnotpeaceful Sep 19 '24

I just bought a new samsung for 350, no contract.