I currently have two lines on the Family Time Basic plan at $49.99/mo with 500 anytime minutes, unlimited T-Mobile to T-Mobile minutes and unlimited night & weekend minutes. I am eligible for a handset upgrade at this time. The pricing I was given from a T-Mobile customer service rep on the phone this morning is as follows. One Year Two Year $174.99 $219.99 Motorola v330 $149.99 $169.99 Samsung e335 $149.99 $169.99 Samsung t309 $149.99 $169.99 Nokia 6101 New activation prices (after all applicable rebates) are as follows: v330 $149.99, e335 FREE, t309 $99.99, 6101 $149.99. Now, I'm not so stupid as to think that I deserve a free phone and I know that my pricing will be more expensive than a new customer's because I'm not paying an activation fee. My question is why the t309 and e335 pricing is significantly higher for me than for a new customer? I understand that people want free flip phones, hell, I want a free flip phone, but I'm aware that flip phones are not free. I think it's odd there is such a huge discrepency between my price and a new customer's price. Does anyone know if the price would be lower if I had a higher rate plan? I know the $69.99 Family Time plan would probably qualify me for better handset pricing but I'm not 100% sure about this. Any tips or secrets to getting better handset pricing. (Other than threatening to cancel, I'm not planning on cancelling with T-Mobile so I'm not going to play that game.)
Here's what I know about it.... Up until a few months or so ago, the $49.99 FT plan wasn't really offered anything in terms of decent upgrade pricing, and you're right you are saving $35 per line since you don't have to pay activation. That was part of the reason of the two-year contract upgrade option. The key difference is the prices you are comparing to are from the website, which AIUI are a different sales channel than customer care and retail. The website prices are always better because of lower costs. Also, as you suspected, the $69.99 (or higher) family plans do give you better discounts. For example, I'm on the $69.99 family plan. Here are my numbers for those same phones from mytmobile: v330 174.99 219.99 6101 124.99 169.99 t309 124.99 169.99 e335 49.99 69.99 (yes that is 49.99/69.99) I think my prices wil go down next month since I am in month 10 of my contract, so I am not fully eligible right now. Suggestions? You can try and visit a retail store, managers have some leeway from time to time, especially if you are willing to sign a 2-year extension (from what I've heard). That might be your best bet than talking to a CS rep. You can also threaten to cancel and/or escalate a CS call, and explain your unhappiness with the price comparisons to the website. They might not come down to that price, but might be able to do better. You have to get past the first rep on that though, and your position is weaker being on the 49.99 plan.
Wow my prices as of 2 minutes ago are v330 124.99 149.99 (after $50 rebate) 6101 124.99 149.99 t309 99.99 74.99 (after $50 rebate) e335 FREE FREE (after $50 rebate)
What plan are you on right now? So, if I'm out of contract my prices are better? I guess I shouldn't have signed up for the 500 minute plan earlier this year. Guess I'll have to wait to upgrade.
Yup they are. I noticed this because my friend was being offered the Nokia 3220 for free for a 1 year renewal and I was going to get charged $49.99 for a 1 year extension. His is off contract, mine is off. These are online of course. Also think about it, you do have a grandfathered plan, instead you would only have 400 or pay $10 more for 300 extra minutes. Depending on what you want, it really depends if it's bad or not.
My Plan contract is until July 2006, my phones were last changed in October 2004. So I'm out of contract for the phones
Yeah, I thought about that, too. I have a grandfather plan and I'm a relatively low ARPU customer since the only extra I have is the SMS package for $3.99/line. We probably won't need more minutes until we move to Phoenix next year so we probably won't want to upgrade our plan until next summer. Hmmm... my contract is up in June 2006 and I last renewed for handset pricing in November of 2004 so maybe I'll call next month and see if my handset pricing goes down. Thanks for the help etoop and Etorres777.
Even though I am out of contract for my plan, I upgraded my phones in December 2004, so I don't get rebates right now. Your contract status and handset upgrade eligibility are related, but the key date is when you last received an upgrade. Once you complete 11 months of service on a one year agreement, or it has been 11 months since your last upgrade, (or 22 / 22 months on a two-year) then you are eligible for the better upgrade pricing. However, the offers are better for customers on the $39.99 individual plan or the $69.99 family plan (or higher). Rancid, you should be eligible for better pricing soon.
Yep, later this month. If I remember correctly I signed up on 11/22/2004 so I'll wait until 10/22/2005 to call back about pricing again.
How much better? The My T-Mobile site quoted $129 for the Nokia 6101 on an upgrade with a 2-year agreement, the price for the phone without a new agreement was over $200. This is on the $29.99 Basic Plus plan (300 Whenever minutes, unlimited weekends).
I don't know how much better for the Basic plans or the $49.99 family plan. I think those best deals are geared towards the two year renewal, but once you become eligible for the rebate that is usually and extra $50 I think.
what if i have the 45.99 plan and my contract is up in feb 2006......site says 219.99 for one year extension.......what do u think it would be matt
I don't know what the deal would be, however it will be better in January after you start your last month of service on your contract.
I think the pricing has improved over the last month or so. I am now eligible for rebates, and I see the following (there are others I'm not listing) nok 6010 - free for 2-year mot v188 - free for 1 or 2-year (after rebate for 1-year) samsung e335- free for 1 or 2-year (after rebate for 1-year) sam x495 - free 2-year, 49.99 one-year moto razr - 74.99 2-year, 99.99 1-year magenta razr - 124.99 2-year, 199.99 1-year
I still have very high prices. It may be that I am still under contract (although it's been longer than 12 months since I got phones at a discount) or because I'm on a very low plan. ($59.99 Family Time Plan.) I just decided to buy my phones outright from alternate sources.
