I've been waiting to upgrade my poor old iPhone 3G (notice the missing S). It's old. In fact, truth be told, my poor iPhone has been replaced by Apple Care thrice - the last time happened to be on the LAST day my Apple Care was valid. I've been hobbling along for months... The battery was replaced just a month ago. Thankfully my sister's awesome fiance' saved me on that one!
I've been waiting for today's announcement far too long. Yes it's not an iPhone 5, but to this girl who is still on 3G, it is still a wonderful thing...
Now a little behind the scenes note. My husband and I are on a budget - um with five kids how can we not be? We've also been working on lowering our monthly expenses. This is part of the reason for waiting to upgrade. I've been saving for a LONG time.
I've been out of contract with AT&T for over a year now. However, I also have two phone lines for my kids that are still under contract. Before I called AT&T we were paying $150 a month for our service. I also have an unlimited data plan (grandfathered in from the good ol' days..)
So here's how I saved over $730 annually on my cell phone service:
1. Called AT&T Customer Service and asked to speak with their resolutions department.
2. I asked the rep what my cancellation fees would be on the account if I left October 14th. ($170)
3. I explained that I was seriously considering leaving to Sprint or Verizon because my husbands' company has an amazing employee discount plan with both where I could get the iPhone and everything else I currently have for around $85 a month. I told the rep I needed to justify staying with AT&T and it was really hard at $150 month.
4. Rep asks questions. Tries to tell me that Sprint's network is bad, Verizon is not as good, etc. I tell them I agree and yet it really comes down to the monthly fee.
5. Rep asks me to wait for a moment while they see what they can do. She comes back and tells me if I extend my contract for 11 more months she can reduce my monthly service fees to $85 monthly with all the features I have now. If I choose to upgrade, the total contract time will only be the two years with the cell phone - not two years plus eleven months.
6. I ho hum around for a few minutes rummaging through my "notes" and then explain that Sprint was going to give a rebate. She tells me she can also give me $50 credit.
7. I tell her we have a deal. Final item to check off my list? Pre-order my new phone on Friday...
So to summarize: new iPhone with $65 monthly savings equals a total annual savings of $730 + a $50 rebate - $780 saved this year alone. Thinking I can really justify that upgrade now. :)
One last note: this isn't just for iPhone user. No matter what carrier/phone you use, remember that you have major negotiating power when you are out of contract and waiting to upgrade - take advantage of it. :)
THANK YOU for posting this - I just upgraded this past weekend and I felt quite empowered after reading about your experience. I was out of contract with AT&T and threatening to leave really made them work with me. My bill is going to be less now even with the addition of the data plan....I told them how much I would pay per month if I went to Sprint and told them if they could come up with something similar I'd consider staying...they came in under and threw in a bunch of great stuff....thanks again for reminding me that everything is up for negotiation!!
Posted by: jesslynn0902 | 17 October 2011 at 06:27 AM