Oh-no. AT&T reportedly ordered staff to push anything but iPhone

[jamesstarks15]

And I ran some as well and it came out prepaid wins unless one wants an expensive phone and has FAM discounts at AT&T. Present some real world examples if you want to prove your claim that "postpaid works."

Gee, bro, I provided real world examples on why prepaid works so obviously I'm not fully against it. What happens at Ting when a phone stops working. How does their warranty process work? Is there any value there? Here is your screen shot, comparing a vzw rate plan with 5 lines and 10 GB data. Turns out postpaid works in this case even selecting some cheapo device. Give us our top end phones that we really want it the gap widens. Are you suggesting that postpaid is never a better option?

[Morphling27]

Your prepaid to postpaid comparison is invalid. Didn't take into account roaming, service/warranties, or family plans. Just individual accounts, not quite painting the whole picture.

Last I checked, the vast majority of phones come with a 1 year manufacturers warranty - so what exactly are you talking about? If you mean past that, there are many third party companies that offer extended plans that are very affordable. Or you can insure a phone through your homeowners if you wanted. There are a million ways to cover an item.

Roaming - this is somewhat grey but if you go look at Straight Talk and you use a the BYOP Sim plan, your phone 'roams' on the combined networks of ATT and Tmobile and some smaller companies for voice/text. I don't really call it roaming since the MVNO pays to use all those networks and it's not how you roam say when you're with Sprint and go off their native network onto VZW. It's 'all' their 'native' network since they are an MVNO.

Family plans are starting to show up in prepaid. I used to use a company called iWireless through the Kroger food stores. Yes, it runs off of Sprint, but they have family plans and they even have 'shared' data if you will, many months before VZW did it. I think ting was already pointed out. No, not every time is every single specific need going to be met by any one plan. This is why we have choices and I didn't say the big networks needed to go away, I said they needed to be relegated to the same status as all other utility companies in this country.

I then pointed out that even having to pay a couple to a few hundred dollars upfront, these companies are far from losing any money when 'subsidizing' the iPhone or other phones. I'm all for keeping the postpaid accounts and family plans - but do away with selling phones and borderline illegal contracts.

[spdickey]

Gee, bro, I provided real world examples on why prepaid works so obviously I'm not fully against it. What happens at Ting when a phone stops working. How does their warranty process work? Is there any value there? Here is your screen shot, comparing a vzw rate plan with 5 lines and 10 GB data. Turns out postpaid works in this case even selecting some cheapo device. Give us our top end phones that we really want it the gap widens. Are you suggesting that postpaid is never a better option?

I never said prepaid was cheaper in all cases. In some examples like if you want lots of lines, have a hefty discount from AT&T, and want to purchase very expensive phones a subsidy plan is cheaper in the long run. In my own case, postpaid was cheaper since AT&T paid me to carry the phone, and I have a 19% FAM.

Now if in using ting.com one was able to BYOD then the advantage clearly goes to the prepaid services since their monthly rates are much cheaper. And there are some hackers who are getting their low cost Sprint devices to work with ting.com activations.

We'd like to be able to offer bring your own device (BYOD) on Ting and we'll continue to work to make it a reality. Currently though, BYOD is not possible. That said, some of our more adventurous customers buy low cost devices and do some really interesting things with them.
https://help.ting.com/forums/20464296-hacks

[jamesstarks15]

Last I checked, the vast majority of phones come with a 1 year manufacturers warranty - so what exactly are you talking about? If you mean past that, there are many third party companies that offer extended plans that are very affordable. Or you can insure a phone through your homeowners if you wanted. There are a million ways to cover an item.

Roaming - this is somewhat grey but if you go look at Straight Talk and you use a the BYOP Sim plan, your phone 'roams' on the combined networks of ATT and Tmobile and some smaller companies for voice/text. I don't really call it roaming since the MVNO pays to use all those networks and it's not how you roam say when you're with Sprint and go off their native network onto VZW. It's 'all' their 'native' network since they are an MVNO.

Family plans are starting to show up in prepaid. I used to use a company called iWireless through the Kroger food stores. Yes, it runs off of Sprint, but they have family plans and they even have 'shared' data if you will, many months before VZW did it. I think ting was already pointed out. No, not every time is every single specific need going to be met by any one plan. This is why we have choices and I didn't say the big networks needed to go away, I said they needed to be relegated to the same status as all other utility companies in this country.

I then pointed out that even having to pay a couple to a few hundred dollars upfront, these companies are far from losing any money when 'subsidizing' the iPhone or other phones. I'm all for keeping the postpaid accounts and family plans - but do away with selling phones and borderline illegal contracts.

How does the warranty process work in an account with no social tied to it? I doubt they send out a phone without receiving theirs back first.

[veriztd]

How does the warranty process work in an account with no social tied to it? I doubt they send out a phone without receiving theirs back first.

No SS# required to send a replacement phone. In a warranty exchange they send the replacement first and if you don't send the original back they bill the account the retail cost of the replacement. Simple as that.

With prepaid they bill the phone cost to a credit card and when the original device is received they credit it back.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Morphling27]

No SS# required to send a replacement phone. In a warranty exchange they send the replacement first and if you don't send the original back they bill the account the retail cost of the replacement. Simple as that.

With prepaid they bill the phone cost to a credit card and when the original device is received they credit it back.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Thank you for pointing this out. I'm sure you can also just be without your phone for a while -gasp- by sending them your broken phone and waiting for a replacement/repair to happen.

[spdickey]

Thank you for pointing this out. I'm sure you can also just be without your phone for a while -gasp- by sending them your broken phone and waiting for a replacement/repair to happen.

Ting.com doesn't warranty your phone. https://ting.com/terms#warranties

Warranties are the responsibility of the phone manufacturer. And each will have a slightly different process.

[jamesstarks15]

Thank you for pointing this out. I'm sure you can also just be without your phone for a while -gasp- by sending them your broken phone and waiting for a replacement/repair to happen.

This is why I said your original prepaid/postpaid comparison was invalid. You only looked at a few aspects/differences, yet in the above most you point out a downside to prepaid. Some customers just can't be without a phone, or at least they think they can't.

[GSMinCT]

Of course both carriers are! They want LTE phones out there, and they want cheaper phones out there, and Apple doesn't offer either.

[spdickey]

This is why I said your original prepaid/postpaid comparison was invalid. You only looked at a few aspects/differences, yet in the above most you point out a downside to prepaid. Some customers just can't be without a phone, or at least they think they can't.

The warranty replacement for postpaid and prepaid phones is similar. Even with a postpaid AT&T phone, you have to wait to get a replacement if the phone is over 31 days old. "Instant replacements" are only available for a few devices at a select few locations.

Online Warranty Exchange
If, after troubleshooting, it is determined that your device is eligible for online Warranty Exchange, a replacement device will be shipped via FedEx or USPS to you upon agreeing to the AT&T Online Warranty Exchange Conditions and Disclosures. After the warranty exchange claim is processed, an email will be sent to the account holder's email address.
Return a Defective Device.

The defective device must be returned within 14 days of receiving the replacement. If the device returned is determined not to be eligible for the Online Warranty Exchange program, you will be charged for the replacement device. This charge will be disclosed to you as part of your acceptance of the AT&T Online Warranty Exchange Conditions and Disclosures.
http://www.att.com/esupport/article....id=ofZi-e5aiyR

iPhones are supported by Apple no matter what service provider you use them with.

I see no advantage in warranty service prepaid vs. postpaid.

[jamesstarks15]

The warranty replacement for postpaid and prepaid phones is similar. Even with a postpaid AT&T phone, you have to wait to get a replacement if the phone is over 31 days old. "Instant replacements" are only available for a few devices at a select few locations.



iPhones are supported by Apple no matter what service provider you use them with.

I see no advantage in warranty service prepaid vs. postpaid.

that last part is simply not true. Verizon wireless will warranty iPhones without making the customer go thru apple. They also provide emergency replacements in store to customers in desperate need. In fact, all a male customer would have to do is say his wife/girlfriend is expecting any time and out comes a phone. simply doesn't happen with prepaid.

[Morphling27]

that last part is simply not true. Verizon wireless will warranty iPhones without making the customer go thru apple. They also provide emergency replacements in store to customers in desperate need. In fact, all a male customer would have to do is say his wife/girlfriend is expecting any time and out comes a phone. simply doesn't happen with prepaid.

Good lord, you can buy a basic, unlocked gsm phone to pop your prepaid sim into for $30 or less. So, buying that as a complete back-up in case you ever need to send your phone in for service, you're still saving hundreds of dollars a year vs. postpaid.

Now, I'm sure you can break your back-up phone and you'll have no work phone either to get ahold of you or a friend or family member near you to use your phone or you'll be up the creek if you're 3 dream levels into Inception or something, but those are unlikely. The fact remains, prepaid has for all intents and purposes, caught up to post-paid. You are getting ripped off left and right these days if you use postpaid really.

I think the fact that Apple has graciously allowed the masses to use their phone on multiple prepaid networks now shows you it's basically the same thing. Apple has a history of not allowing their user experience to degrade, so if they are sanctifying their phone to be on these prepaids, I think the user experience is the same.

[spdickey]

that last part is simply not true. Verizon wireless will warranty iPhones without making the customer go thru apple. They also provide emergency replacements in store to customers in desperate need. In fact, all a male customer would have to do is say his wife/girlfriend is expecting any time and out comes a phone. simply doesn't happen with prepaid.

AT&T requires warranty repairs and replacements through Apple (unless you just bought the phone within 30 days and then you can simply return it to the place of purchase).

http://www.att.com/esupport/article....id=ofZi-e5aiyR

I suggest you post your experiences on a Verizon board to get advice about that carrier. But my experience is that Apple treats all customers the same, no matter who the carrier is.\

Of course the AT&T Stores are handy for emergencies, but you will pay for the convenience. And many prepaid outlets also have retail locations as well in major cities.

http://www.att.com/esupport/article....id=ofZi-e5aiyR

[Skuzz]

that last part is simply not true. Verizon wireless will warranty iPhones without making the customer go thru apple. They also provide emergency replacements in store to customers in desperate need. In fact, all a male customer would have to do is say his wife/girlfriend is expecting any time and out comes a phone. simply doesn't happen with prepaid.

Conversely, if an unlocked iPhone owner on prepaid gets AppleCare+, they can do warranty replacement at any Apple store and the deductible is only $50.

Meanwhile, if you own a Samsung such as the Nexus S or Galaxy Nexus, your only option for support is contacting Samsung's 800-number for support, (unless you have carrier warranty coverage through Asurion) as the support form for warranty tickets does not work on any web browser (IE, Safari (Mac and Win), Chrome (Mac and Win), Firefox (Mac and Win)) - then you have to ship your phone to their repair facility in Texas, where they seem to do good work, but it will take a few days and you may have to send it back several times because they won't actually fix the problem the first time.