contract or no contract ??

shahid99

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I don't know why pplz think no contract is a good thing but in my opinion no contract is actually bad for consumer here is why

I don't think most of the pplz change carrier every six month or everyyear

With contract u get discount on flagship devices

For example iPhone 6 for 200 with tax it comes to 250 or 300 . that way u saved 400

Now Without contract u have to pay full retail price with tax which is 700

That's a big different from 250 to 700

Now even if u wanna terminate ur contract u pay only 350 or 200 , I think it used to be 200 , still consumers saves some money

That's just my opinion

Would like to know what u pplz think

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B. Diddy

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Remember that contracts used to be 2 years, which these days is a pretty long time when it comes to a device's lifecycle. When I was with Verizon, I had a Razr Maxx that started to slow down excessively at around the 18 month mark, despite multiple cache wipes and even factory resets. When I wanted to upgrade my phone with the upgrade discount (which had been traditionally at 18 months), I was told I couldn't, because they had recently increased the wait time to 2 years before you could get the upgrade discount. So my options were to stay with a poorly functioning phone for 6 months until I could upgrade at a discount, upgrade to a new phone from Verizon at full price (they gave this loyal 14 year customer no special consideration whatsoever), or ditch them and go to a different carrier with no contract. Guess which one I picked?

T-Mobile's no contract service has been a breath of fresh air. It's just nice to know that if for some reason I become dissatisfied, then I can leave very easily and try some other carrier. I have a Nexus 5, so the price was significantly less than the typical flagship from Samsung or HTC, so the whole subsidization issue didn't affect me directly. And keep in mind that the subsidization of the phone also means that you get tons of bloatware. Sure, you can remove it by rooting, but not everyone feels comfortable doing it or wants to do it.
 

Almeuit

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I would have to disagree -- I buy all my devices full price. Regardless if I am changing carriers .. I like to know I can without penalty... I know all won't agree but .. I like owning my devices and being free to do whatever .. whenever :).
 

zorak950

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Generally the difference is a choice between spending less up front or spending less over the whole term of what would be your contract. In practice the numbers can vary so it's always good to look at them in the context of your own situation, but usually buying a device at full price enables you to get a plan for it that costs less per month, and ultimately allows you to save money.

Device installment plans are a compromise: you still have a contract (to pay off the device), but you avoid the huge upfront cost and after the device is paid off the extra monthly charge drops off your bill, which doesn't happen on a service contract plan.
 

rrballer11

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The difference is.. On a contract your always paying 10 or 20 bucks more a month forever ! So they are getting that discount back

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raptir

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You can't do the math with T-Mobile since they don't offer contracts anymore, but take a look at AT&T. I'll assume 10GB of data shared on two lines.

Contract = ($100 [data] + $40 + $40 [two lines]) * 24 + $200 + $200 [phones] = $4720 every two years
No Contract = ($100 [data] + $15 + $15 [two lines]) * 24 + $650 + $650 = $4420 every two years

No contract gives you a $300 savings in that case. And that's assuming that you are buying the most expensive phone every two years. You can save a lot of money off contract by buying less expensive phones or upgrading less often, while you don't get that savings with a contract plan.
 

Shilohcane

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I have been screwed over and mistreated by Telco's that had me under contracts in the past. I even had to hire a lawyer since AT&T told me I still had 8 hours on my contract when I paid it off in full. They mailed me a new extra bill for almost $300 about ten days after I closed my contract. I got a lot of advice first which AT&T told me if I shut my AT&T account down before I transferred my phone number to another Telco it would be lost forever. I followed AT&T's instructions on shutting down my account the day the contract was to end. I transferred my number to Metro PCS then 5 minutes later walked into a AT&T store and paid off my AT&T account and got proof that I owed them nothing.

Never again FREEDOM from Contract.
 
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DCSholtis

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I would have to disagree -- I buy all my devices full price. Regardless if I am changing carriers .. I like to know I can without penalty... I know all won't agree but .. I like owning my devices and being free to do whatever .. whenever :).

I happen to agree for those exact same reasons.. As well as for the lack of carrier bloatware.

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mdk32014

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This is why i will not sign another contract. I had a Iphone 4 that i upgraded to a 5s. I fout it ws the same thing. I got a used s3 used off Amazon. Verizon gave me $205.00 for the old phone. I am on a family plan and still paying the in contract price of having the phone. No more contracts for me.

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DCSholtis

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If you outright buy a phone, there is still bloat ware on the phone.....the only way is to either root the phone or get a Google Play edition (gpe) of the phone

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If you buy your phone outright directly from the manufacturer (as I do) there is none. Only if you buy outright from the carrier.

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