T-Mobile G1 upgrade price is $299!
The T-Mobile online store is overwhelmed with obvious heavy G1 Android phone orders but I finally got to the point where I could order an upgrade. I am an existing T-Mobile customer and as I understood the pricing at the press event today the upgrade price should be $179 for the G1 with a 2-year contract extension. That’s a decent price so I was flabbergasted to find this when I tried to order one:
This is showing that the unsubsidized price is $399 and only a $100 "online discount" is being applied. The resultant $299 price is a far cry from the $179 claimed pricing. When you throw in tax and a $18 "upgrade fee" (what the hell is that?) the $344 total cost is outrageous. Anybody getting the advertised price?
Yeah, I just saw that to. F–k that, man. I’ll wait till October, and walk into the store. Having $120 added to the price for existing customers to pre-order is ridiculous, especially when someone who waits in line (will there even be a line?) can get it the same day.
I’ll wait.
Ouch. Well, that answers that dilemma. I was going to wait for this phone to become available. Instead it looks like I’ll be going with the Sidekick.
Sounds like you may not be eligible for the full discount…
Same thing here. Tried several different lines and could not get the upgrade at 179.
I got that price too, but I recently used my upgrade on another phone, so either way I was coming out of pocket for the G1.
I saw the $179 figure, plus $18 upgrade fee and $6 tax. The $179 is for a two-year contract, not a contract extension.
I saw the $179 figure, plus $18 upgrade fee and $6 tax. The $179 is for a two-year contract, not a contract extension.
I just saw at another forum that it may be due to me having bought my Tmobile Wing last summer, in that it has not been long enough for me to get a deeper discount. Still bull, I’ve been a customer since 2000, when they were called Voicestream.
James: You, at least, were able to get that far. I’m seeing “My.T-Mobile.com is currently unavailable”. I can’t even login to my account.
All the pre-event hype and the T-Mobile guy at the event itself said that the $179 price was for existing customers. They didn’t even hint that it was only for existing customers who qualified for an upgrade. They will catch big flack for this.
I also saw the $299 price (and didn’t order one).
Comes up 179.99$ for me but my 2YR contract expired about 5 weeks ago.
Anyway, I think I’ll port to ATT if it gets me the E75 and a corp. discount.
I’m not paying 18$ to stay a customer.
Mine shows $179. That’s probably because it’s been more than 22 months since my previous subsidized T-Mobile phone.
http://support.t-mobile.com/knowbase/root/public/tm20636.htm
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/addons/services/information.aspx?tp=Svc_Tab_IncludedServices&tsp=Svc_Sub_PhoneUpgrade
Regarding to renewal fee, I think it’s bogus and a total rip off of loyal customers.
I have a Sprint SERO plan whose 2 year contract had expired. The other day, I got a promotion mail offering Sprint will give me 1 free month if I renew for another 2 year. I thought it was not that good offer at all, but I was shocked when I read the fine print. 2 year renew will involve $36 renewal fee. So Sprint will give me a free month which would save me $30 and charge me $36. As a bonus, I will have a new 2 year contract. Brilliant.
Hey, at least your shipping was free. What more could you want/ expect.
> They didn’t even hint that it was only
> for existing customers who qualified
> for an upgrade.
Eh, James, “this (event) was about the platform, not the device or product”
I see $299 for mine too, that is bogus. Who cares how long ago I last updated my phone, why does that matter. The price should be the price. T-Mobile better change this policy or I may take my business elsewhere. Or at least they should give me that price if I add a line/phone. Pretty bogus.
perhaps T-Mobile/Google are taking a page from the AT&T/Apple playbook and attempting to screw the customer for all they can. Guess what boys? The economy no longer exists. No one is going to want a second rate java phone based on Linux for more than $100. Better luck next bubble.
I see $179… Then again, I’ve been contract-free for years now!
I’d rather buy my G1 for $399 withotu renewing my contract. How do I do that?
“I see $299 for mine too, that is bogus. Who cares how long ago I last updated my phone, why does that matter.”
I forgot about this until now guys. When you buy a phone from your cellphone company you never pay retail. You’re always getting a discount, only you don’t know it. The full retail price is much higher, but they make you sign a 1, 2, or several year contract to offset that cost. Part of the price of monthly service goes toward the device.
So yes, it matters when you last upgraded. If you upgraded last year and signed a new 2-year contract they haven’t gotten their money’s worth from you yet.
That’s also why there’s a hefty fee for cancelling early, again, they need to make their money back on the device. Again, the service plans are inflated to help offset the cost of the device. Go to any manufacturer’s website (Motorola, Nokia, HTC, Samsung) and try to buy a device without any service. A $250 phone at the Sprint website will probably cost you twice that if you get the phone directly from Motorola with no service plan.
The alternative would be paying more up front for the devices, which nobody would do. Without the ATT contract and plan the iPhone would easily cost $500 to $1000 or more.
So look at it this way, it’s like a credit card, you pay off the rest of the balance over the rest of that two year contract.
I sucked it up and ordered mine, I’m otherwise happy with T-Mobile, I’ve had them for 8 years. I don’t have to pay for it until October anyway.
When I called customer support to find out why I see $299, they told me even though I am ‘contract free’, I don’t have a 2 year history with T-Mobile. Hence this is why I only receive a partial ($100) discount.
What a creative way to rip off an existing customer. I could understand if I was in the middle of an existing contract.
Not sure I see where T-Mobile is being deceptive or greedy here. If you have no existing contract (read: no longer paying off your previous phone subsidy) then you get the G1 at $180. If you do have a contract you pay through the nose like everyone else.
I wouldn’t mind picking up a new phone every six months for the subsidised price if it just meant they renewed my contract to 2 years.
And yes, the nickle and diming charges suck.
I was all gung ho about pre-ordering until I saw the $299 price tag. While I understand the whole game that carriers play to attract new customers, as many here have pointed out, they are also forcing loyal customers to go elsewhere for a better deal, sometimes even when they don’t want to. I for one would have loved to stay with T-Mobile. But unless prices for the G1 start coming down right before or after Christmas, I’ll likely head to one of the other carriers.
Cbarra,
I don’t know your situation, but T-Mobile isn’t forcing me to look elsewhere, simply put I can’t look elsewhere. Here are my options –
1) Stay and keep using my wing $0
2) Leave ($200 break contract fee) plus getting a new phone (at least $150 for the phones I like) plus any startup costs (Verizon makes you do a credit check that’s like $150 bucks) so that could cost me $350 to $500.
3) Pay $299 plus taxes and fees ( I got a text this morning that the total on that was $319.86) so $320
Obviously the cheapest option is to stay and deal with my Wing until April of 2009, but I’m annoyed with Windows Mobile 6, and having to mod the hell out of my Wing to get it to be useful. I don’t really have a complaint with T-Mobile, I’ve only needed their tech-support about once every 2 years, if that.
Yes, it’s stupid that companies spend all this money on getting new customers, when really it costs 10 times less to keep existing customers happy. But with Sprint having to boot 1000 deadbeat customers last year, it probably doesn’t seem practical to cell phone carriers right now to worry about keeping current customers.
i can see the $179 price.
but my contract ended last month…
i guess if your contract hasnt officially ended u will see the higher price.
I also saw the $299 price. Here’s the path that I followed. The T-mobile line I wanted to enable the G1 on is a corporate account. Evidently you can’t pre-order a G1 on a corporate account, so I had that one line converted to a personal account. No new cell phone or anything like that. And finally, it lets me click on the G1 pre-order and what happens? I can only get it at the $299 price. Wacked! I want to pre-order, but I’m not going to pre-order unless it’s at the advertised price of $179… or unless it’s the non-contract version of the phone that I’ve heard is $399. I guess that option is just plain not available yet…
I got the $179 with my family plan which still has 1 year on its contract, but I guess that was only for one of the phones. I never purchased a phone when I switched, I unlocked my old Treo650 from Cingular… So I guess ‘I’ didn’t have a contract only my wife’s phone.
I got mine for $209.87
Upgrade fee $18
Tax 11.88
I do not know how it happend I guess I did not get T mobile upgrades for a long time. I have Palm. Also, I ordered on tuesday few hours before they presented the G1 in NY. Anyway, looking forward to get it on Oct.22. will see if this worth something!
Got mine for 180
I don;t mind the $18 Fee now that the price shows the phone for $300 today
Call and bitch, T-mobile is awesome if you are nice to the person on the phone. = why I love t-mobile. I just got the Dash 8 months ago.
ima get the g1 even if i hav 2 save da money
I was debating buying this phone, but apparently you have to wait until your contract is almost up to get the special price. Very misleading. By then I will probably just opt for the iphone. Why do company’s not give their current customers better deals? You can go to wirefly.com or letstalk.com and see great deals for non-current customers. It’s this reason I usually switch providers every time my contract expires, because I can get a better deal with some one else. You think they would want to retain their current customers.
I was soo excited to get the G1 Wednesday morning until today I saw that I was going to have to pay $299 instead of $179. If I wanted to pay that much, I would just go out and get me an iPhone or wait for the storm. Or stick with my shadow. I’ll be at 22 months next month, but I want the phone NOW!!!
Doesn’t anyone read the “requirements” for the upgrade? T-Mobile isn’t hiding anything. You will see the $179 price IF you are 22 months into your two year contract or 11 months into a year contract. Of course for those without a contract (and not on flexpay) you will see the $179. No big deal and they are not trying to jack you. Read the print.
Tried to open a new account with T-mobile today.
The problem is I already have one in my name that my wife is using because she has no SSN# at the time we opened the account.
Only thing available for me was to pay full price and 1 month upfront .. and I definitely don’t have any credit glitch .. ridiculous.
Worst thing is that if she opens the account for me then I will not be able to transfer my att phone #.
They really like to make things difficult, which is the reason I was with att in the first place (for some very obscure case I had to cancel my tmobile account then and couldn’t open a new one for 90 days !!!).
So it looks like 1 more year for me with att. Way to go t-mobile !!!
My husband just picked up his G1 this morning. I was under the impression that he would be spending $179 plus tax and fees and whatnot. I just got off the phone with him, and he told me that it ended up being a little more than he expected. I asked him how much, and he said $379. THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY NINE DOLLARS FOR A PHONE. He gave me the whole partial upgrade song and dance, but I’m still furious. Needless to say, he ruined my day and is going to get punched in the throat when I get home.
My upgrade price is 349 + 18 fee. I have been customer since 1997 and have only gotten a new phone from them\authorized dealers twice (initial purchase and a upgrade march 07). I really dislike how they are wording the price of this new phone.
You guys act like this doesn’t happen anywhere else. EVERY single carrier charges you an outrageous price for CURRENT customers(Contracted). The WHOLE point to the $179 price is solely to attract NEW customers. They don’t care about the current seeing as they already have you under contract.
okay this is what i did….i opened up another phone under my contract and got it for $179…i just changed my sim card from the old phone to the g1 and kept the same number…but now instead of having just one fone under my name. i have 2 phones under my plan…a shared plan, but im really not using my other phone since i just want to use the g1…so in reality im just using one phone which is the g1 and not the other one…its kind of the same thing in my opinion…
Well to get the discount on the phone you have to have your contract to be up. In other words it has to have been 2 years since you signed a contract with them. Then you can get it and sign another 2 year contract
yeah, considering leaving this company simply to make a point. it is disgusting to treat existing customers this way. make us pay $400 while new customers get the sweet deal of $180???? GREED GREED GREED!
I have the same problem! I have been with t-mobile since 2001! I have emailed asking why I would have to pay so much more than a new customers. I have send the same email THREE times with no response. Poor excuse for customer service. Clearly it’s all about the money for them rather than the customer.
me too and this kinda thing has to stop i live close to LA and im thinking about going to the MAJOR media
if you are all angry about the price of the g1. Visit the local wal-mart in your area the G1 runs 99.96 for a 2 yr upgrade
Yeah, I’ve had my phone for a year an effin half, and all I’d get is a $40 online discount. WTF. And the new website is retarded, you have to add what phone you have and it doesn’t even save the info. GRRRR
One loophole I have found in the system is if you are on a family plan. At the end of your contract, port your numbers to another carrier. Within the new carrier’s “trial” period, sign up as a new customer under the other person’s name and port the numbers back. If you go somewhere like Walmart or Sam’s Club, you will pay a pittance by comparison and more often than not, they will waive your activation, pissing all over T-Mobile for treating their existing customers like crap in the process. Hope this helps!