T-Mobile Support Session
I just chatted with T-Mobile about the Nexus One phone. Here’s the conversation…
You have been connected to _Kristi J.
_Kristi J:
Hi Eric, welcome to T-Mobile live Chat. I’m _Kristi and I will be happy to assist you. Please give me a moment to review your question.
_Kristi J:
I can definitely understand your interest in this new device. I’d be more than happy to get further information about that for you today.
Eric Burke:
ok
_Kristi J:
You can only order the phone through the www.Google.com/phone website.
_Kristi J:
The phone is being sold exclusively by Google, and cannot be ordered through T-Mobile.
Eric Burke:
but it says I’m not eligible for the $179 price. why is that?
_Kristi J:
The requirements of getting a discount on the phone are set by Google alone, not T-Mobile.
Eric Burke:
do you know the date when my two year contract expires?
_Kristi J:
One of the requirements to get the discounted price is that you are on a single line Even More plan for $79.99/ month.
_Kristi J:
While I am looking into this information, may I ask why you are inquiring about your contract end date?
Eric Burke:
so I can get a better phone. I’d be happy to stay with T-mobile if I could upgrade, but it sounds like I’m trapped with my now obsolete G1 phone.
_Kristi J:
The G1 is not an obsolete phone, and is still being sold by T-Mobile.
Eric Burke:
but it’s running Android 1.6, and as far as I know, won’t receive future updates to Android 2.1
_Kristi J:
I regret that your account does not seem to meet the requirements set by Google to get the discounted pricing on the phone at this time, Eric.
Eric Burke:
what’s my end date, and what is the penalty if I break the 2yr contract?
_Kristi J:
Your contract on the line ending in **** ends on 11/14/2010, and you would have a Termination Fee of $200.00 if the line is cancelled at this time.
Eric Burke:
$200 total, or per phone?
_Kristi J:
That would be $200.00 per line.
Eric Burke:
ok, thanks for the info. that’s all I need to know
_Kristi J:
I’m glad I was able to answer those questions for you today. Thank you for contacting T-Mobile Chat, Eric. Have a great day!
This conversation reminds me of a Turing test. It looks as if the operator is simply selecting pre-composed sentences rather than typing in answers.
So it sounds like you can’t get the subsidized plan at all if you’re on a family plan, even if there’s no contract?
It sounds like the deal Google struck with T-Mobile is just as inflexible as the AT&T/Apple one.
If you paid a discount price for the G1 based on a contract that ends November of 2010 then it seems reasonable to have to wait until November of 2010.
If you want a particular handset and the vendor of that handset (google) won’t let you get a discount price due to your account type; that is unfortunate.
At least if you change carriers you can take your phone number with you!
Ugh, these 2-year contracts are the Fruits of The Devil. They’re more complicated than the average support tech can explain.
I don’t know of a single carrier worldwide that caters to the geek crowd. You know, us “OMG this device is so cool I WANT WANT WANT it” crowd.
You’d think that they could snag some nice reputation – without massive loss – by allowing people to pay to upgrade within the first couple of months of a sweet new device; maybe via trade-in? Then turn around and resell the “not yet obsolete” phone (or give the used one away free with the contract), because since they’re still selling it, it’s got to have value.
But nah, this sort of thing requires creativity, foresight, and belief that you might actually want brand loyalty.
I had a similar convo over the phone, where the customer loyalty woman told me that the g1, mytouch, cliq are all just as good as the nexus one lol
T-mobile prorates the ETF:
http://www.t-mobile.com/company/website/termsconditions.aspx?WT.z_unav=ftr__TC
“AFTER 06/28/08, THE EARLY TERMINATION FEE IS: $200 IF YOU TERMINATE WITH MORE THAN 180 DAYS REMAINING ON YOUR TERM; $100 IF YOU TERMINATE WITH 91 TO 180 DAYS REMAINING ON YOUR TERM; $50 IF YOU TERMINATE WITH 31 TO 91 DAYS REMAINING ON YOUR TERM; AND THE LESSER OF $50 OR YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING CHARGES (including any applicable taxes and fees) IF YOU TERMINATE IN THE LAST 30 DAYS OF YOUR TERM. “
Here’s what I want to know. Remember like 8-10 years ago when we only had to sign 1 year contracts to get the phone discounts? I remember moving between the first Windows Mobile handsets available stateside without ever having to deal with this nonsense. The MPX200, MPX220, SMT5600… I don’t remember paying full price for any of these. I’d love if they were honest enough to say whether their costs went up comparatively or if they just got tired of people like us upgrading all the time. I’m betting it’s as much column B as it is column A.