T-Mobile turns up the heat, offers all phones for $0 down

Shawn Knight

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T-Mobile is pulling out all the stops lately as part of their new “un-carrier” strategy. As of tomorrow, eligible customers will be able to purchase a new phone with no money down and pay for it via monthly payments for the next 24 months.

The program applies to all devices including the iPhone 5 (Apple devices are usually omitted from such sales). Using that handset as an example, a customer could buy an iPhone 5 with $0 down and pay an extra $27 per month for the next two years on top of their monthly service rate.

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Under the company’s old plan, a user would have had to pay $145.99 down and shell out $21 per month for the next 24 months. It’s only a $6 difference per month but for someone on a tight budget that can’t come up with nearly $150 at the moment, it looks like a solid offer.

T-Mobile president and CEO John Legere said it is a fantastic offer that makes it easier than ever for a customer to get the latest devices. By adding Zero Down in addition to Jump, Legere implied there are zero reasons not to switch to T-Mobile this summer.

True enough, combining Zero Down with T-Mobile’s new Jump plan is an interesting proposition indeed as the semi-annual down payment for a new phone was one of the least attractive aspects of the plan. Using the same Galaxy S4 example as I did in the comparison article, the two-year, four new phone price would drop from $1,320 to just $870, good for a savings of $450.

That now makes T-Mobile’s offer significantly cheaper than AT&T Next and Verizon Edge over the course of a two year period assuming you take a new upgrade every chance you get. Of course, you don’t really have anything to show after the two years as these plans are little more than a glorified phone rental agreement, but I digress.

It's worth noting that T-Mobile says this is a limited time promotion although I was unable to find an "end" date on their press release.

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YEA RIGHT MORE BULLCRAP!! If you have 1/2 a brain you'd would know how this so called $0 down business scheme works. First off its for people who have "Qualified Credit" and they don't tell you where your credit score has to be to be considered "Qualified" buyer from T-Mobile. So what do they do?? They raise there "Qualified Credit" rating so that only the 1% of there buyers actual become qualified for this $0 down deal. Which if your credit score is in the top 1% you wouldn't worry about it anyways because rich people don't need credit they PAY CASH FOR EVERYTHING!! They make lower this "qualified credit" rating for the first 30 days so they can help promote this deal and spread the word than when they start getting people to transition to there brand raise the "qualified credit" rating back up to the top 1% of credit users. The poor people who really could use the $0 down option wont be able to get it as there credit sucks because they don't have money to pay back loans on time or in full to begin with. So this $0 down deal is for people who really wont use it anyways and if you look at the deal you will see they add $25-$27 dollars on your monthly bill to pay for the phone in the 2 year agreement they will have to sign to get it. example the Galaxy S 4 will cost you $600 in 24 months, So your paying full price or more for the phone. Verizon offers the S4 for $99 with 2 year agreement, which may sound like a a lot for your average person but really looking at it you'll save $500 simply by paying the $99 up front. Also I don't know about most people on here but my mobile bill is $100/month on average so adding an0ther $25-$27 a month to the bill plus all the hidden fees that really have no meaning ( $5 here $7 there $10 there $15 for "Mobile signal enhancing fiber optic radiation pollution fee" all the BS made up fee's you know what I mean) My point being your bill is going to be bigger monthly wise making the chances of you being unable to pay it only makes the possibility of your phone being shut off for non payment, WHICH THERE IS A FEE FOR THAT ALSO it's called early termination fee, I can bet they raised that fee on this certain $0 down plan ( any takers??) as it increases there chances of making an extra $500-$600 plus whatever you would owe for the remainder of the 24 months which will become a $1000+ BILL!! So Don't fall for these mobile companies undercover BS and buy what you can pay for and don't screw up your credit trying to get something that you think you need, because as we all know phones are made for 1 thing (well about 500 things now) and that's to make phones calls.... I remember when you could make as long of calls as you wanted for 50 cents.... it was called a pay phone!!! LMAO
 
You don't need to be "rich" and "pay cash for everything" to have a great credit score.
 
You pay full price for the phones anyway with T-Mobile. At least with T-Mobile, you know that the carrier isn't making more money off your phone. With the rest, you have no idea how much they're actually charging you for that phone. If you go with the unlimited $50 plan and get a $20 a month subsidy coverage, you know that ends in 24 months and that you paid the same amount as if you would have paid upfront.

Can you say the same for the rest of the carriers who don't break out subsidy recover vs coverage costs?

Verizon offers the same phone for $99 upfront....and then whacks you via the coverage plan. Does anyone really think Verizon isn't charging more than cost recovery? Don't be surprised if you pay $1,000 for that phone you thought you were saving $500 on.

Justin Thomas is upset over frankly nothing. The funny thing is that people who have solid credit are likely to buy the phone outright and not use the $0 down at all. So this is a gimmick, and if you're really poor, you shouldn't be paying $70 a month for a smartphone + coverage anyways.
The only way you have $100 T-Mobile bill on a single user is if you have tacked on multiple data tablets and got unlimited 4G, at which, you STILL have a rockin' plan compared to the AT&T/Verizon who don't even offer those plans anymore. And if you can afford all that stuff, you can simply just buy your phone outright.

Some people like Thomas shouldn't be allowed on the internet with their level of ignorance
 
YEA RIGHT MORE BULLCRAP!! If you have 1/2 a brain you'd would know how this so called $0 down business scheme works. First off its for people who have "Qualified Credit" and they don't tell you where your credit score has to be to be considered "Qualified" buyer from T-Mobile. So what do they do?? They raise there "Qualified Credit" rating so that only the 1% of there buyers actual become qualified for this $0 down deal. Which if your credit score is in the top 1% you wouldn't worry about it anyways because rich people don't need credit they PAY CASH FOR EVERYTHING!! They make lower this "qualified credit" rating for the first 30 days so they can help promote this deal and spread the word than when they start getting people to transition to there brand raise the "qualified credit" rating back up to the top 1% of credit users. The poor people who really could use the $0 down option wont be able to get it as there credit sucks because they don't have money to pay back loans on time or in full to begin with. So this $0 down deal is for people who really wont use it anyways and if you look at the deal you will see they add $25-$27 dollars on your monthly bill to pay for the phone in the 2 year agreement they will have to sign to get it. example the Galaxy S 4 will cost you $600 in 24 months, So your paying full price or more for the phone. Verizon offers the S4 for $99 with 2 year agreement, which may sound like a a lot for your average person but really looking at it you'll save $500 simply by paying the $99 up front. Also I don't know about most people on here but my mobile bill is $100/month on average so adding an0ther $25-$27 a month to the bill plus all the hidden fees that really have no meaning ( $5 here $7 there $10 there $15 for "Mobile signal enhancing fiber optic radiation pollution fee" all the BS made up fee's you know what I mean) My point being your bill is going to be bigger monthly wise making the chances of you being unable to pay it only makes the possibility of your phone being shut off for non payment, WHICH THERE IS A FEE FOR THAT ALSO it's called early termination fee, I can bet they raised that fee on this certain $0 down plan ( any takers??) as it increases there chances of making an extra $500-$600 plus whatever you would owe for the remainder of the 24 months which will become a $1000+ BILL!! So Don't fall for these mobile companies undercover BS and buy what you can pay for and don't screw up your credit trying to get something that you think you need, because as we all know phones are made for 1 thing (well about 500 things now) and that's to make phones calls.... I remember when you could make as long of calls as you wanted for 50 cents.... it was called a pay phone!!! LMAO

You're stupid.

(Go ahead, TechSpot, delete my post for pointing out a clearly evident fact.)

They greatly reduce the service bill and then add device monthly payments. Even so, both combined come to be less than the competition's service plan alone. It's not like they're going to charge you $100 for the service and then $20+ for the device as you said. They could charge you as low as $50 plus whatever the monthly cost for the device. You can't say the same about AT&T or Verizon.

Also, you seriously need to learn what credit is. You don't have to be "rich" to have good credit. Credit simply is an indicator of how good you are at paying off your debt. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, I advise you to enroll in the nearest community college (or high school?) ASAP, because I guarantee you, life is much harder than this.
 
T-mobile is going to have too many customers to handle soon. The big attraction of ATT's new plan was that it was 0 down. People LOVE getting stuff for 'free' today and paying later.
 
Bait and switch
T-Mobile $0 down is not $0 down for everyone

Went in last week looking at the galaxy s4 and Experia Z they were going to be $149 down plus tax or $99 for the experia z. I was undecided between the two phones so waited to read some more reviews. By the time I made up my mind they changed to this special $0 down promotion and now for me it is $300 down plus tax.

The sales person confirmed that last week it would have been only the $149 + tax but this promotion changed it. When I said I wasn't paying $300 down they suggested I wait until this back to school promotion it's over and it will probably go back to the way it was. But they didn't know when the promotion would end.

Been a customer for years, I don't have the best credit but wasn't a problem until now. The credit is from past, I have always paid T-mobile on time but apparently being a good and loyal customer doesn't mean anything.
 
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