The G1 has officially been announced this morning at T-Mobile’s announcement event, priced at $179. With a release date of October 27th it gives just enough time to pre-order the device. At the time of release 3G will only be available in select markets, 22 to be exact.
Plan details include $25 with unlimited web & some text messages, and $35 with unlimited data and messaging. That is competitively priced against the iPhone 3G with unlimited data and some text at $30 a month, while unlimited data and messaging costing $50 each month. These plans however are still not as low as other devices such as the Sidekick.
The pre-order starts today with new member pricing at only $179 as opposed to the rumored $199. T-Mobile’s 3GÂ data network is still developing, and will reach 80% of the carrier’s subscribers by the end of 2008. The device will reach 100 million customers in Europe when it is released there in early 2009. The UK will receive this device in early November 2008, though no pricing has been announced.
Go to YOUR t-mobile page (if you have one).. It is being offered on the normal website once you log in. The weird thing is for me, I've been a customer for 2.5 years and the price says $299.
THANKS to Android Community for keeping us connected. I wish I had been here for the live stream, but I just watched some of the vids. kudos!
Now the site loads but states:
Upgrading to a new phone is fast and easy. We've already calculated the best price** for you on each phone, and standard shipping is FREE!
Sorry, please try again later.
Our systems are currently unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Come on Tmobile, get your act together.
i will need to refer you to www.t-mobileg1.com for specifications, features, FAQs and to purchase the device. The pre-sale offer is only available through the Web and is not available through Customer Service or in Retail stores. i am not able to offer you a different price at this time as it is not available on your upgrade list as yet. the price that you were offered is according to the 9 months of tenure that you have with T-Mobile.
You can also find additional FAQs, features and specifications on the T-Mobile G1 with Google Support Overview in the purchase path on My T-Mobile. You must have a My T-Mobile login to access this information.
When I noted I have been a customer for longer than 9 months, the answer was:
the tenure is measured by the last time that you upgraded your phone.
interesting...eh?
If I were not extending my contract then I could understand paying the full price. In times past when I have upgraded my phone, I have received the same price as a new customer on an upgrade. Why the change now on this phone?
They KNOW they're going to get their money from me, as they have for 2 years and if they lock me in for another two, history shows I will pay.
i was excited about this and i saw it as a reason to stay with tmobile (i had been waiting on their iphone answer) but now..what's the point really? especially when i can switch services and get a 2-year contract plus an iphone for $199 at another carrier.
$299 - Partial upgrade; any other time within your contract.
Tmo has had this setup for years now.
Also, all this "Well, I wanted it, but if this is how T-Mobile is going to treat me, their best customer, blah blah...going to iphone..." That's EXACTLY WHY they have the contracts and the policies! Don't you see it? "History shows I would pay" doesn't play well with "I'm ditching T-Mobile because I'm mad." Don't expect ATT's contracts and policies to be any kinder. In fact, they're worse.
i guess maybe people figured this was a different, special case, since it was such a new type phone.
did ANY iphone customers have to pay more than 199? Just curious.
Let me say, for the record, I do agree that the way the guy answered the question in the conference was very absolutist and condition-free. In fact, it's the reason I logged on my first line to pre-order even though I knew I wasn't eligible yet. The way he said it gave me hope. But I wasn't surprised to see the confirmation of what everyone has said all along: they are treating it as any other phone, with their upgrade policy in full effect.
Bottom line is, though I agree a prorated policy would be nice, I commend them as a business for having policies and sticking to them. If you don't want to play by their rules, they consider you too much of a risk anyway, and they don't want your business. Customers have to realize, it can COST businesses a lot of money trying to get new business. Just today, I have a client wanting a free dub of a commercial we did for them months ago. It's tricky, but if your policy is to not charge for things like that even though you have clearly established rates and rules, you will end up having clients that cost you more money than they make you. --Not a good proposition.
the G1 is NOT available to all existing customers for $179. i guess he should've had an asterisk card with him to hold up as he said that.
$350+ and a 2-year contract to go G1 compared to $200 and a 2-year contract to go iphone or instinct and most will take the $200 everytime. yes i've had some bad experiences with the other providers but in the end, this thing is about money. could i put up with a few more hassles and come out with an iphone or instinct etc?
yeah i could. and who's to say that they haven't gotten better since i was last with the other carriers?
i know tmobile couldn't care less about me as a customer leaving but it's the principle of the matter really. you tell me it's $179 for ALL existing customers yet make it available on the web only so you can install your little rules. that's shady.
I think i'll wait my contract out and then see about acquiring one. Hopefully by then more apps will be out and any bugs will be resolved.
I wanted to know what color options everyone had.
I was only given black and brown options. I wound up getting the black but would have liked to have seen the white version.
call up and try. i'll report back on my experiences when i opt to cancel my services.
P.S. the rep did note my account cause I will have to call before sending the phone back in for approval by management. He did get approval right now, but he said at the time I will have to do it again.
rubbery feel? thats cool.
The customer service guys on 611 told me this would happen:
Pre-order the phone, agree to $299 pricing. My account has been notated with the scenario, and when I receive the phone, they will credit back the difference between $299 and $179 to my account...this way I still receive the phone on Oct. 22.
Very neat problem solving, if I do say so myself!
BTW, 2nd post here on forums...hope I'm around a while!
Cheers.
I really wish the $179 rumor hadn’t been passed around. I’m an existing customer. Unfortunately I made the mistake of getting a 2year plan a year ago and now Tmobile’s sticking it to me. Thanks! And an $18 upgrade fee. Upgrade?! And a 1GB cap just to twist the knife. I was really looking for to this and now I’m going to have to cool off for a while and think about this purchase. Tmobile just priced me into at least considering ditching my contract and getting an iphone.
Can’t really justify $350 on an untested device. Especially when I still have to sign my life away with another 2 yr contract. Really frustrating day.
p.s. im jealous of everyone who got the 179.99 price! =[
However, I might want to IM more... I notice the $25 data plan includes "IM's" as part of the 400 "messages" limit. I assume this is with the built-in IM client.
I wonder if they would then prohibit a third-party IM application, which would go around that. (ie, an android port of Trillian). Since they also claim that they are not going to disallow any third party applications.
We shall see.
However the $179 price is only given to existing customers who are on the last month of a 1 yr contract or the 22nd month of a 2 yr contract correct?
So T-Mo is banking on their existing customers to be the guinea pigs of this phone and to create more hype for when it does hit retail stores...it's just weird, in my opinion T-Mo would be better off giving all existing customers regardless of what point of their contract they are at, the $179 price to get the phone in as many existing customers hands as possible. Either that or they really should have mentioned the $299 price in the press conf but those clever bastards knew what they were doing.
ALSO when i signed up for t-mo a year and a half ago, one MAIN reason i chose them was because their unlimited data plan truly was unlimited, all the other carriers i noticed they had the cap limit where they reserved the right to cancel your acct or throttle your bandwith if you exceeded a certain limit....am i mistaken? Was T-Mo always like that? Or did they just change that w/ this new G1?
I just really hate when they label it unlimited when it really is limited....false advertising at its finest IMO
I just wonder: Does anyone happen to know what the /real/ price of this phone will be to new customers walking into stores on October 22nd? If it's not "$20 less than iPhone", I imagine Cole will have a lot more blowback to contend with.
On the other hand, if he extends the $179 price to brand new T-Mobile customers, then he's basically giving a $120 middle finger to any loyal T-Mobile customers unfortunate enough to pre-order with less than 22 months on their existing contract.
Conclusion: $179 announcement = boneheaded move
(but press-effective in the short run, I s'pose)
-- Will Cowman
Columbus, OH
i hope more people make a stink about being lied to though. i plan to email the NY Times so that they can correct their article. and i plan to email a lot of other news outlets to correct their articles falsely listing $179 at the price.
they shouldn't mislead this way.
If you're right about the subsidy argument, though -- that would seem to indicate that you think brand spanking new customers will indeed get the $179 price (with a 2-yr contract) starting October 22nd. I'm having a difficult time getting an official confirmation on that from T-Mobile. Reps are quick to admit they "know nothing" and to direct me to the t-mobileg1.com website (no love there). So, I'd be interested if anyone could point me to any official pricing details for new customers after 22-Oct.
Again, if you are so into being the "first geek on the block" with the G1, then you would not care, and pony up.
My thoughts, I would have paid 399 for it if I had to, why? not because it is the latest and greatest...but because of the possibilities of Android...and because i am a geek!
Now.....I had no idea that the phone could be purchased for $179 until I came to this site, so I thank you all for your posts.
After reading all of your posts, I decided to call T-Mobile. When the young lady answered, she gave me the "Oh, Ms. J, I see you've been a loyal customer with us since 2001. We certainly do appreciate your business and loyalty". So I responded back with, "Well, as you just said, I've been with you all for a long time, and actually, I've been with y'all since '99, not '01. Can you tell me why I was not able to purchase the G1 phone at the $179 price"?
I ordered the phone earlier today, so my account was charged $350 + already. Well, within 10 minutes, Ms. J @ T-Mobile was able to research my account, see that I had not upgraded any phones in the last couple of years (I normally just buy the phone at retail b/c I love being free) and get everything straightened out. Ms. J was able to issue me a refund of almost $130.00 tonight. I will have a credit on my bill, which made the purchase price of the phone about $215.00 ($179 + $18 upgrade fee+ taxes). That girl is the bomb!!!
All of that to say that if you call, not upset and not to complain, but to "inquire" as to why you could not get the lower price- if you are eligible....meaning that you have not done an upgrade in the last 12 months- you will more than likely be issued a refund. Also, try calling at a non-peak time....say 6 or 7am or like I did, around 10pm eastern time.
Hope this info helps you all out!!
For Non-T-Mobile customers, you will not be able to pre-order at this time, but you can enter your information on www.t-mobile.com to be informed of when the phone will be on sale to the general public.
thats how much i paid too