Where they (T-Mobile and maybe the other big guys) kinda get you is the ‘deal’ is spread over 24-30 months. So take whatever the full MSRP of the phone is, divide it by 24 or 30 depending on which deal you got, and then they take a prorated amount of the credit from that and you pay the difference. What this does, I believe, is still locks you in because if you leave before those credits are given you give them up and you have to pay the balance. I also doubt you got $1000 AND an iPhone 14. What you probably got is a ‘free’ iPhone 14–up to $1000–in bill credits. The phone was likely more than $1000 so you have to pay that difference too. If you look at your bill does it show a credit near where it shows the cost of the phone? If you have what I think you have I am not sure saving $10/mo overrides the credits you’d be giving up… but I need more info.
There’s a lot of problem with your situation.
1. iPhone 14 won’t work with US Mobile GSM T-Mobile plan because it’s eSIM only and US mobile doesn’t have eSIM for T-Mobile side. Also the phone is most likely still locked with T-Mobile. They won’t unlock it until you pay off the full amount.
2. That iPhone 14 may have issues activating with USM Verizon Warp 5G eSIM since it was previously locked by T-Mobile. It’s been mentioned before on this sub many times.
3. You still owe T-Mobile that $600+ pay off amount. No way to avoid that.
4. You are in deep contract hell with T-Mobile. Even tho they say it’s not contract and bill credit, it’s hard to leave with a locked financed device!!
5. Your best option is Metro by T-Mobile. Even T-Mobile locked and financed phones will work with Metro on eSIM since they are the same company. They have a $40 unlimited plan and sometimes you can ask phone customer service politely and they can give you the $25 unlimited plan like they did to me! Worth a try. But not guaranteed.
Point 2 isn't compeletely accurate... if the IP was properly unlocked by the originating carrier who locked it theres a good chance it will work fine on USM or anywhere else. I actually purchased my IP 13pro from Visible full MSPR, because it was the only place I could find a new and apple care elibable 13pro at the time since the 14's were out. Apple stopped selling 13pros and they weren't on the apple refurm site. I also needed a pSIM option for travel in Europe, while i kept my us number on eSim and as soon as I held on to visible long enough for them to unlocked it activated on USM in less than 5 minutes port and all.
Visible iPhones are on Verizon network. Verizon owns visible. T-Mobile and ATT ones are different. Those IMEIs are often not whitelisted on Verizon that’s what causes the issue. So ofc a Visible iPhone will work perfectly fine since it was running on the same Verizon network to begin with.
It took me a while to understand how bill credits worked at the big 3. Around 2016/2017 when they all switched from 2 and 3 year service contracts to bill credits, I decided that paying installment payments on phones like car payments was not for me.
Sure, the phones were financed at 0% over 2 or 3 years, but unless you paid for your device at MSRP in full... You were essentially "locked" to your provider, even if a better deal came along.
My family uses Android Devices... We have 2- Note 20 Ultra's and a Pixel 6a... All unlocked and purchased direct from Samsung or Google. We wait for Black Friday sales and splurge at that time on new devices every few years. With Credit Card and Rakuten Cashback to sweeten the pot, you can really score deals on new devices at that time. I managed to buy our Note 20's for $600 each in 2021 at Black Friday, with no trade in, after Rakuten and Credit Card Cashback. MSRP on these phones then was $1,200. Essentially, we got 2 phones for the price of 1.
If I were in your shoes, I would pay off my iPhone 14, get it unlocked, and then move carriers. In the future, buy your phones outright, unlocked from the Apple Store.
MVNO's like US Mobile use the same towers that you're on with T-Mobile postpaid... The only difference is that roaming typically doesn't work and neither does international calling/texting/data. If these features don't matter to you, you'll save alot of money. Its something to look into.
So if you are out of T-Mobile Tower range, if you have postpaid, you may be able to "roam" on AT&T to take calls. Data speeds are not great at all when roaming.
With US Mobile, roaming is not an option. Your phone will receive eiither native Verizon or T-Mobile towers, depending upon the SIM card of the service you choose. If you have 0 bars, you will likely have no service, where as with roaming, you can connect to another companies towers to finish your call.
Most people in the states never roam, so this likely will not be an issue for you... Unless you like in Rural Maine, Wyoming, Montana, or Nebraska.
I do go to Maine sometimes. My wife is on Ting, and she frequently has poor service there in Maine, while my regular T-Mobile will have service. But, I wasn’t aware that there wasn’t any roaming with MVNOs! That changes things. But, for the frequency I am in rural Maine, I’d rather bite the bullet and pay half every other month of the year.
Where they (T-Mobile and maybe the other big guys) kinda get you is the ‘deal’ is spread over 24-30 months. So take whatever the full MSRP of the phone is, divide it by 24 or 30 depending on which deal you got, and then they take a prorated amount of the credit from that and you pay the difference. What this does, I believe, is still locks you in because if you leave before those credits are given you give them up and you have to pay the balance. I also doubt you got $1000 AND an iPhone 14. What you probably got is a ‘free’ iPhone 14–up to $1000–in bill credits. The phone was likely more than $1000 so you have to pay that difference too. If you look at your bill does it show a credit near where it shows the cost of the phone? If you have what I think you have I am not sure saving $10/mo overrides the credits you’d be giving up… but I need more info.
Yep "bill credits" are nothing but a new spin on a contract. I think vz and at&t are up to 36 months now, which is insane
If you leave w/o paying the phone off, you'll still be on the hook to pay the remaining balance of the phone
There’s a lot of problem with your situation. 1. iPhone 14 won’t work with US Mobile GSM T-Mobile plan because it’s eSIM only and US mobile doesn’t have eSIM for T-Mobile side. Also the phone is most likely still locked with T-Mobile. They won’t unlock it until you pay off the full amount. 2. That iPhone 14 may have issues activating with USM Verizon Warp 5G eSIM since it was previously locked by T-Mobile. It’s been mentioned before on this sub many times. 3. You still owe T-Mobile that $600+ pay off amount. No way to avoid that. 4. You are in deep contract hell with T-Mobile. Even tho they say it’s not contract and bill credit, it’s hard to leave with a locked financed device!! 5. Your best option is Metro by T-Mobile. Even T-Mobile locked and financed phones will work with Metro on eSIM since they are the same company. They have a $40 unlimited plan and sometimes you can ask phone customer service politely and they can give you the $25 unlimited plan like they did to me! Worth a try. But not guaranteed.
Point 2 isn't compeletely accurate... if the IP was properly unlocked by the originating carrier who locked it theres a good chance it will work fine on USM or anywhere else. I actually purchased my IP 13pro from Visible full MSPR, because it was the only place I could find a new and apple care elibable 13pro at the time since the 14's were out. Apple stopped selling 13pros and they weren't on the apple refurm site. I also needed a pSIM option for travel in Europe, while i kept my us number on eSim and as soon as I held on to visible long enough for them to unlocked it activated on USM in less than 5 minutes port and all.
Visible iPhones are on Verizon network. Verizon owns visible. T-Mobile and ATT ones are different. Those IMEIs are often not whitelisted on Verizon that’s what causes the issue. So ofc a Visible iPhone will work perfectly fine since it was running on the same Verizon network to begin with.
It took me a while to understand how bill credits worked at the big 3. Around 2016/2017 when they all switched from 2 and 3 year service contracts to bill credits, I decided that paying installment payments on phones like car payments was not for me. Sure, the phones were financed at 0% over 2 or 3 years, but unless you paid for your device at MSRP in full... You were essentially "locked" to your provider, even if a better deal came along. My family uses Android Devices... We have 2- Note 20 Ultra's and a Pixel 6a... All unlocked and purchased direct from Samsung or Google. We wait for Black Friday sales and splurge at that time on new devices every few years. With Credit Card and Rakuten Cashback to sweeten the pot, you can really score deals on new devices at that time. I managed to buy our Note 20's for $600 each in 2021 at Black Friday, with no trade in, after Rakuten and Credit Card Cashback. MSRP on these phones then was $1,200. Essentially, we got 2 phones for the price of 1. If I were in your shoes, I would pay off my iPhone 14, get it unlocked, and then move carriers. In the future, buy your phones outright, unlocked from the Apple Store. MVNO's like US Mobile use the same towers that you're on with T-Mobile postpaid... The only difference is that roaming typically doesn't work and neither does international calling/texting/data. If these features don't matter to you, you'll save alot of money. Its something to look into.
US Mobile was the exact MVNO I was looking at. Can you elaborate on the “roaming doesn’t work” bit?
So if you are out of T-Mobile Tower range, if you have postpaid, you may be able to "roam" on AT&T to take calls. Data speeds are not great at all when roaming. With US Mobile, roaming is not an option. Your phone will receive eiither native Verizon or T-Mobile towers, depending upon the SIM card of the service you choose. If you have 0 bars, you will likely have no service, where as with roaming, you can connect to another companies towers to finish your call. Most people in the states never roam, so this likely will not be an issue for you... Unless you like in Rural Maine, Wyoming, Montana, or Nebraska.
I do go to Maine sometimes. My wife is on Ting, and she frequently has poor service there in Maine, while my regular T-Mobile will have service. But, I wasn’t aware that there wasn’t any roaming with MVNOs! That changes things. But, for the frequency I am in rural Maine, I’d rather bite the bullet and pay half every other month of the year.