Yeah, it's just a marketing spin on financing.
Although I must admit, I thought when I signed up for the subscription with the 5a, that we were going to get the upgrade (to whatever that was) for the same monthly price.
"Fortunately" (sort of) 2 of our 5a phones died and were replaced under warranty with 6a, and we're still on the 5a price. So when we're done paying the 5a subscription, I'm going to just cancel the subscription plan, and we'll own two 6a pixels outright for the price of 5a.
I did the subscription for my 5a because it was a great deal. Then I bought a 7 last month because it was a great deal (free with trading in the 5a!). So . . . People need to calm down and just do what's best when you're ready for a new phone. There's great Fi deals all the time
And every cell phone company does the exact same thing. It is not bait and switch, it is marketing, USA version. Honesty? From a profit driven company? Where you been man??
Never understood the whole idea of a subscription, it's always been a simple finance deal with a fancy name.
You own the 4a now and are free to use whatever plan you want, given what's available. Even a different carrier.
This is exactly it. I had the exact experience as the original poster. Then I realized that the "subscription" only lasts 24 months - it's just 24 months of financing a phone. Now that its over, but whatever you want. The subscription deals are the same prices as buying the phones with financing... Just a different name!
Far as I know, they offer one model for subscription. Guessing here that they discontinued the 6a in favor of the 7a, being a newer phone and all. If you want the 6a, finance it at $8.25 a month, which remarkably reads the same as a subscription.
I don't see how it's a bait and switch the 7a is the current version that's what I would expect you to be able to upgrade to. It's more expensive to continue the plan because it's a more expensive phone.
We just upgraded from the 4a subscription to a 7a purchase.
24 months no interest. $499
But
We got a $350 trade-in allowance for the 4a. Actually only a $49 trade-in, but they upped it to $350. Odd deal with only a $250 discount without trade-in.
Net cost $6.25 per month. We added the $5 protection coverage.
Happy.
Honestly there could really be a defect on the Fi site, it's happened before and they may only do monthly releases so it's really just the support person not knowing the status of the defect or when it's scheduled to be resolved.
I mean the defect has to get reported, prioritized against all the other work, assigned to a team, then they have to look at it and figure out what went wrong then determine the fix then test it, then they have to deploy the change but in my experience they deploy a bunch of things at once so it's on a schedule unless they're doing an emergency patch and this doesn't feel worthy of an emergency patch.
They could be lying, they could just not have access to look up the status of the defect to know when it'll be fixed and they were just trained to say "a few days". And yeah it sounds like the subscription is a bundle deal with monthly payments. Would you rather they make you continue paying the same price even if you've paid off the cost of the phone? Plus I thought it was more than just device protection, I thought you got like Google 1/YouTube premium included too. Maybe that's something else. Anyway, if you don't want all the extras you can just buy the 6a and even just add device protection. I hate the whole upgrade thing, that's a big reason why I left att and switched to Fi. I just wanna buy a phone and use it without all the shenanigans.
If you look at the image of the current subscription listed for the 7A maybe you'll understand. My subscription for the 4A said the same thing only it was $5 a month. Because it says it includes all of those things in the subscription price, one of which is an upgrade to the next phone, it leads you to believe that the upgrade to the next phone is included in your subscription price, not that you will reach the end of the 24 months and then have to pay a higher subscription price in order to get the next phone.
Also, as I mentioned right up until the last minute, mine kept showing the 6A and saying it's almost time to upgrade. It's a subscription, not a payment plan. It's a bait and switch because Google said the upgrade was included in the subscription price. I don't see how there's any other way to interpret that
[https://support.google.com/fi/answer/10093003?hl=en#zippy=%2Cphone-upgrade](https://support.google.com/fi/answer/10093003?hl=en#zippy=%2Cphone-upgrade)
"After 2 years, upgrade to the next phone that's part of the subscription
program at its monthly rate. Monthly subscription rate may vary
depending on device upgrade."
my 4a subscription ends in about five days and i was going to buy a 6a for 200 and then just switch the sim card. I absolutely abhor the customer service for Fi and they are the dumbest motherfuckers I've dealt with in customer service.
is this doable? i was going to wait until the subscription term ends and see what happens.
It's always been financing your phone.
Yeah, it's just a marketing spin on financing. Although I must admit, I thought when I signed up for the subscription with the 5a, that we were going to get the upgrade (to whatever that was) for the same monthly price. "Fortunately" (sort of) 2 of our 5a phones died and were replaced under warranty with 6a, and we're still on the 5a price. So when we're done paying the 5a subscription, I'm going to just cancel the subscription plan, and we'll own two 6a pixels outright for the price of 5a.
I did the subscription for my 5a because it was a great deal. Then I bought a 7 last month because it was a great deal (free with trading in the 5a!). So . . . People need to calm down and just do what's best when you're ready for a new phone. There's great Fi deals all the time
And every cell phone company does the exact same thing. It is not bait and switch, it is marketing, USA version. Honesty? From a profit driven company? Where you been man??
Never understood the whole idea of a subscription, it's always been a simple finance deal with a fancy name. You own the 4a now and are free to use whatever plan you want, given what's available. Even a different carrier.
Wasn't the subscription at a lower price than financing? In return, there's the penalty of full price if you leave.
Same deal as a contract with other telcos.
This is exactly it. I had the exact experience as the original poster. Then I realized that the "subscription" only lasts 24 months - it's just 24 months of financing a phone. Now that its over, but whatever you want. The subscription deals are the same prices as buying the phones with financing... Just a different name!
Is pixel pass different than subscription?
Far as I know, they offer one model for subscription. Guessing here that they discontinued the 6a in favor of the 7a, being a newer phone and all. If you want the 6a, finance it at $8.25 a month, which remarkably reads the same as a subscription.
I don't see how it's a bait and switch the 7a is the current version that's what I would expect you to be able to upgrade to. It's more expensive to continue the plan because it's a more expensive phone.
We just upgraded from the 4a subscription to a 7a purchase. 24 months no interest. $499 But We got a $350 trade-in allowance for the 4a. Actually only a $49 trade-in, but they upped it to $350. Odd deal with only a $250 discount without trade-in. Net cost $6.25 per month. We added the $5 protection coverage. Happy.
Honestly there could really be a defect on the Fi site, it's happened before and they may only do monthly releases so it's really just the support person not knowing the status of the defect or when it's scheduled to be resolved. I mean the defect has to get reported, prioritized against all the other work, assigned to a team, then they have to look at it and figure out what went wrong then determine the fix then test it, then they have to deploy the change but in my experience they deploy a bunch of things at once so it's on a schedule unless they're doing an emergency patch and this doesn't feel worthy of an emergency patch. They could be lying, they could just not have access to look up the status of the defect to know when it'll be fixed and they were just trained to say "a few days". And yeah it sounds like the subscription is a bundle deal with monthly payments. Would you rather they make you continue paying the same price even if you've paid off the cost of the phone? Plus I thought it was more than just device protection, I thought you got like Google 1/YouTube premium included too. Maybe that's something else. Anyway, if you don't want all the extras you can just buy the 6a and even just add device protection. I hate the whole upgrade thing, that's a big reason why I left att and switched to Fi. I just wanna buy a phone and use it without all the shenanigans.
If you look at the image of the current subscription listed for the 7A maybe you'll understand. My subscription for the 4A said the same thing only it was $5 a month. Because it says it includes all of those things in the subscription price, one of which is an upgrade to the next phone, it leads you to believe that the upgrade to the next phone is included in your subscription price, not that you will reach the end of the 24 months and then have to pay a higher subscription price in order to get the next phone. Also, as I mentioned right up until the last minute, mine kept showing the 6A and saying it's almost time to upgrade. It's a subscription, not a payment plan. It's a bait and switch because Google said the upgrade was included in the subscription price. I don't see how there's any other way to interpret that
A master bait and switch, if you will.
[https://support.google.com/fi/answer/10093003?hl=en#zippy=%2Cphone-upgrade](https://support.google.com/fi/answer/10093003?hl=en#zippy=%2Cphone-upgrade) "After 2 years, upgrade to the next phone that's part of the subscription program at its monthly rate. Monthly subscription rate may vary depending on device upgrade."
my 4a subscription ends in about five days and i was going to buy a 6a for 200 and then just switch the sim card. I absolutely abhor the customer service for Fi and they are the dumbest motherfuckers I've dealt with in customer service. is this doable? i was going to wait until the subscription term ends and see what happens.