Shop Talk

I do all that myself why should I have to pay an activation charge for someone else?

If I go into the store and know all the answers to my questions and am clear on the rate plans and policies, why should I have to pay the full activation charge as someone who doesn't?

I would glady type my name and information into clearly labeled fields so that I may save the extra charge.

I know you provided a service, but I am not convinced that the charge for that service is/should be assessed in the activation charge and is/should be applied uniformly.

You are right. And for people as intelligent and privileged as yourself, we should also make it available for you to upkeep and monitor your account. Keep track of your minutes, and what the hell, you might as well be able to add-on and remove vertical features and promotional items, as well.

And if a cell tower goes down, we'll just mail you a monkey wrench and some cable ties, and you can go fix that too.

The fact remains people are paid to do allt hese jobs. If you don't like to pay people to do these jobs, get a land line... oh no.. wait theres an installation fee.
No Prob! Get your drill, and some phone line!

Funny stuff.

So you find it appropriate to charge to separate customers the same fee for distinct levels of service and it is your contention the activation charge covers things the computer does automatically and for maintenance of the network?

It was my understanding that is what service plans were for or am I mistaken?

Well, were I to say it was my "Contention" I was sound verbose and arrogant. But yes, the implication of the statement was that the fee covers time, labor, upkeep and other overhead that must be seen to since most customers do not have your pedigree of technical savvy.
Much like taxes and welfare, you are paying for the ignorance of the many. It's a shame that Darwin hasn't stepped up to the plate yet,.. but until he does, there will be activation fees and welfare.

🤣 I'd suggest putting down the Kool-aid.

Activation charges are notorious add-ons for the purpose of doing nothing more then extracting more cash from the customer.

As for there always being activation fees, you are mistaken.

I have never paid any activation fee with any service I have used. Simply because I refuse to pay a company a fee to be able to do business with them. It is amazing how easily they are waived. Afterall, if you charge them and 80% pay them, you are still making an incredible profit.

Activation fees are a joke. For years we were able to do business without activation fees. Then we went up to $5 a line. Then $19.99.

I was able to understand and justify these charges for a bit, citing cost of upkeep and whatnot, to subset a lower monthly price.

But then we/they raised it to $24.99. Then I started to wonder. The official statement was that "Everyone else in our market charges this amount for an activation fee, or higher."

That's bull. Much like charging for esn changes, /no matter what the reason/, it's an unnecessary charge for something that never cost the corporation money since it was implemented as a freebie in the first place.

I'm charging them for my time.

Does it cost a beautician/barber anything to cut your hair? You still pay them (if you get your hair cut)

Does it cost the phone sex lady to breath at you? Pretty sure they make bank sitting on their couch.

Does it cost the carni anything to let you on the ride or to throw the whiffle ball at a cup? Nope.

You may say they're covering other charges... thats what all businesses are doing. I don't work for a non-profit company, do you? The company pays bills : electricity, rent, water, garbage, phone, internet, gas plus other maintenance fees.

It's a service I'm providing them with. If they don't want to pay it then I don't have to provide them with the services.

When you've never charged an activation fee before, and stayed in the black, but when you charge an activation fee, and are still bleeding money, what's happening?

And what do you mean /you/ charging them for your time? Do you see any of that activation fee in your commission, or does your commission stay the same whether an activation fee is waived or not?

Most people don't realize the cost that are incured with the activation of a phone. That number that people get to call you on, Yep! that costs the company money, Both 1 time, and a lower fee monthly basis. I can see there being no fee to change ESN , as well as upgrade a line. To initially start a line, I fully agree. Not to mention towers costs at 2 million dollars a piece, plus the interconnection charges to the landline phones. I mean do you want your network upgraded or not. The company has a right to do that and still profit. Most of the money gained from new subscribers activation fees go twoard new towers for the company!

Wow. I forgot all about this thread.

for years phones were also $250 on a 2 year contract. Now they are free.

So I guess you could look at it as paying $35 for a phone if you want but stop whining, it's not like having a phone is a privilege, the company provides the service for you and if you want it then belly up and pay for it, if you don't like the cost of the set-up then go someplace else.

Heh. Can't. They all charge activation fees.

And watching how agents in particular work, I'm not buying the "no activation fee - higher cost of phone; higher activation fee - lower cost of phone" excuse. It doesn't make any difference to the carrier instituting the fees when there's a middle party involved, except that they're getting an extra chunk of change "because everyone else is".

Exactly, EVERYBODY charges it. So regardless of whether or not if SHOULD be free, it isn't. It's not free for ANYBODY at ANY company and I get so tired of people complaining about it. The only difference is that at some companies it's smaller because they insist on a two year contract, we only offer a one year contract.

Actually what's funny too is WE (the agent) doesn't charge the fee, the carrier does, it's on your bill. It has nothing to do with whether you do it through a person on the phone, at the store, or on the web site and that holds true for most carriers.

OK...and we could go back to paying 200 bucks for a camera phone...or 200 bucks for simply a color screen flip phone. If customers would be willing to go back to that...then I am sure the carriers would be willing to no longer charge activation fees.

🤣

Here we have it. The activation charge is not important, but how much money they can make off of each phone.

Do you people actually go to work with the clear intention of keeping your critical thinking skills at home as it would appear?

You can call it what ever you want. Company has a right to make a profit and it does cost alot to activate a phone. Just watch a companys reported ARPU after they have a huge number of adds. It will always drop significantly.

We go to work to make money... as I've told customers more than a few times "Part of your activation/upgrade charge buys my lunch today."

hahaha. i gotta use that one sometime 🤣

Where i work if you can do all that yourself then you can go online and type in all the information yourself on our website and you only get charged $10 for activation instead of $35. But if you wana talk to me then i charge $35 to activate your phone.

Say, $350. Is that about average for what you need to pay for sex in your area?

Go ahead, don't be afraid. I won't send you any white powder (although Lubbock, home of Texas Tech, is the University where the professor was fired for MISPLACING some Bubonic Plague samples 😈 )

I'll even have the cash placed in a proper envelope labeled with the name of your favorite one.

That has to be why you are such an ass. You just must be backed up. A little release and you would be all better.

🤣 Do you think that the represenatives keep the activation fees? We don't. The company charges an activation fee to cover the cost it takes to activate a phone. There are tower charges, there are phone number charges, port charges, charges to cover the phone that you just got for free that cost the company 100 bucks, they also have to pay employees for doing their job, you know because it is illegal not to pay employees to do their job. Every company charges this fee, why do customers still argue about it? They charge an activation fee to set cable up, to have a landline phone, etc. It's just how it goes.

nuff said.

See the problem is some people are just whiners. I could argue a lot about paying my damn taxes but I don't, I know it won't get me anyway... never-mind that they took a full quarter of everything I earned this year and I got back one tenth of that money. (I hate our government, really I do.)

See the problem is some people are just whiners.

I honestly wonder how you can say this with a straight face considering the amount of "whining" you do here about your job. I guess it is ok to whine as long as one whines about things you agree with. 🤣

I could argue a lot about paying my damn taxes but I don't, I know it won't get me anyway... never-mind that they took a full quarter of everything I earned this year and I got back one tenth of that money

Hmmm, why not try learning more about the process and using it to your advantage instead of simply allowing the taxes to be levied against you? Work smarter, not harder.

If you actually take the time and do some re...
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The trick to taxes is knowing what you can claim, and what you can GET AWAY with. I could illustrate with my own Tax situation, but I will refrain 🙂
As for Nikki whining, I wouldn't call it whining I would call it destructive criticism. I mean let's face it some days this job sucks a$$.
I for one, am lucky enough to be one of the few ppl that like my job most of the time.
For one, my boss kicks @$$, And for two I'm pretty darned good at it.
And this IS a place to vent, and for us to talk shop.. part of shop is the $hithead annoying customers we face on an almost daily basis.

lotsa symbols. 😳 but i agree. vent away as much as you like here. but shake it off and do your job right after the vent. *&%#$*^%^% #Q^)%&$^#$%!!!!!!!

captainplooky said:
I would glady type my name and information into clearly labeled fields so that I may save the extra charge.

I know you provided a service, but I am not convinced that the charge for that service is/should be assessed in the activation charge and is/should be applied uniformly.

Ever thought of Pre-paid? Can you believe this guy?

You do realize that your posts are only making yourself look highly unintelligent?

captainplooky said:
You do realize that your posts are only making yourself look highly unintelligent?

I know you are but what am I?
🤣

Because you are buying their product and they get to make the rules on what cost's what. Why do people think they get to decide what they should or shouldn't have to pay? If you don't like it then don't buy it.

Activation fees also cover things like the cost of credit checks and setting up an account (we still pay each individual person along that line). Those costs COULD be worked into the cost of the handset, but then you're looking at different prices for activating and upgrading customers which makes an industry where most consumers are already neck deep in confusion even more of a head ache for them.

Upgrade fees still make me ponder. What I ponder is why the money goes to Corporate instead of the store. The stores are required to keep a copy of the contracts on site for a year. After that we've gotta keep them for six more years in storage in case anything comes up for tax purposes. We pay for that bill, not corporate.

hey, george bush just told me i didn't have to pay taxxes anymore cause i complained!! awesome! 😛

You don't. We don't. Our system makes it literally physically impossible. The store reps can't either (if they tell you they can they are lying) because the fee is charged by care on your bill not at the store 99% of the time.

Like I said before though, we are generally giving you a phone for free with the set-up and most of the time you are getting a $150-$200 piece of equipment for free so you could look at it as paying $35 for the phone if you want to...

I just hate people whining about activation... I paid it, I accept it as a fact of life and the whining is just an extension of people not recognizing that everything costs money. Most of the people who piss and moan about activation are the same people who want the RAZR free wi...
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Alright, let me look at it from another angle. Can a store rep give an arbitrary credit for the cum of the activation fee?

It can be done with some companies to an extent. I used to be a Cingular rep and I used to waive the activation fee all the time. I think I went 2 months without charging it once.

I don't know how it was input into the system since I wasn't actually the one that did it. Nearing the end of my tenure with Cingular they cracked down and didn't allow it anymore. No waiving the activation fee, or even the upgrade fee for that matter.

I work for VZW now and I can't do it here either. No way, no how.

Did you work at a call center, a Corp. Store, or an 3rd party retailer? I know call centers can do things like that, but with my experience with EROS, and Sprint FAST there wasn't the option.

I was actually a Cingular rep working at a Best Buy (back when they used to have reps surrounding the wireless counters doing the activations and such).

Everything I did I called in and wrote out on paper. I just told my boss which activation fees I wanted waived and he did it himself.

I don't have a way to remove that fee from my sales drawer either. I work for a regional provider that is privately owned. They've got everything locked down in our sales drawer. During sales promos we get a coupon code to enter to remove the fees under applicable instances, but if we try to enter them without the qualifying criteria they don't work. And after the expiration time they do not work. Even phone exchanges, warrantees and costs are locked for me down to the available inventory in my store. I can't even substitute an item if it's not on the approved list.

Only if they want to get into trouble. And generally not even then, the only people who can credit accounts are usually care. That goes back to what somebody (sorry I can't remember who) said about the company existing to make money. The phone company isn't there to pander to people who want to be special, they're here to make a profit.

I doubt Verizon, or whomever will file for chapter 11 because they waved a $35 fee.

Your right. But they also wouldn't be able to put as much money into upgrading their towers and network and systems. That money would come out of their profit. Companys have a responsiblity to make profit for their owners.

I'm sure that they make more then enough profit that they wouldn't feel not seeing this $35 per line. If they have enough money to BUY whole arena football stadiums, then they shouldn't harass us for $35....

Think about it like this. VZW has over 30 million customers. If they didn't charge those customers an activation fee that'd be 1 billion dollars in money they'd never see.

I don't care how big a company is, a BILLION dollars is a lot of money to lose out on to convenience a customer.

You honestly believe that is where the money goes?

The Seattle Times
John Zeglis received about $27 million in severance and stock after selling AT&T Wireless to Cingular Wireless last year.

Zeglis received $19.1 million for his stock and options and $8 million in severance five years after becoming chief executive and before the company's public offering.

The Seattle Times
John Chapple recently urged shareholders to sell the company when they get the chance later this year. And why not?

Along with shareholders cashing in, he stands to earn $52.4 million in stock, and probably more if the Kirkland company sells above what it's worth at recent prices.

Chapple will get mo

...
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So what are you saying? They are greedy? OF COURSE!!!!. They would suck at their job if they weren't greedy. Our whole society is greedy. The reason you don't want to pay the activation fee is because your greedy. The reason they want you to pay the activation fee is because they are greedy. They are trying to make a profit and if they make a good profit they get paid good. that's the way the world works. If you don't like the activation fee then don't pay it and don't get a cell phone. Simple as that. noone is forcing you. If you want wireless service you have to pay the fees they charge. Every service industry is that way.

If you don't like the activation fee then don't pay it and don't get a cell phone. Simple as that. noone is forcing you. If you want wireless service you have to pay the fees they charge.

Why do you keep saying this, when it simply is not the case.

We have already established in this thread that activation charges can and be waived and often are.

Furthermore, we have established that some reps do so for repeating customers and I daresay some probably waive the fee for better looking customers then others.

I see no dialogue of what I mentioned earlier. Why not reduce the fee and apply it across the board instead of the hodge podge way it is applied now?

Instead I see talk about profit and capitalis...
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I think your right. I think the companys should reduce the fee and apply it to everyone with no exceptions. But neither you or I make the policys. I have waived upgrade fees but i never waive a activation fee because i know it's expensive to activate someone. Biggest costs are the cost of the phone number, and the credit check.

Have you even read the "quote" in your profile. You profited off of other's loss? (or something like that)

And yet you bitch and moan and whine about this fee.

Hypocrite.

🤣

Translation:

I do not understand investing in markets.

I'm not saying this is what the activation fee goes for but FYI the Internet has more over head than just bandwidth...

Someone had to develop the page, they have to pay a webmaster to maintain it, they have to pay someone to take the order you just put in and process it, ship the phone to you, pull the phone from stock, package the phone for shipment to you... there are ALOT of people involved in one little Internet order.

It's 2006 not 1950. Everything has a fee. It's part of life. Yes, some times the fee may be more than you want it to be or can quickly validate. That doesn't mean it's going into some fat cats pocket. Don't forget about the blue collar workers behind the scenes not making commission. They need paychecks too.

Actually, I do think that it's going into some fat cats pocket. The carrier. With an online sale, who actually sees, or processes an online order besids some guy who throws a phone in a box, puts a label on it, and waits for the Fed Ex guy to pick it up? I doubt anyone, unless somehow the order got botched.

About maintmance for the towers, and other overhead like that, that is represented in the cost for the monthly access fee. Why should an "activation" fee be tagged for anything BUT the overhead for the actual activation process? At that point you are equating it as a fixed income, just like the monthly access fee. It's not meant as that. Anything of that nature would be something such as Verizons new $0.40 "administration" charged that...
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When you order ANYTHING online there is someone on the other end receiving the order. (that guy gets a pay check). some how what you ordered gets to you (probably the guy receives the order, sends something to the warehouse so they can pull it from their stock, send it to someone to make sure it's all correct, package your product, ship it to you) Everyone involved in that process of you receiving your new phone may not activate it for you but if they weren't there getting paid, you'd have no phone to activate. Their work goes into your activation.
Not to mention the other overhead of the computers, paperwork, electricity, maintenance...

All of that would be a "handling" fee that would be associated with a shipping charge. They don't charge for that so it is a fixed expenditure coming out of that monthly fee.

As for overhead, there's overhead with everything. Should there be a "network maintenance" fee for everytime some guy has to fix a tower by your house? Or how about a customer service fee everytime you call? Everyone clams that the "Activation fee" is associated with everything BUT activation.

So far I have not seen one single clear case on why the fee is tacked on there. Shipping doesn't count, or they would charge a shipping fee (this includes your handling example). Maintenance doesn't count, because that is part of your access charges, same as customer service...
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How about paying for the phone number? Paying to activate the phone number. Did you miss those? The FCC doesn't just hand these out you know. How about paying the sales people? They don't work for free, rent for the stores?

Activation doesn't count the store. The store owner pays the rent, and his commissions pay for that. The assigning of a phone number makes since, but for activating the phone? It's done by computers. After the info has been entered, and accepted, the phone is turned on by a computer. If you order your phone through the website do you call bob at some switch center and tell him to turn your phone on? Nope. Automatically done by a computer.

I have called cust. service a number of time to activate phones for customers.
How can you tell me a computer is what activates the phone but not justify using activation charges to pay for computers and their maintenance? Whether you like it or not I am part of the activation process and I need to get paid. Bob at activations he's part of the process as well and you better believe he wants a paycheck too. When I activate a phone I print out 3 copies of their contract, a receipt, I copy their credit check info, plus a 2 copies of a contract w/ my store because we are an indirect agent. That's 11 sheets of paper. Plus the activation folder they get full of brochures we're required to provide them with by law. Pretty sure the companies makin...
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If you call customer service to activate a line, fine, I can understand that. If you are doing all the work yourself online, then I don't. What you said about making all those copies of paper, congratulations. You want a cookie or something for having him sign a contract? Those contracts, your paycheck, and your stores rent is payed by commissions for the sale of the phone. The activation fee is charged to the customer, by the carrier, and doesn't effect how YOU do business. The only way you come into play is that you need a customer to buy the phone from you in order to get the commissions.

My head isn't in the sand. I chose to think about the charge, and how misleading it is.

The carrier pays my company that commission. My company uses that commission to buy supplies to ACTIVATE THE PHONES.

Supplies, and pay your paycheck. Unless your company is finding some other form of payment to compensate you.

Who pays the commission? where does that money come from? Where does the money to pay the webmasters come from? How about the guy that works in the warehouse that has to package and ship the phones, or the shipping costs (most companys don't charge extra for that. It's just part of the activation fee). Overhead for doing online orders is less than in the store but there is still overhead. Plus FCC charges that the company has to pay for.

I answered that. Most of those things are from the actual monthly charges. The commissions from the monthly charges. Unless you wanna tell me that a $35 activation fee somehow comes out to a $200+ commissions payout per phone.

Fine. lets say that the carrier bundles all charges associated with you getting a phone into an "activation fee" shipping and handling would be $10 per phone roughly. maybe another $5 for every joe blow that has to touch a phone in order to give it to the fed ex guy. The rest of it makes no sense. Where does this other $20 come from? So some automated system can activate a phone that the customer (or a sales associate is compensated by commissions) punches in? As far as the FCC, I don't think that they charge $20 pe...
(continues)

Then why does ARPU take such a hit when ever a company has a spike in number of adds. $35 activation fee does not even pay for what it costs to activate. But it helps and the companys assume they are going to make the difference back in the profit over the length of the contract.

If the company has a lower ARPU that doesn't mean that they are losing money, it just means that per line, they make less money. Also, why should I, as an average cell phone user, care about ARPU, or any other metrics use to judge how well they are doing compared to other company's? I don't. All I care about is getting the most minutes, for the least amount of money, and to be able to use it where i need it to.

Also, seeing how you know exactly how much it costs to activate a phone (because apparently it's more then $35 from what you say....). What exactly does the activation fee go to that actually HAS to do with the activation? (Don't give me any BS about bandwidth, or paychecks for sales associates, or whatnot.

You may not care about ARPU but it is a very big thing for wireless companys and the people who decide what fees to charge watch it very closely and all the other metrics. My point about the ARPU isn't that the companys are losing money but they are making on average less per user after alot of activations. This is because activations cost the company so much. They are willing to take this hit because they expect to make it back in the long run with contracts.

Look. The fact of the matter is that you can say all you want about this fee pays this and that fee pays that but the wireless companys dissagree with you. I'm not a VP of any company so i don't have the facts and legers were they determin how much of each charge they relate to...
(continues)

How do activations cost so much is the question, and why should it determine anything as far as ARPU is concerned? The only way ARPU is concerned is amount payed divided by number of customers. Unless you're talking about net, and gross profits.

First of all the free phone that companys give out...That costs money. The credit check that is run. That costs money (equifax doesn't work for free), the guy running the credit check costs money. You can say the free phone is paid for by your service...no...your service is paid for by your service. They give you your mins, they give you your service. That is what you are paying for with your monthy service plan.

So then where is the money coming from for the phone, if not the service? Some magical free phone fairy? No, that is why theres a 3-6 month wait time to cash in some rebates for collecting rebates from wirefile, or whomever it's because they want to make sure that you keep paying your pills, and continue to pay your bills. Heck, it even says that on your contract. If you break it, they charge you $150-@200 equipment credit.

Actually, the bandwidth your phone runs on isn't free either. The carrier pays for that every year at the auctions where they pay the government (dang them anyways) for the right to use that bandwidth. So that's also what you're paying for.

There we go again. Saying that the data your phone sends out is payed for an activation fee. Apparently when I call the pizza place down the road, using my minutes, that comes out of that $35 activation fee, and not my monthly plan rate.

I'm not saying it is paying for it directly but there are always costs for everything that you get with the company. I'm not even saying that activation SHOULD be charged for but every company charges for it and I don't think YOU (any of you) deserve to have it waived. I didn't and I recognize that the phone that sits in my pocket is a luxury and not a right and I don't quibble about what it costs to get it set up, I accept the things I cannot change... such as activation for a phone. And that is the nature of the beast, Capitalism as it were. People are always out to make more money for themselves, I'm sure you want more money, I do, why should the company be any different.

Regardless of whether or not they're nice or right or fair.....
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I'm special, and in the good way too! I never payed an activation fee, and never plan to. Got to love Employee Plans. 🙂 Apparently with employees, we don't cost anything to be activated....

yes, free phone, $10 per month, no activation fee, 1000 minutes per month.

What carrier is that? I got verizon, and I'm going to switch to the cingular one soon.

thats us cellular, but you have to be important to get that without roaming, they give local plans only for that to most of their salespeople.

I heard T-Mobile has a similar plan.

could be, the lower the better, it would create a better "groupthink" rationale in its employees to use plookies word,

Apparently I need to slap you too. Don't tell people that, they'll expect it for themselves!

I'm going to slap you. 😉

Did I miss something? Not a hard question....

I'm just giving you flack. I'm allowed to do that. Unless you'd actually like me to slap you? I can, it could be fun, I can bring whips and leather stuff too... hmmm.

You get around alot...By that I mean the forum, and if you believe that, I have a bridge I would like to sell you ;P Flack back at ya.

Sorry I can not agree.

I do not see how one can justify such charges based solely on the history of a company.

If a company makes a choice to sell a product for X amount (including service charges) then the company obviously is not going to be losing money, else they would not offer it to begin with.

To use that as reasoning for instituting activation charges is ridiculous.

I can not help but wonder how many of the people in this thread would be championing the side of Big Oil companies and their record breaking profits (after costs!) considering the increase in fuel costs and the "shortage" of fuel availability.

But considering the fact, yes the fact, that even with the prices on my phones in the store, my company still loses approx $90 on each handset that goes out the door. Then folks come back before their qualifying time and expect the same promo price on a new phone to replace the one they damaged. So what is your suggestion on pricing? It's like you've got to pay taxes to get benefits. you can't lower taxes and expect to still retain the same programs without raising prices. you've got to recoup the money back from somewhere.

THANK YOU!

captainplooky said:
I can not help but wonder how many of the people in this thread would be championing the side of Big Oil companies and their record breaking profits (after costs!) considering the increase in fuel costs and the "shortage" of fuel availability.

Good one, that clears everything up! lol

Yep, you are a bright one - I can tell.

You must be a hit on MySpace 🤣

captainplooky said:
Yep, you are a bright one - I can tell.

You must be a hit on MySpace 🤣

You got me again. Oh wait, I don't have a profile on Myspace. Man, your approval rating is going down.

Oh wait, I don't have a profile on Myspace. Man, your approval rating is going down.

Wait now you are lying? What is up with that?

It was in your profile the other day and now you removed it, so you think it doesn't exist?

Crazy...

My mistake - I got you confused with another person on this board, thus the myspace doesn't apply.

What you fail to acknowledge is that the activation charge is applied across the board (when the company isn't waiving them already) regardless of the amount of work a rep, store, or website does.

I could pay full price for the phone and still have to pay an activation charge so I do not understand how it is you use the fabled 'phone discount' (another point your company has deluded you on) as a point for arguing for the activation charge.

If you are willing to accept activation charges as a necessity to do business with companies, by all means, that is your right and choice to do so. I am not and have not.

I will not accept a charge that has no clearly defined purpose other then increasing margins. I suggest calling the Sales li...
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Everybody wants stuff for free. Only cheap people that have nothing better to do with there time would waste it trying to get out of paying a charge.

I got a second digital receiver for my house, and I wasn’t aware my cable company charges a gateway fee for each box on top the monthly equipment charge. Ok, fine. What good would it do to stand there and argue? NOTHING. I said ok, took the box and left.

Services cost, end of discussion. If you don’t want to pay what the company wants, then don’t use the service and shut up.

If you don’t agree with the activation charge, fine. No cell phone for you.

Over simplified as usual.

If you don’t agree with the activation charge, fine. No cell phone for you.

Surely you see that is not the case. I have a cell phone and have never paid an activation charge, upgrade fee, or any other such nonsense.

Those charges are not applied across the board.

Out of curiosity, have you read anything about the recent Best Buy Bundling Fiasco? Management clearly tried to coerce consumers into buying bundled systems which they falsely advertised. Knowing this, they purposefully set aside X amount of units at each location for the customers who stood up to them and would not accept the status quo.

That is what it boils down to if you ask me. Some people are more conc...
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why do fast food places charge a fee to dine in; oh and also a fee to use the drive up. Are you going to argue about that.

Get over it you moron. Just shut up and stop thinking.

why do fast food places charge a fee to dine in; oh and also a fee to use the drive up.

I honestly do not know why. I do not eat fast food. I have higher standards for the food I put into my body then what they serve.

I never knew they did charge a fee - which I still am unsure that they actually do.

I guess you liked my begin and end transaction charge ideas huh...

Are you by chance this guy?
http://www.pensitoreview.com/images/photo-get-a-brai ... »

If you ever do eat fast food; read your receipt. They do in the midwest atleast.

For the comparison question. No, I like the US but I dont hold up signs or stick pride stickers on my car.

guys, please. enough already. obviously, we have no say when it comes to the AF, but those customers who demand it be refunded get it. it's a fact of life...just like rebates.

dude! the conversation was dead, why would you bring these back from the depths of hell to tell people to stop days after it ended?

Free speech does not apply to you anymore captainplooky

" It's about not having to pay a charge just for the right to do business. "

so I'm guessing you never use ATM's, you probably don't even use a bank.

What about credit cards? how are they working out for you?

I'd imagine you've also never been to a theme park where not only do you have to pay to get in the door, but you have to pay for food too.

aren't churros included in the admission fee?!

I don't think so. I've always had to pay extra, or what plooky calls it, I've had to pay a service fee to do business.

Must be nice to live with your head in the sand.

They get ya commin and goin with those churros!

but they sure are yummy.

stil not worth $5

😲

$5!!! I get mine for $1.50. you must live on the northern east coast for them to be that expensive

no, that was the last time i remembered them at disney land.

i want to go to disney land now...

all I remember about disney land is doing dirty things on the "it's a small world afterall" ride with my fiancee. ha

are you sure you were not drunk? are you sure you did not mistake your fiancee with one of those swedish girls in the clogs?

possibly. they WERE pretty hot plastic midgets.

also, parking.

Firstly, no I do not pay ATM fees - why would I?

Secondly, if you want to say a financial institution and their charges are the same as cellular industry and their charges then I can only assume you are not familiar with either.

With no disrespect intended, it is a stupid comparison.

So what you're saying is that YOU, someone who does not work for any cell phone company, someone who is just a cell phone customer, is more familiar with cell phones and the cell phone industry than I, a cell phone sales representative. My entire job is to know more than you about cell phones. Perhaps you would like to apply to become a cell phone sales rep, go through what we go through daily, deal with the people we deal with daily, go through the training we go through, learn what we have to learn and do everything we have to do. If you would rather not, then I suggest you SHUT THE HELL UP AND STOP ACTING LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. Because you're just making a fool out of yourself.

Thank you, have a good day.

i would be suprised if he was a cell phone customer, I don't think he has a cell phone.

I have now worked at both a financial institution (a nation bank) and in the cellular industry. How can you justify the charges a bank has and NOT the charges a cellular carrier has?

I had ALOT more customers at the bank upset at charges than at the cell company.

$4.00 for a money order
$6.00 for a cashier check (which by the way was printed the exact same way and on the exact same paper with the same ink as the money order) Oh and we only charged SOME customers for those.
$3?.00 overdraft charge (depended on how many you're account has had.)
$7.00 per day you're account is negative
$5.00 or $10.00 to cash an 'ON US' check if you didn't have an account.
25% for travelers checks.

I can keep going... are you saying all of those ...
(continues)

A bank is completely different from a merchant.

If you can not understand the fundamental differences between the two, then that is your probelm.

How is it different? Both are providing a service and both have fees for their service?

no, plooky's right.

People need banks, they need a bank account to do any major bill payment, they need a bank account to get a car, and a house, banks are vital to the human race; where as Cell phones are not NEEDED, there is land lines to do business on, a cell phone not a necessity.

So, what he's saying is he would much rather pay service charges for something he needs, and get the privileges for free.

Not entirely true. I don't have a bank account and don't really need one. I have a pay my major bills without problem. I have a car and just bought a house this month.

if you're not helping the cause you're against it. so unless you're on plookys side I suggest you stop arguing for him

I'm not argueing for him. Not by any means. I'm merely pointing out a fact. If I don't do so, pooky will only not as nice.

(Note: I said pooky instead of plooky intentionally as whenever I see his name, I immediately associate him with Garfield's teddy bear named pooky for some reason.)

hm. I always see poopy

Cause really I just went 4 months w/o any sort of bank account and in that time, bought a car. People don't need banks. The way the world is structured now it's more difficult to NOT have one but the world would continue to turn if we were rid of banks. MANY people only have cash. They pay a fee to cash their checks and that is all. They pay cash for everything. They pay a fee to buy money orders for bills since people don't accept cash anymore but a bank is not a vital part of living.

When would you have to pay full price for a phone on a new activation? I've only worked with TMobile, Sprint and Verizon but I've never been charged a fee for upgrade or to change/extend my contract. Only to activate a new line. I can't think of a single instance when you'd pay full price for a phone AND and activation charge.

captainplooky said:
This situation would never arise due to the simple fact that I do not do business with children or those with child-like mentalities.

Why on Earth would I employ the aid of a sales rep, such as yourself, who is nothing more then a bitter person trying to lash out the only way reps can.

I can see no reason.

Your insight is simply astounding. I am glad you think that I am a "bitter person," since it explains your ability to cast easy judgment. I believe you are the one who began the tirade declaring that there existed NO possible reason that carriers would charge or should charge an activation fee. Unfortunately, your mindset (at least the way you express yourself in this forum) ...
(continues)

So...I don't see you denying the fact that the phone number has to be paid for somehow. Paying for the phone number would also explain why you don't pay another activation fee for upgrading, changing phones, or changing calling plans. You only pay it when activating a new number. Why, captaincomplaino, do you feel entitled to something for free? What makes you better than the rest of the population?

Paying for the phone number would also explain why you don't pay another activation fee for upgrading,

No, that would be the "upgrade fee" 🤣

You only pay it when activating a new number.

Really?

Then why when you try to port a number you already have to another carrier, you are still asked to pay an activation charge to activate a number you have previously already activated?

Come on!

Because it costs the same for that carrier to activate that number as it did the first. You don't own your number, the company you are with is leasing your number from the goverment.

captainplooky said:
Then why when you try to port a number you already have to another carrier, you are still asked to pay an activation charge to activate a number you have previously already activated?
Come on!

lol some one needs a timeout

YAY I'll grab the timeout chair and the dunce cap

captainplooky said:
I will not accept a charge that has no clearly defined purpose other then increasing margins. I suggest calling the Sales line of a carrier once or twice and ask what the activation charges actually cover. I imagine you will receive, much like I have, a multitude of answers - non of which are satisfactory.

It's clear you don't read very well. 🤣

I will take that as a compliment coming from someone such as yourself which has continually exhibited a complete lack of reading, critical thinking, and comprehension skills.

captainplooky said:
I will take that as a compliment coming from someone such as yourself which has continually exhibited a complete lack of reading, critical thinking, and comprehension skills.

I reed fin thanx. Teecher sed I spel gud to.

So, yeah, there's an activation fee. So what?! whether it's across the board or not, it's a few frikkin tens, it's not like we're asking you to sign over your soul.
So, either pay the fee, or don't get the phone but for crissake don't whine about a fee that is less than you spend on pimple cream for the month.
I honestly and genuinely pray that your moral objection to this fee keeps you without mobile service for eternity, an eternity in which you are also hellishly tormented by hemorrhoids and other worse afflictions.
The End.

So, either pay the fee, or don't get the phone but for crissake don't whine about a fee that is less than you spend on pimple cream for the month.

I honestly and genuinely pray that your moral objection to this fee keeps you without mobile service for eternity

Reading is not one of your strong points is it?

You do realize people, like myself, get their phones activated with the fee waived all the time?

Reading is among one of my many strong points. And I have been reading and listening to your sardonic drivel for longer than I really care to.
If you get it done all the time, why are you on here whining about the fee? STFU and go out and enjoy your phone, you waste of human flesh 🙂

why are you such an a** to everyone..

Great post except on small problem. Wireless companies don't start making profit at month 6, they actually just make back the REVENUE required to aquire said subscriber. Profitability actually comes in month 15 or so, depending on the service and options.

😁 Even more of a reason to double the activation fees. And we'll start callin' 'em the "Plooky Fees." 🤣

oooh bad 🤣

Exactly, they're a luxury. You don't need it... and there are activation-fee-free methods of establishing service... They're called pre-paid. You buy the kit and it's activated.

Actually not just pre-paid darling.

You keep forgetting that all carriers waive activation charges willy nilly when they want.

I don't. Please see my original post for the only situation I will.

Already saw it and much like other reps here, it doesn't surprise me that some don't. Having the illusion of control I imagine is quite intoxicating to your kind.

https://www.phonescoop.com/forums/forum.php?fm=m&ff= ... »


you need to read that, i think i summed you up perfectly.

Alejandro, I found that quite funny, thanks for the giggle.

I'm always amused by the numerous personalties and personas you and others have created for me here.

Well la de dah, aren't we full of ourselves. For the record, it's not the illusion of control...it's policy.

(My "kind"? You mean happy and handsome call center reps?)

OMG plooky! You are a stain on the face of humanity. You are the cancerous, festering, hemorrhoid on the anus of intellect.

You continue to whine and bitch about a fee we don't demand you pay. You blindly deny the facts that we are here to make MONEY not cater to your slack-jawed unknowing idiocy.

It is worthless flesh wastes likes you that demand free phones because they screwed their credit and had to pay a deposit.

Allow me to illuminate for you of precarious situation in which you are placing yourself. You refuse to pay the activation fee that is charged for service. Yet, through your constant use of this medium you prove your affectation for said service.

I don't think this will get through your thick skull, nor do I care. ...
(continues)

I dont waive activation fees. I hate when people expect me to. Its there for a reason and no customer I am not going to treat you differently than everyone else... Sorry but thats the way the cookie crumbles 😁

& is there a point other than you disagree with your perception of this practice? I would say that carriers waive activation charges as a marketing tool to attract more customers... I don't see anything inherently evil in this practice. I'd prefer to see transparency & fewer "gimmicks," but like many (most) on this site I live & breathe wireless telecom every day & have a different perspective.

No, honey they don't just waive activation fees willy nilly. Now they will waive activation fees on occassion in order to keep a customer (in which they lose money)...like persay a customer who acts like a 5 year old and throws a fit because he has never had to pay for an activation fee because he always throws a fit when it comes to that point in the process. Don't you ever get tired of putting people trying to do their jobs through hell or is your spoiled little girl routine where you get your kicks?

That's odd.

Try reading through this thread and you will see people talking about waiving the fee on their whims.

Not only that, but this thread highlights the example that the charge is not applied across the board or any fashion that would suggest that it is imperative.

Instead of charging some and others none, why not just lower the fee and apply it across the board?

I understand you work for the industry, but surely you are not so ignorant as to miss the fallacies of the industry simply because you are emerged in it.

No I'm far from ignorant. Annoyed is the word, I believe. It would be great if activation fees were lower, I'm not disputing that. What I am disputing is, as I have stated before, the spoiled brats in America. Every company thrives on a profit. Thats why the company exists. You work for a company (if you work and if not that explains it) thats thrives on a profit. EVERY cell phone company charges an activation fee. Some companies are able to waive them for say promotions, or pissed off people like you because we don't want to deal with you. Now that's extreme but it happens. Point is, the company loses money everytime they do it but hey if we can get 100 more customers because of it we may, by manager discretion, waive it for a wee...
(continues)

Enjoy the status quo and groupthink.

I am sure you will find comfort in not having what you want in life because others you look to will be in your same position.

Hey what's your stance on tipping waiters/waitresses?

😁 I tip, generously if the service is warranted.

However, I do not feel compelled to tip when the service does not warrant simply because an establishment fails to pay an adequate wage.

Ok so why do you feel you should pay a waiter/waitress for doing their job and pay the fee for the food they just served you that the restarant clearly overcharged you for? I'm a waitress....I know why people should tip but it goes along the same lines. You pay for the service. Thank you for justifying that you are now a hypocrite as well as a tool.

Gee, I had no idea that is what you were gonna come back and say. I am absolutely amazed. How on earth could I have allowed myself to be tricked into this position.

Oh you are so clever. I could never have foreseen this untimely turn of events. What am I going to do? How do I get out of this now? I should have planned better.

Maybe the trap had been laid earlier and I didn't notice. Oh no. I've got to get out of this somehow. How have I allowed myself to come to a place such as this.

However, I do not feel compelled to tip when the service does not warrant

I tip, generously if the service is warranted.

A tip is not the same thing as a forced charge, they a...
(continues)

🤣 Its been a long time since I have been called dumbass 🤣 thats great! Most guys aren't willing to call a girl that, a B****, maybe but a dumbass? thanks...hahahaha! Anywho, it was not a trick, nor was it planned it just dawned on me that if you tip servers, why do you have a problem with paying for service? Initially thats what you are doing. Do you go to the manager of the restaurant and tell him that you will not pay 10 bucks for a burger that cost the restaurant 3 dollars, if that, to make? Or when you go see a live band will you refuse to pay the cover because their cd sales should give them enough money. See here's the problem with your "dumbass" theory....I, as well as everyone in this conversation know that we are talk...
(continues)

Do you go to the manager of the restaurant and tell him that you will not pay 10 bucks for a burger that cost the restaurant 3 dollars, if that, to make?

No I do not. That is not even the scenario we are discussing.

It would as though the food items on the menu were listed, but in order to order the food, you had to pay for the right to order.

Instead, this cost is already built into the price and applied evenly to every patron, whereas the charges we are discussing are not.

why do you have a problem with paying for service?

I don't. I have repeated numerous times I have no issue with that, but my contention lies with having to pay a fee just for the right to setup ...
(continues)

Ok again the oh so intelligent and great Captain Plooky....you happen to be the only one looked at as a dumbass here. If you have not noticed you are the common disagreement in this whole thread. Not me, not Nikoletta, not anyone but you. Half your posts don't even make sense. I have the angles down, what? The whole point of what I was saying is that in this world you pay for service...period. What part of that o you not understand. I'm sorry, I will not use analogies anymore for your feeble mind is unable to process them. Just repeat after me...you have to pay for services.

Groupthink?

Uh, it's more a question of following policy so you don't end up at the Unemployment office by the end of the day.

thats not what makes people argue day in and day out on the carrier forums about who is better than the other.

no, that' corporate brainwashing.

Corporations don't do that, sadly, those people do it to themselves.

Sadly, you're correct. But the corporations do have some hand in it. They constantly pump out propaganda on how to sell against the other companies ultimately (and somewhat subconsciously) forcing the thought into their heads that their company is the greatest and is far superior to all else.

The real problem is most people are too soft minded to take the information as training tools and not at life affirming facts.

The real problem is most people are too soft minded to take the information as training tools and not at life affirming facts.

BRAVO! BRAVO!


My hat is off to you sir!

yes, i take cheap shots at cingular service when trying to sell a phone, as i'm sure they do that to us, but we talk to each other and buy each other lunch all the time. It's not something to be serious about.

When I worked at Best Buy as a Cingular Rep it was the same way. We'd take shots at each other all the time, then we'd all go out to lunch together.

We'd always here some kind of joke about it, too. There's always the "shouldn't you guys all be fighting?" joke when we're eating at a restaurant. It was myself (with Cingular), a Sprint rep, a T-Mobile rep and an AT&T rep.

my favorite thing to say to customers is cingular reps have to walk customers under the window to show them how to use their phone (which sadly the ones next to us have to do) I'm sure thats isolated to them.

captainplooky said:
I am sure you will find comfort in not having what you want in life because others you look to will be in your same position.

I'm sure you have everything you want too! Some one who has this much time on thier hands surely must be living the high life! 🤣

Work smarter, not harder.

The sooner you learn that the better off you will be.

captainplooky said:
Work smarter, not harder.

The sooner you learn that the better off you will be.

I'm getting paid to post this. Who's working hard?

I'm not your 'darling' so don't call me that. I let the people I like get away with calling me things like that, I don't like you. It's Nikoletta.

I'll try to remember that darling.

Mostly.

LOL. No, I love my job. I do dislike dealing with a certain breed of customer. And a certain breed of forum poster, but other than that I'm a happy-go-lucky guy 🙂

Absolutely correct. The idea, on the surface, was not a bad one, but the implementation of the idea was a complete logistical nightmare for those of us on the front lines. That's why I said the idea sucked, cause it made my life harder. And oh yeah, I tracked the numbers, and we didnt get significantly increased sales as a result of this promotion. And increased sales is the determining factor as to whether a promotional idea is good or not.

Ya so you pretty much break even. That's a sale. But a company cant run that way all the time. Anyone with any buisness sense could tell you that (I would say it's common sense but common sense isn't all that common in my experiance). If you only make $5/activation can you really do enough activations to even pay for your own wage? Then your store has to pay your managers wage...Then pay your store's lease. Plus they have to turn a profit or your store isn't doing a very good job as a store.

I agree fully. If you need to move a few to hit a minimum number, it's probably easier than try to give away free activations on post-paid where the manager has to go in later and pay on the customers account. Nothing big. Just a suggestion.

::smacks kapwww:::

LET THIS THREAD DIE ALREADY!

have you heard the girl version of this song? is hillarious! boy shake that chic-o-stick

lol i take it this was meant to lighten the mood around here...

see, so what was the fee for then? Did you get a cut of it for actually doing the work?

So it's the same thing as an activation fee...

People still pay the delivery fee of 700.00 without complaining, so why would they complain about an activation fee of only 36.00

The fee actually served no purpose. It was charged without reason. Those delivery fees are actually charged to the dealership, they tack it on to the cars cost. It's eventually recouped through the customer (as they obviously pass that fee along), but it was still retarded for that to be included.

yea your right.. there are lots of fees that shouldn't be charges... including the universal federal recovery fee that was imposed to pay for the spanish american war way back when. That should have been dropped a long time ago, but it is what it is so we continue to pay the government for it.

captainplooky said:


Let me guess... you actually buy your cars from salespeople too 🤣

Do you go to auctions? You must be a mechanic too!

Do you go to auctions?

On occasion I do, but I also deal directly with Fleet Managers.

I'd rather not deal with a salesperson who merely tells me what I want to hear in order to make a commission, much like car and cellphone salespeople. Two peas at the bottom of the pod.

captainplooky said:

Do you go to auctions?

On occasion I do, but I also deal directly with Fleet Managers.

I'd rather not deal with a salesperson who merely tells me what I want to hear in order to make a commission, much like car and cellphone salespeople. Two peas at the bottom of the pod.

OR, they may find the right solution for you. Maybe even a direction you hadn't thought of. Oh wait, you know everything. Nevermind.

You know... it's great if your well informed about everything you need to buy. I know cell phones, not cars. So yes, I do use sales people when buying a car. If you know enough about cell phones, then you also know you can shop around and get a better deal than in the stores, as long as you don't need that store for support for a phone problem or plan issue.

Most people don't take the time to read up on what they are buying, they just go in cold on the subject. I DO NOT take advantage of anyone, nor do I tell them what they want to hear just for a sale, because more than likely, it will be a chargeback. I try to make sure every customer I deal with gets what they need, that way, I don't have to fix an issue with them later.

Congr...
(continues)

You know... it's great if your well informed about everything you need to buy. I know cell phones, not cars. So yes, I do use sales people when buying a car.
...
Congrats on being up to date on everything possible in the entire world.

The difference between the two of us is I actually take the time to educate myself about things I do not know.

I'm not willing to blindly trust strangers with making important decisions for me.

I'd like to be your banker though.

I research what I feel is necessary to research. If i'm looking at something specific, then I research it.

So yes, I do use sales people when buying a car.

I research what I feel is necessary to research. If i'm looking at something specific, then I research it.

A car is not specific for you to research? 🤣

Seriously, can I be your banker?

After reading your forum posting history, I'm done talking to you. You seem to go and pick at the littlest things, when there is actually no good reason for you to comment.

Yes, that is much easier then admitting that you are unwilling to take the time to educate yourself and rather take the world of a stranger who is paid to sell you anything and everything they can. 🤣

Cell phones are a rip off. Activation Fees are a rip off. Rustproofing is a rip off, Undercoating is a rip off.
Who cares? This is not rocket science. let the idiots lose their money, and let the smart ones keep it. Survival of the fittest. Capitalism at its best.

Just dont ask me to waive your activation fee because I cant.

neither can i, i can only waive ESN change fees.

He's trying to prove a point that Nikki is a whiner. I personally think he has too much time on his hands.

Actually, it was not me that pulled it from the dead I responded when I saw it and thought it was a recent cry fest by nikki here is your orignal necroposter:

https://www.phonescoop.com/forums/forum.php?fm=m&ff= ... »

😳 Ummmm, I didnt know anyone actually bought that crap they sell? Wow, well...umm yeah

Wow, I posted that to the wrong thread, my bad