Optus have sent around an email to current iPhone 3G customers offering up to 50% off the upgrade fee when you sign up for the new 3GS handset for 24 months.
The percentage that you actually get seems to very between 20% and 50%, and looks to depend on how far into your current contract you currently are.
The actual upgrade fee itself for each person also varies, and apparently won’t be made known until tomorrow (although some people are saying that Optus are telling them when they call up). However, if you are still paying off your current 3G handset, you’ll still have to pay that off on the new contract as well – so make sure you factor in that continued cost when if you decide to upgrade.
The email is also requiring potential iPhone 3GS owners to register their place in the queue for tonight’s midnight launch, so if you were planning on just rocking up tonight, you might want to look into trying to register.
Aman Gupta
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 12:34 PMhey this is the first article ever tipped by me on gizmodo…so happy…yay!!
ZoSo
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 12:34 PMI only got offered a 30% off discount!
chris
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 12:36 PMit’s up to 50% and it’s off the current upgrade fee so it’s not hard to find out what it’ll be. handset repayments will still be charged.
da fool
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 12:40 PMThis is rediculous though. In the email it said Im able to get 40% of as of midnight tonight, but we wont know how much it is until tomorrow? Thats a bit stupid IMO. Id really like to know how much money I need now so I can, you know, know if I can afford it or not. Otherwise Id be waiting in line at 6 in the morning, only to find out at 8 that I cant afford it. Thats stupid.
da fool
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 12:41 PM*ridiculous lol
Ash Cooper
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 1:03 PMAnybody else have 50% in their email? “…we will discount 50% off your early upgrade fees…”
Richard Mason
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 1:38 PMThe actual offer varies depending on certain factors, but it would seem mainly on how long you are through you current contract (some people are being offered 20% or 30% off). I called up Optus and was given my early upgrade fee.
It is b,asically whatever your minimum contract cost is minus however many months you have already been on your contract.
For me on a $79 ‘yes’ cap that was $1896 (24 * 79).
I got my iPhone 3G the day it was released so I have paid back 12 months = $948, which means I have $948 remaining.
$948 – 40% = $568.60
Also, any monthly phone repayments are NOT covered by the early upgrade fee or the discount.
luke
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 1:49 PMwhat the?
the email i recieved said i get 20%….
ripped off.
peter
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 2:15 PMi don’t get this at all, i had a call from a company on behalf of optus, offering me to upgrade my handset for an additional 10 dollars a month, on top of my current plan for the duration of the rest of my contract…. does this sound odd/wrong to anyone?
so i would be paying the 59 dollar cap plan
+ 2 dollars a month for the origional iphone
+10 dollars a month for the new iphone
?
Christine
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 2:46 PMI got offered 40%.
When I rang optus (before I got the email), they told me I would have to pay $730.
But I don’t understand how someone could get 50%? I got my iPhone the day it was released? So why didn’t I get 50%?
Sam
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 3:55 PMit depends how much you pay a month, im guessing your paying the 79 cap,
i got the same 40%
Christine
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:19 PMNah actually I’m on the $49 one!
Eh whatever. I’m happy with 40% and paying it out over a couple of bills.
luke
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 3:29 PMguess it doesn’t take into account that i have had the same mobile/number with optus for over 10 years?
kinda insulting to get offered 20%, when they are offering other people 50%.
what like we are not going to talk about it with each other?
Yan
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 3:36 PMDoes the percentage discount go up based on how much your monthly plan is?
i.e. if you have a $49 plan you get a 30% discount, but if you have a $79 plan you get 40% etc…
It’d be useful if people posted those details instead of just saying – “i only got x% off”.
i’m on 79 cap and got 8gb phone. i received an email w/ 40% discount.
Christine
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:22 PMI’m on a $49 cap, signed up day one, 16gb phone, 24 months -> got 40%
Tim D
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 3:39 PMEveryone listin HERE, i just upgraded to the old Iphone last wk from my i900 onmina, if your not stupid and dont know anything about technology the iphone 3GS is pointless for the moment.
All i had to pay was 11 x monthly payments of $20 for handset and another $200 cancellation fee, i just told them i wasnt goin to pay the $460 cancellation fee they requested and they even offer it to you in monthly payments. So deal or not they will offer u at least 50% off if you re contract.
Ash Cooper
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 3:40 PMive been with optus on a 24month plan since Nov 2007, BYO iphone in July last year…guess thats why i get 50% off cus ive been with them for 20 months.
Freddie
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 3:44 PMThere is no price war going on at all.
Everything is a F***ING RIP!!
Garry
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 3:48 PMI received a “generous” 40% discount off the early upgrade fees because I’m “only part way through my 24 month plan”… only thing is I’m on a 12 month plan. Go figure…
Chris
Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 11:03 AMI also got an email from them stating that “as we know you are only part of the way through your 24 month contract blah blah blah”.. when in fact I signed up a 12 month contract last July.
I also called & spoke to two people & they both told me I was eligible to upgrade for free. I then spoke to one more person with a final question & he momentarily told me I was going to have to pay $270 to upgrade my plan.. even though I only had one month to go on a $79 plan.. when I asked him how they work that out he couldn’t answer me, however, quickly corrected himself stating that I “must be a good customer as I have specially being put on their list for a free upgrade”. Thanks optus, your a bunch of jerks!
Ps – never bother calling or going into an optus shop with a question.. i’ve done it twice in the last month & both times been told they couldn’t help me & to call customer service! Useless!
James
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 4:34 PMHow the hell do you get this email??
I’m signed up with optus but never get any email from them.
Now I want one cos of this discount thingy..
Grrr…..
Jason
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 4:42 PMSounds just like paying out the contract… silly.
Why can’t they offer an option to append the contract? So buy the new iPhone 3GS at monthly repayments, but then append the contract to the end of the existing one.
For example, if I’m 12 months into a 24 month contract, then let me:
* get the new iPhone 3GS 32GB for $19/month for the $49 cap
* I’ll still pay off the existing iPhone for another 12 months
* extend my contract from 24 to 48 months, but since I’m 12 months into it, that leaves 48-12=36 months left (!!)
* let me unlock my existing iPhone so I can give it to my wife/kids or sell it
Hmmmm.
dirk
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 4:49 PMHey, I’m 12 months into a 24-month $49 plan (with an extra $17 per month for the handset). Optus offered me the 40%. But, the discount brings the $850 exit fee down to $510, and I still need to continue paying 12 months of $17 per month for the handset ($204). So, it’s about $700+ to upgrade. If you factor in paying $x per month for the new 3GS 32GB phone, there’s a fine line between buying a new handset with no strings attached, or throwing another $1,000-odd at Optus for not much except another 2 year sentence. I think I’ll just wait to see what 3 come up with.
Trent
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 4:53 PMI am yet to receive an email from optus about this. ive signed up for the iphone info, and ive also created an optus account on their website. maybe they hate me lol
homer
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:02 PMWith Optus, bought iPhone 16GB on Day One
$49 Cap, bought Handset outright
Got email today 40% discount… It’s random???
Mike
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:19 PM50%! I only got 20% this is the worst kind of discrimination the kind against me :P
The guy I spoke to said that the more you use your iPhone the better deal you got pretty much, so I assume this means if you spend a lot over your cap get a better deal.
I have been on the $59 for 7months and i think it was about $672 with the 20% discount, which is defiantly not worth it.
If you read you contract it states your early leaving fee under Price Plan Terms and Conditions:
1) You must pay all reaming payments on the phone eg: for me with 18 months left 9*18 = $162
2) You will pay and Terminations fee of:
$840 for 1-12 months with Optus
$672 for 13-15 months with Optus (ie: 80% of 840)
$504 for 16-18 months with Optus (ie: 60% of 840)
$336 for 19-21 months with Optus (ie: 40% of 840)
$168 for 22-24 months with Optus (ie: 20% of 840)
This is for a 24month contract for 12 months it goes:
$500 for 1-6, $350 7-9, $200 for 10-12.
So you can calculate your leaving fee (and not resigning with Optus) by adding your handset repayment left + your applicable Termination Fee – 1 Month of your Payment (remember you payed the 1st month in advanced).
So for me: $840+17*$9-59=840+94=$934
Of course Optus will just quote you your termination fee – your discount. As you will not pay the 1st month in advanced again and you handset reypayment will be added onto your bill.
So for me it was 840*0.8 = $672 and then they will add your handset payments onto your next bills ie: i would pay another $9 a month ontop of my new plan.
David
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:22 PMi am on the $59 cap and got my iPhone the morning it came out and i was offered 40%. I wasn’t going to bother upgrading since there weren’t any groundbreaking changes, but i’m tempted now. at least enough to look into it and see how much it will cost…
i might just have the need for speed
Chris
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:30 PMyou all signed up for 24 month plans so stop whining when they ONLY offer 30% off a termination fee that they have no obligation to remove.
troy
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 7:57 PMI got 40% off and im on the $59 cap since realse day
Rémy Samuel
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 8:13 PMMy email offered me 40% off, so I called Optus and they told me I’d be paying $600 as the “early upgrade fee”, with the 40% off that works out at $360, plus another 24 month contract and more to pay every month, under the plan I would want to choose.
I’m in my eleventh month and signed up to the (no longer offered) $29 ‘yes’ plan on a 24 month contract.
The best bet is to (believe it or not) call an Optus rep. I tried a few times and got someone who actually helped me.
I’m waiting it out this year so here’s to counting down to WWDC 2010!!