My family has been with AT&T since it was BellSouth, and then Cingular. I have been on their plan since shortly before the Cingular+AT&T merger.
Back in October, I upgraded my iPhone 3GS to the 5C, but kept my original data plan through them (200mb/mo). This was a special deal that Best Buy was running where they gave you $50 off the retail price of $99 for the phone if you sign a 2-year contract with the cellular network of your choice (in short, I only paid around $49 for my phone, plus tax and upgrade fee, making the purchase still under $100). However, the 5c uses more than 300mb in data-using features that I can't turn off, so I'm basically doomed to go over the limit every month and have to pay them extra. Upgrading my plan is going to cost far too much through them.
I was hoping to switch to T-Mobile and take advantage of your ETF, but you're saying I would have to trade in my phone. I looked at the prices of the iPhone 5C (because I love mine and wouldn't want anything less), but yours are running retail value of $499! That's well over the amount that I paid for my phone and isn't exactly a "good deal" or a "win-win" (to quote the wording used in the ETF trade-in description) on my part. Is there no compromise or loop-hole (i.e. trading in an older phone, while still getting to use my current phone) for this trade-in rule? I'd really like to change plans within the next month, but there's no way I can afford do that if I have to pay for a new phone or pay the ETF.
(Also, please forgive me if this is technically in the wrong section of the forums. This was the closest category I could find for my question.)