this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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WTF. This is my first month with a cellular apple watch.

I just got the first bill and its almost SIXTY FIVE DOLLARS in addition to my phone.

$35 activation fee

$10 watch data

$18 for taxes and fees

While I definitely disagree with the $35 activation fee, I understand it's just a one time charge, but holy shit how can anyone justify almost $30 a month. Literally the fees and taxes cost more than the actual product.

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[–] Midnight___Madman@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago
[–] thriftedtidbits@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

we went and got a new phone yesterday and at&t turned our entire account/online presence to spanish lol

[–] Avengerius@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Am still new to the idea of a cellular mobile but is it not possible to get an eSIM and use it in both your mobile and the watch concurrently thereby connecting both to one account and data plan, saving money?

[–] AbiyBattleSpell@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I dealt with this at att and to avoid the activation or least reduce it I got aarp. Anyone can sub and it’s like 16 and att waives activation if u got it. And yes there pretty dumb and I think ya should fight it I did it and the taxes and fees fr me I believe was 5ish everything else looks like mine but that so they might be trying to scam u. I remember when I got a watch it was such a pain in the ass both medically and socially and the store that finally sold me one added insurance without my knowledge. I got it removed and credit to fix it though. So document everything. Cause I only did a watch to like pay it monthly cause I couldn’t at once. And them being dumb was able to guilt in em into giving me credit for a variety of reasons where my over time extra cost when I finally paid it off was only 50ish instead of 100 plus ish. So while they are dumb as hell, might well guilt em into credit fr wasting my time 😾

[–] Sufficient-Context-5@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Mine is free - Jio

[–] GenghisFrog@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I’d love to keep cell on my watch, but I don’t use it nearly enough to justify the $10 plus all the fees. It’s like $15 a month all told. Right now I just use it a few months of the year when we go to water parks a lot, but I need to be able to be reached for work.

[–] padphilosopher@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The “stupidity” you mention in your update is not stupidity but rather how cell companies routinely do business. They consistently conjure ways to rob money from people.

[–] TheSwampPenguin@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

People still using ATT in 2023 is mind boggling.

[–] NikolitRistissa@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

This surely isn’t an Apple Watch issue? It’s your service provider.

[–] TrueBajan@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

$5 tax included on Visible.

[–] bigkev640@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Telstra in Australia: $AU 5 a month flat fee, including GST

[–] teeBoan@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

WTH ! What monthly plan you guys are paying for, for apple watch? I am from India. I just pair it with iPhone. You might need amonthly plan for your cellular service but hhy do you need a montly plan specifically for apple watch? I dont get it !

[–] bigdogxxl@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

If you have a cellular-enabled Apple Watch, you can pay monthly for it to have standalone cell service (ie you can leave your phone at home and go out with just your watch and still have cell service).

[–] drmike0099@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

The taxes and fees are not on the $10. Wait for your second month’s bill.

[–] Zaytion_@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Who is your teleco provider?

[–] vi3talogy@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yea those fee's are crazy. Glad visible's watch plan is only $5.

[–] BokehJunkie@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

How's your experience been with visible? I'm seriously considering moving to something else after the last few gaffes.

[–] Famous_Ant_2825@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Anything more than 5 (or 10 if you REALLLLLLYYYYY need it) for a watch plan is crazy to me

[–] gbhall@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

$5 in Australia.

[–] -B001-@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

AT&T is gonna AT&T. I like T-Mobile because the price they quote is the price.

[–] Laketech@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Mine is like 12/months /mo with fees on Verizon, and it piggybacks off my phone plan data. I activated the Series 3 as my original cellular capable watch when it came out. Back then all carriers were waiving the activation charges and giving three months free, ever since then I’ve just transferred to a new watch every year and never had to pay another activation fee.

[–] raptorjaws@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

sounds like att. i switched back to verizon after just a few months with att because they were constantly screwing shit up. i pay about $10/mo total for the apple watch on verizon.

[–] jehall124@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

I had similar issues with Version so switched to Visible. Never looked back.

[–] Dangerboy73@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

5 dollarydoos a month here in Australia, just uses my normal number and shares the same data.

[–] RunningM8@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Switch to a prepaid service like Visible and pay $5 as in $5.

[–] BokehJunkie@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I've been trying to look into visible, but I don't quite understand it and the reviews are very mixed. The price is appealing, but if it's not moderately fast / reliable then what's it worth.

[–] RunningM8@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

In my experience it worked great, but their customer service is chat only unless you have a major technical issue. But the coverage is as good as Verizon and speeds are solid.

[–] BitingChaos@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And you get to think about how it all costs them close to $0.

The activation fee is like a carry-out food place asking you for a big tip. Putting devices in their system is their job. Charging YOU extra for the benefit of providing THEM with a new money-making device is just them double-dipping.

And the data the device uses is minuscule. You're already paying for a data plan on your account, and now you're paying for another data plan on your account. Are you really going to be downloading massive amounts of data from both devices at the same time?

[–] BokehJunkie@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Charging YOU extra for the benefit of providing THEM with a new money-making device is just them double-dipping.

especially considering that there's no way to opt out / do it yourself. IMO that should be criminal.

[–] jpdoctor@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

It's worse than that: ATT will not let you add a watch-data plan to their cheapest plans. They told me I would need to pay double my cell-phone payment for the honor of adding a $10/month watch plan.

It's incredibly misleading advertising,

[–] dalichtenstein@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Get a new cellular carrier

[–] bussymunchler@alien.top 1 points 2 years ago

Verizon did this to me too. 2 lines were activated and I was charged like $30+