Google Fi has had a couple of issues when it comes to customer service over the years, but it just hit a new level. Many customers that purchased phones on financing plans are now being charged the full price of their devices, putting them out hundreds of dollars and incurring additional costs such as overdraft fees. Google says it's aware of the issue and working on a fix.
Read More[Update: Refunds in 1-2 business days] Google Fi accidentally charging full price for financed Pixel 3s after half-off deal, but it's working on a fix
HTC now offers financing on purchases from its online store (again)
Fresh off the acquisition of its Pixel team by Google, HTC has announced interest-free financing on purchases from HTC.com. That means you can grab HTC's latest devices and pay nothing up front. Instead, you pay a little bit every month until the device is zeroed out. There are a few caveats, but this'll make HTC's phones much easier to buy.
Read MoreAndy Rubin's Essential raises $300 million, investment valuation set at around $1 billion for the startup
Essential, Andy Rubin's new phone company, was able to raise $300 million in a recent financing round. Investors must have been impressed by Essential and its future projects, such as the PH-1 and Essential Home. The total valuation for the company determined during financing was set somewhere between $900 million and $1 billion. These are all pretty big numbers for a company that hasn't actually made anything yet, but the weight of Andy Rubin at the helm must have been a contributing factor.
Read MoreGoogle Store financing is not exclusive to the Pixel, available on any purchase $149 or higher
Google is pricing this year's new Pixel phones higher than the nexus devices, but it's also offering financing. That was previously only available on Project Fi, but that's not the full extent of the expansion. Financing is actually an option for any purchase on the Google Store of more than $150.
Read MoreThe Google Store offers financing and protection plans for the Pixel and Pixel XL starting at $27 a month
Google's new Pixel phones aren't the developer-friendly devices that the Nexus phones were, and they aren't priced like them, either. The Pixel starts at a whopping $649 for the standard 5-inch 32GB version. A 128GB upgrade costs an extra hundred bucks ($749), and the Pixel XL is $120 more expensive at both capacities, $769 and $869, respectively. Google has added financing options to the Google Store, very much like US and international carriers, to help with the sticker shock. Customers can spread that price over 24 monthly payments. The cheapest option is $27.04 a month.
Read MoreAT&T Is Simplifying Phone Financing With Just Two Plan Options (12 And 24 Month Upgrades) Starting June 9
AT&T's existing "Next" plans offer the option to upgrade after a certain amount of the device has been paid off, but there are four different versions and the naming can be confusing. For example, Next 24 is actually a 30-month pay-off schedule with an upgrade at 24 months. Well, AT&T has announced it's cutting the options down to just two, and it's adding a new Next Every Year plan for annual upgrades.
Read MoreTwo-Year Service Contracts (And Phone Subsidies) Are Back From The Dead At Sprint
Remember when Sprint said that it wouldn't be offering the tried and true two-year phone contracts anymore? Yeah, not so much. Fierce Wireless reports that the carrier is once again offering two-year service contracts, and the Sprint Wireless website bears this out. New phones are being sold with a significant discount, up to 100%, in exchange for customers signing a promise not to stop paying for 24 months. Everything old is new again.
If you'll recall, two-year contracts fell out of favor after T-Mobile made a big show of discontinuing them as part of its "uncarrier" initiative in 2013. Instead T-Mo started promoting a new payment program which allowed customers to buy phones in installments with interest-free financing, very much like European carriers have been offering for years.
Read More
[Weekend Poll] How Did You Pay For Your Current Phone - Outright, Subsidized, Or Installments / Financing?
This weekend's poll is a pretty simple one, but one that I'm curious to see the results of given our worldwide audience: how did you pay for your current phone?
In the US, there are generally three ways (broadly speaking) you can buy a smartphone - on-contract from a wireless carrier (aka subsidized), outright (full price, no contract), or as part of an installment / financing plan. Carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile offer phone financing plans, offsetting the full cost of a device by spreading it over the course of one or two years. Some smartphone manufacturers like Motorola even offer no-interest credit financing if you buy a phone from them directly.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
Motorola Now Offering Financing On Phone Purchases – $0 Down And 0% Interest For Up To 18 Months
Got your eye on a Moto X or Moto G, but just don't have the scratch right this minute? Motorola still wants your business, so it's offering to finance phone purchases interest-free for up to 18 months, provided you're credit-worthy. Sorry, we cannot vouch for you.
If you're willing to spend $549 or more, you can get no interest for 18 months with nothing down. That's more than the full cost of the regular Moto X, so you'd have to buy the Developer Edition (or the Droid Maxx) to take advantage of this with a single device. Or maybe you plan to buy a gaggle of Moto Gs?
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