Google Jan. 15 pared the price of its Nexus One smartphone by $100 for existing T-Mobile subscribers. The Nexus One will cost all existing T-Mobile subscribers $279. T-Mobile customers with data plans who bought the Nexus One are being refunded the $100 difference. Google began selling the Nexus One Jan. 5 from its Webstore, a move that was supposed to give the company more control over sales of the device. Google hoped this model would be a launching pad for mobile advertising on its search engine and other Web services, but the company has been beset by customer service issues and outrage over its equipment recovery fee.
Google Jan. 15 pared the price of its
Nexus One smartphone by $100 for existing T-Mobile
subscribers, an olive branch for customers angered by dual early termination
fees and sluggish customer service.
Google sells the
Nexus One sans wireless service for $529, or with a
two-year service plan from T-Mobile. However, existing T-Mobile subscribers
with data plans were being charged $379 for the Nexus One and subscribers
without data plans were paying $279.
Now the Nexus One will cost all existing T-Mobile subscribers $279. T-Mobile
customers with data plans who bought the Nexus One are being refunded the $100
difference. The Android and Me blog captured a screenshot of the
refund in action here. A Google spokesperson told eWEEK:
"Previously there were two price points for those fully eligible for
T-Mobile upgrades. Those without data plans were paying $279 for the Nexus One,
and those with data plans were being charged $379. We worked with T-Mobile and
are now able to offer the higher upgrade discount to all existing fully
eligible T-Mobile subscribers. This price is now $279. Refunds will be granted
to all eligible subscribers who previously purchased the Nexus One at
$379."
The $100 refund is not available to T-Mobile customers who bought the phone
for $279.
Google began
selling the Nexus One Jan. 5 from its
Webstore, a move that was supposed to give the company more
control over sales of the device. Google hoped this model would be a launching
pad for mobile advertising on its search engine and other Web services.
Experts who warned this new road could be a rocky one were proven prescient;
one day after the Nexus One hit the market, customers
lit up Google's support forums with complaints about poor
3G service from T-Mobile and a few other issues.
Perhaps the most common of these concerns was the question of whom to turn
to for help: Google as the merchant of record, HTC
as the device maker or T-Mobile as the service provider.
That isn't the only issue bothering new Nexus One customers these days.
The Phandroid blog Jan. 11 read the fine print on Google's Terms of Sale for
the Nexus One and
found that consumers who buy a subsidized Nexus One through their
carrier and cancel the account before 120 days must pay Google an equipment recovery
fee on top of the early termination fee they would pay to their carrier.
The ERF is the difference between the full price of the Nexus handheld
device without service plan, which is $529, and the price of the subsidized
device, in this case $179 from T-Mobile. That means T-Mobile customers who buy
the Nexus One at the service price and cancel before four months have to pay
Google $350 for its ERF and pay T-Mobile $200 for its ETF.
Topping all of this off is that Google only
sold 20,000 Nexus One units in its first week, far below the first
week sales of the Motorola Droid and myTouch 3G Android phones.
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