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KylePowers

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 5, 2011
1,688
197
Reserved a white 32GB iPhone 5 last night using a family member's upgrade, drove an hour to go pick it up, turns out they couldn't do the upgrade swap without the other phone present. Their explanation:

"We can do it, but it deactivates their phone [momentarily, I think she implied], so without them here, it becomes a safety hazard."

She (the manager) made a point, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. I tried asking if we could just call my family member for permission, if we could just call AT&T, etc etc, but she wouldn't budge.

I thought it was weird because from what I've read on these boards, it seemed like it wouldn't be a hassle.

Oh well, guess I'll wait for my local AT&T to get some in stock :(
 

Tiptizzle

macrumors 6502
Apr 22, 2011
382
2
Reserved a white 32GB iPhone 5 last night using a family member's upgrade, drove an hour to go pick it up, turns out they couldn't do the upgrade swap without the other phone present. Their explanation:

"We can do it, but it deactivates their phone [momentarily, I think she implied], so without them here, it becomes a safety hazard."

She (the manager) made a point, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. I tried asking if we could just call my family member for permission, if we could just call AT&T, etc etc, but she wouldn't budge.

I thought it was weird because from what I've read on these boards, it seemed like it wouldn't be a hassle.

Oh well, guess I'll wait for my local AT&T to get some in stock :(

What if the phone was lost?
 

KylePowers

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 5, 2011
1,688
197
What if the phone was lost?
Good question, not sure at that point then.

Genius folks at Apple managed to accidentally activate the line it turns out, so now my family member's phone is deactivated. They say it takes 24 hours for the return process to complete and for the line eligibility to be updated in AT&T's system. Greeeattttt
 

ANMA dojo

macrumors regular
Mar 22, 2010
198
1
Reserved a white 32GB iPhone 5 last night using a family member's upgrade, drove an hour to go pick it up, turns out they couldn't do the upgrade swap without the other phone present. Their explanation:

"We can do it, but it deactivates their phone [momentarily, I think she implied], so without them here, it becomes a safety hazard."

She (the manager) made a point, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. I tried asking if we could just call my family member for permission, if we could just call AT&T, etc etc, but she wouldn't budge.

I thought it was weird because from what I've read on these boards, it seemed like it wouldn't be a hassle.

Oh well, guess I'll wait for my local AT&T to get some in stock :(
they can do it. stand your ground and insist they give to you. tell them you're aware that once they scan it, it will immediately deactivate the existing line. before picking up the iphone 5 I got under my mom's line, I simply called her before I picked it up, informing her that her sim card would stop working.
 

Oofie

macrumors regular
Jul 25, 2006
160
1
Bay Area, CA
They can do it for sure. I did it twice already, once on the 21st and once today. The line that Im using to upgrade is in San Diego and Im in the Bay Area. Only thing is, the line that I used to upgrade needed to go to an ATT store to get a new sim card.
 
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