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Getting around ATT Contracts??

F

farkasam

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2009
71
2
New York
Hi All,

I've been an ATT customer for almost 6 years. In September, my old piece of crap phone died and I bought an equally crappy Samsung Eternity at the ATT store to replace it, of course renewing my 2 year contract with them. Now, I'm ready to upgrade to the iphone, but of course I won't be eligible for the discounted phone prices until May of 2011! I've sent 2 emails to ATT reminding them of my loyalty as well as the fact that had my previous phone not failed, I'd be buying an iphone at the lower price now and renewing my contract too. They have said that they make no exceptions to this ridiculous rule. I don't understand how my wanting to pay them another $45/month as well as several hundred bucks for the device makes for a good business model. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get the iphone for the discounted price, or am I basically screwed??
Thanks for your help!
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
You're pretty much sol.
Loyal or not no company will let u get a discounted price when your account is not due for an upgrade.
You can add another line to your account for an
additional $10 a month and get the iPhone by signing a new 2 year agreement.
 
Knowlege Bomb

Knowlege Bomb

macrumors G4
Feb 14, 2008
10,198
8,833
US
farkasam said:
Hi All,

I've been an ATT customer for almost 6 years. In September, my old piece of crap phone died and I bought an equally crappy Samsung Eternity at the ATT store to replace it, of course renewing my 2 year contract with them. Now, I'm ready to upgrade to the iphone, but of course I won't be eligible for the discounted phone prices until May of 2011! I've sent 2 emails to ATT reminding them of my loyalty as well as the fact that had my previous phone not failed, I'd be buying an iphone at the lower price now and renewing my contract too. They have said that they make no exceptions to this ridiculous rule. I don't understand how my wanting to pay them another $45/month as well as several hundred bucks for the device makes for a good business model. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get the iphone for the discounted price, or am I basically screwed??
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Add a line to your account. You'll get the discounted price on the iPhone then you can do one of two things; pay $9.99 a month for two years or cancel the line.
 
F

farkasam

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2009
71
2
New York
eplchamps0305 said:
what are you complaining about, you already used your upgrade. Geez.
Click to expand...

Ummm, I fully admitted to not thinking this through, hoping for a loophole. Sometimes it's good not to be so satisfied with what the Company decides is fair for us, just a thought.
 
rKunda

rKunda

macrumors 68000
Jul 14, 2008
1,604
591
eplchamps0305 said:
what are you complaining about, you already used your upgrade. Geez.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. This gets so tiresome. Because it's AT&T anything goes, I guess. It wouldn't be fair for AT&T to say, "Suprise! We're extending your contract to 4 years!" Why do people feel no sense of obligation to fulfill their commitments?

You knew full well that you were signing up for a 2 year contract. Now you want out of it when it doesn't suit your preferences.

Sometimes it's good not to be so satisfied with what the Company decides is fair for us, just a thought.
Click to expand...

They didn't decide anything. You signed an agreement with them. Apparently, you thought it was fair, too.
 
ToroidalZeus

ToroidalZeus

macrumors 68020
Dec 8, 2009
2,301
875
It is 599 for a contract fee iphone + tax on that 599 so like 80+ dollars. Almost 700 for a phone.
It is 200 for a new contract iphone + tax and then 9.99 + fees each month for service x 24 is around = ~500 total.

So a new line is the cheaper option. Other then that i would say you could buy a 8gb 3g on ebay or craigslist for somewhere in the 200 range. Or if you know what you are doing, you can buy a broken iphone 3gs on ebay and get it repaired.
 
F

farkasam

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2009
71
2
New York
rKunda said:
Pretty much. This gets so tiresome. Because it's AT&T anything goes, I guess. It wouldn't be fair for AT&T to say, "Suprise! We're extending your contract to 4 years!" Why do people feel no sense of obligation to fulfill their commitments?

You knew full well that you were signing up for a 2 year contract. Now you want out of it when it doesn't suit your preferences.



They didn't decide anything. You signed an agreement with them. Apparently, you thought it was fair, too.
Click to expand...

The lines between what is actually fair (a subjective) and what is actually available (an objective) often fail to intersect. If you are content to fulfill monopolistic obligations by all means do so.
 
TSX

TSX

macrumors 68030
Oct 1, 2008
2,632
80
Texas
Look at your bill if theres a change in "terms of service" since you signed your contract this voids the contract, but they wont tell you that.
 
rjohnstone

rjohnstone

macrumors 68040
Dec 28, 2007
3,896
4,493
PHX, AZ.
farkasam said:
The lines between what is actually fair (a subjective) and what is actually available (an objective) often fail to intersect. If you are content to fulfill monopolistic obligations by all means do so.
Click to expand...
The contract YOU agreed to is pretty black and white. There's nothing "subjective" about it. It was fair enough for you to agree to it, so suck it up and either finish your obligation or pay up.

You admit you're looking for a loophole to break the contract that YOU agreed to.

I have a word to describe people with attitudes like yours, but it would get me banned. :rolleyes:
 
powerbook911

powerbook911

macrumors 68040
Mar 15, 2005
3,999
379
the make it a family account was a decent idea.

You add a line, get the discount on the iPhone.

Then you have them combine it into a family account. The old samsung doesn't require data plan, so you can have it for just $9.99 a month until the contract on that line ends.
 
F

farkasam

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2009
71
2
New York
rjohnstone said:
The contract YOU agreed to is pretty black and white. There's nothing "subjective" about it. It was fair enough for you to agree to it, so suck it up and either finish your obligation or pay up.

You admit you're looking for a loophole to break the contract that YOU agreed to.

I have a word to describe people with attitudes like yours, but it would get me banned. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Thank you for both missing the nuance of my argument as well as for the helpful information:D
By the way, that stats quote was likely coined by Charles Wentworth Dilke, not Disraeli. . .
 
P

pcs are junk

macrumors 65816
Sep 28, 2009
1,046
0
How to make my own apps not crash on my iPhone?

Hi guys, i was just messing around today, and well my iPhone is jailbroken, and i was able to ssh one of my apps on there, well it was just a testing app i guess, and it works on the simulator, but not on my iPhone. i was just wondering how to fix this. thanks in advance!
 
O

ozzyman500

macrumors 65816
Feb 4, 2009
1,413
0
Don't know if this makes a difference but the SDK isn't for jailbroken phones. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
P

pcs are junk

macrumors 65816
Sep 28, 2009
1,046
0
ozzyman500 said:
Don't know if this makes a difference but the SDK isn't for jailbroken phones. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

no i mean i SSHed it into the application folder, into the filesystem. it became an app where i couldnt delete it, just like apple's standard apps. it works fine on the simulator.
 
E

eplchamps0305

macrumors member
Dec 24, 2009
78
0
By the way OP if you want the iphone that bad , you can just buy it one ebay. You have to pay for what you want.
 
A

ashinaidu

macrumors newbie
Jan 16, 2010
1
0
PHP : Intergate Website as Iphone Application

Hello All,

I am very new to Iphone world and the concept. We have created website which would like to access on Iphone as application. We have created website using php and mysql.

The requirement is from Iphone user can login to website but should not allow user to update or add any information on website (server). User can see all the information stored on website (server).

If any can give any suggestions or comments regarding how to create Iphone application and how to allow user to access the server information and allow user to login to website on Iphone.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Ashok Naidu
 
tico24

tico24

macrumors 6502
Jun 17, 2007
480
2
Eastleigh, UK
Why don't you just put it on the correct way?
i.e. generate a mobileprovisions file and just use the iPhone Configuration Utility to install it.
 
T

The Gary

macrumors newbie
Mar 18, 2009
20
0
one other option:

You can cancel your AT&T contract and pay the $175 fee less $10 for every month you used it. You can then get the New customer deal on the iphone and be paying $200 plus maximum $175 so total is Max $375 far better than the cost of a phone without a new customer deal.
 
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