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All who purchase an iPhone before 7/11 subsidized?

D

dgouldin

macrumors member
Original poster
May 23, 2008
52
0
From the video shown here:

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6158&cat=32&u=621

If you purchased an original iPhone prior to July 11th, you're automatically eligible to upgrade to iPhone 3G at the $199 price plus an $18 upgrade fee.
Click to expand...

I cannot find this in writing anywhere. I have an iPhone I purchased refurbished through AT&T's online store on May 21st that has not been activated. I'm currently "upgrade eligible" in October, but I'd certainly activate the iPhone I have for a few days if it meant the certainty of getting the subsidized price. Can anybody find this claim in writing on AT&T's site?
 
Niiro13 said:
Wait, what's the difference between in writing and in video? :confused:

The video is from AT&T...
Click to expand...

Apparently there is at least some difference.

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iphone-info.jsp (under Common Questions, What will I pay for iPhone 3G?)

If you are upgrade eligible and your account is in good standing, you will pay $199 for 8GB (black) and $299 for 16GB (black or white). Two-year contract required.

You have the option to purchase an early upgrade priced at $399 for 8GB (black) or $499 for 16GB (black or white). Two-year contract required. Coming soon, AT&T will offer a no-commitment option of $599 for 8GB and $699 for 16GB.
Click to expand...

That sure doesn't sound like the same thing to me. Bottom line is I don't trust some marketing video and I don't trust CSR reps. I've been screwed over by AT&T before on technicalities, and if activating my current iPhone now isn't going to get me a subsidized 3g, I'd rather just wait until October.
 
Guess I just have to decide if it's worth the gamble to trust they didn't lie in their video?
 
I am wondering the same thing. I am NOT eligible for an upgrade at the moment and after speaking with ATT on the phone, the store may be able to waive the requirement b/c I am due for an upgrade in 8/08 for one line on my account. Then I got to thinking...if they WON'T waive it and I have to fork over $499 for a 3g iphone, aren't I better off buying a 1g iphone on craiglists for $250 (not unlocked of course...but that doesn't matter...I'm with ATT) and then getting the subsidized $299 price? In essence I would have 2 iphones for $549 or just one for $499 (albeit one of them is 1g...yes, the mrs. would get that one :) )

Anybody see anything wrong with this reasoning?
 
dgouldin said:
I cannot find this in writing anywhere. I have an iPhone I purchased refurbished through AT&T's online store on May 21st that has not been activated. I'm currently "upgrade eligible" in October, but I'd certainly activate the iPhone I have for a few days if it meant the certainty of getting the subsidized price. Can anybody find this claim in writing on AT&T's site?
Click to expand...

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=25883

iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:

iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
Customers activating a new line with AT&T
Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount​
 
jplan2008 said:
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=25883

iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:

iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
Customers activating a new line with AT&T
Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount​
Click to expand...

Wonderful! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much!
 
dgouldin said:
Wonderful! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much!
Click to expand...

That "iPhone customers who purchased before July 11"

I'd make sure that means you have to have an activated iPhone account for that to work. Walking in on the 11th with a iPhone in hand they might laugh saying you are not eligible because your account doesn't say you have one active.
 
TimothyB said:
That "iPhone customers who purchased before July 11"

I'd make sure that means you have to have an activated iPhone account for that to work. Walking in on the 11th with a iPhone in hand they might laugh saying you are not eligible because your account doesn't say you have one active.
Click to expand...

Well sure, I had assumed that part. I can now tell you from firsthand experience that this works. I activated an iPhone just now and checked my upgrade status online not 20 minutes later. It has changed to reflect eligibility for subsidy. This iPhone hasn't been activated on anybody else's account, so I'm not sure what will happen to those handing around 1 iPhone to multiple people to activate, but I can confirm near instant change in eligibility when activating a new iPhone.
 
so the question now is. if i have a random phone and borrow a friends iphone, put in the 3g simcard i already have in my little nokia, sync it up to my imac and activate a plan, does this mess up my friends service when he replaces his sim card back in to his iphone.
if this works people could simply borrow and iphone, sign up. take their card out and go to att on the 11th and no problemo.......i PRAY this is the fact...so who is gonna try it out? :)
 
jrcsh6 said:
so the question now is. if i have a random phone and borrow a friends iphone, put in the 3g simcard i already have in my little nokia, sync it up to my imac and activate a plan, does this mess up my friends service when he replaces his sim card back in to his iphone.
if this works people could simply borrow and iphone, sign up. take their card out and go to att on the 11th and no problemo.......i PRAY this is the fact...so who is gonna try it out? :)
Click to expand...

me. Ill have an iphone v1 by Monday, and ill update the posting...
 
If your not eligible wouldn't it be cheaper to cancel your plan and pay the cancellation fee? I don't know what it is but if you were planning to get the 16GB seems like it would be cheaper than $200.
 
QuietFun said:
If your not eligible wouldn't it be cheaper to cancel your plan and pay the cancellation fee? I don't know what it is but if you were planning to get the 16GB seems like it would be cheaper than $200.
Click to expand...

If you are still on a plan, and have to pay the full price, $399, then I don't think there's an $18 fee, as it's not an upgrade, at least I hope there isn't. So it's basically $199 more.

While, canceling the plan would result in a $175 fee. Seems cheaper. But then you possible need to wait a month before being allowed to sigh up again, and then since it's a new activation, there may be a full $36 fee.

So just paying the higher price and no fee yields $199 extra. Yet compared to canceling, possibly waiting, and after activation and ETF, the total may be of $211.

Yet, overall, might be better for me to buy a used 4gb iPhone for $199, then activate it, then pay only $199 for the new iPhone, so I pay the same extra $199, but now I have two iPhones.
 
I can confirm that letting a friend borrow an iPhone makes them eligible for an upgrade, and does not mess up your iPhone in the process. Your friend just has to put their SIM card in your iPhone, activate the iPhone on their account, then put your SIM card in the iPhone. I just did this using my mom's SIM card and my iPhone, and she is now eligible for an upgrade.
 
I just bought a 1st gen today off Craigslist, and upon activation my upgrade status instantly changed online from being eligible for equipment discount next March to being currently eligible, so we've found the workaround. Just sell the 1st gen phone to get that money back or maybe even profit if you get a good deal. Makes more sense than paying the ETF.

It really works! BTW, you should put your current SIM card in the iPhone, not get a new one at the store. If that was the past method, it's not what AT&T is saying now, and my current SIM worked fine and I was able to keep my number.
 
gamerply5 said:
I can confirm that letting a friend borrow an iPhone makes them eligible for an upgrade, and does not mess up your iPhone in the process. Your friend just has to put their SIM card in your iPhone, activate the iPhone on their account, then put your SIM card in the iPhone. I just did this using my mom's SIM card and my iPhone, and she is now eligible for an upgrade.
Click to expand...

could you step by step put down what you did. my concern is borrowing my friends iphone to activate on my computer and account. when i give him the iphone back will there be any problem when he returns his sim to his phone. what did you encounter after getting your mom's activated? what happened when you plugged it back into the computer or when you rebooted the iphone?
thanks
 
gamerply5 said:
I can confirm that letting a friend borrow an iPhone makes them eligible for an upgrade, and does not mess up your iPhone in the process. Your friend just has to put their SIM card in your iPhone, activate the iPhone on their account, then put your SIM card in the iPhone. I just did this using my mom's SIM card and my iPhone, and she is now eligible for an upgrade.
Click to expand...

Can you check and see if this made your account uneligible for an upgrade? What I mean is by making your moms account eligible, did your account become not eligible anymore?
 
My account is still eligible for an upgrade.

Here's a step-by-step.
1. Connect your iPhone to your computer to back up.
2. Eject your sim and put in your friend's.
3. Connect your iPhone, with your friend's sim card, to a computer and activate as normal.
4. Eject your friend's sim card and put in yours.
 
gamerply5 said:
My account is still eligible for an upgrade.

Here's a step-by-step.
1. Connect your iPhone to your computer to back up.
2. Eject your sim and put in your friend's.
3. Connect your iPhone, with your friend's sim card, to a computer and activate as normal.
4. Eject your friend's sim card and put in yours.
Click to expand...
Yes it will work, but only until July 10. If you have a valid iPhone voice / data plan combination on your line of service, it will show you as "Upgrade Eligible" in OLAM and you will receive the $199/$299 price. On July 11 the loophole will be closed. As of July 11, when you activate the current iPhone, you will not be "Upgrade Eligible" for the new iPhone 3G. AT&T is promoting a plan where you do a "hand-it-down" of your current iPhone. They are considering this a benefit. As an example here is the link to the document that covers how to move your contacts to you new iPhone and what to with your current iPhone.

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-pho...r_Contacts.pdf
 
TimothyB said:
If you are still on a plan, and have to pay the full price, $399, then I don't think there's an $18 fee, as it's not an upgrade, at least I hope there isn't. So it's basically $199 more.

While, canceling the plan would result in a $175 fee. Seems cheaper. But then you possible need to wait a month before being allowed to sigh up again, and then since it's a new activation, there may be a full $36 fee.

So just paying the higher price and no fee yields $199 extra. Yet compared to canceling, possibly waiting, and after activation and ETF, the total may be of $211.

Yet, overall, might be better for me to buy a used 4gb iPhone for $199, then activate it, then pay only $199 for the new iPhone, so I pay the same extra $199, but now I have two iPhones.
Click to expand...
Note that $399 is not the full price, it is a discounted price for current AT&T customers that are not "Upgrade Eligible". It is referred to as an "Early Upgrade" and you will pay the $18 upgrade activation fee. Link: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iphone-info.jsp

If you cancel your plan and pay an ETF, you have (2) problems; you lose your phone number and you are not considered a "New" customer for 90 days.
 
cryo said:
I just bought a 1st gen today off Craigslist, and upon activation my upgrade status instantly changed online from being eligible for equipment discount next March to being currently eligible, so we've found the workaround. Just sell the 1st gen phone to get that money back or maybe even profit if you get a good deal. Makes more sense than paying the ETF.

It really works! BTW, you should put your current SIM card in the iPhone, not get a new one at the store. If that was the past method, it's not what AT&T is saying now, and my current SIM worked fine and I was able to keep my number.
Click to expand...

If that's true, then might this not be a problem for the person selling the iPhone and hoping to have the cheaper price on the 11th?
 
Sobe said:
If that's true, then might this not be a problem for the person selling the iPhone and hoping to have the cheaper price on the 11th?
Click to expand...

It really doesn't make sense why AT&T would keep track of serial numbers associated with individual phone numbers. If they had originally intended to use that information (and really only for THIS purpose) from the launch last summer they might have done it. Just like any other major corporation, they were almost certainly not thinking too far ahead of the current product launch (iPhone 2G). But with all of the iPhone's out there now and all of the potential uproar arguing with all the current iPhone customers who already sold their iPhones in anticipation of this launch, it is highly unlikely that (even if AT&T did keep track of such data) they would use it to disqualify anyone for an upgrade. They are making a killing off of the new iPhone as is and they don't really need the extra 200 dollars to make this whole system work (regardless of what anyone might preach about my naive understanding of business, I am beginning to think there are some ATT people posting here). If it was that big of a deal for them, then this loophole would not exist. I guess that is probably what frustrates me the most about this whole situation, aside from the "normalizing" of their data rates to conform with other 3G devices.
 
kevhed007 said:
I am NOT eligible for an upgrade at the moment and after speaking with ATT on the phone, the store may be able to waive the requirement b/c I am due for an upgrade in 8/08 for one line on my account.
Click to expand...

From what I read there will be NO waiving of the early upgrade price 399/499 for customers not eligible for the 199/299 pricing. Seems like ATT is being pretty strict on this one and could terminate reps not following the procedures.
 
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