Does any know how to get rid of that ****** $18 Activation fee? AT&T is just stealing out money here it costs them nothing to activate a new phone.
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$18 Activation Fee
- Thread starter aweber5389
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Holy cow, that reminds me. I just paid $10 to see the Batman movie and I left the theater with nothing in my hands!
The theater stole my money!
Or...maybe I thought seeing the movie was worth $10. And maybe people think getting an iPhone is worth $18.
They charge $18 because people seem to think getting an iPhone is worth paying another $18 for. As soon as we stop buying the phone, they'll drop it.
The theater stole my money!
Or...maybe I thought seeing the movie was worth $10. And maybe people think getting an iPhone is worth $18.
They charge $18 because people seem to think getting an iPhone is worth paying another $18 for. As soon as we stop buying the phone, they'll drop it.
If the following is true then u might have a point:
The guy that activates the phone doesn't get payed while he's activating it. Plus he pays for rent/utilities proportional to the amount of time and space you use while activating the phone for you.
Call up customer service and ask them t remove it. A lot of people have had success doing this.
I had my $36.00 fee removed.
I had my $36.00 fee removed.
Dial 611
Speak to a CS Rep
Ask to have them waive your upgrade/activation fee
They should credit your account for 18+tax
At least that worked for me, maybe you just need to get a rep that isn't having a bad day or actually knows what he/she is doing.
Speak to a CS Rep
Ask to have them waive your upgrade/activation fee
They should credit your account for 18+tax
At least that worked for me, maybe you just need to get a rep that isn't having a bad day or actually knows what he/she is doing.
This charge surprised the hell outta me, quite frankly.
I've NEVER had a carrier charge me an activation fee for updating my phone on an existing line of service. Over the years, I've had accounts with Suncom, T-Mobile, Alltel, and Verizon and this has never occurred before.
AT&T is really grating on my last nerve lately. At some point, putting up with their less than stellar network and nickel-and-dime pricing is just not going to be worthwhile, regardless of how nice the iPhone is.
I plan on calling in to ask for it to be waived once the bill comes in.
I've NEVER had a carrier charge me an activation fee for updating my phone on an existing line of service. Over the years, I've had accounts with Suncom, T-Mobile, Alltel, and Verizon and this has never occurred before.
AT&T is really grating on my last nerve lately. At some point, putting up with their less than stellar network and nickel-and-dime pricing is just not going to be worthwhile, regardless of how nice the iPhone is.
I plan on calling in to ask for it to be waived once the bill comes in.
I just asked to have it waived, but he replied with "This is with your FAN discount, correct?" So naturally, I said "Yeah" and it was taken care of. It didn't matter what he said as long as I had it waived.
Then consider yourself lucky. The fee is pretty common these days across all of the major carriers. T-Mobile is probably still the exception, but then they're dead last among the Tier 1's, so that's probably why.
There is some truth that the $18 isn't just a because-we-can fee. There are actual costs involved to upgrading or activating a phone: the sales rep has to get paid, there's store overhead costs, and even the SIM card in the phone costs AT&T some cash. Does that all amount to $18? Probably not, but they're also factoring in that some people will call and ask for a credit, while most won't be bothered.
So return the phone. You got 30 days.
You don't have to wait. You can call before the bill comes in (in fact that would probably be better).
Boohoo, it's only $18. They also were supposed to tell you about it the day you bought your iPhone 3g.
So lemme get this straight: I simply call customer service and casually tell them to remove said fee and they'll just do it? Never heard of that happening before. I assume this only works if you're porting over your # from another service or extending an existing AT&T account yes?
Sounds like a mail-in rebate, where you can save money if you're one of the <1% of the population that has the time and patience to go through the motions.
Sounds like a mail-in rebate, where you can save money if you're one of the <1% of the population that has the time and patience to go through the motions.
I think the fee is funny. GSM's claim to fame was the SIM's you could use any phone you wanted all you had to do was swap SIMs. No activation needed. So what does Apple do? Make you activate the phone anyways. If one didn't know better you would think it is like CDMA's ESN swapping (that at least Sprint used to let you do for free). Of course AT&T has the right to charge you, and you have the right to complain. It is almost as though Apple uses a SIM cause GSM requires them to, not because they feel that the technology is actually worth taking advantage of.
I came to AT&T from Verizon this past October, and as of then, they weren't charging activation fees on existing lines simply for upgrading your handset. Most carriers encourage their customers to upgrade - they want to keep you as a customer and renew your contract. Charging a fee to do so is not a particularly good way to encourage this.
No doubt, but from a customer satisfaction standpoint, it makes little sense to me. It's the cost of doing business, don't charge me just because I want to stick with your company and pay you more money every month.
Call up AT&T CSR and ask them to waive it. I did that today and they took off the $18 from my bill(haven't paid my bill yet.)
I switched to AT&T about 2 and a half years ago. I forget what Verizon was going to charge me for an activation fee to get a new contract with them, but it was a lot more than $18. I think it was about as much as the activation fee for AT&T was, and I didn't get very good reception in most places, which is why I switched. Contract activation fees are nothing new. And that's what you're paying for, activating the new contract, not because you're buying a new phone.
Try to have the fee waived. I think the OP is going a bit overboard by saying AT&T is stealing money for doing something that doesnt cost any money.
Anybody in business knows that there is a huge cost associated with adding a new customer.
Lets see I just moved from Dallas to Atlanta and bought a house. I paid account set-up fees to: the water company, power company, gas company, and DishTV. I was not happy about it but I understand that is how companies manage the cost (advertising, marketing, etc) associated with adding customers.
If it really bothers you then try to get it waived. it is that simple. It is not as if you werent told in advance that these fees would be charged to you.
Anybody in business knows that there is a huge cost associated with adding a new customer.
Lets see I just moved from Dallas to Atlanta and bought a house. I paid account set-up fees to: the water company, power company, gas company, and DishTV. I was not happy about it but I understand that is how companies manage the cost (advertising, marketing, etc) associated with adding customers.
If it really bothers you then try to get it waived. it is that simple. It is not as if you werent told in advance that these fees would be charged to you.
Fortunately in the UK, activation fees have become a thing of the past, but I remember paying £35.00 ($70) for phone activation in the past (10+ years ago), so $18.00 doesn't seem too unreasonable!
I don't think carriers in the UK charge an activation fee. Certainly not for an upgrade! They used to many years ago.
The sales rep has to get paid if he activates a phone or if he sits on his a55 all day so I'm not sure how valid that is. If I go into another retail store, they don't charge for serving me so why should AT&T?
Aside from the nominal cost of a sim card, everything else is just day to day operation and I can't see why anyone should be paying for that.
Seems crazy!?