My call to AT&T

[WannaApple?]

Just wanted to give everyone my experience with calling AT&T a few minutes ago. Spoke to a woman by the name of Jessica C. who pulled up the info that Apple sent them. She read off that:

1) Everyone will be eligible to purchase an iphone, whether or not you are upgrade eligible. Purchase of the iphone negates any existing contract length. A new 2 year contract will start from the date of purchase

2) You may activate the phone in store to add the data plan to accounts if you dont have one already, but you can also activate at home. So, it seems like in-store activation is not mandatory.

3) Price will be $199/ $299 for everyone!

I was worried after reading some of the other posts that I wouldnt be able to get one at all, or would have to pay a higher price, so just thought I would share my personal experience phone call.

 

[iNikon]

Great, don't we all know this already?

Just wanted to give everyone my experience with calling AT&T a few minutes ago. Spoke to a woman by the name of Jessica C. who pulled up the info that Apple sent them. She read off that:

1) Everyone will be eligible to purchase an iphone, whether or not you are upgrade eligible. Purchase of the iphone negates any existing contract length. A new 2 year contract will start from the date of purchase

2) You may activate the phone in store to add the data plan to accounts if you dont have one already, but you can also activate at home. So, it seems like in-store activation is not mandatory.

3) Price will be $199/ $299 for everyone!

I was worried after reading some of the other posts that I wouldnt be able to get one at all, or would have to pay a higher price, so just thought I would share my personal experience phone call.

 

[parham55]

Hope that is true. We will find out on July 11th.

 

[SleepyHead157]

Just wanted to give everyone my experience with calling AT&T a few minutes ago. Spoke to a woman by the name of Jessica C. who pulled up the info that Apple sent them. She read off that:

1) Everyone will be eligible to purchase an iphone, whether or not you are upgrade eligible. Purchase of the iphone negates any existing contract length. A new 2 year contract will start from the date of purchase

2) You may activate the phone in store to add the data plan to accounts if you dont have one already, but you can also activate at home. So, it seems like in-store activation is not mandatory.

3) Price will be $199/ $299 for everyone!

I was worried after reading some of the other posts that I wouldnt be able to get one at all, or would have to pay a higher price, so just thought I would share my personal experience phone call.

that sounds good, hopefully i dont have to add the data plan... thats the hurdle for me

 

[lindsayanng]

why would you get an iphone with no data plan?

 

[WannaApple?]

Great, don't we all know this already?

Not necessarily...some of the latest reports I have been reading is that you HAVE to be upgrade eligible to get a phone at all. Or the other report is that you will pay a heck of a lot more for one if not. This woman read directly from the Apple memo to them, so I'm much more optimistic now.

 

[dibara2003]

So you could theoretically get a new subsidized phone and sell it before you get an iPhone, like before. Good deal, I'm even more tempted to get an iPhone now.

 

[frosse]

2) You may activate the phone in store to add the data plan to accounts if you dont have one already, but you can also activate at home. So, it seems like in-store activation is not mandatory.

If you dont activate at the store they'll prolly force you to sign a paper or whatever to keep you from not activating at home.

 

[djransom]

why would you get an iphone with no data plan?

I can't understand that for the life of me either, but I guesss some people have 24/7 access to WIFI and don't feel the need to pay for data

 

[lilmitchmitch]

I was also scared that I wasn't going to be able to purchase a phone or have to pay a higher price due to the fact that I am not upgrade eligible. So today I decided to go into my AT&T store and see if any they could tell me anything. The guy there had no information, but said that the $199/299 price was for upgrade eligible customers only, and no other pricing information had been released yet.

This is what I've been reading all over, but this thread definitely cheered me up a bit. Everyone should be able to buy the phone for the $199/299 price, and I hope that's how it will be in 4 weeks.

 

[bacaramac]

MY Call with Local AT&T Store

I purposely purchased the current gen 16Gb iPhone on 6/10 from my local AT&T store as it was the last one and didn't want to chance not being able to buy the new one. I just called my local store and once again asked them about the new iPhone and customers that bought phone after 5/27. He said that I can return the current one up to 8/1 less restocking fee (500-10%) and purchase new one for 300 price tag. I also asked about giving my brother the current gen one and asked if they could activate in store on his line since it is a family plan. He said no, only the 3G can be activated in the store and the gen 1 has to be done via iTunes.

Do you guys think there is a hardware feature that will block unlocking of iPhone? I could see this as it would be very difficult to unlock and prevent everyone and their brother from doing it. Only the few people that are comfortable with hardware hacking would make this possible.

Just a thought.

EDIT: I also verified this return policy at another store face to face (the one where I bought he 16Gb from). This call was to another store as I wanted to make sure I got the same info.

 

[1Zach1]

I can't understand that for the life of me either, but I guesss some people have 24/7 access to WIFI and don't feel the need to pay for data

If you have access to Wifi 24/7 why pay for a cell phone at all? Wouldn't it make more sense to use a hardline or a VoIP company?

 

[saxamoophone]

who pulled up the info that Apple sent them.

Hopefully such memo would be leaked online soon then! Not that I don't trust you, but, physical evidence would be great to put my mind at ease .

Everyone will be eligible to purchase an iphone, whether or not you are upgrade eligible. Purchase of the iphone negates any existing contract length. A new 2 year contract will start from the date of purchase

Very excellent!

Matches exactly what we heard here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=240&tag=btxcsim

 

[saxamoophone]

If you have access to Wifi 24/7 why pay for a cell phone at all? Wouldn't it make more sense to use a hardline or a VoIP company?

Yeah, and just get a iPod-Touch instead.....

or save some money and get a 2G iphone.

 

[GooGleit15]

Wow I am really surprised by this, since it states that the iphone price is for "qualified costumers only". Don’t you think that if the prices were for everyone, that wouldn’t have put that???

 

[ipodtouchy333]

I really hope this is true...........

 

[SFStateStudent]

I was worried after reading some of the other posts that I wouldnt be able to get one at all, or would have to pay a higher price, so just thought I would share my personal experience phone call.

Great post, thanks! It may seem like all the others, but I appreciated it 110%.

 

[Michael CM1]

If you have access to Wifi 24/7 why pay for a cell phone at all? Wouldn't it make more sense to use a hardline or a VoIP company?

1) Nobody has "24/7 WiFi access" unless they are a hermit. That access is also likely in two places, home & work. Maybe you can't use VoIP at work or don't trust a technology that young (and nowhere near as portable).

2) The 3G iPhone is cheaper than an iPod Touch.

3) Having both an iPod and cell phone is one more thing to lose. I mainly wanted an iPhone as a combo iPod/cell phone. If they had a WiFi-only plan (just voice), I'd be all on that. I rarely use the data other than for e-mail downloads.

(some of this was addressing other posts as well)

 

[saxamoophone]

Wow I am really surprised by this, since it states that the iphone price is for "qualified costumers only". Don’t you think that if the prices were for everyone, that wouldn’t have put that???

Well if you have to sign up for AT&T @ the store now, that requires a credit check and everything. So you could still get denied the AT&T approval and hence, be denied an iPhone.

 

[newyorksole]

Why the hell would Apple advertise a $200 and $300 iPhone and they not cost that? People are saying the phones in actuality are $400 and $500... what in the world...

 

[NAG]

Current iPhones start at $400. The new iPhone 3G starts at $200. The iPhone 3G is most likely subsidized in some way. We do not know the details of this subsidy so anyone throwing around numbers above the $200 and $300 price points is making things up.

 

[BOSS10L]

I can't understand that for the life of me either, but I guesss some people have 24/7 access to WIFI and don't feel the need to pay for data

If that is the case, then they should be using an iPod Touch instead, no?

 

[Chrisrokc]

All this talk is exactly like last year. Everyone and their dog was saying "oh you can't buy an iphone at all unless you have an upgrade available". That turned out to be total BS.

I don't think Steve Jobs would have given those low prices if they were not for everyone. If it was not for everyone he would have said so. Apple sets the price of the phone, AT&T says we will pick up X amount of the bill for each one sold. So it isn't that the full price wasn't ever figured out it is just that no one is going to have to pay full price so why say well it was 500 but now it is 300 because of AT&T.


Anyways, it is right around the corner...

 

[patrick92260]

All this talk is exactly like last year. Everyone and their dog was saying "oh you can't buy an iphone at all unless you have an upgrade available". That turned out to be total BS.

I don't think Steve Jobs would have given those low prices if they were not for everyone. If it was not for everyone he would have said so. Apple sets the price of the phone, AT&T says we will pick up X amount of the bill for each one sold. So it isn't that the full price wasn't ever figured out it is just that no one is going to have to pay full price so why say well it was 500 but now it is 300 because of AT&T.


Anyways, it is right around the corner...

I totally agree. Look at it like this as well; Jobs said the main reason for the price drop was to get the iPhone in the hands of people who don't have them because they were too expensive. IE, these are the same people who are currently with at&t or other carriers using cheap subsidized phones and who most likely would not be near the end of their contract to upgrade. Just a thought.

 

[esvienne]

I too, sold my iphone because I'm a student on a limited budget, and wanted to keep what I made for the new I-phone. The 3G for me is worth it because I'm sick of dragging my laptop everywhere and the convenience of 3G is worth it to me. I must admit, I was sad to part with my phone. Aesthetically, I do like the look of the firs gen, but I know the better reception and 3g will be worth it, as both my school's city (Orlando FL) and my home city (Saratoga NY) are 3g areas. Anyways (i'm not sure why I shared all that information) I called ATT as well today because I started reading the frantic rumors on here about not being able to get the 199/299 price, as well as upgrade issues etc. I talked personally for about 10 minutes to the ATT representative and he specifically told me, with no hesitation, that there will be a rebate offered to people who bought the first gen after late may (don't remember the exact date but I think it's posted on here somewhere) but otherwise, upgradable or not, everyone will pay the 199/299. The phones will not be unsubsidized if you are not eligible for the upgrade. I'm not eligible until august and he said that I can't get the discount but I do get the 199/299 price; as will everybody. I just figured I would share my experience as well so maybe it will halt alot of the silly talk. I know alot of people are anxious because they sold their first gen iphones, and (like me) are sporting some horrific dinosaur of a phone for a month, but fear not. I'm pretty confident that there won't be any strings other than extending your contract and the higher base plan. I've noticed some people on here are vicious for saying what the reps have told them and get attacked. Pleeeeeeeeease don't attack, just sharing my two cents.