A fun call to AT&T

[Hammer God]

Me to AT&T: Hey, my 3GS earpiece appears to be damaged. I can't hear callers at all. I either need to fix it ($60) or replace the whole phone. My early upgrade pricing for an IP4 doesn't kick in till February 21, which is five weeks away. Any chance you guys could offer me that pricing now so that I could replace my non-working phone with a new IP4? (Oh, by the way, you, AT&T, would then be able to lock me into a new 2 year contract.)

AT&T: Can you hold on? (Hold music) Okay, I'm back. Yeah. No. Maybe try buying a cheap Go phone to use for five weeks.

Me: Really, you're cool with me having options in February?

AT&T: Wish I could help you, but yeah, we're good. Have I answered all of your questions?

Me: Actually yes, you have.

Click.

I'm not complaining or anything, but I wouldn't have minded if they'd helped me out a little bit here. I was pretty much all, "Hey I'd like to be locked into a new two year contract. Whatya say?" Oh well.

 

[johndallas999]

Same for me. My 3GS was dead and I can renew on March 3rd but they flat out refused to let me upgrade early. I was kind of surprised as well they wouldn't do a 6 week early renewal to lock me in for 2 more years but they couldn't care less. I'm using a crappy blackberry i had laying around for now. Man, BB's are so damn boring.

 

[saving107]

Are you planning on switching to Verizon in February? if not, it looks like AT&T called your bluff.

 

[barkingDog]

An oft repeated suggestion:

Try calling again and maybe a different rep. would be more inclined to help you.

EDIT: Nvmd; others seem to have hit the same brick wall.

 

[Rooftop voter]

Well, you now have another option.

 

[Hammer God]

Are you planning on switching to Verizon in February? if not, it looks like AT&T called your bluff.

I wouldn't say I was bluffing per se. Nor was I threatening. I genuinely hoped that they would help me out. In the end, I'll probably stay with AT&T.

But if I go the route of investing $60 to fix it for now, then I'll for sure be more likely to wait till my contract expires completely in June, at which point I can buy anything I want.

I just thought maybe they would see some value in locking me in now for another two years, versus allowing me to get to the end of the contract and become a free agent. Not blaming them.

Just thought is was an interesting insight as to how much flexibility they have in situations like this.

 

[Dalton63841]

LOL WOW! Back when I used to have a cell phone I had Sprint, and they would've sold me their soul to keep me...I once went 3 months without a bill because I couldn't afford to pay it and they were just like, "Hey, don't worry, you'll get caught up!" And they never even cut off my service.

 

[Apple OC]

Me to AT&T: Hey, my 3GS earpiece appears to be damaged. I can't hear callers at all. I either need to fix it ($60) or replace the whole phone. My early upgrade pricing for an IP4 doesn't kick in till February 21, which is five weeks away. Any chance you guys could offer me that pricing now so that I could replace my non-working phone with a new IP4? (Oh, by the way, you, AT&T, would then be able to lock me into a new 2 year contract.)

AT&T: Can you hold on? (Hold music) Okay, I'm back. Yeah. No. Maybe try buying a cheap Go phone to use for five weeks.

Me: Really, you're cool with me having options in February?

AT&T: Wish I could help you, but yeah, we're good. Have I answered all of your questions?

Me: Actually yes, you have.

Click.

I'm not complaining or anything, but I wouldn't have minded if they'd helped me out a little bit here. I was pretty much all, "Hey I'd like to be locked into a new two year contract. Whatya say?" Oh well.

The guy is probably fed up with people calling and saying ... what will you guys do for me? ... you know I have options?

 

[Aatos.1]

I'm a customer of AT&T as well as Verizon.

It's been my experience that if one rep won't help, it's very easy & worthwhile to call again. Let's face it these are huge companies & not every employee is accommodating. I have no complaints with either company if I use patience & courtesy.

 

[IBradMac]

Are you planning on switching to Verizon in February? if not, it looks like AT&T called your bluff.

That is how I read into it.

 

[braddick]

You will need to fix it either way if you plan on selling it.

 

[possumwater]

I wouldn't say I was bluffing per se. Nor was I threatening. I genuinely hoped that they would help me out. In the end, I'll probably stay with AT&T.

But if I go the route of investing $60 to fix it for now, then I'll for sure be more likely to wait till my contract expires completely in June, at which point I can buy anything I want.

I just thought maybe they would see some value in locking me in now for another two years, versus allowing me to get to the end of the contract and become a free agent. Not blaming them.

Just thought is was an interesting insight as to how much flexibility they have in situations like this.

You answered you own question with this post. You cant leave them till june...so you most likely will upgrade your phone and be locked into a new contract in a month. You cant (without paying a fee) leave them till June and they know that you wont settle with a busted phone till then...

 

[Aatos.1]

That is how I read into it.

The rep on the line has no interest either way. There's no need to assume they're out to get you.

 

[tigress666]

The guy is probably fed up with people calling and saying ... what will you guys do for me? ... you know I have options?

I gotta agree. That was the first thing that went through my head. Honestly, working retail, I hate it when people try to pull the, "I'm never shopping here again!" card. Because honestly, all it makes me want to say is, "Promise?"

 

[Goldinboy17]

Me to AT&T: Hey, my 3GS earpiece appears to be damaged. I can't hear callers at all. I either need to fix it ($60) or replace the whole phone. My early upgrade pricing for an IP4 doesn't kick in till February 21, which is five weeks away.

Me: Really, you're cool with me having options in February?

I'm not complaining or anything, but I wouldn't have minded if they'd helped me out a little bit here. I was pretty much all, "Hey I'd like to be locked into a new two year contract. Whatya say?" Oh well.

Technically, you won't have 'options' in February. That's just when your early upgrade pricing will be available. You'd still have the remainder of your contract which is like what, a year?

 

[tcphoto]

I would call again and ask them for an upgrade after fully explaining your problem. If they give you the same response, I would fix the phone and port your number as soon as you possibly can without a fee.

 

[Applejuiced]

Why would they move your upgrade date?
You signed a contract and there's specific dates that you can upgrade or early upgrade your device.
Just because its damaged it doesnt mean that they have to give you another subsidy before its due. If its still under Applecare you can probably have it replaced but if not you'd have to figure something out for 5 weeks or so.
You know how many people probably call them asking for another subsidy cause they broke their phone, lost it or got stolen and expect AT&T to give them freebies and not go by the agreement they have with you just so you dont get mad or leave them.
Same thing most carriers will tell you anyway.

 

[Chaos123x]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Take it to the apple store they might feel generous and swap out for free. They always do for me.

 

[Pink∆Floyd]

I think I missed what was "fun"...

 

[themadrussian]

Have you taken it to the Apple Store yet? Just be very nice to them, explain that your earpiece died through no fault of your own. They are very often willing to replace parts or phones, even out of warranty. You would be surprised. Especially since it's a 3GS, they might be more lenient.

I've gotten out-of-warranty parts and devices replaced multiple times, with no charge. If it's just recently out of warranty or if it's a "defect" they are more willing to be kind and replace it. You could also get some sympathy by explaining that you are not able to get a new phone at upgrade pricing (don't tell them how soon) and that you really need this phone to work (don't mention replacement, they will offer it if they feel like it).

 

[iceterminal]

From what I've read, the people on the phone really can't do any upgrades anymore. That you can go to an AT&T store and they might do it.
But the phone rep's have their hands tied now.

And thats exactly what my wife did. She called, they said "Sorry, nothing we can do any more on the phones. They've taken away that ability from us." Then the nice AT&T lady said "Go to a store, be nice, and they'll probably upgrade you. They have the power to do it and they work on commission too".
So my wife went up there, acted cute, got an immediate upgrade to the 4.

SO if you REALLY want to upgrade now, go to an AT&T store. The worst they could do is say no.

 

[macsrcool1234]

I called to ask about my ETF's last night as im considering going to Verizon.

Anyways, she ended up asking why I was going and I informed her about heavy dropped calls. She asked if i've heard of the microcell and I told her yes but I couldn't justify paying so much money from my own pocket to improve signal.

She then told me that the stores were giving them away for free to people who complained. I haven't had time to go to a store yet as im at work. It sounds ridiculous but anybody want to give it a try? .

 

[applefanDrew]

You could wait til June and get the iPhone 4S (5).

 

[Stealthipad]

A lot of you AT&T customers got so much bad to say about AT&T. I got friends who use Verizon and they say they are not a lot better. One will be leaving the big V and heading to AT&T and the other said that both carriers are about the same and he will go with the one with the best deal.

I am willing to bet that many of you will hate Verizon soon, too! Carriers are very competitive and can offer you only so much to stay. Each knows that there will always be churn.

 

[wordoflife]

I bet AT&T would give you an upgrade if you threatened to move to Verizon and buy an iPhone from them.