Am I eligible for upgrade? personal -> corporate ->back

[enduro8]

I had a personal AT&T account since the iPhone 1. I always just kept my personal phone for work use and turned in my bills for reimbursement. The problem was I always forgot to submit the bills so mostly ended up paying my bills by hand.

So, when my personal iPhone 4 got stolen 3 weeks after i got it (1st day of launch) i talked to my IT department. They were able to port my number over and get me an iPhone. This was my only option as apple wanted $699 to replace my phone that i paid $299 for.

My question is what happens if I leave my company and want to keep my personal number as well as have an iphone (preferably an i5 of course) or just go back out on my own plan.

How do I figure out if I can do this and what it would cost?
Or is it easier to jump ship and go Verizon?

 

[saving107]

How do I figure out if I can do this and what it would cost?

Have you contacted your IT dept or your cellular provider?

 

[TC25]

This was my only option as apple wanted $699 to replace my phone that i paid $299 for.

No, this was not your only option. You could have picked a different phone, filed a claim with your insurance company, etc. Additionally, since your company had to pay some amount for the iPhone they gave you, why didn't they simply reimburse you all, or some, of the $699?

My question is what happens if I leave my company and want to keep my personal number as well as have an iphone (preferably an i5 of course) or just go back out on my own plan.

How do I figure out if I can do this and what it would cost?

Your current number is owned by your company. ATT will not allow you to 'take' it without authorization from your company. Why you'd ask here instead of talking to the same people at your company who did this in the first place is a mystery.

 

[enduro8]

To clarify. I am not asking if i can take my #. I know i can take it back. I have spoken to IT. Plenty of folks have done that in the past.

My email was asking about policy on being personally eligible for an upgrade / buy a new iphone at the lowest possible cost if my personal account left ATT about 390 days ago.

It is an ATT policy question. Apologize if this is the wrong thread, I was under the assumption that this audience had lots experience of the ins and outs and ways to navigate the ATT policy set.

 

[dave006]

The first step it to understand what type of account you currently have. There are two main types for must business accouts.

1. IRU - Individual Responsible Unit - you get the bill and the number and the device belong to you.

2. CRU - Corporate Responsible Unit - your company gets the biill and actual ownes the phone number.

3. Split Liabiliity - you pay a fix percentage of the cost and the Company coovers the rest.

So first you need to verify the type of account you have with AT&T. It is very easy to do a transfer of service from a CRU to and IRU or from an IRU to a CRU, just a matter of calling to start the process. This way you are able to keep your phone number during the transition. With a CRU, the company owns the device and the phone number and any billing charges.

So as suggested earlier, contact your IT team to verify what type of account you currently have and we can walk you through the steps to make the switch within AT&T or port your number ot to Verizon or another carrier.

Just a reminder AT&T and any other carriers is not just going to let you switch to get a new subsidized phone. If you terminiated your previous persional account in good standing and it has been more then 90 days you should be treated as a new AT&T customer and be able to take advantage of any new special new customer offers. This is unless you are on a shared liablity plan, that makes things sticky.

Dave

 

[enduro8]

I had a net new IRU in July 2010. 3 weeks later my iPhone was stolen and my IT department converted me to to a CRU and they were able to obtain an iPhone 4 for me. I verified this.

I subsequently checked on https://buyiphone.apple.com/WebObjects/IPACustomer.woa/wa/IPAToolAction/springboard and it tells me that I can not use the tool because it is a corporate plan.

Assuming I quit my company in the coming weeks I will return my phone and get off the CRU plan. At that time I will need to purchase a new phone for myself. Does this mean I am free and clear to get an IRU/personal line at $199 for 16GB 4s for $199