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With the Fan discount on our family plan we aren't suppose to be charged an upgrade fee. So when my brother seen it I called it and they removed the charge.
 
IMHO $18.00 really isn't worth anything to a corporate giant like AT&T.

18$ times over the 1 million activation of new iPhone 4S's they had in the last month equals...

18,000,000 $

That's multi million dollars for a company going through a multi billion dollar acquisition of T Mobile. Sounds like they want to cushion the blow.
 
After reading this thread, I decided to try my luck. I would be ok paying it but I had a three hour activation fiasco with one of my phones (had to go back to the store for resolution) and I used that to preface the request as nicely as possible. I went back to the store for another issue and while there asked the manager who helped me before.

I got the standard we normally don't do that, but she said she would try and after a few moments on hold, they reversed the upgrade fees on both of my phones (although I had only requested for the problem phone activation).

It can be done. It just depends on who you get and I guess how you approach it.
 
FWIW:
I work for AT&T in a supervisory role (not getting more specific than that for obvious reasons) and if there's one thing that upsets all of us, it's people that come in/call just asking for fees to be waived for no real reason other than being cheap and acting entitled. If you're cool about it or it wasn't explained to you or something, we'll probably make the adjustment. If you act like an entitled snob and disrespect us, you'll not get very far.

This isn't even an AT&T thing, really. It's customer service and, hell, people in general. When it comes down to it, you signed a contract agreeing to pay the $18, and by no means are we required to waive it.


tl;dr like the adage goes, treat others the way you want to be treated.


As a side-note, there's no way our agents are allowed to suspend accounts or send out abusive text messages like that EVER. I can guarantee you that if that rep's supervisor found out about it, she's gone.

I agree that treating people like people will go a long way. Especially for someone in the customer service industry. You treat people like you wish to be treated. Simple.
But I wonder why this poster is bending words to meet his desire. In one sentence, he hides behind a contract saying "you signed it so deal with it". This into and of itself is impersonal, cold, and is condescending to say the least. Then he also mentions you should treat people well.
Which is it?

Lastly, to anyone saying that $18 is deserved. I don't think AT&T deserves this extra $18. Disagree if you will, this is fine. But just last quarter AT&T announced an earning PROFIT of $3.6BILLION on an operating revenue of $31.48 billion.
They're not hurting for cash. They've got extra. $18 isn't going to break their bank account. But for some real people, it might be bad timing on their end. Sure they could wait until they have it. But if AT&T is paying your congressmen to give them tax breaks, why can't we merely call them to ask for a break as well? Maybe they don't like us playing the same game they are, just on a smaller scale.

And FYI, policy is not law.
 
FWIW:
This isn't even an AT&T thing, really. It's customer service and, hell, people in general. When it comes down to it, you signed a contract agreeing to pay the $18, and by no means are we required to waive it.

As a side-note, there's no way our agents are allowed to suspend accounts or send out abusive text messages like that EVER. I can guarantee you that if that rep's supervisor found out about it, she's gone.

I cant believe that AT&T rep followed the OP here at MacRumors:D
 
I dont get charged activation fees with my FAN discount. thank goodness for that. its nice to save some moolah
 
My time is worth more that what the OP went through to save $18 that he wasn't entitled to. All of the other customers have to cover the costs of self entitled users.
 
There seems to be double standard in play. When Apple makes more than anyone the fanbois cheer like it's the greatest thing ever. When a carrier does well they whine they're being over charged. I bet no one here works for free. Just because they think the fee should be waived, doesn't mean it should. It's a fee that is clearly stated in the contract. A contract is binding. What if Apple refused to honor their warranty. It's a contract as well.
 
In my experience, they won't waive it for the iPhone. They're just trying to get as much money as possible...
 
Well I called in and asked. The rep told me no so I asked for a supervisor after going around and around with her. She placed me on hold, then returned and said that one was not available and I would have to wait for a callback w/in 72 hours. So I waited... I was supposed to receive a call by Saturday 10/29. Surprise surprise the call never came.

I waited one week, after they were supposed to call me back and called them today 11/5. Spoke with a woman and told her my issue. I said I'm even more frustrated by the fact that I was promised a callback and that it never happened. She placed me on hold for a min, came back and said that she would waive all three of them and give me a $25 credit for the problems.

Now I do CS work for a large home telco provider. So I understand activation fees, why we have them and the like. I mean yes someone has to go through and do the work to activate the service. They have to pay the sales reps and the guys that package and ship the techs all that stuff...

HOWEVER... I purchased mine from Apple directly so everything on AT&T side was automated, Apple did all the work... Thats why i wanted it credited, they didn't do anything.
 
I had actually the complete opposite situation with AT&T recently. I lowered my minute plan since I realized that all my calls are to other mobile numbers and figured there was no point that three mobile phones pay more for something not being used. Well, I lowered way before my bill was to be issued and was charged the incorrect amount. I had to call and have that bill adjusted (an hour spent).

Well, two weeks ago I went to check my bill and this time they double charged me!! They actually wanted me to pay for the previous month (which I had already paid for and had corrected) and for the current month. I immediately called and spoke to the representative and explained the situation. She placed me on hold not once but twice and advised me that it is in fact correct and that I would have to pay it because if she adjusted the bill it would be about $85. I blew up at that point because no way was I paying for something I had just paid for already. Not only that but I temporarily suspended one line two months ago and it was never done. Needless to say I insisted on a supervisor and he immediately corrected all charges and also waived the $18 activation fee for my 4S.

Not sure what is going on with AT&T as of late but they had better get their act together. This is not good business practice.
 
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