Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

At&t changing phone uprade eligability for many iphone users

Got my 3G on July 12, 2008, but I am now upgrade eligible. Really hoping all of this means that the iPhone is coming to another U.S. carrier (any other carrier), because AT&T is so horrible in my area that I can't stand another two years of it. I'll be switching regardless, let's just hope I don't have to go the Android or EVO route.
 
I switched to AT&T/iPhone 3G on 7.11.2008 and upgraded to the iPhone 3GS on 6.19.2009 for $200 extra, $39.99 voice + $30 iPhone data plan + $5 SMS 200 plan.

No change of upgrade date yet.
 

Attachments

  • Screen shot 2010-05-21 at 9.57.00 AM.png
    Screen shot 2010-05-21 at 9.57.00 AM.png
    12 KB · Views: 756
calvy said:
So, is it possible to spend enough on an account with only one phone on it to then qualify for annual upgrades? And is this breakdown before or after discounts?
Click to expand...
Yes, many customers qualify and there are many combinations that allow a line's MRC to exceed $99.99.

Any Foundation Account Number (FAN) National Account discount is "Not" part of the MRC calculation. The MRC is calculated before any discounts are applied to the line or account.

Again, as a reminder: each line on an account is evaluated based on the line items directly tied to that line.

Dave
 
LISTEN!!
It has nothing to do with spending $100 a month...I have a 3GS and i only spend $95 a month...got the phone on launch day and extended my 2 year contract. Apparently they still bumped me to full upgrade effective yesterday! Was originally set at 11-20-2010 when i checked a month ago.
I think it has more to do with your past payments, whether they are all on time, and no late payments.
I think they REALLY want me to get the new iPhone....and i do too!
I would have happily paid full unsubsidized price if necessary when it comes out...but fortunately, I'm getting full discount!!!!
 
hefeglass said:
LISTEN!!
It has nothing to do with spending $100 a month...I have a 3GS and i only spend $95 a month...got the phone on launch day and extended my 2 year contract. Apparently they still bumped me to full upgrade effective yesterday! Was originally set at 11-20-2010 when i checked a month ago.
I think it has more to do with your past payments, whether they are all on time, and no late payments.
I think they REALLY want me to get the new iPhone....and i do too!
I would have happily paid full unsubsidized price if necessary when it comes out...but fortunately, I'm getting full discount!!!!
Click to expand...

Your confusing 2 subjects.

1) Some people have a shorter upgrade cycle due to spending over $100/month
2) AT&T seems to be bumping a lot of people's upgrade date DESPITE what their normal upgrade cycle would have been
 
weird occurence

I don't know what this is related to, but I'm having a strange occurrence in the at&t online store when I'm logged into my account. My mom and I still share a family plan (with a corporate discount applied) and both of us are eligible for an upgrade: her contract has expired and she is month-to-month while I just started a new 2-year agreement in March 2009 when I purchased a new phone at a discount (not an iPhone, neither of us have owned one). I didn't think I would be eligible since my contract wasn't up, but I guess the upgrade eligibility date is not the same thing as the contract expiration date.

Anywho, I have decided to finally get an iPhone since I can save on the data plan with the corp. discount. I am planning to wait for the latest model to be released at which time I'll decide if I'd rather have it or the 3GS. Just out of curiosity I have configured an upgrade to a 3GS for both myself and my mom in the online store a number of times (just to get an idea of the costs). I've never had any problems adding everything to the shopping cart and always stopped just short of purchasing the upgrade. However, as of today when I go into the online store, I shop for iPhones and there are none listed. All of the other brands are there, but no iPhones. I'm not sure why this is. I would think even if they're getting ready for the new iPhone the 3GS would still be in the store while supplies last.

Any ideas?

Edit: Just had another thought. It could have something to do with my corp. discount. Since I applied that to our account, it shows up as a premiere account and the store interface is different than it was before applying the discount. Maybe something has changed or is being negotiated between at&t and my company and the phones are unavailable in the meantime?

I did some more searching and it dawned on me that there are no smartphones available for me in the store. I'm confused by this. It may have something to do with my corp. discount, but I would think even then that I would still have the option to purchase any phone at full price. It's only giving me a selection of about 20 crappy phones. This sucks.
 
wickywahwah said:
I guess the upgrade eligibility date is not the same thing as the contract expiration date.
Click to expand...

wickywahwah said:
However, as of today when I go into the online store, I shop for iPhones and there are none listed. All of the other brands are there, but no iPhones. I'm not sure why this is. I would think even if they're getting ready for the new iPhone the 3GS would still be in the store while supplies last.

Any ideas?

Edit: Just had another thought. It could have something to do with my corp. discount. Since I applied that to our account, it shows up as a premiere account and the store interface is different than it was before applying the discount. Maybe something has changed or is being negotiated between at&t and my company and the phones are unavailable in the meantime?
Click to expand...

Some companies select the hardware you are allowed to purchase on their corporate account. For example, Microsoft employees are not allowed to have any smartphone except for a Windows Mobile based smartphone.
 
Geckotek said:
Some companies select the hardware you are allowed to purchase on their corporate account. For example, Microsoft employees are not allowed to have any smartphone except for a Windows Mobile based smartphone.
Click to expand...

oh noes! :eek: i hope this isn't permanent! i guess i should have picked up the 3GS when i had the chance. i wonder if i'd have better luck if i went into the store?
 
wickywahwah said:
However, as of today when I go into the online store, I shop for iPhones and there are none listed. All of the other brands are there, but no iPhones.
Click to expand...


This EXACT same thing happened to me today. I am also on a premier account. I am upgrade eligible but my wife (who is also on my plan) is not. Smart phones have been removed from the store for both of us.
 
superfusca said:
This EXACT same thing happened to me today. I am also on a premier account. I am upgrade eligible but my wife (who is also on my plan) is not. Smart phones have been removed from the store for both of us.
Click to expand...

weird. my account is through lockheed martin. i wonder if this is affecting all premier accounts or just specific companies. i'm hoping it's just temporary while maybe some new terms and conditions are being hashed out. i'm on chat with at&t support right now, i'll post if i find anything.
 
superfusca said:
This EXACT same thing happened to me today. I am also on a premier account. I am upgrade eligible but my wife (who is also on my plan) is not. Smart phones have been removed from the store for both of us.
Click to expand...

chatted with a nice man who said the following:

"Varun : We are aware that there is an issue on the site where devices are not displaying properly. We are actively working to have this issue resolved. In the meantime, we kindly ask for your patience regarding this matter."

phew :D

edit: they're back!
 
Is this a rolling thing because I have two iPhone lines totaling 155 dollars a month (including corporate discount) and my line still says 11/22/2010 and my wides is 2/23/2011
 
One little "trick" when working with the $100 rule. One of the other lines on my account (phone for a kid) was the primary and was getting the 12 month renewal. I switched things to have my account be the primary (i.e. the main phone plan, family text plan). Within the next billing cycle or 2 my account magically became eligible for an upgrade via the $100 rule but the kid's sub account retained the renewal (in other words it wasn't removed). So, if you need faster renewals for more than one account, just switch the primary once the first one is eligible and the other will also become eligible very quickly.

Hope that wasn't too confusing. :D
 
One of my accounts is now upgrade eligible. It's was opened in December. The SMS says that I can upgrade to a new iPhone with an $18 upgrade fee. All other phones are available at full price. This became eligible on Friday.
 
hefeglass said:
LISTEN!!
It has nothing to do with spending $100 a month...I have a 3GS and i only spend $95 a month...got the phone on launch day and extended my 2 year contract. Apparently they still bumped me to full upgrade effective yesterday! Was originally set at 11-20-2010 when i checked a month ago.
I think it has more to do with your past payments, whether they are all on time, and no late payments.
I think they REALLY want me to get the new iPhone....and i do too!
I would have happily paid full unsubsidized price if necessary when it comes out...but fortunately, I'm getting full discount!!!!
Click to expand...

Has plenty to do with spending $100 a month. Many on this board spend $100 a month and have always be able to upgrade every 12 months at the best subsidized price. Look at people who spend less than a $100 and got the 3GS on release day....most upgrade dates are later

AT&T is smart, they took backlash from upgrades last year and changed their policy to allow people to upgrade on release date. Maybe they are moving people dates up now so they don't have to deal with the BS
 
slippery-pete said:
Has plenty to do with spending $100 a month. Many on this board spend $100 a month and have always be able to upgrade every 12 months at the best subsidized price. Look at people who spend less than a $100 and got the 3GS on release day....most upgrade dates are later

AT&T is smart, they took backlash from upgrades last year and changed their policy to allow people to upgrade on release date. Maybe they are moving people dates up now so they don't have to deal with the BS
Click to expand...

It actually does have to do with $99 per line a month. I paid $90-95 every month on my line but it satill says 11/21. If I knew I would have bumped my bill but I still think that it isn't fair. I was told by a CSR yesterday that you have to average $100 a month for over a period of 3 months and that the only phone that they can't do an override on the upgarde eligibility is the iPhone. So I am thinking about getting that override to get a blackberry or something and the return it and maybe keep the upgarde date, what do you guys think ?
 
zizo79 said:
It actually does have to do with $99 per line a month. I paid $90-95 every month on my line but it satill says 11/21. If I knew I would have bumped my bill but I still think that it isn't fair. I was told by a CSR yesterday that you have to average $100 a month for over a period of 3 months and that the only phone that they can't do an override on the upgarde eligibility is the iPhone. So I am thinking about getting that override to get a blackberry or something and the return it and maybe keep the upgarde date, what do you guys think ?
Click to expand...

Once again....there are 2 subjects being discussed in this thread:

1) OT - Lots of people are having their upgrade dates bumped up despite how much they spend
2) The accelerated upgrade for those that spend over $100/mo
 
When I am upgrade eligible (in October) and if I upgrade to the 4th Gen iPhone, will my current FAN discount be removed? I had maybe 15% off for being a college student, but have since graduated. I'd obviously prefer to keep it :)
 
Geckotek said:
Once again....there are 2 subjects being discussed in this thread:

1) OT - Lots of people are having their upgrade dates bumped up despite how much they spend
2) The accelerated upgrade for those that spend over $100/mo
Click to expand...

Isnt that waht I was talking about ?
 
ngenerator said:
When I am upgrade eligible (in October) and if I upgrade to the 4th Gen iPhone, will my current FAN discount be removed? I had maybe 15% off for being a college student, but have since graduated. I'd obviously prefer to keep it :)
Click to expand...

As long as you keep your .edu address, you can always get it back.

But no, they don't remove your FAN discount just because you upgrade.
 
ok someone PLEASE explain this one to me.

Family plan with two lines...mine and my mom, both lines started when the original iphone was released (my line is the primary).

I got the 3GS on release day for the early upgrade price since I got the subsidized 3G. When checking my upgrade date on ATT i get 11/2010. And if I wanted to buy a 3GS now I would have to pay full no contract extension price.

My mom recently (2 months ago) got the 3GS at the subsidized price but when I check her line she is eligible for an upgrade in 2011 but qualifies for the early upgrade price on a 3GS right now.....what does this mean?

basically what I am asking is how come when I check the upgrade eligibility on my mom's line she gets the "as a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade......" and I do not?
 
I'm still in november 2011. No big deal for me, since I'll not be upgrading.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back