You're wrong. I bought my 2G post July 11th and guess what? Yes, I was able to get my 3G at the subsidized price. But not to worry coco, I pay for it other ways ... dropped calls, delayed voice mails, missed texts, and shoddy service.
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AT&T does not allow me to upgrade 2G to 3G iPhone
- Thread starter westlakers
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You're wrong. I bought my 2G post July 11th and guess what? Yes, I was able to get my 3G at the subsidized price. But not to worry coco, I pay for it other ways ... dropped calls, delayed voice mails, missed texts, and shoddy service.
I think there's a mistake on your records at AT&T that's not attributable to the iPhone. You might try calling back AT&T and NICELY asking them to investigate what mistakes their might be that are preventing you from getting an iPhone. Be respectful of the CSA at the same time you don't accept no for an answer. If they say there's nothing they can do, just say, "That's not good enough. There's an error and you need to spend the time to figure it out." Keep in mind that the CSA may know less than you, so it's helpful to do some research to guide them to the correct answer.
Don't accept any answer except one of these two: 1. They figure out the mistake and correct it, or 2. They clearly explain why you're not eligible and you're reasonably sure they are correctly interpreting their policy.
Don't accept any answer except one of these two: 1. They figure out the mistake and correct it, or 2. They clearly explain why you're not eligible and you're reasonably sure they are correctly interpreting their policy.
This is one thing I love about blogs, people like to point out "exceptions" for a general rule just to say you are wrong.
You're special, moving on...
Why?
Because AT&T subsidized your first phone and they want to get their money back before they subsidize you for another phone. It's not dumb or stupid. It's their policy and is based on good business sense.
They come up with these plans making sure they don't lose money on the phone. If they let you and everyone else get new subsidized phones after being on contract for only a year when they designed the plan for 2 years, they would lose a lot of money. They can't handle each case individually because that is not how policies and procedures work at large corporations.
It's logical and reasonable from a business perspective. You just don't like it because you can't do want you want and you have not taken the time to understand the policy and why it is in place.
S-
Actually you are both right and both wrong.
Jessica is correct that you could still purchase an original iPhone after July 11 as AT&T still had some devices available that were sold in stores and also online until inventory was exhausted. The July 11 date for original iPhone "new" or repeat activations was / is where things get a little gray. There was a "loophole" as some called it, where you could purchase an iPhone 3G and then go home and reactivate your original iPhone and it reset the "Upgrade" flag and then you could go back to Apple or AT&T and purchase another iPhone 3G at the discount price. This "loophole" was closed in August when the "Upgrade" iPhone Tracking flags were put on accounts and the AT&T systems were swept to to clear/reset accounts.
CocoaPuffs is correct that the intended action was that as of July 11, new activations of "used" originial iPhones or as AT&T called it in their iPhone "Handing Off Your Original iPhone to Someone Else" process would not be eligible for the discounted (subsidized) price for the iPhone 3G just because they purchased a second-hand iPhone or were given an original iPhone.
CocoaPuffs is also "Very" correct that just because ONE or even several individuals were able to receive an "EXCEPTION UPGRADE" or other favorable consideration by AT&T, Apple or other providers does not make for an AT&T Formal Policy change concerning AT&Ts Published Upgrade Policy!
Dave
Don't understand what your issue is.....
Apparently your wife's line of service is under a 2 year agreement on a subsidized phone. You are not eiligible for an upgrade price. Period.
those calls r for the sales rep, managers dont get survey calls, so it went against the rep not the manager.
did no one read my post?!?! #17, explains it all.
if u activated the 2G before 5/27, ur eligable, if u didnt, youre not.
end of story.
if u activated the 2G before 5/27, ur eligable, if u didnt, youre not.
end of story.
When did you get your iPhone 2G?
What phone did you have prior to that?
When did you get that phone?
Actually, it is not 100 percent wrong if this purchase was in the US with AT&T. Upgrade from original iPhone to iPhone 3G is correct at anytime and you can cancel the contract at anytime. Just the upgrade price is impacted and the little matter of paying the ETF to terminate. Wrong on the month to month!
Please see my post above concerning some addition information about the magic or non-magic July 11, 2008 Launch Date.
Dave
That's the current issue!! The OP stated that he purchased his original iPhone in Feb. 2008 and he did not receive a good reason as to why he was unable to upgrade just his line to the iPhone 3G. According to AT&T, his line is not "Eligible" for a discounted handset upgrade.
I think most will now agree that his wife's issue is very clear concerning her upgrade status based on the Razr purchase.
Dave
westlakers, there's only two things I can think of, based on what we know from this thread, that might be the culprit....
1. Do you by some chance have any discount codes applied to your account? That usually plays hell with getting things done unless you go to a Corporate Store, because regular stores cannot make certain changes to corporate accounts (or so I have been informed by AT&T). Once a code like that is on your account, it's moved into a different type of account. It's one of the reasons a lot of people got screwed on Day 1, because Apple Stores and even regular AT&T stores couldn't do any upgrades on those accounts.
2. I think maybe the issue actually lies with your wife's account. From what I can tell (though it isn't clear), you bought your 3G iPhone on 2/28 (which should make you eligible), but at some point after that put her on your account which might be the issue. If you had to change your plan over from a regular plan to a familytalk plan, or if you just added the line to it, might have either been incorrectly done or marked on the account in such a way that it comes up as you being on a "new 2 year contract" which might trigger them into not seeing you as eligible.
Either way, based on everything in the thread you darn well should be eligible. I don't know if this would help or not, but I would actually give Apple a call. They have a separate department to handle issues with the iPhone, and they might be able to help.I know it sounds weird, but I had some account issues with my 3G iPhone when I purchased it and pretty much got nowhere with AT&T. After about three days of frustration, I called up Apple, and the CSR got AT&T on the phone and helped get everything resolved to my satisfaction.
1. Do you by some chance have any discount codes applied to your account? That usually plays hell with getting things done unless you go to a Corporate Store, because regular stores cannot make certain changes to corporate accounts (or so I have been informed by AT&T). Once a code like that is on your account, it's moved into a different type of account. It's one of the reasons a lot of people got screwed on Day 1, because Apple Stores and even regular AT&T stores couldn't do any upgrades on those accounts.
2. I think maybe the issue actually lies with your wife's account. From what I can tell (though it isn't clear), you bought your 3G iPhone on 2/28 (which should make you eligible), but at some point after that put her on your account which might be the issue. If you had to change your plan over from a regular plan to a familytalk plan, or if you just added the line to it, might have either been incorrectly done or marked on the account in such a way that it comes up as you being on a "new 2 year contract" which might trigger them into not seeing you as eligible.
Either way, based on everything in the thread you darn well should be eligible. I don't know if this would help or not, but I would actually give Apple a call. They have a separate department to handle issues with the iPhone, and they might be able to help.I know it sounds weird, but I had some account issues with my 3G iPhone when I purchased it and pretty much got nowhere with AT&T. After about three days of frustration, I called up Apple, and the CSR got AT&T on the phone and helped get everything resolved to my satisfaction.
Ok, I can actually say that this entire response is wrong.
1. Discount codes don't effect eligibility.
2. Opening up a 2nd line doesn't effect the main line's eligibility.
Last but not least, talking to Apple won't effect your eligibility.
I also think the addition of the wife is the problem, especially if she was added post 5/27/08 and a new 2-year contract was made at that time. I do believe the OP should still be eligible, but this may be the glitch in AT&T's system.
We will have to wait until the OP provides more information after checking with AT&T again and requesting specific details.
I don't think your new 2-year item is in play here as the OP stated that he only has about 1 year left on his contract. If there was a major mixup when his wife ported from VZ and something was done at point of sale then AT&T should be able to provide that information to the OP and then he can share that with us and we can drill holes in it or confirm it.
Dave.
then like i said in post 17, if by some chance he meets that criteria and isnt eligable, he can go into any corporate store and have them send out an iphone upgrade exception form, it takes up to 72hrs to get the approval code, but they will make him eligable for that reason.
I would take a wait and see approach, if AT&T does not want to make more money, why should I care? certainly do not want to deal with AT&T again, it was not pleasant at all, not worth my time either. on second thought, 3G iPhone should get refreshed pretty soon (in the middle of 2009, hopefully) according to MacRumors's buyer guide, so why just wait until then to see leapfrog to a better iPhone.
I like that attitude. What you are saying is that we wasted our time helping you in the first place.
Wow, then why did you bother to even post or respond to the follow-up posters that tried to offer assistance to you, as CocoaPuffs stated; "we wasted our time tryng to help". I for one will ignore your future posts, thanks for reducing the useless threads by one!
Note: If you really do want an iPhone 3G or replacement before Oct / Nov 2009, you will have to fix the problem with your account since by default you will be eligible for your next device upgrade about 21 months into your service contract...
Actually that is wrong too.
Here's how it really is: If you activated the original iPhone BEFORE July 11, you are eligible for an upgrade at anytime on any line. If you purchased the iPhone AFTER July 11 and you were already an AT&T customer you are not eligible for an upgrade, except for a special case I will explain later. If you purchased the original iPhone AFTER July 11 and you were a new AT&T customer, you are eligible for an upgrade at any time. However, if you purchased the iPhone used from a current AT&T customer who had the iPhone activated for more than 1 year from purchase date, you are not eligible. Now, although you are not eligible for an upgrade if you were an existing AT&T customer and activated the original iPhone AFTER July 11, you can circumvent this policy. Buy a new, cheap phone ($20 or less) and put your iPhone SIM card into it. Activate this new phone with AT&T (in store or one the web) and you will be on a new 2 year contract and will be eligible to upgrade to a 3G at any time. This will not work, however, if the iPhone 3G you purchase was produced AFTER July 11 (check the serial number for the week it was produced).
Hope this helps clear up all the confusion. Yes, this post is nothing more than a satire on all the conflicting information flying around.
you must have misunderstood what I meant, I meant that it wastes time in dealing with AT&T in this matter. And to everybody who replied in this thread, you are great, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
the problem is with AT&T, I do not understand and I do not bother to call them to find out why (remember we called and they tried to sell us a different phone, LOL)
as for next upgrade, I will go to Apple store instead.