AT&T Eligibility at Apple Stores, International iPhone 3G Shortages Expected

[marcre]

maybe I'm totally missing something, but I don't understand why AT&T won't give the subsidized price to people who are already with them, but still have most of their contract left.

It would only benefit AT&T. They get to charge a larger monthly fee(in all likelihood), get another activation fee and sell another phone. Also, they are getting the person for two years, so even if that customer is on a two year contract with say 18 months left, 24 months is still better. All this is doing is making their current customers mad. They are giving a better deal to non customers.

Just to note, this doesn't affect me at all. It just makes me wonder.

 

[arn]

maybe I'm totally missing something, but I don't understand why AT&T won't give the subsidized price to people who are already with them, but still have most of their contract left.

It would only benefit AT&T. They get to charge a larger monthly fee(in all likelihood), get another activation fee and sell another phone. Also, they are getting the person for two years, so even if that customer is on a two year contract with say 18 months left, 24 months is still better. All this is doing is making their current customers mad. They are giving a better deal to non customers.

Just to note, this doesn't affect me at all. It just makes me wonder.

Here's the answer.

If AT&T allowed that, I could go out and buy a $200 AT&T phone for "free" (AT&T subsidized), sign up for a 2 year contract. Immediately turn around and buy an iPhone 3G and get a 2 year contract to replace my previous one and get a $200 phone for free, which I'm free to sell on eBay.

The "fairest" way would be just to extend people's contracts up to 4 years. (2 years for original subsidy, and 2 years for iPhone 3G)... but they don't seem to work like that. Not sure if there are regulations against it.

arn

 

[minik]

Everything (US side) looks good to me.

Since I am going to be a new at&t subscriber, I will still goto the local at&t store tomorrow evening and make sure that the credit check is A-OK. (even thought I had never been turned down for a cell contract or what-not)

Thursday night.. ready to rock.

 

[marcre]

Here's the answer.

If AT&T allowed that, I could go out and buy a $200 AT&T phone for "free" (AT&T subsidized), sign up for a 2 year contract. Immediately turn around and buy an iPhone 3G and get a 2 year contract to replace my previous one and get a $200 phone for free, which I'm free to sell on eBay.

arn

Thanks for the clarification on that ARN. It makes sense, but unfortunately it still sucks for those that aren't in it to do that. Maybe if they had some thing where you turned you're old phone in and then AT&T could sell it as a refurb.

I don't know, like I said it has no affect on me.

 

[MikeELL]

Australian customers: msg from 3 mobile management

For those who were wondering what the result of the petition was:
http://www.3shopdirect.com.au/blog/

I would like to think this means that management at 3 mobile know that they would have a massive backlash from customers if they came out with plans like what Optus, Telstra, and Vodafone are offering. 3 mobile is more limited cash-wise so I could see them offering better plans but only being allowed to do so after the other three carriers have launched.

I'm going to wait and hope.

 

[edenwaith]

Thanks for the clarification on that ARN. It makes sense, but unfortunately it still sucks for those that aren't in it to do that. Maybe if they had some thing where you turned you're old phone in and then AT&T could sell it as a refurb.

I don't know, like I said it has no affect on me.

Amen. That's what I'd like to do...trade this crappy phone in, or perhaps trade it to someone else on my plan...AT&T still is getting paid, and I can get the upgrade. I don't know, perhaps I can wrangle with them some more to see if something can be worked out, but I am not paying the extra fee for it.

Right now, I'd like to go back to having the $25 phone bill I had back in 1998 for just standard, local service (so I could get dial-up, of course!).

 

[arn]

Thanks for the clarification on that ARN. It makes sense, but unfortunately it still sucks for those that aren't in it to do that. Maybe if they had some thing where you turned you're old phone in and then AT&T could sell it as a refurb.

I don't know, like I said it has no affect on me.

Here's the interesting part of it all is to see how people react next time. In 1 year, if Apple releases a new iPhone, everyone with an iPhone 3G will still be under contract.

In order to upgrade to a 2009 iPhone, you won't be eligible for subsidized pricing. So you would have to pay the early termination fee (~$115 since AT&T now prorates it) to get out of your contract.

arn

 

[gibbz]

Quick question.

I'm 17 and I'm on a family plan with 3 other people (who are in my family ) and I was wondering if I could go to the Apple store myself and by the new iPhone without having to take my dad (primary account holder). Does anyone have a clue? I know that I read somewhere that AT&T said that if an iPhone is going to be purchased for a family plan, the person getting the phone must be in line.

I really want to go by myself (since I hope to make a date out of it with a special someone )

Ask your dad to call ATT and add you as a person authorized to make changes to the account. I don't think they are making existing customers show credit cards; that is sort of pointless.

Good luck. :thumbs up: (;

BTW, I just logged into my AT&T account and made myself an authorized user. That was toooo easy

See my post here. According to AT&T, being an authorized user means nothing if you are not 18, since you cannot legally sign a contract

 

[CoreForce]

reported shortage in Switzerland, price plans with data limit only

Several news articles report of shortage on iPhones before the start of sale. It is said the number of pre-orders outnumber the stock by a magnitude of 3.
On example: http://www.blick.ch/lifestyle/digital/wer-ein-iphone-will-muss-anstehen-95056

People here are particular disappointed with the unavailability of a flat rate for data traffic. Price plans of both carriers Swisscom and Orange have a limit of max 1 GB of data traffic, including access on their public wireless network. Extra traffic is billed on a volume basis. How this will work out with the strategy of Apple with MobileMe as network data storage service has yet to be seen.

 

[maczter]

Having also purchased new phones through AT&T last Summer (only AFTER verifying with AT&T that doing so would in no way affect my future pricing or eligibility for the iPhone since I anticipated buying one before my plan expired), I sent off an e-mail to AT&T last week and received a response back from an e-mail service specialist (no doubt overseas) stating that the price was the same for everyone (FALSE).

Today, I called AT&T and expressed my frustration with the situation and, after talking to the first person for ~30 minutes and a "Resolution Specialist" for another 15 minutes, the best they could offer me despite what I was told and despite my having been with AT&T/Cingular/AT&T for over 10 years was to add an additional line to my FamilyTalk plan for another $10/month, then remove the data plan from my current line and add the iPhone data plan to the new line.

The net result will cost me an additional $10/month over the preferred alternative of just getting the phone at the advertised price. In the long run, I'll end saving ~$100 or so over paying the extra $200 up front since my current line's contract expires about this time next year, at which point I can just cancel it and go back to having only two lines on our plan.

...at least that's what I was told today.

I went to the AT&T store last night and made all of the changes I wanted short of adding the extra line and made sure the agents in the store didn't flinch when I told them what I was planning to do. They indicated that it shouldn't be a problem. The only uncertainty was whether or not I would be able to use my current number on the new line and have the existing line take over the new number.

 

[marcre]

Here's the interesting part of it all is to see how people react next time. In 1 year, if Apple releases a new iPhone, everyone with an iPhone 3G will still be under contract.

In order to upgrade to a 2009 iPhone, you won't be eligible for subsidized pricing. So you would have to pay the early termination fee (~$115 since AT&T now prorates it) to get out of your contract.

arn

hmm, that is pretty interesting. They may make a killing on early termination fees if there is a new phone in a year or so.

I'm still debating getting this. That's a lot of money to pay every month for a phone.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Uk

Hmm - 25,000 UK units spread across 200 ish O2 stores in the UK - that gives 125 units per store. Except Apple will probably have some of those and there are probably another 200 Carphone Warehouse stores. That still gives around 50-60 per store, which is the "few dozen" figure we've been hearing.

I hope 5:30am is early enough...

It still begs the question - why didn't they stagger the international launch!?

 

[Optimus Frag]

knowing how few there is will be helpful.

because if the debacle of O2's online ordering I'll be going to the O2 shop in York early on my way to work. If it really is likely to be only 2 dozen or so I'll know as soon as I get there that if the queue is more than 20 long to forget about it and wait a couple of weeks. I'll still have the new firmware to play with and after all its only a phone all be it a bloody good one.

I just find it rather incredible that the initial shipping numbers are that low. I went to the same shop to get my current iPhone on the Sunday after launch, 2 days later and got one no problem. They told me that they got several hundred delivered and still had at least a hundred still in the back (which they did expect to sell by the end of the day). Untill I get to the shop and see a sign on the window to say other wise, I'll expect a few more than 2 dozen.

 

[lukenorris]

When does that new blackberry come out? Maybe it will have some cool features at a fraction of the cost.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

I just find it rather incredible that the initial shipping numbers are that low. I went to the same shop to get my current iPhone on the Sunday after launch, 2 days later and got one no problem. They told me that they got several hundred delivered and still had at least a hundred still in the back (which they did expect to sell by the end of the day). Untill I get to the shop and see a sign on the window to say other wise, I'll expect a few more than 2 dozen.

I find it incredible too. It sounds like Apple is keeping the lion share of devices in the US.

The original iPhone was nowhere near such a hot seller in the UK. It was way too expensive and it's difficult to sell a device like that (when no-one knew much about it anyway) for that price without 3G.

But now it has the 3G it always should have had, people know about it, and - most of all - it is now very cheap and little more expensive than all the other phones worth any salt.

O2 has been very sharp: now there is incentive to get the higher contracts (e.g. £45 a month) because you get the phone free (8GB) or next to nothing (16GB). The minutes and texts deals (1200 mins, 500 texts, unlimited data) is generous also - so generous that one should not generally need to spend any more each month.

 

[captain kaos]

Meanwhile, customers in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. may see short supplies of the iPhone 3G. Smarthouse.com.au claims that the first iPhone 3G shipments to those carriers will be less than 25,000 units each. The stock is described by one executive as "next to nothing" with expectations that they will be "snapped up within minutes."

Similarly, the U.K.'s O2 expects only "a couple of dozen" iPhones for each of their O2 and Carphone Warehouse locations on launch day. In fact, no stock at all of the white 16GB iPhone is expected in the U.K. at first.

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Im sorry, in the UK were only getting 25,000 units, "a few dozen per store"????? O2 on their own had 135,000 emails for interest!

APPLE, my hatred of O2 i had on monday, is now starting to be directed at you. WFT are you playing at?

 

[wyndham87]

Im sorry, in the UK were only getting 25,000 units, "a few dozen per store"????? O2 on their own had 135,000 emails for interest!

APPLE, my hatred of O2 i had on monday, is now starting to be directed at you. WFT are you playing at?

I Don't entirely believe this 25,000 figure. I've just come out of an o2 store where they said they believe there are going to be enough to go around and that turning up when the store opens on friday should ensure I get an iPhone.

Don't panic!

 

[LoganT]

Here's the answer.

If AT&T allowed that, I could go out and buy a $200 AT&T phone for "free" (AT&T subsidized), sign up for a 2 year contract. Immediately turn around and buy an iPhone 3G and get a 2 year contract to replace my previous one and get a $200 phone for free, which I'm free to sell on eBay.

The "fairest" way would be just to extend people's contracts up to 4 years. (2 years for original subsidy, and 2 years for iPhone 3G)... but they don't seem to work like that. Not sure if there are regulations against it.

arn

I doubt AT&T cares since you would still have to pay for the contract.

 

[Nonnus3G]

Portugal situation

This has has been reported to marumors by myself and more portuguese users but we do not seem to be able get that much attention to our country situation

while other countries are complaining on pricing or conditions

over here we do not have unlimimited data option,
even at 69 € month plans, the portuguese operators vodafone and optimus(orange) seem to think that offering 100, 250, 300 mb month traffic is sufficient for a device that was created to be online 24/7 and to be a revolution in how we use the web on mobile devices....

also the operators in portugal seem to be undersubsiding the device in about 100 € less that other operators, only with the most expensive 24 month contract plans the iphone 8gb costs around 129 €, with 300 mb traffic at the most

other countries have been presented with better conditions and even so reported complains have been all over the web

Nonnus

 

[avigalante]

When does that new blackberry come out? Maybe it will have some cool features at a fraction of the cost.

I believe its initial launch is on Verizon only; and knowing the evil empire (Verizon), they'll gouge as much possible for BlackBerry data plans.

 

[captain kaos]

Canadian Iphones coming to the UK?

Here's an interesting rumour that might cheer up the UK!

Seems like Apple is going to divert stock that was destined for Canada to Europe due to the Rogers high data taiffs/plans.

Following Rogers' hefty mobile plans, rumours suggest that Apple is not happy with the Canadian company.

Apple has apparently said that it will be diverting a large percentage of iPhone 3G stock originally destined for Canada to distribution partners in Europe, because of the very high data charges. This could leave each Rogers store with as few as 10 or 20 handsets on launch day. The rumour continues that Rogers had hired additional sales staff to cope with demand, but they have since been fired.



Full story Here

http://www.iphonic.tv/2008/07/apple_unhappy_with_rogers_may.html#more

 

[xxfrozenrayxx]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry if this has been covered before, but no matter the amount of articles I read I can't get a clear answer:

You will be required to have all this documentation with you in order to buy an iPhone 3G, but will you be forced to sign a contract with AT&T at the store instead of just going home and doing it via iTunes at home?

I would like to jailbreak the iPhone to use with t-mobile so this is very important for me. Thanks in advance

 

[ardos]

vodafone NZ only has the phone in the hundreds

I have it from a good source that Vodafone NZ has only been supplied the iphone in the hundreds not the 1000s or 25000s talked about here.

Apple my be limiting what they get much like they have in Canada.

 

[captain kaos]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry if this has been covered before, but no matter the amount of articles I read I can't get a clear answer:

You will be required to have all this documentation with you in order to buy an iPhone 3G, but will you be forced to sign a contract with AT&T at the store instead of just going home and doing it via iTunes at home?

I would like to jailbreak the iPhone to use with t-mobile so this is very important for me. Thanks in advance

Well by reading a few stories (engadget, gizmodo) it looks as if the 2.0 software is already hacked, not even jailbroken but properly hacked firmware so that wont be a problem. As far as signing new contracts in store, yes i think you will have to. Apple know its fruitless to try and stop it being hacked so their only way to keep hold of it is via making sure people sign their contracts with the mobile operator.

 

[captain kaos]

I have it from a good source that Vodafone NZ has only been supplied the iphone in the hundreds not the 1000s or 25000s talked about here.

Apple my be limiting what they get much like they have in Canada.

Could be, aren't your monthly plans also pretty bad? Maybe this is steves way of slapping carriers on the wrist for taking the piss with the tariffs!....now he has no say in the pricing its the only control he has.