AT&T Extends iPhone 3G S Upgrade Pricing to Many Customers

[Yuniverse]

another wrench into this fiasco of a plan...

over $99 before taxes, right? what about discounts? is it before or after the discount?

anyhow, it's a moot point for me. i'm only spending $59.99+$30+$5 a month anyways. I'll just have to wait until next June.

 

[Shiner]

The reason that people who have phone plans over $99 qualify for earlier upgrades than most is because they signed a contract that gives AT&T more money every month, thus paying off their subsidy more quickly. Temporarily changing your phone bill to meet the $99+ requirement puts no extra money into AT&T's pocket for the your past months of service. So AT&T has no reason to give you an early upgrade and when push comes to shove probably won't.

I personally don't give a s**t what people do to get a new phone, just don't cry when whatever angle you are working doesn't pan out.

(And really, I don't understand how a stupid phone is worth all this time, effort, and frustration.)

+1.. You put it better than I ever could. Thanks.

 

[JonRC]

AT&T botches iPhone 3G S upgrade

Expert: AT&T botches iPhone 3G S upgrade price concession

http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=F401CC44-1A64-67EA-E49D7E56FC1F6B83

Straight from ATT

http://www.facebook.com/ATT?v=app_7146470109

Q: "Does this change only apply to iPhone 3G customers who spend $99 per line or more per month?

A: In most cases, yes. iPhone customers who spend more than $99 a month per line with us generally are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months. In general, the more a customer spends with us, the less time they have to wait to get another new device. "

Q: What about customers who bought in July, August or September 2008 but don’t spend over $99 a month per line?

A: We value the business of all our customers. The majority of iPhone 3G customers received a significant discount on their device in return for a two-year service commitment during which time we recoup the device subsidy. Getting a new subsidized device is based on several factors including monthly recurring charges and having an account in good financial standing. In general, the more you spend with us, the less time you have to wait to get another device. This is a very fair system. That said, we do offer early upgrade pricing only for iPhone for those customers who don’t want to wait.


In most cases? What are some cases where it would not apply? I hope the press jumps all over them for this. They release this nonsensical upgrade option and can't give a straight answer to their customer base. This whole thing was pure fluff in an attempt to get some positive press for once. I hope it blows up in their face.

Things don't spontaneously explode. We must blow them up.

 

[JonRC]

I strongly urge all of you who have a legitimate claim to an upgrade to stick by your guns and not back down on this!

To me, it isn't so much about the $$$ as it is about corporate responsibility and truth in advertising.

If you bought your phone 3G in July, Aug or Sept and meet the monthly expenditure requirements, give them hell! (Of course, be nice to the working stiffs who you deal with, but do not give in! When they tell you "well, I'll make note of that in your account", tell them you don't want a note, you want answers. If they can't give you answers, stay on the phone or hold up the line in store until you talk to someone who can. Whatever you do, don't go away until you are satisfied or have filed an official complaint! (get a #!).

I was relatively happy with AT&T until recently. Their network in my area is pretty damn good (surprise, right?), but I have been told 50 different things by 20 different AT&T employees in the the last 4 days and I am ****ing sick of it. If I don't qualify for a subsidy, fine. No bid deal. But quit bullsh*tting me and millions of others who each give you BILLIONS of dollars every year!

Stand up and be heard people!!!

 

[faustfire]

I strongly urge all of you who have a legitimate claim to an upgrade to stick by your guns and not back down on this!

To me, it isn't so much about the $$$ as it is about corporate responsibility and truth in advertising.

If you bought your phone 3G in July, Aug or Sept and meet the monthly expenditure requirements, give them hell! (Of course, be nice to the working stiffs who you deal with, but do not give in! When they tell you "well, I'll make note of that in your account", tell them you don't want a note, you want answers. If they can't give you answers, stay on the phone or hold up the line in store until you talk to someone who can. Whatever you do, don't go away until you are satisfied or have filed an official complaint! (get a #!).

I was relatively happy with AT&T until recently. Their network in my area is pretty damn good (surprise, right?), but I have been told 50 different things by 20 different AT&T employees in the the last 4 days and I am ****ing sick of it. If I don't qualify for a subsidy, fine. No bid deal. But quit bullsh*tting me and millions of others who each give you BILLIONS of dollars every year!

Stand up and be heard people!!!

Wow...if only people had this much passion for things that actually matter.

Stop the presses! News flash! Corporations suck!

 

[ImaBigD]

It is *NOT* clear that you need $99 *PER* line. Read AT&T's own statement and it is ambiguous. In one sentence they say "combined monthly service" and in another they say "per line."

What are you saying???
Dude you are on a family plan and you didn't pay over $99 for the entire year on one line. Get over it. Many people had family plans and are not eligible move on.

 

[WilliamG]

I want to know what the BS $18 one-time activation fee PER line is all about? Shouldn't that already be built in to the paying $499 for a 32GB phone?

 

[dmelgar]

I was relatively happy with AT&T until recently. Their network in my area is pretty damn good (surprise, right?), but I have been told 50 different things by 20 different AT&T employees in the the last 4 days and I am ****ing sick of it. If I don't qualify for a subsidy, fine. No bid deal. But quit bullsh*tting me and millions of others who each give you BILLIONS of dollars every year!

Stand up and be heard people!!!

And this is how AT&T managed to turn a potentially good deed into a giant publicity disaster.

"Buy our new phone, get MMS, tethering, and upgrade for $199 if you bought in July, August or September"

Thats the message people received from AT&T and Apple. Except that all of it is misleading and makes people angry at AT&T. No MMS, no tethering until they think of some really huge additional $$$ amount, and especially no $199 upgrade. They forgot to emphasize only for their highest value customers.

Marketing 101, don't make your customers feel inferior. Don't tell them they aren't as important as your "high value" customers.

AT&T has again done an amazing job of making the customers that they worked so hard to get, angry at them and counting the days until the exclusivity runs out.

AT&T should never have made this offer, or had the sense to make it open to more people across the board.

 

[jpan08]

sigh

so I talked to a rep who said I was on the borderline of being eligible and he said he would make a note and that i should call the premiere line. He basically didn't want to say no, which I would have appreciated instead of calling the premiere line and having to wait an hour to have a failed call (that's an iPhone for you) anyways I went to 3 different AT&T stores and they all said I wasn't eligible until December. I gave up.
I bought the 3G on the launch date and my bill is in the 90s before taxes.
soo I guess I can't really complain.
Definitely not going to upgrade in December though.
Hope others have better luck

 

[xerenthar]

just got back from a nice chat with AT&T manager in person.

here's the run-down:

1) $90/month bill, iPhone 2g, iPhone 3g(July)

2) Eligible December.

3) He can't change that, but understands that it sucks, especially since my iPhone 3G broke.

4) He's sending my file to a higher up in corporate to see if the rules can be bent or not. Will have result Monday. Don't have high hopes.

5) I can activate a new line and switch, leaving it dormant. $240 over 24 months is preferable to $200 up front for me, especially since I might get a FAN discount on the 240.

6) For those of you who thought you were so clever, there's no possible way you are going to cancel with no ETF before 30 days and not get asked to return the phone or get charged. He did say that you can pay the ETF if you really want to. It obviously wouldn't make sense for me, but might at full retail.

7) I got much better results today coming from work in a suit and being very cordial than I did two days ago when I was pissy about the whole affair.

EDIT: 8) this store is out (corporate store) of iPhone 3GS, backorder log up to 3 weeks.

 

[tylerhbrown]

Why ATT, Why?

I just cant wait till apple drops ATT, I have had sprint, tmobile, and version, and the only reason I'm with ATT is for the iphone, which has horrible reception here in San Francisco. ATT is hands down the worst cell company I have ever had (and thats including Sprint!!!) I lose calls all the time, I have had 7 different iphones, and they have all had the same reception problems, and now I cant get the discount because, although I have been paying well over 100 dollars a month since last july 11 (not to mention the first year of the original iphone) my monthly plan rate only comes out to $79 a month. God I miss Verizon.
THB

 

[candeo]

Just back from At&T store. Got the 32G for $299. Bought the 3G first day but my plan was not $99/month. However, the customer representative said that I was a good customer (always paid on time) and was able to change the eligibility on the computer.
He also confirmed (and showed me a memo) that it was not $99 voice only, but had to be $99 rate+features (like data, etc.). My bill was just under $90 (voice +data), but he still gave me the low price.

 

[meagain]

Going to the AT&T store sounds like the only hope for some.

I still can't decide if I want 16 or 32gb. Apps going to go to another level of sophistication... IDK. I should've gone today to get 'something' tho. My local Apple store is running low on at least 16gb blacks and the line is building.

 

[redskinsf]

I just cant wait till apple drops ATT, I have had sprint, tmobile, and version, and the only reason I'm with ATT is for the iphone, which has horrible reception here in San Francisco. ATT is hands down the worst cell company I have ever had (and thats including Sprint!!!) I lose calls all the time, I have had 7 different iphones, and they have all had the same reception problems, and now I cant get the discount because, although I have been paying well over 100 dollars a month since last july 11 (not to mention the first year of the original iphone) my monthly plan rate only comes out to $79 a month. God I miss Verizon.
THB

Everyone has varying degrees of service with every cell company... I also live in San Francisco, but unlike you, I have EXCELLENT coverage with both data AND voice. EVERY carrier has good and bad spots, especially in San Francisco because of the hills. Also, if you live in a Victorian or Edwardian building or an older building, your walls MOST likely have chicken wire in them behind the plaster and that will kill your cell signal no matter what carrier you're with. (This is why many people have excellent signal in the front of their building nearest the street, but when moving to the back of their flat, lose their strong signal.)

I live in SOMA and also work in SOMA and as I stated above, I have excellent coverage. I went through 12 iPhone 3G's in the past year, but getting them replaced was not because of reception issues.

Tmobile: their customers complain that when people call them, the calls never actually go through.. and also complain that text messages come through up to 24 hours after the sender sent it.

Verizon: many complaints about dead zones around the city.. and also that they are highly overpriced.

Sprint: many complaints about dead zones around the city.. and also that their customer service is highly the worst and most unfriendly. Sprint's US footprint is primarily only in major cities and along freeways.. so their overall coverage around the nation is the smallest among ALL US Cell companies.

 

[redskinsf]

Going to the AT&T store sounds like the only hope for some.

I still can't decide if I want 16 or 32gb. Apps going to go to another level of sophistication... IDK. I should've gone today to get 'something' tho. My local Apple store is running low on at least 16gb blacks and the line is building.

When faced with the question of "hmm, 16GB or 32GB".. I looked at how much free space I had on my 16GB 3G.. I had about 7GB free space, so I decided buying the 32GB 3G was not worth the extra cash for me personally.. so the 16GB was the way to go.

On my 3G, I had about 1,400 songs out of my iTunes library on it, 1,200 photos, 22 videos and 16 apps... and still had 7GB free space. Obviously if your iPhone is tapped out of space, then the 32GB is the way to go.. otherwise, you know the answer.

 

[redskinsf]

Just back from At&T store. Got the 32G for $299. Bought the 3G first day but my plan was not $99/month. However, the customer representative said that I was a good customer (always paid on time) and was able to change the eligibility on the computer.
He also confirmed (and showed me a memo) that it was not $99 voice only, but had to be $99 rate+features (like data, etc.). My bill was just under $90 (voice +data), but he still gave me the low price.

Congrats candeo! It was worth the upgrade from 3G.. 3G is definitely faster and I LOVE the voice control!

 

[meagain]

Red - You're right. Plus I'm always at the computer to sync as needed. I have a 16gb now. I'm sure the newer apps won't suck that much up and I'm gleaning the 3G S is sort of Snow Leopardy (efficient). Hubby needs a 32 tho.

I just got a text from AT&T saying "your issue has been resolved, we're sorry for any inconvenience" This is the 2nd one like this. First one said "call if you have any questions". No one can answer me as to what issue is resolved or why I'm getting texts. It just gets more fun every minute.

Congrats Candeo

 

[tylerhbrown]

Everyone has varying degrees of service with every cell company... I also live in San Francisco, but unlike you, I have EXCELLENT coverage with both data AND voice. EVERY carrier has good and bad spots, especially in San Francisco because of the hills. Also, if you live in a Victorian or Edwardian building or an older building, your walls MOST likely have chicken wire in them behind the plaster and that will kill your cell signal no matter what carrier you're with. (This is why many people have excellent signal in the front of their building nearest the street, but when moving to the back of their flat, lose their strong signal.)

All I'm saying is that I have had all four services and ATT has been the weakest. I have lived all over the city and I drive a car, I occasionally lost calls with t-mobile and sprint, but nothing like what happens with ATT. I never lost calls with verizon and I never found dead spots in SF. I also pay far more money for way less minutes with ATT. I have had 7 different iphones for many different reason (cracked screen, bunk headjack, those weird little dots on the screen), Im just saying my problems are not from a bad hand set. I have found many people who have similar problem, and yes some people with no problems, but most are people like you who live and work in one part of SF. I have professional friends around here who often joke about how when they are on conference calls and people repeatedly drop out, they ask them "hey are you on an iphone?" and the answer is usually "yeah, how did you know." Also I have had a few long conversation with ATT reps about why I get poor/no 3g reception in certain areas that on the online map, say there is full coverage, and as it turns out, when they look at the internal company map, these areas show low to no 3g support, which I feel is false advertising. I love apple, I love the iphone, but I am so far beyond disappointed with ATT. Yeah, I'll prolly buy an iphone 3gs for 499, and I know I will have the same issues, but this whole thing just stinks. Once again, I miss you, Verizon!
THB

 

[beth97]

I just wanted to throw this in the mix, if you are on a family plan and one of your other phones is eligible for up grade you can purchase the Iphone and then change it to the number you want. I do this all the time. I have 7 phone lines and someone is always ready to upgrade, I just used my daughters line to upgrade to 3Gs 32G at $299 and then moved it to my line and am sending my son my 3G 16g for his line.
If you are not eligible the phone will still be there when you are.
Don't blame the phone company because you signed a 2 year contract.

 

[jared_kipe]

I just wanted to throw this in the mix, if you are on a family plan and one of your other phones is eligible for up grade you can purchase the Iphone and then change it to the number you want. I do this all the time. I have 7 phone lines and someone is always ready to upgrade, I just used my daughters line to upgrade to 3Gs 32G at $299 and then moved it to my line and am sending my son my 3G 16g for his line.
If you are not eligible the phone will still be there when you are.
Don't blame the phone company because you signed a 2 year contract.

How does this work if you upgrade a phone that should have other data plans and what not.

Such as this situation:
X is an iPhone3G family plan. - not eligible
Y is an iPhone2G family line.

Can I go to an Applestore, upgrade Y to an iPhone 3GS, and then switch the SIM card for the one in X, and then call ATT to downgrade features/data plan on Y to get it back down to a 2G plan??

If this is possible, I'd love to know how!! The only thing keeping me from upgrading, is worrying about messing up the rate/texting plan on the other phones on my account.

 

[HasanDaddy]

Still upset with AT&T

They shouldn't have done such a thing (price exclusion) in the first place

I appreciate that AT&T kissed and made up with all of us, but the damage was done --- and I'm willing to BET that it was Apple executives who called ATT's headquarters and yelled, "uhhh, what are you guys thinking???"

The damage has been done - AT&T needs to do more to show some love to us iPhoneFanBoys..... otherwise, I relentlessly pray for a switch to Verizon...

 

[meagain]

I feel bad for the people that bought on launch last year, pay over $99 per line, and aren't eligible till September. I.e.; 1-2 days could mean $200 right there. That would be rough.

What I don't understand is what happens next year for those who pay the higher price? Do we get to have our cheap phone NEXT year? Or are we going to be constantly in a "pay alot" mode whereas those who get the subsidy price yesterday - are constantly golden? That's what I can't puzzle out in my head.

I'm heading out to get my phone in a few. Boy I hate to sign another 2-year. I really think AT&T is on its way out with Apple.

 

[diamond.g]

They shouldn't have done such a thing (price exclusion) in the first place

I appreciate that AT&T kissed and made up with all of us, but the damage was done --- and I'm willing to BET that it was Apple executives who called ATT's headquarters and yelled, "uhhh, what are you guys thinking???"

The damage has been done - AT&T needs to do more to show some love to us iPhoneFanBoys..... otherwise, I relentlessly pray for a switch to Verizon...

I feel bad for the people that bought on launch last year, pay over $99 per line, and aren't eligible till September. I.e.; 1-2 days could mean $200 right there. That would be rough.

What I don't understand is what happens next year for those who pay the higher price? Do we get to have our cheap phone NEXT year? Or are we going to be constantly in a "pay alot" mode whereas those who get the subsidy price yesterday - are constantly golden? That's what I can't puzzle out in my head.

I'm heading out to get my phone in a few. Boy I hate to sign another 2-year. I really think AT&T is on its way out with Apple.

All the carriers do the subsidies in this fashion. Verizon isn't going to be any different. Really the only way to gain independence is for Apple to become its own carrier. From there they can truly set the prices.

 

[DiamondMac]

I look at some of these posts and I am puzzled. I am seeing people say that they went to AT&T stores and got the subbed price even though their bill is BELOW $90 and some of the reasons for getting the low price varies from what people say....paid bills on time, good person, etc....

I mean, is AT&T really just allowing stores to allow some to upgrade and others not?

If the rule is clearly $99+, why are people below that getting the deal

Interesting that some are getting it while those ABOVE $99 are being told no

 

[meagain]

I stood in line at Apple today. Went through the purchase process. Apple guy says $700 (32gb). Huh? Get on the phone with AT&T. Not eligible for anything. By that time I was so upset - I just bought the phone and left thinking I'd deal with it later. Stopped at AT&T who were flabberghasted. AT&T is claiming while I meet all criteria for $199/$299, I wasn't even allowed to do $399/$499! Why? Because a year ago a payment or 2 went to another AT&T address. I only found out when my line was dead for at most TWO HOURS which I called, made the online payment, fixed my online banking address.

Because of that one episode on that one day a year ago - I'm not qualified for sh*t. Frankly, I'm starting to think the "no-committment" price might be better in the long run. AT&T store is looking into this. None of them had ever seen such a thing before and feel it's way overkill for one event and couldn't believe it. Neither Apple or AT&T has had anyone pay $600-700.