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Carrier AT&T get your upgrade fees waived.

FYI: I just had my upgrade fees waived on AT&T online chat, so they are still obviously doing it. I was very polite, he explained to me why they do this and I told him that I understand but I'm a loyal customer, I upgrade every year since 2009, sometimes twice a year, pay my bills on time. He told me he understood and it was just policy, he would credit me, but this may not happen in the future. I said thanks and he said they treat me like family.

Oh AT&T :p

So, im happy anyways.
 
Two chat reps refused, and phone rep refused. Even refused to put me through to retention department stating I'm in buyer's remorse (really?).

Finally put the manager on who offered a $18 credit to my account -- I took it because I'm a sucker who doesn't feel like continuing to badger them. Such nonsense to charge a fee on top of everything else. Oh well.
 
frostrambler said:
FYI: I just had my upgrade fees waived on AT&T online chat, so they are still obviously doing it. I was very polite, he explained to me why they do this and I told him that I understand but I'm a loyal customer, I upgrade every year since 2009, sometimes twice a year, pay my bills on time. He told me he understood and it was just policy, he would credit me, but this may not happen in the future. I said thanks and he said they treat me like family.

Oh AT&T :p

So, im happy anyways.
Click to expand...

Would this be good or bad?? :D
 
mrCide said:
Two chat reps refused, and phone rep refused. Even refused to put me through to retention department stating I'm in buyer's remorse (really?).

Finally put the manager on who offered a $18 credit to my account -- I took it because I'm a sucker who doesn't feel like continuing to badger them. Such nonsense to charge a fee on top of everything else. Oh well.
Click to expand...

Glad I don't have to deal with them anymore. My last bit of business will be when I close service. Upgrade fee never made nor will make sense.
 
frostrambler said:
FYI: I just had my upgrade fees waived on AT&T online chat, so they are still obviously doing it. I was very polite, he explained to me why they do this and I told him that I understand but I'm a loyal customer, I upgrade every year since 2009, sometimes twice a year, pay my bills on time. He told me he understood and it was just policy, he would credit me, but this may not happen in the future. I said thanks and he said they treat me like family.

Oh AT&T :p

So, im happy anyways.
Click to expand...
Had mine waived too, thanks to your advice. Got the same warning about how it may not happen in the future, etc. Next bill will be our usual amount rather than nearly double due to fees.

Point is, being very polite is probably helpful. They don't have to waive the fees, and it's not the fault of the person you're talking to. Just gently remind them how long you've been a customer and other things that might be in your favor (in my case, my wife's contract ended June 2012 and she upgraded now, so she's really been paying extra 15 months or so.)
 
It worked for me.

I had to effectively say I willing to cancel and bring my 3 lines + iPad data line to another carrier. My chat was then transferred to a supervisor who immediately offered a $40 credit to my account saying they can't just "waive" the fee. I said, "it works for me"!


My suggestions:

1) be polite and say you feel these fees are not legit to long standing, loyal customers who's account are current and in good standing.

2) If that fails, start asking about termination costs to get the ball rolling and once they provide the info say something like:

"I appreciate your help and as a result I know what I need to do. Before I leave, are you sure that you and AT&T want to lose a valued, long standing customer over a $36 fee? If you can't do something for me, then I know your answer."

Chances are you will be directed to the next level of support.



Goodluck to all.
 
I simply said "i've heard from other loyal customers that you are sometimes willing to waive upgrade fees and as a loyal customer I was wondering if you could extend the same courtesy to me".

No problem. Done.
 
...

Wow what a great thread, duly noted.

Thanks OP and everyone who offered their tips/chats as examples. Will definitely do this next time around since I always buy my iPhones from the Apple store.
 
I did this a few days ago via online chat as well. All I did was ask nicely and said I would appreciate it if they could waive the upgrade fee for me because I've been an AT&T customer for years.
 
Just did the same through live chat. They said thanks for being a customer since 7/2000 and gave me the credit. Can't beat that!
 
I tried getting the upgrade fee waived for my 5s but the rep told me he couldn't do it. He said it had to do with the FedEx discount my brother (the main account holder) has on the account. Can anyone confirm if this is a legit reason or if the rep just didn't want to do it?

***Update***

I guess it does matter what rep you get. Mine was super friendly. After a while he told me the fee was waived and that it'll be as if I never paid for it. Already checked the bill and the adjustment has been made. I started off with what billycuth said.

billycuth said:
I simply said "i've heard from other loyal customers that you are sometimes willing to waive upgrade fees and as a loyal customer I was wondering if you could extend the same courtesy to me".

No problem. Done.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I upgraded two phones to the iPhone 5S. Got on the chat and basically asked them to waive the upgrade fees since we have been customers since 2007 and are in good standing. Wasn't a problem. Just saved $72. :)
 
I just got almost $80 credited to my two line account just by asking nicely!

Thanks OP for the tip!
 
I was able to get mine removed by calling in. No hassle at all.

I was looking thru my account info from the 4s activation and it looks like the fee was only $18 then (oct 2011). That's a sizable increase to have doubled it now. Can anyone else confirm this?
 
Tired calling yesterday and no dice....the girl was fairly rude and dismissive.
Today I did live chat was super nice and got the fee waived without even directly asking by a very helpful agent (I needed another situation fixed too) which caused my bill to be higher this month and he offers to credit me the fee this one time. YAY!!!
 
I just got the $36 "One Time Charge for Upgrade" removed via live chat.

I did not have to play the "My entire family has moved to StraightTalk and I'm the only one still on AT&T" card. (which is true).

I just politely stated I was surprised by the higher than normal bill and did not think the fee should be imposed since I did the upgrade myself.

Lots of waiting in the chat however. Took 5 minutes or more.
 
Done

Got mine waved two years in a row. Just made the point that im a good customer and upgrade my device every year extending my contract. Chat represetnative was super nice. :)

I agree with all most everyone that this fee feels bogus. I'm sure it pays for employees and support but I don't use any of those services. Phone gets shipped to me and I activate. Done.
 
Count me in the 2 upgrade fee waived group. Took just a few minutes via chat. I guess that's one reason to stay a loyal paying customer. Most business don't seem to care about that anymore.
 
Thank you to all who have posted to this thread!

I just called AT&T Customer Service and was given a $36 credit to offset the activation fee. The rep was very reluctant to give the credit and tried to guilt me by saying that fee helps keep the cell towers running well yada yada yada.

We have been with AT&T since 2004 and I used that to guilt him into giving me the $36 back lol.

I ordered the new phone, 5S Space Gray 32g, at the AT&T store this morning and it has shipped already, scheduled to be delivered on Monday. I am upgrading from my trusty 3GS (what a wonderful phone my 3GS is, it has served me daily for over 4 years and will retire as an iPod/Dashcam).
 
Enjoy having the power of being a customer! Even though I have multiple personal lines through AT&T, because I work for corporate I will never have any fees waived. I would have to get in contact with what we call an Employee Mobility Offer department and they wouldn't dare to waive an upgrade fee. We can't guilt them into waiving anything since they know we have to pay our bill, no matter how high, or we get terminated.

Enjoy the $36 bucks dudes! :(
 
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