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AT&T wont let me get rid of my 18 dollar upgrade fee

M

michael31986

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
4,590
704
i called and even email them complaining about it, but both email and phone representatives say its something that would have had to been waived when i signed the agreement and also is something that they charge for all upgrades.

idk what to do. i know some of you had it waived and i also waited till i got my bill just so i could call them.

I think if i threaten to leave and pay the cancelling fee they would waive it just to keep me.

also they said there is no discount for the iphone, but yet my bill has a discount on it, so maybe there confusing it with the old iphone that had no discount availability. thanks!
 
they would not want to be glad to get rid of me. for 18 bucks that would be stupid for them since my bill is 100 a month.

ALSO look for the thread on how everyone who called got it removed what am i doing wrong?
i didn't even threaten them i asked nicely
 
Maybe it's just me but I don't see what the problem is.
I'm not trying to mock you here, but wtf? Really, help me understand what it's an issue to pay the upgrade fee.
 
there are people on here who were able to get out of it. i just want to know how they did it.

and 18 may not seem like a lot for you, but its stupid to charge 18 dollars for upgrade. no other carrier does when i upgraded.
 
michael31986 said:
there are people on here who were able to get out of it. i just want to know how they did it.

and 18 may not seem like a lot for you, but its stupid to charge 18 dollars for upgrade. no other carrier does when i upgraded.
Click to expand...

so let me see if understand....

you agreed to pay the 18 when you upgraded to an iphone right?

then you see SOME were able to have it waived

therefore you feel you deserve to have it waived and find out att wont let you

and then you whine about it on the forums. seriously grow up and realize that you AGREED to the upgrade fee when you got the iphone.

i mean why would they have an upgrade if people can have it waived? how would that benefit att again? i bet the ones that have it waived are those with specific FAN agreements saying that upgrade fees may be waived

i swear some people and their entitlement issues:rolleyes:
 
michael31986 said:
there are people on here who were able to get out of it. i just want to know how they did it.

and 18 may not seem like a lot for you, but its stupid to charge 18 dollars for upgrade. no other carrier does when i upgraded.
Click to expand...

You are right on one point:

It is cheezy for ATT to charge an upgrade fee when you're already buying a phone and signing a contract. It's just as bad as paying to check a bag or pay for pretzels on an airplane. Corporate america sucks in this regard.

But you agreed to pay it, so flame on!
 
Le Big Mac said:
You are right on one point:

It is cheezy for ATT to charge an upgrade fee when you're already buying a phone and signing a contract. It's just as bad as paying to check a bag or pay for pretzels on an airplane. Corporate america sucks in this regard.

But you agreed to pay it, so flame on!
Click to expand...

i mean i have to pay a 36 dollar activation fee which i think sucks but what can you do:cool:

its not the end of the world
 
michael31986 said:
there are people on here who were able to get out of it. i just want to know how they did it.

and 18 may not seem like a lot for you, but its stupid to charge 18 dollars for upgrade. no other carrier does when i upgraded.
Click to expand...

Just another way for cell phone carriers to collect more revenue. It's crazy, I was told I could get the "activation" charge waived from one line but they would not waive the "upgrade" fee.

It's like follow the leader. If one phone company does it and the rest join, than the fees are permanent. Customers vote with their pocketbook. If you don't like it, go to another carrier. I do not like it myself. The money is not an issue but if I go to Tmobile/Verizon/Sprint, they all do the same thing.

Look at ticketmaster how they charge you extra when you order online when it really saves them money instead of having you going to the boxoffice to meet a real person.
 
I got it subsidized. I'm not whining just sayig everyone else had there's waived idk how they did it
 
Some of the success stories I have seen are:
Customer has a FAN account and is not supposed to be charged upgrade fee.
Was a day one customer and got it waived due to activation problems.
Bought multiple iPhones on a family plan.

How long have you been with AT&T and how many times have you upgraded?
If you have a four year history with no upgrades point that out to the CSR and they may be willing to waive the fee because you are a "loyal customer."
 
So call back and point that out. Some FAN discounts waive the upgrade fee and some don't. Mine doesn't.

AT&T closes call centers at 7pm Eastern on Saturdays. Use that to your advantage. Call in a few minutes before hand and somebody that wants to get off on time may not wish to get into a drawn out conversation and just waive the fee.
 
dukebound85 said:
so let me see if understand....

you agreed to pay the 18 when you upgraded to an iphone right?

then you see SOME were able to have it waived

therefore you feel you deserve to have it waived and find out att wont let you

and then you whine about it on the forums. seriously grow up and realize that you AGREED to the upgrade fee when you got the iphone.

i mean why would they have an upgrade if people can have it waived? how would that benefit att again? i bet the ones that have it waived are those with specific FAN agreements saying that upgrade fees may be waived

i swear some people and their entitlement issues:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I am amazed at it as well

To hear some people claim that they won't pay for it and act like it is some pride issue is absurd

It is $18 and it was never promised to you for free (for those that were promised it for free and were charged, I am NOT talking about you)
 
michael31986 said:
I got it subsidized. I'm not whining just sayig everyone else had there's waived idk how they did it
Click to expand...

The people who got their activation fee waived are those who have FAN discount in their accounts like I do. If you don't have FAN discount you can't have your activation fee waived it's almost silly to be even asking for it. Also, you do get charged activation fee EVERYTIME you upgrade and in EVERY network.
 
Heavenkittykat said:
The people who got their activation fee waived are those who have FAN discount in their accounts like I do. If you don't have FAN discount you can't have your activation fee waived it's almost silly to be even asking for it. Also, you do get charged activation fee EVERYTIME you upgrade and in EVERY network.
Click to expand...

I am a new customer and do not have a FAN discount. I called them up and asked them to remove my activation fee ($36.00) and they did.
 
I asked this morning and AT&T basically told me thats the fee for upgrading and i asked nicely i've also read on some threads were people were able to call in and just have the 18.00 fee waived with no problems whatsoever, i dunno if these people who got their fee waived got irate with the AT&T reps and they caved in and just waived the fee or did they threaten to cancel your service? and i'm not being cheap about its just the principle of the fee if others can have it waived why cant they just do it for everyone or not even charge such a fee.
 
michael31986 said:
I got it subsidized. I'm not whining just sayig everyone else had there's waived idk how they did it
Click to expand...

It sounds like you're whining. I had to pay the $18 but I'm not complaining on message boards about it. At least you didn't have to pay $36.

Also your message:
and i'm not being cheap about its just the principle of the fee if others can have it waived why cant they just do it for everyone or not even charge such a fee.
Click to expand...

Others but not EVERYONE. Who's to say they didn't have problems or just got someone that didn't know the rules so they let those people get it back. That's like saying just because other people get those really close parking spots with blue signs, why don't I get to park there!? Some people get things, others don't. Get over it.
 
Don't feel bad. I called in and used the old FAN discount option to get it taken off with no luck then called back and just complained about the 6 hours it took on launch day to get my phone activated with still no luck. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and pay stupid fees.
 
Success!

I called this morning (AT&T 611) and said I had been told my FAN account allowed for activation fees to be waived (I am a new customer, so $36 fee here). The guy I was talking to looked up my account, and said it did not offer to waive activation fees. I kept persistent and said this is what the guy at the AT&T store had told me. He checked again, this time for any notes on my account from the store. Still no luck. He said I could go back to the store and talk to them, but I didn't feel like this was necessary. I asked if there was anything he could do, since I was told the fee would be waived, and he checked again, but still said no go. I then changed my tone of voice a little, I was still very polite, but also a little more stern. I said I just cancelled my Sprint account early and paid the fees, and would be spending $2000 with AT&T over the next years, and asked again if there was anything he could do. He then sounded a little irritated, but waived the fee and went into a long speech about my specific FAN account and how it does not waive activation fees.

So in the end, the $36 was waived, but I think this is a very case specific topic, and there is really no general procedure to follow. It depends on who you are talking to, what kind of mood they are in, and how you word your requests and change your voice tones. Being rude, however, is not the answer.
 
thread hijack -

Did anyone else not get charged the $18? I am a long-time AT&T customer and bought the 3G (still have old iphone, deactivated) at the Apple store. Received my first bill, extra ten dollars for data plan (with another $2+ in fees/taxes :mad:) but no upgrade fee at all. :p
 
Man my bill is $140 a month; they charge me upgrade fees too, but of course I buy unlocked phones, but they wouldn't even waive a freakin' SMS I accidentally sent!
 
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