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ATT Early Upgrade Discounting Policy
- Thread starter Cash Regime
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I just got my 3Gs in mid-January. I have an upgrade date of 8/2011, but have the option for the 399/499 price. I think how AT&T determines your upgrade date is by the amount of money you spend on service,amount of phones on such a plan(family plan), and how long you have had service for. I have had Cingular/AT&T since 2003 and I believe they do not want to lose my business so they offer me an upgrade much faster than someone paying for a single line.
All of this just makes my head hurt. It seems like the scenario with the ETF and starting over vs paying the higher price for the upgrade before eligibility date is like picking your favorite devil.
My own situation is jacked up as well. Two lines in contract, upgraded from original to 3G last May, first line eligible now for upgrade, second line...not til 2011. I talked to two different people at ATT yesterday and the more they talked, the more profoundly confused I became. Though the second one did tell me that (a) the info in their system is not entirely updated with iPhone 4 details and (b) since they cannot override upgrade eligibility dates, she suggested we go into an ATT core store and have someone there pull up the account and speak with them. This was after I emphasized the inequity of this crap after having dumped egregious amounts of money into ATT since before the first iPhone came out, been with them since 2005.
The slayer was that line 2 is eligible for a 3GS upgrade...just not an iP4 upgrade. Soooo....they'd rather make $99 instead of making $199 on that line?? That's mental.
My own situation is jacked up as well. Two lines in contract, upgraded from original to 3G last May, first line eligible now for upgrade, second line...not til 2011. I talked to two different people at ATT yesterday and the more they talked, the more profoundly confused I became. Though the second one did tell me that (a) the info in their system is not entirely updated with iPhone 4 details and (b) since they cannot override upgrade eligibility dates, she suggested we go into an ATT core store and have someone there pull up the account and speak with them. This was after I emphasized the inequity of this crap after having dumped egregious amounts of money into ATT since before the first iPhone came out, been with them since 2005.
The slayer was that line 2 is eligible for a 3GS upgrade...just not an iP4 upgrade. Soooo....they'd rather make $99 instead of making $199 on that line?? That's mental.
Thats not true... i'm the primary on a family plan paying 120 after FAN discount and I'm still stuck at 2/20/11. Who told you this, because when i went, he said it was based off what MY phone was worth, which was less than $100, so therefore i'm SOL... and to the guy that said he bought his 3GS launch day with the 40+30+5 plan and IS elligible.... really???? i haven't heard this being the case for anyone else.......
Every time there's a new iPhone announced these same threads are started, i.e., how do I scam the system to get the latest and greatest device at the subsidized price. Plus the whiners who have upgrade dates just past the deadline. This situation is the reason why I did not replace my 3G with the 3GS. Amazing...well, not really.
Hey genius, we are not trying to scam the system.
Adding a line to your account or terminating your contract and paying the ETF is not a scam. Its called an option.
If you dont want to read the posts in this thread move on.
Well, I guess we will find out next week.
June 15th is pre-order dates.
June 19th is when I bought the iPhone 3GS
June 24th is when iPhone 4 is released.
I'm on family plan, second line 02/20/2011. Right now, no early upgrade pricing for me.
I have a hard time swallowing $599, but $399, that's not too bad.
June 15th is pre-order dates.
June 19th is when I bought the iPhone 3GS
June 24th is when iPhone 4 is released.
I'm on family plan, second line 02/20/2011. Right now, no early upgrade pricing for me.
I have a hard time swallowing $599, but $399, that's not too bad.
Every time there's a new iPhone announced these same threads are started, i.e., how do I scam the system to get the latest and greatest device at the subsidized price. Plus the whiners who have upgrade dates just past the deadline. This situation is the reason why I did not replace my 3G with the 3GS. Amazing...well, not really.
Look ho,
We're not trying to "scam" the system, and I don't feel like we're even entitled to the 199/299 upgrade. I signed the contract thinking it was going to be for 2 years or 18 months... but when I see claims from people with the exact same situation as I am getting the full discount, it's frustrating. So if ATT had a sensible policy, meaning that it was consistent and not completely random.. I wouldn't bitch about it. But again, they make it so confusing and frustrating for many of their customers.
I think you should call a few times to make sure your account will be eligible for the early upgrade. It would suck to wait 3 hours only to be denied an iPhone for the early upgrade price. Either that or I hope you're good at making a scene to force them.. cause that seems like it could work too.
And this is why I'm so frustrated. This is exactly the same rule I read last year when getting the 3GS. No where in there does it say you can only get 1 early iPhone upgrade per 18 months... but now since I'm trying to get the iPhone 4, they spit out that rule to me out of the blue.
You guys should call them and see if the ATT rep tells you the same rule they told me. I got pretty upset with her and she wouldn't budge.. but maybe I should have yelled or something.
Thanks for posting. If this is true, then it's ANOTHER example of ATT's inconsistency. I'm basically in the same situation as you. I got the 3GS on launch and have the exact same rate plan as you.. but I'm not even eligible for the early upgrade (399/499) discount. I know I'm just bitching now, but that's ****ed up.
Can you confirm this pricing with people who upgraded from the 3GS from the 3G using the early upgrade discount last year at launch?
Nice!
Like i've said in all the other threads, I don't think the process is arbitrary to ATT, but to us it is. Just like the components of a credit score, there are numerous variables that ATT is basing us off of. Amount spent? FAN/Corporate discount? Verizon entrenchment in our surrounding area (I see ALOT of VZ ads in my city)? Who knows. Yelling @ CSR who know as little as us (or in some cases, less) won't help anyone. It would be best to wait until the start of the pre orders when the dust settles and ATT would have to have clearly defined rules (because at that point they'll start taking $$$).
I'm eligible with the lowest voice + Unlimited data + 1500 txt ($15) + fan which brings my total around 83 bucks a month.
AT&T needs to step it up
Hey everyone, I posted this on another article on MacRumors, and decided it was appropriate to post it here as well. Reading through this forum I can see everyone has the same frustration as I do. However I have never heard of only being able to use the early upgrade once every 18 months, that's new news to me. However my conversation with AT&T was slightly different from this discussions first post, and below is what I have to offer as maybe some hope of being able to upgrade early.
This post explains my situation.
This post details my conversation with an AT&T agent.
If for some reason we aren't early upgrade eligible because of a stupid 18 month early upgrade policy, I would see it in everyone's best interest if they would write emails to AT&T's CEO complaining of this situation. Enough complaints and I would bet that they would make a special consideration just to keep us happy and sign another 2 year contract.
Hey everyone, I posted this on another article on MacRumors, and decided it was appropriate to post it here as well. Reading through this forum I can see everyone has the same frustration as I do. However I have never heard of only being able to use the early upgrade once every 18 months, that's new news to me. However my conversation with AT&T was slightly different from this discussions first post, and below is what I have to offer as maybe some hope of being able to upgrade early.
This post explains my situation.
This post details my conversation with an AT&T agent.
If for some reason we aren't early upgrade eligible because of a stupid 18 month early upgrade policy, I would see it in everyone's best interest if they would write emails to AT&T's CEO complaining of this situation. Enough complaints and I would bet that they would make a special consideration just to keep us happy and sign another 2 year contract.
Thanks for posting. It sounds like the reason they gave you is some made up crap from the rep because he/she didn't know the real reason. If your monthly bill goes up, your eligibility should definitely move up. This makes sense and all the people that I've seen with more expensive voice plans are upgrade eligible. The 1 early upgrade per 18 month makes more sense, but your rep may not have known about the rule I guess.
The best option is probably to wait on it and see what happens. The ATT rep was firm on the issue when I spoke to her though, but who knows. We are all spoiled iPhone users who get what they want, right?
Ok so I was just thinking and something interesting just came to my mind.
With AT&T you can qualify for a new fully subsidized phone if you are under contract for at least 18-20 months. This all depends on how much you spend for your voice plan with extras added on. The more you spend, the more benefit you receive. If it's over $99 then you are likely to get the best pricing sooner than those that spend less. Family Plans are different from Single-user plans in that Family Plans divide the total cost.
Lets think about a couple of scenarios here:
Single-user w/iPhone spends,
$59.99 for 900 minutes + $30 data plan + $20 unlimited txt = $109.99
Family Plan w/2 iPhones
$89.99 for 1400 minutes + $19.98 for 2 additional lines + $60 for 2 iPhone data plans + $30 unlimited txt = $199.97 (this is my current plan, although I am considered to be the additional line, and not the account holder)
This is roughly $66 per person, however with Family Plans the account holder is seen as having the greatest cost, which is why they would see a better upgrade timeframe.
So we can conclude that single users spending more than $99 and Family plan account holders are those who are eligible for having the best upgrade timeframe. If you are an added line on a family plan, or you are a single plan user spending less than $99 you see the typical 18-20 month upgrade term.
What doesn't make sense to me is the early upgrade policy, only being able to use it every 18 months. This is the typical amount of time before you should see a FULL UPGRADE. I don't think this information is correct.
My current situation shows that when I am 17 months into my contract I can qualify for an early upgrade and when I am 20 months into my contract I can get the iPhone fully subsidized. The 17 months seems more like when you should get the iPhone fully subsidized and when you are almost a year into your contract you should be able to get the iPhone for the "special early upgrade" price.
If it holds true that you can only early upgrade every 18 months, then AT&T should be held accountable for not sharing that information with us when we purchased the iPhone 3GS last year and upgraded early. Because I did not see that shown anywhere, even in the fine print.
With AT&T you can qualify for a new fully subsidized phone if you are under contract for at least 18-20 months. This all depends on how much you spend for your voice plan with extras added on. The more you spend, the more benefit you receive. If it's over $99 then you are likely to get the best pricing sooner than those that spend less. Family Plans are different from Single-user plans in that Family Plans divide the total cost.
Lets think about a couple of scenarios here:
Single-user w/iPhone spends,
$59.99 for 900 minutes + $30 data plan + $20 unlimited txt = $109.99
Family Plan w/2 iPhones
$89.99 for 1400 minutes + $19.98 for 2 additional lines + $60 for 2 iPhone data plans + $30 unlimited txt = $199.97 (this is my current plan, although I am considered to be the additional line, and not the account holder)
This is roughly $66 per person, however with Family Plans the account holder is seen as having the greatest cost, which is why they would see a better upgrade timeframe.
So we can conclude that single users spending more than $99 and Family plan account holders are those who are eligible for having the best upgrade timeframe. If you are an added line on a family plan, or you are a single plan user spending less than $99 you see the typical 18-20 month upgrade term.
What doesn't make sense to me is the early upgrade policy, only being able to use it every 18 months. This is the typical amount of time before you should see a FULL UPGRADE. I don't think this information is correct.
My current situation shows that when I am 17 months into my contract I can qualify for an early upgrade and when I am 20 months into my contract I can get the iPhone fully subsidized. The 17 months seems more like when you should get the iPhone fully subsidized and when you are almost a year into your contract you should be able to get the iPhone for the "special early upgrade" price.
If it holds true that you can only early upgrade every 18 months, then AT&T should be held accountable for not sharing that information with us when we purchased the iPhone 3GS last year and upgraded early. Because I did not see that shown anywhere, even in the fine print.
lolwut.
They should just eliminate upgrades for everyone but people are so used to paying 200 dollars for 700 dollar phones it'd be suicide. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.
Tell them youre adding your Dad to AT&T and want to use his upgrade to give yourself the new iPhone.
Ask them to add a line to your plan but then swap the phone numbers for you. If you can get them to do that. Give them some reason why you can't just swap the sims yourself.
Then cancel your old line with the $115 early termination fee. That SHOULD work, I think. And you get to keep your number.
You do lose your Unlimited Data Plan though.
Ask them to add a line to your plan but then swap the phone numbers for you. If you can get them to do that. Give them some reason why you can't just swap the sims yourself.
Then cancel your old line with the $115 early termination fee. That SHOULD work, I think. And you get to keep your number.
You do lose your Unlimited Data Plan though.
I'm simply stating that when you choose to upgrade early, all facts should be disclosed. Otherwise you might not want to upgrade and wait another year for a better phone based upon a companies policy.
The only way for customers to keep upgrading their phones is if the cell phone company subsidizes the prices of their phones, otherwise customers would not be able to afford a $700 phone. The cell phone companies subsidize the phones so that customers will sign-on for another 2 years. It's a marketing ploy. You might think that we are all spoiled complaining consumers, and for a fact, we somewhat are, but I think you fail to see how much more money AT&T makes when they subsidize a phone and sign-on a customer for another 2 year contract.
The problem with what you said is that there are some users (even in this thread) that claim that they are a single line who got their 3GS at launch and have the 39.99 voice, 30 data, and 5 text plan and they are eligible for the FULL subsidy price. I called up AT&T for a second time today, and they basically said she couldn't do anything because my eligibility date is what the system showed. I asked her how other people with the same phone, time purchased, and rate plan can pay $199 for the iPhone 4 while I have to pay $599. All she said was there are many factors, but I feel like those are the ones that are the most important.
She did NOT mention the 1 early upgrade per 18 months however.
Had a very similar discussion with the first ATT rep in regards to why my number is not eligible for the early upgrade price. The rep stated the now "only one early upgrade exception within 18 months" rule. That's fine and dandy, but then I had to throw out my ace...
http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/files/iphone/pricing_fact_sheet_ip4.pdf
This comes from ATT's official press release and site: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574#tab2 Click the "pricing" link under the Plans and Pricing tab.
Posted this early and used this document to have her manager note on my account that I will be eligible for the early upgrade as an existing iPhone customer. Had to be very patient and very calm. I even had the rep go to the site to look at this document.
So basically on June 15th, I will need to go into the AT&T store and pre-order the iPhone 4. If the pricing is not correct ($499 for the 32gb early upgrade), then I will steer them to my notes on the account and the store manager will need to override to the correct price.
Been an interesting experience. My advice, anyone that is having trouble with getting the early upgrade pricing, print out that document and take it with you when you preorder. You can also call in and try to have them update your account note like I did. It was a good compromise because they were not budging with actually changing the early upgrade eligibility date.
Had a very similar discussion with the first ATT rep in regards to why my number is not eligible for the early upgrade price. The rep stated the now "only one early upgrade exception within 18 months" rule. That's fine and dandy, but then I had to throw out my ace...
http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/files/iphone/pricing_fact_sheet_ip4.pdf
This comes from ATT's official press release and site: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574#tab2 Click the "pricing" link under the Plans and Pricing tab.
Posted this early and used this document to have her manager note on my account that I will be eligible for the early upgrade as an existing iPhone customer. Had to be very patient and very calm. I even had the rep go to the site to look at this document.
So basically on June 15th, I will need to go into the AT&T store and pre-order the iPhone 4. If the pricing is not correct ($499 for the 32gb early upgrade), then I will steer them to my notes on the account and the store manager will need to override to the correct price.
Been an interesting experience. My advice, anyone that is having trouble with getting the early upgrade pricing, print out that document and take it with you when you preorder. You can also call in and try to have them update your account note like I did. It was a good compromise because they were not budging with actually changing the early upgrade eligibility date.
Very promising solution. Hope it works out.
Nothing to lose to try out.
I stopped by an ATT core store today. I was told that as long as I have had my iPhone 3GS for at least 6 months, I will be able to take advantage of the early upgrade price. My full discount on the new iPhone 4 would not be available until February, 2011 (that is what my upgrade text message was saying) but I will be getting the $399/$499 price just like when I bought the 3GS a year ago.
Had a very similar discussion with the first ATT rep in regards to why my number is not eligible for the early upgrade price. The rep stated the now "only one early upgrade exception within 18 months" rule. That's fine and dandy, but then I had to throw out my ace...
http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/files/iphone/pricing_fact_sheet_ip4.pdf
This comes from ATT's official press release and site: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574#tab2 Click the "pricing" link under the Plans and Pricing tab.
Posted this early and used this document to have her manager note on my account that I will be eligible for the early upgrade as an existing iPhone customer. Had to be very patient and very calm. I even had the rep go to the site to look at this document.
So basically on June 15th, I will need to go into the AT&T store and pre-order the iPhone 4. If the pricing is not correct ($499 for the 32gb early upgrade), then I will steer them to my notes on the account and the store manager will need to override to the correct price.
Been an interesting experience. My advice, anyone that is having trouble with getting the early upgrade pricing, print out that document and take it with you when you preorder. You can also call in and try to have them update your account note like I did. It was a good compromise because they were not budging with actually changing the early upgrade eligibility date.
What a great idea and solution to hopefully most of the problems a lot of us are facing. I had actually taken a look at this document when I was talking with my AT&T rep but I failed to mention it to the rep.
Today I got a txt message from the same rep that was researching the early upgrade eligibility for my situation. She talked with her manager and now the manager is looking into the accelerated early upgrade policy for iPhone 4. Once they figure out the answer they will let me know if I am, and I will let you all know as well what I hear.
If for some reason I am not eligible I will have to throw that same ace that unseenllama did with the AT&T rep.
Can only hope for the best!
Did you buy the iPhone 3G, if so was it a fully subsidized price?
Also did you buy the 3GS at an early upgrade price?