$250 Early Upgrade Fee Not Waived Yet Can Be
Let's settle this for the time being (as *639# is giving different information for different customers). Can someone who bought the 4S on launch day (with subsidy and not at full contract-free price) log onto at&t website and navigate to "I want to....Check upgrade options" Click on Upgrade Eligibility to view upgrade options. What does it say?
Does anyone get "You're eligible for an upgrade at a discounted price"?
I spoke with the Office of the President (AT&T) special Customer Service Department. She happened to also be a Manager of the Department. Here's the skinny right from the horse's mouth, AND ONE COOL THING THAT I DID NOT KNOW WHICH WILL ALLOW ME TO GET THE $250 FEE WAIVED!!!
First, in 2008 and 2009, when the first two iPhones were one year old, respectively, AT&T, for many (most) customers waived the $200 Early Upgrade penalty fee and one could purchase the latest version of the iPhone for the then $18 activation fee. It's now $36.
Then, in 2010, the $200 fee was not waived except for a very few accounts depending on many criteria. I happened to fall into the lucky few and bought the iPhone 4 with no $200 fee. Again, most were charged the fee.
Now, in 2011, since the iPhone 4S was not released until October 2011, for those who purchased the iPhone 4 in those first few critical weeks in June/July of 2010, by the time October of 2011 rolled around we were already into month 16 of the contract, and again, most of us were allowed to purchase the iPhone 4S without the $200 early upgrade fee.
But, this year, all bets are off (unless Randall Stephenson makes an official exception to the rule), for all purchasers of the 4S in October 2011, for example, still will have to either wait until May 2013 to avoid paying the higher $250 Early Upgrade Fee. So, a 32GB phone will be $299 + $250 Early Upgrade Fee + $36 totals approximately $609 including tax on the phone itself. This could change, but no one in the Office of the President has been notified of this fee being waived. Verizon and Sprint, so far, are doing the same thing.
NOW FOR THE REALLY GOOD NEWS--if you happen to also have an iPad and have had the number attached to it for 20+ months, that number is upgradable and the $250 can be waived. This is known as Cross-upgrade. Just be sure to provide Apple the phone number attached to your iPad when pre-ordering later this month. Before activating the phone when it arrives or you pick it up, you MUST call AT&T to correctly activate the devices so that your iPhone number and iPad number remain the same. The bottom line is that you save the $250 fee, might be able to get the $36 fee waived if in the right place and the right time talking to the right CS agent. On the flip side of the coin, you will enter into another 2-year contract for the Cross-upgrade and will be no more than 12 months into the 2-year contract from the purchase of the 4S last October (fewer months if bought after October).
Personally, I would be getting the iPhone 5, a waived $250 fee but will have added a new 2-year contract to my already existing one. But, unless the rules change again, I will only have to wait until May, 2013 to free up the older 2-year contract.
I would imagine this would also work on any other telephone number you have had 20+ months attached to some AT&T mobile device such as a 4G computer card or your spouses/child's phone.
One other word of warning the Manager to me--if you are planning to move everything to AT&T's new Mobile Share, don't do it until all these other steps have been completed. It could easily f--- up the fee-waiver process.
Good luck y buena suerte!
