ATT upgrade eligibility moved up

[Vertigo50]

Actually the 20-month upgrade rule wen into effect AFTER most of us signed contracts. March of 2011 they changed the upgrade eligibility on NEW contracts to 20-months. If you signed your contract BEFORE March of 2011, and haven't made SPECIFIC changes to your account, you get the November date. If you made certain changes to your account (especially ones that lowered your bill), the 20-month wait was enacted.

It took three phone calls to AT&T to get this straight, but that is the way it is.

BUT, most of us NEVER knowingly agreed to a 20-month upgrade policy.

This makes a lot of sense. I added a FAN discount to our account, and shortly after that my date was moved from November to February.

This also likely explains why ATT has been telling people they can waive the ETF but not move up their date. If they change the terms of your agreement, you can cancel early without any fees most of the time, which is apparently what they've done here.

Those of you who are thinking of switching carriers, now is your chance to possibly do it without an ETF. Personally, I'm just going to upgrade my wife and wait for the iPhone 5.

----------

So I did the *639# thing and got the text that said I was not eligible for a full discount on a standard device but that I was eligible for a discounted iPhone upgrade for $250 plus an $18 fee.
I called ATT and they told me that I was not eligible for full upgrade and that the $250 offer was only for a 3gs iPhone, andy not the new iPhone 4s.

Anyone else get that from them? I spoke to a "very hard to understand english is not my primary language person".

He may have been referring to the fact that you can order the 3GS and iPhone 4 (8GB) today, but not the new one.

Go to www.buyiphone.apple.com and check your eligibility. It will give you prices for each model.

 

[b166er]

The ATT site isn't even loading for me and I got a totally different text today than I did the other day when I diled *639#

It's telling me 11/18/11 now. I'm hoping that moves up, I was really hoping to pre-order tomorrow night. Got my iPhone 4 the day before launch day.

 

[UKyank]

The conclusion I get from all of this is, unless you really want the 4S you should probably skip it and hang onto your 4 because if you get the 4S, regardless of when you're eligible for an upgrade, there is no way you will be eligible for a discount on the 5 whenever it comes to fruition (yes, I am assuming its not going to take Apple 20 months to come out with it).

 

[Limeyness]

The conclusion I get from all of this is, unless you really want the 4S you should probably skip it and hang onto your 4 because if you get the 4S, regardless of when you're eligible for an upgrade, there is no way you will be eligible for a discount on the 5 whenever it comes to fruition (yes, I am assuming its not going to take Apple 20 months to come out with it).

That's the thing for me, if I wait the month and half for the upgrade price, it will push me back later for the next upgrade.

I love my 4, and would love a 4s, but I will skip a generation to have the 5 upgrade as soon as I can, as I see that being a redesign.

 

[Vertigo50]

The ATT site isn't even loading for me and I got a totally different text today than I did the other day when I diled *639#

It's telling me 11/18/11 now. I'm hoping that moves up, I was really hoping to pre-order tomorrow night. Got my iPhone 4 the day before launch day.

Hey, just to clarify. You wouldn't be pre-ordering tomorrow night, you would be pre-ordering TONIGHT, or rather tomorrow morning at 3:01am Eastern time.

I don't want anyone thinking the pre-order is Friday night going into Saturday morning.

 

[djransom]

The conclusion I get from all of this is, unless you really want the 4S you should probably skip it and hang onto your 4 because if you get the 4S, regardless of when you're eligible for an upgrade, there is no way you will be eligible for a discount on the 5 whenever it comes to fruition (yes, I am assuming its not going to take Apple 20 months to come out with it).

And this is why I've decided not to upgrade. Not worth the game. Picking up a case for my iPhone 4 today that should carry me through the next iPhone.

 

[b166er]

That's what I meant, but thanks for the clarification.

Sadly it may not do me much good either way! I'm gonna give ATT a call and see if they can bump me up a measly 4 weeks.

 

[RobbleDog]

I called in yesterday and just flat asked for an upgrade all while being very pleasant with the ATT Rep. My original date of 11-17-11 was long enough away where I was willing to go to sprint for unlimited data, but didnt really want to because of the added speeds on the ATT network.

After I chatted with the rep for a bit I got him on my team and really pulling for me but there was nothing that he could do for me right there. But he was able to get the man behind the curtain to at least look at my case (early adopter, lost iphone4 in june, long time customer with a stellar payment record, etc.) for an early upgrade for the 4s. They said the best they could do was to consider me and let me know in the next 72 hours. I tried to plead that 72 hours was after the time for the pre orders to begin and I didnt want to miss that, and end up on back order. he said they would everything they can to get me an answer as soon as they could.

I was asked previously in the call if I would stay on and take a survey. I did that and let them know the rep was great, but I was saddened that we couldnt 100% resolve the issue while on the phone.

But low and behold I woke up this morning and checked my upgrade date once again, and I am now fully eligible for an early upgrade and am planning on pre-ordering the 4s at 1201 tonite.

So I guess killing them with kindness, with only a small threat of leaving really worked.

 

[c2one]

So I guess killing them with kindness, with only a small threat of leaving really worked.

Your story is very similar to mine... Super nice is the way to go and in the end, well as of this morning, I am now upgrade eligible.

 

[maximus96]

anybody got bumped from 2/2012 by being super nice? somehow i think the chance would be very slim, at&t rather have us leave...

 

[rdowty]

I called in and talked to some one again knowing they would tell me they can't do anything just in case someone looks into these things and fixes them quietly like others have reported.

 

[Uabcar]

I just tried calling them. I've got a 11/19 upgrade date (bought the 4 on launch day like many others) - so very close - prob just far enough out that they'll sell out before I can order

I was very nice/pleasant. The CS person initially said they can't do anything. I pushed just a bit - saying I'd heard of other scenarios where the date was moved up. He asked to put me on hold to ask the mgr. When he came back, he said that he could move up the date for any/all other phones- but not the iPhone. Said they are just provide the network for the iPhone. ???

What really surprises me are all the different responses AT&T is providing people. You'd think for something this important to such a large portion of their customer base, they'd have very crisp scripts and actions for each of the 4-5 situations we all generally fall into (1 month out, 6 months out etc.).

Maybe I'll get lucky like the last few folks and I'll discover my date has moved up late tonight/early tomorrow.

 

[Boen]

Eligibility Status
xxx-xxx-xxxx is eligible for an upgrade at full price.

Discount Eligibility Date: 03-08-2012

 

[a.jfred]

I bought my iPhone 4 the day it was available (pre-ordered), as my contract was up at the time anyway. I'm on a sole plan, pay LESS than $100/mo with my FAN (and even with the features I have on my phone), and it says I'm eligible for an upgrade at full (retail) price right now, discounted price 11/17/11.

 

[vtmikevt]

I just tried calling them. I've got a 11/19 upgrade date (bought the 4 on launch day like many others) - so very close - prob just far enough out that they'll sell out before I can order

I was very nice/pleasant. The CS person initially said they can't do anything. I pushed just a bit - saying I'd heard of other scenarios where the date was moved up. He asked to put me on hold to ask the mgr. When he came back, he said that he could move up the date for any/all other phones- but not the iPhone. Said they are just provide the network for the iPhone. ???

What really surprises me are all the different responses AT&T is providing people. You'd think for something this important to such a large portion of their customer base, they'd have very crisp scripts and actions for each of the 4-5 situations we all generally fall into (1 month out, 6 months out etc.).

Maybe I'll get lucky like the last few folks and I'll discover my date has moved up late tonight/early tomorrow.

got the EXACT same response. I'm like "do I sound like I want OTHER phone?!" They are obviously reading from a script.

 

[i hate phones]

i am super duper confused

according to the apple website THIS MORNING my prices were listed as before or after 11/30/11

i called at&t customer service to see if i could get an early upgrade, they said i wasn't eligible until february 2012... but i could do the additional $250 discounted price... they said apple set the upgrade dates and they couldn't do anything about it

called apple... they said they have nothing to do with dates contracts whatsoever they just make the product.

rechecked the apple website and now it changed to feb 2012

however, somehow and i'm sure this is wrong too... 2 at&t reps told me my ETF is only $90 which makes no sense but is kinda awesome. guess i'll be changing carriers since its cheaper than them keeping me as an at&t customer.

 

[Vertigo50]

i am super duper confused

according to the apple website THIS MORNING my prices were listed as before or after 11/30/11

i called at&t customer service to see if i could get an early upgrade, they said i wasn't eligible until february 2012... but i could do the additional $250 discounted price... they said apple set the upgrade dates and they couldn't do anything about it

called apple... they said they have nothing to do with dates contracts whatsoever they just make the product.

rechecked the apple website and now it changed to feb 2012

however, somehow and i'm sure this is wrong too... 2 at&t reps told me my ETF is only $90 which makes no sense but is kinda awesome. guess i'll be changing carriers since its cheaper than them keeping me as an at&t customer.

AT&T is flat out lying. There is no reason in the world why Apple wouldn't want to sell more phones. Apple pushed AT&T to upgrade people early in the past, but now that they're not exclusive anymore, AT&T makes its own decision. Make no mistake, this is completely an AT&T decision. Apple would be more than happy to upgrade everyone, because AT&T eats the difference.

I highly recommend all of you who are finding it is cheaper to leave AT&T to do it! They need to get the message that if keeping customers isn't important to them, then we'll go elsewhere.

 

[i hate phones]

AT&T is flat out lying. There is no reason in the world why Apple wouldn't want to sell more phones. Apple pushed AT&T to upgrade people early in the past, but now that they're not exclusive anymore, AT&T makes its own decision. Make no mistake, this is completely an AT&T decision. Apple would be more than happy to upgrade everyone, because AT&T eats the difference.

I highly recommend all of you who are finding it is cheaper to leave AT&T to do it! They need to get the message that if keeping customers isn't important to them, then we'll go elsewhere.

i've actually been waiting to switch back to verizon so this might be the perfect time... only thing that made me want to work this out with at&t is that the 4s might work on there hspa+ network which would mean much faster data speeds than verizon... but has that been confirmed?

 

[dranakin]

Created a new thread about this, but I imagine I can talk about it here, since I noticed it happened to some other members.

I've been eligible for an upgrade for nearly a few months (*639#, on the ATT website, Amazonwireless, Apple's checker, etc.). Now, all of a sudden today, it says that my number will be eligible for upgrade on Nov 25, 2011. What is going on?!

EDIT: I just realized this date is 18 months from when I got the iPhone 4 at launch. Why have I been eligible for a few months now then? I knew I should've upgraded to the Galaxy S 2 this past weekend...

EDIT2: It looks like it has happened to some other people as well.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...r#post13470540
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...r#post13471204

EDIT3: Spoke to CS, they simply read a standard response about how your eligibility can change at anytime, blah blah. When I told them that I made no rate changes, etc, the CS rep went quiet and re-read from the manual again. Sigh.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Just called and got the "We can't move the date for iPhones" response. Oh well, at least I tried.

 

[DiamondMac]

Created a new thread about this, but I imagine I can talk about it here, since I noticed it happened to some other members.

I've been eligible for an upgrade for nearly a few months (*639#, on the ATT website, Amazonwireless, Apple's checker, etc.). Now, all of a sudden today, it says that my number will be eligible for upgrade on Nov 25, 2011. What is going on?!

EDIT: I just realized this date is 18 months from when I got the iPhone 4 at launch. Why have I been eligible for a few months now then? I knew I should've upgraded to the Galaxy S 2 this past weekend...

EDIT2: It looks like it has happened to some other people as well.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...r#post13470540
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthre...r#post13471204

EDIT3: Spoke to CS, they simply read a standard response about how your eligibility can change at anytime, blah blah. When I told them that I made no rate changes, etc, the CS rep went quiet and re-read from the manual again. Sigh.

Sounds about right. I just got through a few AT&T reps wanting to know about being grandfathered into the next iPhone4....I kept getting copy/paste responses until I actually told them to STOP doing it.

 

[iZeeshan]

Talked to ATT for about 30 minutes today, told them that I was disappointed with how they had messed up my service about 2 weeks ago. No dice.

They only gave me a 2 week reimbursement on my next bill, but said that they cannot bump me up for iPhones. They can for ANY OTHER phone, but not the iPhone. They said that they wouldn't even be "bumping" me up but they would be overriding their system to give me any other phone that I wanted.

I don't know what to do now...I could pay $400 for iPhone 4S since my iPhone 4 was recently stolen or I could just wait till February...

EDIT: I don't understand how this is working. How are some people being bumped up and others aren't ESPECIALLY if they say it's not in their control. Can I make them just give it to me at the $199 price instead of the $449? Also I thought that ordering through Apple meant you could get it for $399...is that not true anymore?

 

[FPSDavid]

I'm not eligible till 2/22/12

Probably just gonna sell my 4 for $200-250 and then buy the new 4S at $449.

 

[christyn]

Also I thought that ordering through Apple meant you could get it for $399...is that not true anymore?

Apple has never dictated the $399 pricing, it's always been AT&T's system that tells them what price you pay. You used to be able to get the $399 pricing as an early upgrade, but they increased the early upgrade price by $50 this year.. thus the $449

 

[Uabcar]

I'm not eligible till 2/22/12

Probably just gonna sell my 4 for $200-250 and then buy the new 4S at $449.

Well- Look at it this way - at least with a date that far out- you can justify spending the extra $250 (5 months benefit). In my case, with a 11/19 date, I'd essentially be spending $250 for an extra month. Much harder to justify.