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Become Upgrade Eligible for iPhone 3G?
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i purchased a used iPhone off craigslist this week, activated it last night. I was immediately marked as "eligible for discount equipment". This morning... ineligible. As of 10 minutes ago.... back to "eligible for discount equipment".
A little more info
My flight is delayed so I have some time on my hands:
First I called 611 and talked to the AT&T CSR and she told me flat out that I wasn't eligible to purchase at the $199/299 price points despite having an iPhone from day 1 because my account said I wasn't eligible. I told her that I "thought" I was eligible since I already had an iPhone. She checked further and came back and told me I wasn't eligible but I could check with the store in the AM and they may be able to work something out. Long story short, she was no help and had no clue.
After that useless conversation I called my local AT&T store and confirmed my eligibility (which I already knew) and presented the scenario that my wife may be getting an iPhone this evening (and that she wasn't currently upgrade eligible with her 15 month old Treo). He told me that if she activated an iPhone tonight that she "should" be upgrade eligible but to call the store this evening to confirm her status so she wasn't surprised in the morning. I asked if eligibility was based on the fact that you subscribed to an iPhone voice and data plan or if it was based on the system saying "this person has an iPhone; they're eligible" and was told that it was the latter. So basically if you've done the SIM switch I'd call your local AT&T store and have them check your status in their system since they're who you're likely going to be buying from tomorrow anyway if you're like me and don't have an Apple store anywhere around.
BTW: That store still had not received their stock of iPhone 3G's for whatever that's worth...
My flight is delayed so I have some time on my hands:
First I called 611 and talked to the AT&T CSR and she told me flat out that I wasn't eligible to purchase at the $199/299 price points despite having an iPhone from day 1 because my account said I wasn't eligible. I told her that I "thought" I was eligible since I already had an iPhone. She checked further and came back and told me I wasn't eligible but I could check with the store in the AM and they may be able to work something out. Long story short, she was no help and had no clue.
After that useless conversation I called my local AT&T store and confirmed my eligibility (which I already knew) and presented the scenario that my wife may be getting an iPhone this evening (and that she wasn't currently upgrade eligible with her 15 month old Treo). He told me that if she activated an iPhone tonight that she "should" be upgrade eligible but to call the store this evening to confirm her status so she wasn't surprised in the morning. I asked if eligibility was based on the fact that you subscribed to an iPhone voice and data plan or if it was based on the system saying "this person has an iPhone; they're eligible" and was told that it was the latter. So basically if you've done the SIM switch I'd call your local AT&T store and have them check your status in their system since they're who you're likely going to be buying from tomorrow anyway if you're like me and don't have an Apple store anywhere around.
BTW: That store still had not received their stock of iPhone 3G's for whatever that's worth...
All three eligible again.
I want to say that doing this was my response to having been cheated of four of our five rebates when we started with AT&T 14 months ago for a Mother's Day special- we were supposed to get rebates of a total of $450 on the five phones and they gave us $50 because all were in the same envelope.
Now to have them set a policy making us pay an extra $400 for our two phones was just too much to bear since our new phone plan will also increase our family plan from $140 to $210.
I want to say that doing this was my response to having been cheated of four of our five rebates when we started with AT&T 14 months ago for a Mother's Day special- we were supposed to get rebates of a total of $450 on the five phones and they gave us $50 because all were in the same envelope.
Now to have them set a policy making us pay an extra $400 for our two phones was just too much to bear since our new phone plan will also increase our family plan from $140 to $210.
By the way- it is galling to receive an e-mail from Apple today touting iPhone-Twice the speed Half the Price
edited to add- the asterisk mentions the two year plan but NOTHING about other eligibility requirements penalizing existing AT&T clients- let's face it- they should let anyone have an iPhone at this price- it would do so much for their future customer loyalty when iPhone opens to other carriers.
edited to add- the asterisk mentions the two year plan but NOTHING about other eligibility requirements penalizing existing AT&T clients- let's face it- they should let anyone have an iPhone at this price- it would do so much for their future customer loyalty when iPhone opens to other carriers.
I was able to give a CSR the IMEI# of the iphone over the phone to activate it instead of using iTunes.
Has anyone tried it after all the maintenance (or whatever) took place today? I wonder if they changed some factors that determine whether or not you are upgrade eligible.
Tried it at about 3pm MT with my buddy's iPhone and here's the message that shows on my upgrade page right now: "This line is eligible for equipment discount pricing when you sign up for a 2-year service agreement. You can take advantage of our no-commitment pricing option, with the exception of iPhone which requires a 2-year commitment." Looks like I'm good to go (crosses fingers).
And does the original iPhone SIM still work properly when you put it back? Also, did his account remain eligible for the upgrade? I am just trying to see if it changes anything on the original user's side.
Yes original holder remained eligible. Which he doesn't care about in our case as he is fine with his 1st gen....
ya so my friend wussied out on me and wouldnt let me use his iphone after he agreed earlier today. im not too happy about it at all but i hope i can figure out another way to get around the unsubsidized price or hope sometime soon att makes it 200 for EVERYONE as jobs said originally
Ours still show eligible.
I feel your pain- and I believe this was a colossal mistake on AT&T's part. The goodwill of letting everyone buy one when the price and the slogan twice the speed half the price have been trumpeted would have gone a long long way for them. Instead they have disgruntled unhappy clients. Many other providers are coming out with phones to rival iPHone, and eventually iPhone will be set loose from them so it is very short sighted on their part to make quick bucks now. ESPECIALLY since they will make a lot more money on the plans! That "extra $10" is misleading as well- our family plan with five lines sharing 900 minutes, with 1500 texts for my son and 200 for me, and my husband with an iPHone- is right now $140 . Tomorrow when it becomes thre iPhones and two non iPHones sharing only 700 minutes and having to pay $30 to add texting- will be $210. That is a huge increase- and that should be enough to give us the phones at the so called discount price that should be the only price.
OK rant over!
To think that I was the only person doing this exact trick days ago!
Anyways, I myself have used my single iphone and activated the 3 rest of my UNELIGIBLE lines and they are all now eligible for upgrade. Throughout last night and today though, there were some outages which showed that an upgrade couldnt be done through the online interface.
Before I was checking online for my eligibility, I would call that good ol 611 and check. They kept telling me that the iPhone had to of been purchased and activated prior to May 27th. How could they judge a person that purchased it on that day but didnt activate until a few days/weeks later!??!
All is good now, and I completed the final activation on one of my lines around 9 pm tonight, PST.
Hope this works out for everyone!
Anyways, I myself have used my single iphone and activated the 3 rest of my UNELIGIBLE lines and they are all now eligible for upgrade. Throughout last night and today though, there were some outages which showed that an upgrade couldnt be done through the online interface.
Before I was checking online for my eligibility, I would call that good ol 611 and check. They kept telling me that the iPhone had to of been purchased and activated prior to May 27th. How could they judge a person that purchased it on that day but didnt activate until a few days/weeks later!??!
All is good now, and I completed the final activation on one of my lines around 9 pm tonight, PST.
Hope this works out for everyone!
Can't access AT&T now... and will head out to line up in about 4 hours....hope to be able to sign in and be reassured....
Good luck everyone and enjoy your phones!
Good luck everyone and enjoy your phones!
