Can I change my ATT Next plan?

[lsh]

I ordered att phone thru apple.com with Next 18. I'm now reconsidering to Next 12. Att chat person said I would have to return the phone to Apple and rebuy it to do so.
Does that sound right?

 

[anthonymoody]

I don't have any direct experience with it but that doesn't seem right to me. At the end of the day they just want you to have paid off $X of the current phone before trading for a new one. I would think that at month 12 you could just pay the difference at that time, or add a little more each month for 12 months.

 

[lsh]

Yep, I guess that's true. And i could just pay off enough to upgrade if I wanted to do that in 12 months. I like the option to order thru Apple so I'll have to see how that would work.

 

[pdxmatts]

Yep, I guess that's true. And i could just pay off enough to upgrade if I wanted to do that in 12 months. I like the option to order thru Apple so I'll have to see how that would work.

If you chose 18, then you can't upgrade until after 18 mo's

 

[huskerchad]

https://m.att.com/shopmobile/wireless/modals/next-faqs.html

TLDR, yes you can pay it off early, and yes you can upgrade once you've paid the equivalent of the 18 months of payments (note that this is not paying off the whole phone, it just gets you to trade-in eligibility).

 

[aristobrat]

If you chose 18, then you can't upgrade until after 18 mo's

For the link in the post above...

Can I upgrade my AT&T Next smartphone earlier than 12 or 18 months?

Yes, you can. After you have been billed and made two monthly installment payments, as long as your account is in good standing, you are eligible to take advantage of our Pay to Upgrade option.

To reach upgrade status, you will need to pay your remaining installments in one lump sum. For AT&T Next 12, pay a lump sum amount that equals 12 installment payments. For AT&T Next 18, pay a lump sum amount that equals 18 installment payments. When paid, you are eligible to trade in your AT&T Next smartphone.

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I ordered att phone thru apple.com with Next 18. I'm now reconsidering to Next 12. Att chat person said I would have to return the phone to Apple and rebuy it to do so.
Does that sound right?

After seeing the actual 0% financing contract that was sent to me (PDF) after I placed my order, I can see why it's something that AT&T couldn't just change on the fly.

 

[pdxmatts]

Yep, I guess that's true. And i could just pay off enough to upgrade if I wanted to do that in 12 months. I like the option to order thru Apple so I'll have to see how that would work.

You didn't say pay it off in full, so was just letting you know that if not pif, you couldn't upgrade until 18 mo's.

 

[aristobrat]

You didn't say pay it off in full, so was just letting you know that if not pif, you couldn't upgrade until 18 mo's.

That's not what it says though.

"For AT&T Next 18, pay a lump sum amount that equals 18 installment payments. When paid, you are eligible to trade in your AT&T Next smartphone."

 

[nostresshere]

I see very little reason to change it.

Leave it alone.

 

[rui no onna]

I see very little reason to change it.

With Next 12, you need to pay 60% of MSRP before you can do a trade in. with Next 18, you need to pay 75% of MSRP before you can do a trade in.

Personally, if you want to get a new phone after a year and signed up with Next 18, you're better off paying your remaining balance in full and selling the phone or using another trade in service (e.g. Apple, Best Buy, GameStop, Gazelle, etc).