Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can the at&t activation fee be waived?

A

applefan289

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 20, 2010
1,705
8
USA
I just called at&t and the guy said that Apple may be able to waive the activation fee for the 4S. I call Apple and the representative said it has nothing to do with them. She recommended I go to an at&t store and ask if the fee can be waived.

The account is under my name, but my dad subscribes to at&t home telephone and internet service. Would they be able to waive the fee?
 
AT&T, but I doubt they will. That fee has nothing to do with Apple.

Why are you looking to get it waived?
 
As RafaelT mentioned, the activation fee is completely and AT&T thing. Good luck getting it waived, it's not common for AT&T to do it. The activation fee is just another way for them to make money of folks...
 
Give them a call and try to ask nicely. With premier account they usually waive it for me when I asked.
 
I added a line on the launch day of the 4s so we could buy it at the subsidized price and called AT&T just today after receiving my bill. The lady I spoke to over the phone waived the fee for me without a single question and after the phone call my new balance was available. :cool:
 
sevimli said:
seriously? :eek:
Click to expand...

Yeah seriously... if it is just because he doesn't want to pay it (which none of us do) then there is a 99% chance it wont be happening and he is wasting his time. I was wondering if there was some other reason.
 
Called AT&T before the iPhone 4 (8GB) model was released to preorder a new Family Plan (2 phones) for my parents. Got a really nice guy on the phone, and he offered to waive the activation fee.

It can happen.....not sure how often it does.

-Kevin
 
I am new to ATT and had ordered iP4s through Premier site and it automatically waived the activation fee but since I never got that phone in time I went to ATT store and got it. They charged me $36 and told me that it will be waived in my next bill. I just called them to find out when its going to happen they immediately removed it. Outstanding balance changed immediately.

That CSR was awesome!
 
I got 2x iphone4S AT&T charged me $18 each for upgrade fee

I called CSR and ask them to waive it, they did it with no questions or fuss. Although, i've heard some people was not able to do it. Could be some CSR like doing it more than others =]
 
steph280 said:
For renewing, if you are getting a new phone with new SIM, there will be a $18 upgrade fee. No ways around it.
Click to expand...

I can attest to the fact that this is not true.. I just called AT&T today & asked about this fee. The CSR told me that this fee is to cover the cost of providing me the iPhone at a discounted price. I pointed out to her that the fact that I entered into a new 2 year contract with them is why the cost of the phone is subsidized & has nothing to do with the $18 "activation fee".. I offered to pay the fee if they would let me keep the phone & stay on a month to month without being on a new 2 year contract & that in that case they should unlock my phone, lol.. Then she said the fee was to cover the cost of "if I decide to return the phone within 30 days".. Nice try AT&T..

I then proceeded to tell her that it took me over 5 hours on Oct. 14 to get the phone activated because AT&T's servers couldn't handle the onslaught of people all trying to activate their new iPhones at once. I also told her that I was without phone service for the 5 hours, because it de-activated the sim card in my 3GS, but didn't activate the sim in the new 4s. She finally agreed to waive the fee, because I'm a valued customer, blah, blah..

My advice is to call AT&T & be very nice but insist that this fee be waived & tell them that you just might switch over to Verizon or Sprint if they don't. Works every time. ;)
 
Very very very easy to get it waived. Every year I simply say "I paid 250$ for this phone, pay over 200$ a month for my service and have never missed my bill. Can you waive it please." And it is waived. Takes maybe 30 seconds to a minute for the whole process.
 
They waived it for me here in NYC when I got my 4S. If people don't ask they will charge you. If you are nice about it and ask them to waive it they will likely do it for you.
 
ATT waived the $36 upgrade fee for two phones when I called when our first bill arrived. At first the ATT rep told me that she could not waive the upgrade fee, so I told her that the ATT store salesperson told me the fee would probably be waived, so she checked with a supervisor and adjusted my bill. She told me that it would be a one-time thing, but I doubt that ATT will remember 2+ years from now... I got the fee waived the last time I upgraded.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back