Cross upgrade - AT&T

My wife is now wanting a 5. I just used her upgrade to get myself a 5, so she would have to use my mom's upgrade (who is NOT in our plan) to get an upgrade. Can AT&T other retail stores (Target/Best Buy) do this with no problem?

Don't know if it helps to have a little more background info, but my mom currently has an iphone 4s, and my dad has a basic flip phone. Both of those lines are eligible for an upgrade. Would it be better for my wife to use my mom or dad's upgrade?

Thanks in advance!

 

I didn't know if using my mom or dad's upgrade would matter. If we ran into a problem I'd rather my dad's phone be unoperable for a little bit. He hardly uses his phone. Also, if something were to happen (contacts deleted for some weird reason), he hardly has any contacts.

A Target employee acted like she could do it. Sounds like she would give me a SIM card to take to either my mom/dad when the transaction was done (so there phone would be off until I could get the new sim to them). Does this sound about right?

Thanks for the replies so far!

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My dad doesn't care much about having a nice phone--as long as it works. We just got a pretty good flip for Father's Day.

Yes I am an authorized user. Don't think they have a password as far as I know though. I have the last four of her SSN. Thanks for your replies.

 

Just thought of another question. Forgive my ignorance, but say when we get a new sim to my mom's iphone or my dad's basic phone, will their contacts be affected? Just don't want them to lose anything on their phones while we do the upgrade.

Also, would I need to bring any of these phones to the store (my mom's, my wife's phone)? I was wondering if they can do the upgrade and at a later time put the contacts/pics on my wife's new 5. Reason being is because I notice some Best Buys will have stock near my work. I don't have time to drive all the way home to grab the phones and then go back near my work to a BB.

 

bump...

just wanted more opinions--is it better to "steal" an upgrade from my mom (who has an iphone currently) or dad (non-iphone)? They are on a different account.

How would one go about doing an upgrade swap on a non-iphone line? Adding a data plan to my dad's line, then after I swap (give my wife the iphone) phones, have AT&T remove that data plan from his non-iphone line?

Just want it to go smoothly. There are some Best Buys around who have stock.

 

I was thinking the same. If something happened during this transaction, my father wouldn't care as much. Only has a few numbers in his phone and if contacts got lost somehow (hopefully NOT though), they'd be fairly easy to add back on.

So you're saying if I choose to upgrade my wife's phone using my dad's line, bring "his" phone and my wife's current iphone 4? Hopefully Best Buy or Target could handle something like this. They seem to have better stock at this time where I am.

 

Well, I have been in contact with a Target rep (I have a 5 on order), and she claims they can take care of it. She says they will just give a new sim for me to go take to my dad and all will be good. Does this make sense?

Don't know if I should let Target actually try this cross upgrade, or just pretend the phone is actually for my dad, and then like you said take all the phones to AT&T to straighten it out

 

Okay, thanks for all your help!

 

Did he/she say to bring all the phones with you to do this? Well could BB & Target not do the same? Seems like actual AT&T stores never have any in stock near me though. Having much better luck with BB & Target. Think I might just to a store like that and run to AT&T right after.

Thanks for the info though. Just found out (I know, I'm late) I was overlooking the fact that I just am eligible for an "early iphone upgrade"...the +250 one. Good news is the full upgrade is Nov 4th. Not too far away! good luck

 

I'm wondering whatever a rep happens to do, can't AT&T straighten it out? Is there something that could go so terribly wrong (and what is it) that AT&T wouldn't be able to fix?

 

Thanks--I was worried at first about going to a non-AT&T store to buy one. I've missed out on a few that were in stock at local retail stores. I held back because of fear they might screw something up. I'm just going to buy the next one I can now and go straight to AT&T afterwards. I would think they'll be able to fix any mistakes. I guess I do dread spending time (that one thread had many users tell stories of being on the phone a couple hours for something and problem not getting solved for a couple days). I think that was very close to launch day though.