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

FAN Discount Questions

N

Neb154

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 2, 2006
31
0
Hello all, I just have a few short questions about the FAN discount on AT&T.

1) Can the Apple store apply FANs? If not, could I buy the phone from Apple and then apply the FAN online/on the phone?e

2) Do I need the actual FAN from my work before I go to the store or can they look it up in some sort of database there if I provide company identification?

3) Does the FAN have to belong to the primary account holder? i.e. If my dad had a FAN could I apply it to my plan, even though he was on another carrier.

Thanks in advance.

Hopefully sometime soon I'll have an iPhone at a reasonable rate..
 
Here's what I know...
You can apply for a FAN on AT&T's website. You just need to give them a name and email address (of the workplace or school that qualifies).

I had the FAN applied to my account about 2 weeks before the iPhone 3G went on sale. My line is the main one on the account, and I ended up saving 15%. When I signed up for the iPhone (at AT&T) my FAN discount went away. When I called to find out why this was, I was told that having an iPhone on my main line disqualified me for the discount. I called back and had them put a different (non-iPhone) line as the main line on the account, and now we have the discount again.

I do not think the Apple Store will have anything to do with the discount. If you have it on your main line (and that line will remain a non-iPhone line) you will keep the discount when getting your iPhone at an AT&T store or an Apple Store. Also, I have not had any success in getting a FAN texting plan put on my iPhone.
 
Neb154 said:
Hello all, I just have a few short questions about the FAN discount on AT&T.

1) Can the Apple store apply FANs? If not, could I buy the phone from Apple and then apply the FAN online/on the phone?e

2) Do I need the actual FAN from my work before I go to the store or can they look it up in some sort of database there if I provide company identification?

3) Does the FAN have to belong to the primary account holder? i.e. If my dad had a FAN could I apply it to my plan, even though he was on another carrier.

Thanks in advance.

Hopefully sometime soon I'll have an iPhone at a reasonable rate..
Click to expand...

To get the FAN discount your school/workplace etc. needs to have an agreement with AT&T. I for example work for a company that does offer me a discount. I get 20% off which really isn't much, just pays for some of the taxes. To get this discount you have to enroll at http://wireless.att.com/discounts and type in your email address for the organization you work for or are affiliated with. I don't recall but I don't believe it told me the discount right off, I actually found out by calling and even then they didn't want to give me the actual figure?
 
Neb154 said:
1) Can the Apple store apply FANs? If not, could I buy the phone from Apple and then apply the FAN online/on the phone?
Click to expand...

No Apple will not handle accounts that have FAN's attached to them nor will they add one for you.

You can buy the phone from Apple and apply the FAN later. To do so you will need to do it online or in a AT&T corporate store. (More information below)

Neb154 said:
2) Do I need the actual FAN from my work before I go to the store or can they look it up in some sort of database there if I provide company identification?
Click to expand...

Yes they can look it up but it could be difficult if it's a oddly named company and you need to be in a AT&T corporate store to perform this action. You will need some sort of identification to apply the discount in the store (business card, work ID etc). If your company has a intranet searching could provide a number that will help the AT&T rep.

The other method as someone mentioned is entering your work/school email on AT&T's business site and activating the FAN through email authentication (You click a link that gets emailed to your work email address).

Neb154 said:
3) Does the FAN have to belong to the primary account holder? i.e. If my dad had a FAN could I apply it to my plan, even though he was on another carrier.
Click to expand...

The system does not know who the FAN is eligible just that it's attached to a primary account. AT&T will assume the primary account holder is the person eligible for the discount (It might be company policy but I don't know). Other then ethics issues of having your father's FAN discount on your account it should be fine.
 
Does anyone know how I find my FAN?

I've never been an AT&T customer before. At their website I put in my email address (for my university) and was sent an email confirming that I could get a discount and linking to a web page for purchasing phones and plans, but if I need to go to an AT&T store to buy an iPhone (because I want a family plan with one iPhone and one regular phone), do I need to have the FAN with me? And if so, where can I find it?
 
Diode said:
No Apple will not handle accounts that have FAN's attached to them nor will they add one for you.

You can buy the phone from Apple and apply the FAN later. To do so you will need to do it online or in a AT&T corporate store. (More information below)



Yes they can look it up but it could be difficult if it's a oddly named company and you need to be in a AT&T corporate store to perform this action. You will need some sort of identification to apply the discount in the store (business card, work ID etc). If your company has a intranet searching could provide a number that will help the AT&T rep.

The other method as someone mentioned is entering your work/school email on AT&T's business site and activating the FAN through email authentication (You click a link that gets emailed to your work email address).



The system does not know who the FAN is eligible just that it's attached to a primary account. AT&T will assume the primary account holder is the person eligible for the discount (It might be company policy but I don't know). Other then ethics issues of having your father's FAN discount on your account it should be fine.
Click to expand...

Thats funny when I removed the FAN from my account last week the ATT rep told me to tell Apple to re apply the FAN when I bought the 3G...
 
so if you have a family plan with two iPhones and ONLY two iPhones can you NOT have a FAN discount applied?
 
ok great!

so i am going to be a new ATT customer, buying 2 iPhones (1 for me, 1 for my wife) and my wife gets 24% off from work

ATT store is the way to go right?
 
Thank you all for your replies.

I went to the Apple Store yesterday and picked up a new 16GB Black iPhone. I have not yet ported my number, and am treating the experience as a "trial run." Once I have my FAN, I will most likely port my number from my old carrier and apply the corporate discount. I am not yet sure whether or not I will use my own FAN or my father's, but I appreciate your responses; my questions have most certainly been answered.
 
bep207 said:
so if you have a family plan with two iPhones and ONLY two iPhones can you NOT have a FAN discount applied?
Click to expand...

Let's clear up things about FAN accounts.

1. Everyone FAN discount from your individual company is different. Some FAN's apply discounts only to the primary line. Some FAN's apply discount's to all lines. Some FAN's apply discounts to Voice and Data. Some FAN's apply discounts only to Voice plans. You need to check with your employer/school and ask them what the actual discount is.

2. If you have a current FAN, you CANNOT buy the apple iPhone at the Apple Retail store. You have 2 options
a. Call ATT up and request that your FAN be removed. Sometimes it may take as little as 30 minutes to show up in the system....sometimes FAN discount removal may take 24-72 hours to be removed from the system.
b. Go to the ATT retail store and order the iPhone via Direct Fullfillment.
c. Big Warning: if you removed your FAN and later re-add the FAN back to your ATT account because you wanted to buy the iPhone at the Apple Retail store, it may take up to 2-3 billing cycles for you to start seeing the discounts applied again (for some people with large cell phone bill, this may mean losing 70-100 dollars in discount by not having the FAN discount applied for 2-3 months).

Hope this resolves questions people have with FAN discounts and the Apple iPhone 3g.

Apple iPhone 2g have all FAN discounts removed automatically when you agree to the iphone 2g contract. Period.
 
aneftp said:
Apple iPhone 2g have all FAN discounts removed automatically when you agree to the iphone 2g contract. Period.
Click to expand...

Newbie question. I have a 2g iphone on tmobile right now (pay as you go) and im going to school next year. I get 20% off with them. So no matter what, if i want the 2g data plan, i cannot get the FAN discount? Thanks for clearing this up, this might force me to verizon.

EDIT: Does anyone know if I can just get a voice and text plan with an old iphone?
 
AstonM said:
Newbie question. I have a 2g iphone on tmobile right now (pay as you go) and im going to school next year. I get 20% off with them. So no matter what, if i want the 2g data plan, i cannot get the FAN discount? Thanks for clearing this up, this might force me to verizon.

EDIT: Does anyone know if I can just get a voice and text plan with an old iphone?
Click to expand...

Again, it's been over 1 year since the first iPhone 2g launch and this question comes up time and time again. If you sign up for the 2g iphone data plan, there are zero (0) FAN discounts applied. You lose your FAN discounts. It's clearly stated in big BOLD print on the electronic agreement when you click "accept"

Your best bet is to hack (unlock) the iPhone. Once the iPhone is unlocked you do not have to agree to any of ATT/Apple's terms. You can add just text if you want, you can still keep your FAN discount. (one quick question....are you planning on still using the phone with Tmobile? or are you using it with ATT)
 
Tmobile reception is horrible near my school. So my only option for GSM is AT&T. So then my best bet is to order some free phone with the plan I want, keep my phone unlocked, and just swap sims? Thanks
 
AstonM said:
Tmobile reception is horrible near my school. So my only option for GSM is AT&T. So then my best bet is to order some free phone with the plan I want, keep my phone unlocked, and just swap sims? Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, that what I would do.

When shopping for an used iPhone make sure you know what condition the phone is in. People lie all the time and say it's only 2 months old when it's in fact 10 months old (reason: battery life gets worse over time) you can get the serial number and go onto the apple website and see when the warranty expires to see how old the phone is. Obviously if the iphone had been hacked, than the warranty is voided anyways but at least you can tell how old the phone is. Also it may be a refurbished phone and you can tell if it has an "X" within I think the 2nd digital of the serial number. Do this if someone says they do not have the receipt. If they brought it at apple store, they should have gotten an electronic receipt in the email so there's no good reason to "have lost" the receipt unless they are lying to use.

Anyways, just by the iphone unlocked and swap the sims. That's it.

I personally wouldn't buy a used iPhone first generation for more than $300 (in perfect condition 8GB) or $200 in a so so condition.

People are trying to unload their iphone first gen and as soon as a widely available and easy unlock iphone 3g software is out, than the iphone first generation prices will tumble even more.

Good luck.
 
Neb154 said:
Hello all, I just have a few short questions about the FAN discount on AT&T.

1) Can the Apple store apply FANs? If not, could I buy the phone from Apple and then apply the FAN online/on the phone?e

2) Do I need the actual FAN from my work before I go to the store or can they look it up in some sort of database there if I provide company identification?

3) Does the FAN have to belong to the primary account holder? i.e. If my dad had a FAN could I apply it to my plan, even though he was on another carrier.

Thanks in advance.

Hopefully sometime soon I'll have an iPhone at a reasonable rate..
Click to expand...

I went into the apple store to set up my discount and they kept saying fan this fan that I was like what's a fan?

Anyway I went in and all they gave me was the form. I had to do the faxing. THEN I had to call and have the guy remove the activation fee cuz it wasn't automatic..
 
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