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Oh, I agree that the bake in a charge for the subsidized phone. But guess what? It' there no matter what plan you have and no matter how you buy the phone.

Also, I pay significantly less than $130 for 2 iPhones with unlimited data.

And yes, I did omit tax. But you'd also be paying more tax per month due to the $30+ per month added to the bill. Not much each month, but added up and it will be ~$75.

I still don't see the savings.

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All that does is make me happy I'm not on a shared plan.



no you do not pay tax monthly on the $30 phone finance its collected up front when you sign up... simply a dumb response
 
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I tried to do this over the phone but so far no go. ATT said I need to return the phone to Apple since I bought it from them. Apple said they can't change the ATT contract.

Maybe I'll try the ATT store and have more luck.
 
I actually had to this when I did a 2 year contract with in store pickup at an Apple Store. When I arrived I asked to be switched to a ATT Next plan for the very same reason you had described. Initially, the ATT rep at the Apple Store said I would have to return the phone and come back in 2-3 day.

The apple rep refused to do that because they didn't want to have me wait but in all the process took around an hour. So what your going to have to do is go to Apple Store, tell them that you want to switch. Then the Apple rep will have to "refund" the phone and your 2 year contract will cancel since your allowed to refund within 14 days and immediately your upgrade illegibility should show up again. It is at this time that you "repurchase" that same phone but this tim under next and thats it.

Hope that helps.
 
Found this on ATT website,
" iPhone returns and exchanges
You have 14 days after purchase (or shipping date, if your equipment was shipped) to return or exchange equipment purchased from a corporate-owned AT&T retail store, online from att.com, or over the phone from us.

Apple devices that are returned to AT&T may be subject to a device restocking fee."

So maybe it is possible to do it at an ATT store even though purchased through Apple. Even if I had to pay $35 restock fee I would, although I'm repurchasing it so don't see why it would be necessary...

Edited: Actually it doesn't necessarily say from Apple store, just says Apple devices...Although it doesn't say no phones purchased from Apple either.
 
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I actually had to this when I did a 2 year contract with in store pickup at an Apple Store. When I arrived I asked to be switched to a ATT Next plan for the very same reason you had described. Initially, the ATT rep at the Apple Store said I would have to return the phone and come back in 2-3 day.

The apple rep refused to do that because they didn't want to have me wait but in all the process took around an hour. So what your going to have to do is go to Apple Store, tell them that you want to switch. Then the Apple rep will have to "refund" the phone and your 2 year contract will cancel since your allowed to refund within 14 days and immediately your upgrade illegibility should show up again. It is at this time that you "repurchase" that same phone but this tim under next and thats it.

Hope that helps.
Do you think I need to do all this before I set up the phone? And did you need to make an appointment first? I'd like to change my Att plan too, expecting it from Apple tomorrow.

I was also thinking I could rebuy immediately under a different shared phone wout activating and take it to the att store to switch lines to the one I bought it for... if the Apple store would let me take it away like that.
 
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I preordered my att phone from Apple. ATT said I needed to do it thru Apple - it has to be done by the company that sold it.
So I walked in (without an appointment) and they found an experienced Apple person who was able to make it happen. She had to return it, then re-sell it in order to change the contract terms. She did have to get a new SIM card as I guess that gets registered specific to the contract account. There was no waiting for eligibility reset. It probably took 20 minutes. Cost was the same. I had to go there to buy Applecare+ anyway.
 
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By the way, apparently to do that with Verizon you have to return and physically switch the phone out - which is a problem when there's no inventory in the store. It's tied to the serial on the phone itself.
 
I preordered thru apple.com and paid an early upgrade price on a 2 year contract (AT&T). I had wanted Next, but for whatever reason, Apple is not allowing Next sales over the web in NY state (and a couple of other places).

So I got my 2 year contract phone delivered, and waited a few days til the launch dust settled, then went into an Apple store, staked out a friendly, smart looking employee and said I wanted to return my phone, then have them sell it right back to me on the Next plan.

After a little hesitation, mostly based on the belief that it couldn't be done, I got the employee to ask a manager to try to make it happen. The manager was cool too, and he referred us to another employee who had successfully pulled off something similar.

They all said they weren't big fans of doing it, as it's a slightly drawn out process, and that other stores may not even touch the situation. Apparently scalpers are buying any phone they can...when the no contract phones ran out of stock, they bought on contract phones, Next phones, Edge phones, whatever, then returned them to get them "upgraded" to no contract by paying the difference.

Once the employee saw my device list in iCloud and my email address @me.com, he figured I wasn't a scalper, and he went through with the operation.

It entailed returning my phone, then reselling it to me, with a different SIM, and manually entering the IMEI or something in his activation computer.

The whole process from walking in to walking out with a working phone on Next took under an hour. My upgrade eligibility was reset on the spot.

It can be done. Just gotta find the right combo of people willing to do it.

And if you bought the phone directly from AT&T, it's absolutely easy and no problem to switch, according to a senior level rep I spoke to.
 
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I switched to Verizon, but I had the same issue. On launch day they did not list a promo plan for Edge and I ended up getting the 2 year contract. I went down to the store a day later and returned everything and then repurchased it with Edge. Eventually I got my money back for my phone.
 
I switched to Verizon, but I had the same issue. On launch day they did not list a promo plan for Edge and I ended up getting the 2 year contract. I went down to the store a day later and returned everything and then repurchased it with Edge. Eventually I got my money back for my phone.

Was this at an Apple Store or a Verizon store?
 
You have 14 days to return it according to the person who tried to convince me to switch on the customer service chat yesterday. They could care less about the contract as few people switch carriers nowadays. They just don't want to eat the cost of the subsidy.
 
Go to a store and you can do it. I just did. Took freaking forever. But I did it. I am told you have to go to a corporate or AT&T owned store. I had not opened the box yet so it was easier as they had to return the phone, restore upgrade, and then process as a Next account. If you have opened the phone, there may be a $35 restocking fee.

Good grief lol means I can finally buy one for next day pickup if I find another one tonight. Thanks man
 
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