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How to: AT&T upgrade swap.

I haven't turned on my phone, called rep, she said I had to activate the phone first then go to the store with both phones and so the SIM swap.
I tried to argue, but she insisted and added that it had to be done in person for "security reasons"
I don't believe her, and will try calling again when I can get away from work.

EDIT: finally got through again after almost 30 minutes on hold. Got someone who knew what she was doing! It still took a long time, and the rep was very apologetic, but I got the 5 working on a different line without disrupting the line that I upgraded with. She did say that I was the first swap upgrade that she'd done that actually worked without having to get a new SIM. I suspect because I didn't turn the phone on first, thanks to the great advice given here!!
 
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I understand this process. My mother does not.

Ups delivered two phones this AM. I was out of town and she wanted hers to work. She doesn't know difference between two after i told her many times do not turn on or even open the 32 gig phone. I was going to deal with it tomarrow. Her line was straight upgrade.

She turned on but didn't activate either of them.

The second phone was the upgrade swap donor phone. Does it kill the sim of donor phone immediately? Even if activation doesn't go through?

My grandfather uses then donor line and we can't get ahold of him. He is in Florida and we are in Oregon. He doesn't always answer so not sure if phone is dead or maybe got lucky because she didn't go through whole process. I know I have to go in store now.and resolve the iPhone 5 activation.is his dead. Mail him new SIM card from AT&T store? Any other ideas.

Cliff notes.
Upgrade swap iPhone was turned on but activation not completed. Is donor line sim dead as soon as turn on iPhone5? Guess i go to AT&T store. Complete swap and mail sim to grandpa.

Any help is appreciated.
 
dave006 said:
Only if they peform the update of the IMEI and the ICCID on their side first. Ask the rep to verify that they have updated the IMEI / ICCID information!

Some reps are still using the default AT&T device steps and asking you to turn on the device first before they make the required account changes on their end.

However, there is still some risk that the Care rep did not proper complete the upgrade swap steps. Just look back through the thread.

Dave
Click to expand...



^Got it, thanks!
 
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I as shocked when I went to AT&T to buy my phone this morning. I was not upgrade eligible, so I knew I was going to be spending 549 for the 32gb model. When I got up to the register the guy told me he could upgrade me if I wanted to use my iPads number and sign a 2 year agreement for the iPad. I just added the iPad to my bill last night when I was waiting outside for the store to open. Got the phone for 299. Was pretty happy about it. Didn't know they could do this number swap thing. Apparently they were doing a lot of them today. Might take my iPad out of the house more often now. :)
 
MAJOR props to the OP for this thread.

I ordered a white 32GB for my wife and a black 32GB for me. Unfortunately when I did so, I mixed up the lines, putting the white one on my line and the black one on hers. The rep at ATT was very nice, but needed to talk to a specialist a couple of times in order to get the process right. Apparently just swapping the SIM wasn't all that was needed, he had to manually take the ICCID and IMEI numbers and transpose them to work properly. After about 30 minutes it was done.

But PLEASE follow the OP's advice and don't activate the phone until you call!!
 
Thanks to this wonderful thread from the OP I was able to do the upgrade swap in 15 minutes including hold time. I didn't have to even give them my sim card or IMEI numbers! Big props to the ATT support center in Texas!

BTW, my phone came from Apple.
 
This thread is awesome, thanks OP.

I called and was on hold for about 10 minutes.

I gave the rep the IMEI and the ICCID and was done in a few minutes. They called me on the line that I wanted to use to confirm that it was working. Also got rid of the superfluous data plan that I had to add when I was ordering the new phone on Apple.

Good stuff OP, good stuff.
 
dave006 said:
Glad it worked out for you. However you need to give credit to the great Care Rep that was able to perform the correct steps for "you". :D

Did you bother to read the posts above and below you post concerning issues with the Care reps not correctly processing the request, killed Naon-SIMs, killed donor line SIMs leaving the donor without a working phone. :eek:

Dave
Click to expand...

I guess I have just been luck 4 years in a row, upgrade swapping at least 2 phones each year then huh.
 
I had an awesome experience with my AT&T rep. I have a second line which is for my mom. I used my upgrade in May to get her an iPhone 4 for Mother's Day. I used her line's upgrade to get the iPhone 5. I called the rep this morning and she was careful to repeat all the steps she was doing. She confirmed that I'd be keeping the unlimited data on LTE then she called my phone to make sure it all worked out. She said she'd been on duty for 5 1/2 hours and I was only the third call her call center had gotten with someone wanting to activate an iPhone 5, she "congratulated" me on being one of the first to be have an active iPhone 5 on AT&T :cool:
 
I walked into an Apple store, located the AT&T rep and simply asked for a new nano sim. He brought one, programmed it on the spot, inserted into phone, was up and running in about 5 minutes. Oh, free too.
 
I got mine completed. For some reason it took longer. I think I had a bad agent. He told me to turn the phone on and I said no, I can give you the IMEI and ICCID numbers without turning it on. In the end my phone was working, but after wait time I had to get off the phone without doing the second transfer for my mom's phone. By the time I called for her phone, I was on hold for 20 minutes, then the call took 25 more minutes. The first guy did not remove the correct feature from my mom's line. In the end we think it's working, but my mom is in a place with no cell signal so I couldn't test it. She made a commitment to call me the next time she is working (Tuesday) to make sure everything is working since she knows everything she did to the line.

Great thread and feedback here folks. Made my swap go perfectly.
 
Not sure if it's been posted already. It's getting late so I don't have time to read through 11 pages.

But anyways, if you added new line at apple retail store, even though phone is not even open. You cannot do upgrade swap for phones obtained at apple retail store on new lines.

I was just going to pop out nano sim and I called customer service to active nano sim and it was already activated on new number which I didn't want it activated.

I didn't even open the package, let alone turn the phone on.
 
Thanks OP! I had a great experience with ATT over the phone with a great rep and only 1 minute wait time.
 
I think my agent may have still screwed up my line. I can't get my voicemail to work yet. Not a big deal to me, but something I still need to get fixed.
 
randy98mtu said:
I think my agent may have still screwed up my line. I can't get my voicemail to work yet. Not a big deal to me, but something I still need to get fixed.
Click to expand...
Did you have an iPhone before or is this your first attempt at Visual Voicemail?

Visual Voicemail is a feature on your account that needs to be provisioned ( setup by AT&T ). The rep might have made a mistake with provisioning your account while doing the upgrade swap steps.

Did you restore a previous backup or setup your new iPhone 5 as new?

Here is a doc that explains the basics of Visual Voicemail for AT&T including setting a password.

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB111431&cv=820#fbid=Xr1gzIhmLSw

Dave
 
=/ the rep screwed up and transfer the wrong number onto the target phone. Ended up writing over my mom iphone with the new iphone number. Have to wait till tomorrow to get 2 new sims.
 
Mine didn't work out as expected. The rep had to verify my SIM a couple times. She seemed to be doing everything right. I am pretty sure she said the assigned SIM to my phone is already in use. Then she says the SIM is parked for the assigned (upgrade) number and that I would need to go to the ATT store to get a new Nano SIM.
 
HighTopFade said:
Mine didn't work out as expected. The rep had to verify my SIM a couple times. She seemed to be doing everything right. I am pretty sure she said the assigned SIM to my phone is already in use. Then she says the SIM is parked for the assigned (upgrade) number and that I would need to go to the ATT store to get a new Nano SIM.
Click to expand...
Based on your information, the rep did not know what she was doing.

This is the basic issue by default, the IMEI and the ICCID are pre-parked on the line the upgrade was ordered against. The Customer care rep has to move the information to your line to allow the activation to work correctly.

So either she activated the Nano-SIM on the wrong line or she failed to complete the swap or perhaps you did not provide her a valid ICCID. You did mention that she verified the SIM a couple of times.

Note: The ICCID for the Naon-SIM and the IMEI of the iPhone on printed on the box and accuracy does count, it is either 100% right or WRONG!

Dave
 
Well I ended up going straight to the AT&T store, didn't want to risk having a clueless rep screw everything up, the store did it in 10 minutes, very painless.
 
This thread saved me so much time and aggravation. I called AT&T CS this evening to do a swap. I upgraded my Mother in law's line which she has on our family plan and wanted to swap things out without having to touch her phone.

The first rep I talked to did not know what she was doing and kept saying that I would need a new SIM card for the other line. I insisted that it wasn't true, the new phone had not yet been activated and it could be done using the IMEI and ICCID numbers. She went on to read a memo from Apple saying that it was impossible. I just told her I would call back and speak to someone else.

Next rep was very helpful. She had my phone working in about 15 mins and even waited for my iCloud update to complete before sending in a test call.

Don't just listen to what a rep tells you and believe it to be true. Call back and talk to someone who is more knowledgable. Thanks OP.
 
I just want to add some info to this thread. I got 2 phones activated on 2 other lines OUTSIDE of family plan without any issue.

This was an AT&T ordered iPhone.

1. Call CS/611 and enter the phone number that was upgraded (line #1)
2. Press 2 to activate on another line
3. Tell Rep you want to activate the iPhone on another line (line #2)
4. Rep asks for line #2 phone #, tell rep the number and inform it's not under the family plan
5. Rep asks for #2's account name and last 4 SSN. Note, Rep did not need that account holder on the line.
6. Rep asks for IMEI and ICCID on iPhone's box
7. Rep sets up and made line #2's data plan compatible with iPhone5/LTE (same data tier, 2GB, unlimited, etc. assuming it was a iPhone4/4S).
8. Done. Turn on phone, proceed. 1 Rep tested send/receive call, the other Rep did not.

Hope this helps.
 
dave006 said:
Did you have an iPhone before or is this your first attempt at Visual Voicemail?

Visual Voicemail is a feature on your account that needs to be provisioned ( setup by AT&T ). The rep might have made a mistake with provisioning your account while doing the upgrade swap steps.

Did you restore a previous backup or setup your new iPhone 5 as new?

Here is a doc that explains the basics of Visual Voicemail for AT&T including setting a password.

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB111431&cv=820#fbid=Xr1gzIhmLSw

Dave
Click to expand...

I've had an iPhone since 2007. I set this one up as new. When I hit the voicemail tab, it calls voicemail but doesn't even know it's my voicemail I'm trying to call. I put in my phone number (mailbox number) and it says it doesn't exist. I tried turning the phone off and back on and it is still doing it.
 
outie2k said:
I just want to add some info to this thread. I got 2 phones activated on 2 other lines OUTSIDE of family plan without any issue.

This was an AT&T ordered iPhone.

1. Call CS/611 and enter the phone number that was upgraded (line #1)
2. Press 2 to activate on another line
3. Tell Rep you want to activate the iPhone on another line (line #2)
4. Rep asks for line #2 phone #, tell rep the number and inform it's not under the family plan
5. Rep asks for #2's account name and last 4 SSN. Note, Rep did not need that account holder on the line.
6. Rep asks for IMEI and ICCID on iPhone's box
7. Rep sets up and made line #2's data plan compatible with iPhone5/LTE (same data tier, 2GB, unlimited, etc. assuming it was a iPhone4/4S).
8. Done. Turn on phone, proceed. 1 Rep tested send/receive call, the other Rep did not.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Great info!

I am confused though! I have added an additional line to my family plan.
I would like to do:

1-Using my primary line # on the new iPhone5.
2-Removing the data plan from newly added line. ( I have a sony ericsson dummy phone, but it takes regular size SIM cards).

Could someone guide me what exactly I should ask them.


Many thanks!
 
I'm sure this has been covered, but I wanted to share my experience. I posted this in a thread I started so I'm just going to paste it here.

Ok l"ll tell you how the swap when. I upgraded my husband's number. He is out of town. I needed to swap his number for mine in the ip5, call cs at ATT last wk to get info. They told me not to turn phone on, call them and they would take care of it. Sounds easy, but husband is out of town and I don't have a land line so I thought it would be easier to go to the ATT store. So I went Thursday and asked what do I need to do. They said you'll have to bring it in and they would have to handle it. So Friday I go back with my phone and they said, not a problem and proceeded to swap everything, 5 minutes in and out. I should have had them set it up but they didn't offer and I didn't think of it while I was still there. Got home went to set it up and yes it's still in my husband's number. Went back to ATT and I must say I was beginning to get a bit upset, not about the problem but they way the people behind the counter were acting. Wanted to know if I bought it from them, no I preorder from Apple, keep in mind I'm not there about a problem with the hardware but the service, anyhow they told me they couldn't help me. They said had I bought it there they could have. And that was all they said, they acted like they were done with me and I was bothering them, all but walked away from me. They were just hanging out behind the counter talking to each other. The store was not busy at all. I had to stop one of the girl before she left me and ask could I use their phone to call cs, she handed me the phone, again I had to stop her and ask for the cs #. Called and cs was extremely nice and helpful, tried to get it worked out but was also running into problems. She asked me to ask the sales person to give me the sim number and etc, or tell them to speak with her. I had to look for somebody to talk to her and a totally different guy noticed I was looking around for help and offered to talk to her. Two minutes later my phone was working. So my advice is not to bother with ATT stores and just call CS, which I would have done if I had a phone.
 
A funny.

Did an upgrade swap, held for 30+ min. blah blah.

First rep... clueless, put me on hold 4 times after each question to me; I finally hung up.

Second rep, argued with me to go to AT&T store- I forced her to update my SIM#, while I was on the phone (MY phone swapping); bam.. phone goes dead...

Ooops.

Called back from my sons phone, completed the IMEI #. Later activated WITHOUT iTunes, just by turning on.

....
TLDR. don't give them the IMEI and ICCD number from the phone you are upgrading (if you are on that phone speaking to them, it kills the line instantly)...
 
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