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How to get your at&t activation fee waived... --- update: WAIVED ON 3 LINES!!!

brendu said:
Do you have to pay the ATT activation fee if you go to the apple store to activate?
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Yes. The fee will get added to your bill on the cycle after you activate your new iPhone. Which is again, why it makes little sense, and it's kinda hard to defend the fee as a cost recovery. Doesn't matter if AT&T or Apple does the heavy lifting for sale or activation, AT&T will most certainly try to collect their $36 regardless.
 
boltjames said:
Millions of new iPhones to be activated, millions to be disabled, millions calling asking for account assistance, millions calling for tech assistance. Compared to a typical month, must be 50,000 additional agents and support staff in stores and at their contact centers. These people need to get paid, costs a lot of money.
BJ
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That's ************. Some people in the US need to stop being so damn close minded and explore the real world, which extends beyond the United States. You will find how different things are and you may also learn that outside the US, in almost all countries I've been to, mostly Europe and Asia, once a cell phone number is activated, you don't get charged an activation fee to switch to a new phone unless your account/phone number was disabled for some reason. You may also find that the cost of using a cell phone in the US may be the most expensive in comparison with any developed or developing country that you may visit and they don't rip you off the US carriers do.
 
martiansoldier said:
That's ************. Some people in the US need to stop being so damn close minded and explore the real world, which extends beyond the United States. You will find how different things are and you may also learn that outside the US, in almost all countries I've been to, mostly Europe and Asia, once a cell phone number is activated, you don't get charged an activation fee to switch to a new phone unless your account/phone number was disabled for some reason. You may also find that the cost of using a cell phone in the US may be the most expensive in comparison with any developed or developing country that you may visit and they don't rip you off the US carriers do.
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1. I've spent more time in Asia and Europe than you have, trust me.

2. Asian and European workers don't get paid as much as AT&T union workers in Mississippi do.

3. The US cellphone business is amongst the most competitive in the world; if AT&T didn't need to charge a fee they wouldn't as they don't need a competitive disadvantage to Verizon and Sprint.

BJ

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scaredpoet said:
When AT&T starts growing iPhones from the ground, pruning them, designing their looks and then having their own employees drive the delivery vans to personally hand deliver them to recipients, then that argument will be valid. But seeing as an iPhone isn't a perishable item, and AT&T's sole role is in providing a data and voice pipe for your device (which by the way, you already pay a monthly fee for), your argument is just a straw man.
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You could have saved yourself a lot of typing and just said "I'm cheap" and accomplished the same thing.

BJ
 
boltjames said:
1. I've spent more time in Asia and Europe than you have, trust me.

2. Asian and European workers don't get paid as much as AT&T union workers in Mississippi do.

3. The US cellphone business is amongst the most competitive in the world; if AT&T didn't need to charge a fee they wouldn't as they don't need a competitive disadvantage to Verizon and Sprint.

BJ

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You could have saved yourself a lot of typing and just said "I'm cheap" and accomplished the same thing.

BJ
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The cellular market is a highly regulated industry in which the government guarantees companies like Verizon and AT&T an ogliopoly with the ability to reap tens of billions of dollars in profit every year.

So the customer is the "cheap" one low on ethics? Paying $1,500 - $2,000 a year for phone service should be the end of it, just pay your bill, deal with spotty service, and ****?

Interesting
 
boltjames said:
1. I've spent more time in Asia and Europe than you have, trust me.

2. Asian and European workers don't get paid as much as AT&T union workers in Mississippi do.

3. The US cellphone business is amongst the most competitive in the world; if AT&T didn't need to charge a fee they wouldn't as they don't need a competitive disadvantage to Verizon and Sprint.

BJ

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You could have saved yourself a lot of typing and just said "I'm cheap" and accomplished the same thing.

BJ
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You are a strange man to sympathize with, a misunderstand, a pretty awful industry.
 
boltjames said:
1. I've spent more time in Asia and Europe than you have, trust me.

2. Asian and European workers don't get paid as much as AT&T union workers in Mississippi do.

3. The US cellphone business is amongst the most competitive in the world; if AT&T didn't need to charge a fee they wouldn't as they don't need a competitive disadvantage to Verizon and Sprint.

BJ
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1. Bold statement to make, without knowing where I was born or raised.

2. That doesn't mean AT&T can rip customers with their phony fees.

3. If it was as competitive as you say it is, I wonder why Verizon's upgrade fee is 16.67% less than that of AT&T's upgrade fee and I still don't see a reason to pay a phony fee when my line has been active for 10 plus years (between ATTWS, Cingular & AT&T) and has always been in good standing.

The only time I see competitiveness between the US carriers is when one of them finds a way to rip customers off and the other carriers find a way to better the first one that introduced the rip off!
 
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boltjames said:
1. I've spent more time in Asia and Europe than you have, trust me.

2. Asian and European workers don't get paid as much as AT&T union workers in Mississippi do.

3. The US cellphone business is amongst the most competitive in the world; if AT&T didn't need to charge a fee they wouldn't as they don't need a competitive disadvantage to Verizon and Sprint.

BJ

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You could have saved yourself a lot of typing and just said "I'm cheap" and accomplished the same thing.

BJ
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you had me going until #3. That made me laugh and then I figured out that you have no idea what u are talking about.

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boltjames said:
Congratulations on being proud of cheating AT&T and its customers. It's people like you who make it more expensive for the rest of us.

BJ
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Thats hilarious

Its people like you that allow ATT to charge what it wants by just taking it up u know what

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iapplelove said:
i can afford a 600 dollar phone,i can afford the upgrade fee, i know money is money but i'm not calling at&t like a beggar
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Iphone owners don't beg. Damn this forum is funny
 
indianboynyc said:
so i called at&t today and was talking to them about downgrading my plan which is 1400 minutes, free nights n weekends, free mobile to mobile(on any cell phone carrier, upto 10 free #'s on my A-list plan) so i wanted to know if i would be able to keep my 8,000 rollover minutes and this is what she says to me:

"im not trying to be funny but what happens is when you call, we look at your account to see if you have been credited before. a lot of people have been calling to get their activation fee's credited and some of them are being credited. now im looking at your account and you have a courtesy refund of $5 in august and $40 something in july and now personally i wouldnt waste my time to credit you rollover minutes if you decrease your plan or activation fee's because your too needy and call about everything. now someone else may look at your account differently and say okay i can credit your activation fee's as a courtesy but im not them nor am i going to do it"


so what i am doing tomorrow is calling at&t again and saying i want to speak to a manager and that i feel disappointed on how she told me that i am too needy and call about stuff on my plan and that im not worth her time to be treated with respect and maybe offered to get credit on my plan then i am going to threaten to cancel my plans and not even use my 4 upgrades and return my phones when they come in and ask them, so you are telling me being a valued customer and having an at&t even before iphones came out and not switching over to verizon just like 30% of your customers is not being loyal? and i bet manager will over ride the activation fee's, boom boom pow!


cliff notes: call and ask if they can credit the activation fee as a courtesy and there is a good chance they will, if not ask for a manager! boom boom pow!







UPDATE: CALLED BACK, ASKED FOR MANAGER, TOLD THEM HOW RUDE THE PREVIOUS PERSON WAS AND THAT IF THEY THINK IM NOT LOYAL THAT I CAN CHANGE TO VERIZON/SPRINT RIGHT NOW, SHE SAID NO IM SORRY FOR THAT AND I WILL GIVE YOU A CREDIT FOR ALL 3 LINES, SINCE OUR SYSTEMS ARE BEING UPDATED RIGHT NOW I WILL CALL YOU BACK BETWEEN 8AM-1PM AND LET YOU KNOW THAT ITS COMPLETED. I WILL ALSO SEND YOU A TEXT TO LET YOU KNOW. SHE ALSO SAID NO MATTER WHAT IT WILL BE DONE SO DONT WORRY IF I DONT GET A CHANCE TO PICK UP...

CLIFF NOTES: 3 PHONES ACTIVATION FEE WAVED AND I LOVE AT&T AGAIN :D
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When one takes a negative approach threatening to switch carriers, it only makes it harder to get what you wanted. They have thousands of customers trying this same thing.

What you fail to realize is the person you're talking to has no authority to do any discounting for any reason.

What makes you special?

If you work for a living, I bet it's not at a discount.

You don't threaten Apple for a credit or discount. Just because it's your carrier doesn't make it different. You signed a contract, or whoever owns the account. Obviously you seem to think you can violate it.

No wonder the carriers dread the release of a new iPhone. Thousands of "Special People" call, threaten & complain.
 
iapplelove said:
i can afford a 600 dollar phone,i can afford the upgrade fee, i know money is money but i'm not calling at&t like a beggar
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This. I don't like asking for handouts. I'm not rich, but it it's only 36 bucks. Not worth the time or effort of calling.
 
Nikos said:
This. I don't like asking for handouts. I'm not rich, but it it's only 36 bucks. Not worth the time or effort of calling.
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That's exactly how at&t wants customers to react. They figured even raising it from $18 to $36 customers would go along with it.
 
How I got my activation fee waived:

The AT&T rep just offered to waive it for me.

I just called to open a new line on my account and order an iPhone 5. That's it. I didn't even ask him to do it, was just being a civil human being and he seemed pretty happy to help. I had just planned to pay it like I have for all my previous phones.

The activation fee is just part of the US telecom system. Deal with it and stop acting like a child to get what you want.
 
Nikos said:
This. I don't like asking for handouts. I'm not rich, but it it's only 36 bucks. Not worth the time or effort of calling.
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I'm calling AT&T and demanding that they charge me an additional $36 ro neutralize the OP's theft.

My mom raised me right.

BJ
 
TB07-NJ said:
No, it's the definition of how to turn the system around to your benefit.
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The OP didn't beat the "system".

He brow-beat some poor sales rep with threats and bully tactics to get a measly $36 that he doesn't need. I explained this thread to my children as an example of how not to behave in life, how it's best to earn everything you've got and not steal.

BJ
 
boltjames said:
The OP didn't beat the "system".

He brow-beat some poor sales rep with threats and bully tactics to get a measly $36 that he doesn't need. I explained this thread to my children as an example of how not to behave in life, how it's best to earn everything you've got and not steal.

BJ
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Puhleeze .... a bit overdramatic aren't we? "Browbeat a poor sales rep." LOL. As someone who was a rep, then a trainer and finally a training manager for 2 major call centers for a number of years before I retired I can assure you they don't do anything they aren't permitted to do. Anything anyone gets from a "poor sales rep" shouldn't feel the slightest bit guilty about and it's as far from stealing as it can be. It's all part of the game. A game both sides play.
 
boltjames said:
The OP didn't beat the "system".

He brow-beat some poor sales rep with threats and bully tactics to get a measly $36 that he doesn't need. I explained this thread to my children as an example of how not to behave in life, how it's best to earn everything you've got and not steal.

BJ
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Hmm, I read this and thought I understood what kind of person you were, but then I saw your signature about the BMW, Rolex, Trophy Wife, and Beach House. I'm just curious is that part a joke?
 
I forgot to mention, i think you pay tax ontop of that $36 activation because if im not mistaking, she told me shes crediting my account $130-140? I forgot the total amount
 
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