If you bought 8GB iPhone at AT&T Store within 14 days...

[sanford]

They have a procedure for this and everything but be patient with them as they are just getting up to speed. If you are still within the 14-day return period, take in your original receipt to any corporate owned store and they will waive the 10% restocking fee and credit $200 plus applicable sales tax to either your AT&T phone service account or the credit card you bought the 8GB iPhone with (or work out cash or check refund as per AT&T Store policy if you paid cash or check). You don't need your phone, just the original receipt dated within 14 days. They will not make you swap out your iPhone and reactivate a new one. You get to keep your current iPhone.

If you are returning the iPhone and canceling, you'll still of course get the $599 price refunded, but you will have to pay the 10% restocking fee.

I'm just going to have them credit my AT&T account so I get almost three months free phone service out of it.

But I repeat, if you bought an 8GB iPhone at an AT&T Store within the 14-day return period, you get $200 + sales tax on that amount back, with your receipt, no iPhone swap out, no reactivation hassle.

If AT&T used to suck, they don't anymore, let me tell you.

 

[Limeyness]

They have a procedure for this and everything but be patient with them as they are just getting up to speed. If you are still within the 14-day return period, take in your original receipt to any corporate owned store and they will waive the 10% restocking fee and credit $200 plus applicable sales tax to either your AT&T phone service account or the credit card you bought the 8GB iPhone with (or work out cash or check refund as per AT&T Store policy if you paid cash or check). You don't need your phone, just the original receipt dated within 14 days. They will not make you swap out your iPhone and reactivate a new one. You get to keep your current iPhone.

If you are returning the iPhone and canceling, you'll still of course get the $599 price refunded, but you will have to pay the 10% restocking fee.

I'm just going to have them credit my AT&T account so I get almost three months free phone service out of it.

But I repeat, if you bought an 8GB iPhone at an AT&T Store within the 14-day return period, you get $200 + sales tax on that amount back, with your receipt, no iPhone swap out, no reactivation hassle.

If AT&T used to suck, they don't anymore, let me tell you.

I just made a post, i bought mine at release, and AT&T just gave me $200 off my bill when i called and complained.

 

[sanford]

I just made a post, i bought mine at release, and AT&T just gave me $200 off my bill when i called and complained.

Hopefully this will be an option for anyone distressed by the unexpected price drop. I of course decided to pay $600 for my iPhone and after using it a couple days felt it was worth it. It was just a welcome surprise that this happened in the return period. I can understand why people not used to the quick, steep price drops in the mobile industry are upset; but before ATT had received the official procedure for refunding the price change to me, the stores told me they might be able to waive the restock fee, I was still going to have to return my first iPhone and take a new. If that had been the actual deal, I was just going to write off the $200 rather than activate again, set up everything again, risk a DOA, a poorer battery or problems with the screen, either touch or visual.

 

[DeathChill]

I should be fine then going to the AT&T Store with my 4GB and exchanging it for an 8GB and getting the extra $100 back? I bought it on the 2nd so I'm well within the range.

 

[swindmill]

I just made a post, i bought mine at release, and AT&T just gave me $200 off my bill when i called and complained.

What exactly did you say?

 

[yoshe200]

I bought my 8GB iPhone back in July and called AT&T to see what they can do. They said they usually don't offer any credits but since I've been with AT&T for so long (4 years) they credited me $120. Good luck everyone!

 

[sanford]

I should be fine then going to the AT&T Store with my 4GB and exchanging it for an 8GB and getting the extra $100 back? I bought it on the 2nd so I'm well within the range.

Well, yeah, you should be fine, but go when a manager or assistant manager is there because they are the only ones authorized to do the overrides. Will be a little different for you as of course I just kept my already activated 8GB iPhone and got a refund -- all I had to take in was the original receipt, and I took an AT&T account credit so I just won't owe my monthly charges for almost three months.

It should go like this (assuming for purposes of illustration you paid with a credit or check card): you take 4GB back and return it within 14-day return period; they keep your contract active but cancel that iPhone off it; refund of $499 pops up in computer minus 10% restocking fee; manager overrides restocking fee; manager credits your credit card $499 plus your local sales tax; you then buy 8GB model for $399 plus local sales tax. You go home and go through activation procedure again, but this time you tell iTunes you already have an AT&T account and you're just putting this iPhone on your existing account and phone number -- you'll need your AT&T account information handy. It might ask you about adding plan features, but since you already have an iPhone plan, which is just a normal plan plus unlimited data, you should just be able to tell iTunes same plan, no changes.

Three caveats: Make sure you have an additional $399 plus tax open on your credit card or bring cash, check or another credit card, as it will take at least a few days for the credit to post -- at the very least, a full day, so it won't be instant and you won't have access to the refunded credit on your card until it posts. Second, there's a $36 activation fee for activating a new phone on any account, but I bet if you call billing they'll credit you that fee. Third, it will automatically expect you to extend your contract, two years from the date of new activation. They might waive that, too, but it's only four days for you, so if it were me, I wouldn't even bother asking.

They can't just swap SIM cards, because once they knock a SIM card off an account, which they'll have to do because the old SIM has to come back with 4GB you return, that SIM card is dead forever.

They probably won't want to do the activation in the store because of the way iTunes attaches the phone SIM and IMEI IDs to your Apple ID. But they might go ahead and in advance credit the $36 for the activation fee to your AT&T account so when you get home and activate, you'll be charged the fee, but it will already be offset by the credit. (Remember, in all fairness, they don't have to credit you the $36 activation fee at all, since you are indeed activating a brand new phone, a different model, on your account; but they may do it for customer service reasons.)

AT&T has been nothing but helpful to me. My local AT&T Store knew how they planned to handle price change refunds before my local Apple Store knew how they were going to handle theirs.

Oh, hurry: iPhones are selling so fast now you wouldn't believe. If they run out of stock, you may have to wait for a new shipment. But any corporate-owned store can do the refund/resale, so hopefully you can find one in your area with 8GB models in stock.