iPhone 5 Upgrade Swap Confusion

[ScottJBelanger]

Here's my situation:
I want the iPhone 5 and am on a family plan with ATT. My line does not have an upgrade but there are 2 other lines that are eligible. I have ordered iPhones on different numbers and swapped them before, but this time is different. The only lines that are available for upgrades are not smartphones. I am afraid that I will be charged for an extra data plan when that phone will be immediately switched back to the old flip phone. Can someone either confirm or deny my theory? I don't want to be stuck in a contract and pay for data on a line that i dont want data for.

-Scott Belanger

 

[rockyroad55]

Here's my situation:
I want the iPhone 5 and am on a family plan with ATT. My line does not have an upgrade but there are 2 other lines that are eligible. I have ordered iPhones on different numbers and swapped them before, but this time is different. The only lines that are available for upgrades are not smartphones. I am afraid that I will be charged for an extra data plan when that phone will be immediately switched back to the old flip phone. Can someone either confirm or deny my theory? I don't want to be stuck in a contract and pay for data on a line that i dont want data for.

-Scott Belanger

You can remove the data plan. Just call them afterwards and say it was used for an upgrade swap and have them apply the data plan to whichever line the iPhone is on.

 

[ScottJBelanger]

You can remove the data plan. Just call them afterwards and say it was used for an upgrade swap and have them apply the data plan to whichever line the iPhone is on.

so youre absolutely positive that i can back out of that plan? i thought about this again a minute ago. Wouldn't i only be charged once i activate the phone on that dumb-phone line? if i take the phone into the att store before it is activated, could i avoid having that plan applied completely? sorry if this sounds confusing.

 

[Kadman]

so youre absolutely positive that i can back out of that plan? i thought about this again a minute ago. Wouldn't i only be charged once i activate the phone on that dumb-phone line? if i take the phone into the att store before it is activated, could i avoid having that plan applied completely? sorry if this sounds confusing.

I've been through this before, using my wife's line that didn't have a data plan attached. To be honest, I was willing to pay the $30 for a month of data (it was unlimited back then), but I was pleasantly surprised when the rep handling the upgrade swap assured me that it wouldn't show up at all. They were correct, it never showed up that there was ever a data plan on her line. Seemed odd to me at the time, particularly given that the phone your getting is heavily subsidized based on the fact that they force data plans for those prices. But hey, it worked!

 

[ScottJBelanger]

I've been through this before, using my wife's line that didn't have a data plan attached. To be honest, I was willing to pay the $30 for a month of data (it was unlimited back then), but I was pleasantly surprised when the rep handling the upgrade swap assured me that it wouldn't show up at all. They were correct, it never showed up that there was ever a data plan on her line. Seemed odd to me at the time, particularly given that the phone your getting is heavily subsidized based on the fact that they force data plans for those prices. But hey, it worked!

thank you so much for clearing this up! it seems like no google search would help me out! i guess im placing my preorder on friday!

 

[dave006]

so youre absolutely positive that i can back out of that plan? i thought about this again a minute ago. Wouldn't i only be charged once i activate the phone on that dumb-phone line? if i take the phone into the att store before it is activated, could i avoid having that plan applied completely? sorry if this sounds confusing.

Yes any feature is just that a feature that you and add or drop based on the device. In your case once you move the iPhone that will be parked on your line off the line and worst case have to reassign the dumb-phone's IMEI there is no way AT&T can or will force you to keep an iPhone data plan for a non-iPhone device/line combination.

However if you do the upgrade swap correctly, then the iPhone data plan should never actually hit your line. Remember in a worst case example you would only be charged for a single day of pro-rated iPhone data while getting the upgrade swap assuming the rep helping you can't figure how to reassign the iPhone and ICCID correctly.

Dave

 

[Kadman]

No problem. I guess there needs to be a disclaimer that they could have always changed their policy on this. May be worth stopping in at an AT&T store or calling them. At a minimum, you could use the online chat session to find out.

 

[ScottJBelanger]

No problem. I guess there needs to be a disclaimer that they could have always changed their policy on this. May be worth stopping in at an AT&T store or calling them. At a minimum, you could use the online chat session to find out.

I'm going to probably stop by the ATT store after school and I will post what they say here just to clarify

 

[stephen1108]

If I'm doing an Upgrade Swap at Best Buy, I'm an authorized user on the account, the account holder doesn't have to come right for me to do it?

 

[blueram]

I have a sort of different circumstance with my Upgrade swap. I currently have a different smartphone (not an iPhone) and I am really fed up with it so I want to switch to the iPhone 5 ASAP but my upgrade eligibility is not until November. Fortunately, a co-worker who has an iPhone 4 and eligible for an upgrade with AT&T offered to give me his upgrade and he will just use my upgrade in November for his iPhone 5.

I guess the difference here is we are not on any sort of family plan. I am just a customer, using another customer's upgrade with his consent. The catch is he is on vacation next week and the week after. He said he would have the phone shipped to the office under my name for me to pick up so that hopefully won't be a problem. However, in order to actually move the line associated with the phone from my co-worker's line to mine, we were told they can do this in the AT&T store. I was wondering if I can actually do this over the phone with my co-worker because I do not wont to bother him while he's on vacation just to meet up and have sim cards switched or whatever.

PS

I cannot wait to finally get my own iPhone!

 

[stephen1108]

I have a sort of different circumstance with my Upgrade swap. I currently have a different smartphone (not an iPhone) and I am really fed up with it so I want to switch to the iPhone 5 ASAP but my upgrade eligibility is not until November. Fortunately, a co-worker who has an iPhone 4 and eligible for an upgrade with AT&T offered to give me his upgrade and he will just use my upgrade in November for his iPhone 5.

I guess the difference here is we are not on any sort of family plan. I am just a customer, using another customer's upgrade with his consent. The catch is he is on vacation next week and the week after. He said he would have the phone shipped to the office under my name for me to pick up so that hopefully won't be a problem. However, in order to actually move the line associated with the phone from my co-worker's line to mine, we were told they can do this in the AT&T store. I was wondering if I can actually do this over the phone with my co-worker because I do not wont to bother him while he's on vacation just to meet up and have sim cards switched or whatever.

PS

I cannot wait to finally get my own iPhone!

I think all you would need to do is have them send the SIM not set up with any specific number?

 

[rockyroad55]

so youre absolutely positive that i can back out of that plan? i thought about this again a minute ago. Wouldn't i only be charged once i activate the phone on that dumb-phone line? if i take the phone into the att store before it is activated, could i avoid having that plan applied completely? sorry if this sounds confusing.

Definitely positive you can take the plan off.

 

[Jman13]

I have a sort of different circumstance with my Upgrade swap. I currently have a different smartphone (not an iPhone) and I am really fed up with it so I want to switch to the iPhone 5 ASAP but my upgrade eligibility is not until November. Fortunately, a co-worker who has an iPhone 4 and eligible for an upgrade with AT&T offered to give me his upgrade and he will just use my upgrade in November for his iPhone 5.

I guess the difference here is we are not on any sort of family plan. I am just a customer, using another customer's upgrade with his consent. The catch is he is on vacation next week and the week after. He said he would have the phone shipped to the office under my name for me to pick up so that hopefully won't be a problem. However, in order to actually move the line associated with the phone from my co-worker's line to mine, we were told they can do this in the AT&T store. I was wondering if I can actually do this over the phone with my co-worker because I do not wont to bother him while he's on vacation just to meet up and have sim cards switched or whatever.

PS

I cannot wait to finally get my own iPhone!

You can definitely do this, though you'll likely need to wait a day and both of you will need to go into an AT&T store. Also, I doubt he can have the phone shipped under your name...he'll need to take posession of the phone and then basically give you his phone, while you give him your phone. When your upgrade is up, the same thing...you order the phone, then you give your phone to your friend.

I did this with my boss, actually. She was getting a smartphone and saw I had a 3Gs (this was 2 years ago). She offered to get the 4 and swap me. She got her new iPhone 4, and I took my 3Gs, and we just went to AT&T. They gave each of us new SIM cards (since they aren't the same type), made sure the devices were reflected properly in our accounts, and that was that. Took about 15 minutes.

 

[ScottJBelanger]

talked to att

I went to the at&t store today and they said that i could bring in the new phone before it is activated for them to do it. then i will never get charged with another data plan in the first place! so i wont have to go back and remove the data plan if it is added. yay!

 

[nostresshere]

....

I did this with my boss, actually. She was getting a smartphone and saw I had a 3Gs (this was 2 years ago). She offered to get the 4 and swap me. She got her new iPhone 4, and I took my 3Gs, and we just went to AT&T. They gave each of us new SIM cards (since they aren't the same type), made sure the devices were reflected properly in our accounts, and that was that. Took about 15 minutes.

I see so many postings about how somebody uses somebody else "upgrade discount" and just swap phones afterwards. Sure it works.

But what happens in a few months when that person (your boss here), wants to upgrade their phone, or get a new one cause they lost their old one. They go to ATT and are told they have another 18 months before they can get an upgrade.... and they get upset....