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iphone upgrade in family plan

B

buddywalker

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 28, 2008
23
0
I am on the AT&T family plan, and my line is not currently eligible for an upgrade. Another line on my plan is however eligible, and I am wondering if that can be used to get the subsidized iphone price even though I want to use the iphone on my number. I know on normal phone upgrades we use each others upgrades all the time and it doesn't matter at all, but I am unsure on how that would work since the iphone data plan must be added as well.

Thoughts, comment, concerns? Anything is appreciated.

:apple:
 
I believe that AT&T will let you upgrade like this. Not sure exactly how they do it, but in effect they will upgrade you to the iPhone (based on eligibility from the other phone), and then that phone will no longer be eligible. I think they switch the dates around on the phones in their computer system.

You should talk to someone at the 800# or e-mail them on the web site, and see if you can get a definitive answer though...
 
This may be really dumb, but I can't find an e-mail address anywhere on the AT&T website.
 
This is how AT&T responded

Dear Mr. Walker,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail the new AT&T in regards to
upgrading to the iPhone. I am happy to help you with your inquiry.

Unfortunately, with the iPhone it can not be purchased using one line
and then activated on the other. According to the information we have at
this time you will still be able to purchase the iPhone but the price
has not yet been determined if you are not eligible for upgrade.


We encourage you to visit our web site often to view current and
previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product
and service offerings. Thank you for choosing AT&T!

Sincerely,

Melissa Runyon
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional





I think that it is ridiculous that they don't offer long time customers the same deal as they offer new customers. They are only losing money themselves by forcing me to wait longer to start paying them for the super expensive monthly plan.
 
buddywalker said:
This is how AT&T responded

Dear Mr. Walker,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail the new AT&T in regards to
upgrading to the iPhone. I am happy to help you with your inquiry.

Unfortunately, with the iPhone it can not be purchased using one line
and then activated on the other. According to the information we have at
this time you will still be able to purchase the iPhone but the price
has not yet been determined if you are not eligible for upgrade.


We encourage you to visit our web site often to view current and
previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product
and service offerings. Thank you for choosing AT&T!

Sincerely,

Melissa Runyon
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional





I think that it is ridiculous that they don't offer long time customers the same deal as they offer new customers. They are only losing money themselves by forcing me to wait longer to start paying them for the super expensive monthly plan.
Click to expand...

Her response makes sense in the actual technical implementation of your end goal, but perhaps there is a way to do it if you talk to your local sales guy (or girl). A lot of the times, the representatives will tell you no because there's no apparent way to do it in their system, when things can always be finagled (did I spell that right) if it means selling you a phone (local sales reps are on commission).

Here's an example of why I would believe this to be untrue:
Your other line (say it's your brother) decides to get the iPhone, but a week later decides that it sucks, so you two want to swap phones. I'm sure there have been plenty of times when a husband and wife swapped phones or something where the data plan had to be swapped too.

That being said, I don't know if you can or not; it just seems that it would be a slight implementation issue that is totally dependent on the representative/manager you talk to.
 
I was not allowed to upgrade and was told that there was not a way for me to use the other line's upgrade eligibility. I will therefore be forced to wait a couple months to purchase an iphone. Oh well.
 
go to another store or call AT&T because it is something they can do. I did it and others did as well. Good luck.
 
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