After buying my phone outright after being determined ineligible twice for no explicable reason I realized they had sold me an AT&T phone. After activating it I used AT&T's online unlock tool and successfully unlocked it.
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iPhone Upgrade Program Causing Headaches for Some Launch Day Customers
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ATT iPhone is better which has one additional band - 30 (2300 MHz) - I guess it should work in Verizon or Sprint.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
These issues were my initial concern. Then the thought of these micro loans affecting my credit score every time I went for my yearly upgrade crossed my mind. It wasn't worth the hassle or th possible issues down the road. I feel for all the people that had issues, this process wasted their time. That most likely spent an entire vacation waiting for this program to launch.
I have tmobile prepaid.if you have 3 months of consecutive ontime payments,you are eligeble for installments.
That's a fantastic policy. The store employee entered all of my info so it prob wasn't even my fault. The did run a credit pull on me so it was clear the had the right person.
If this is true in my case I will prob return this phone and get one on T-Mo Jump On Demand. If Apple wants to run a program that is this Mickey Mouse they can eat the loss on the return. Between this and a friend at work having the "Slide To Upgrade" issue my Customer Sat is sub optimal.
Not sure what you mean. That's my monthly bill that I'm talking about. And other than a corporate discount that I receive (By looking at your bill it appears that you received one, also.) the monthly access fees I pay are the same as anyone can get.
Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program today in the U.S., enabling customers to purchase the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus with AppleCare+ coverage included for 24 equal payments of between around $30 and $45 per month depending on the model. After at least 12 monthly payments, the customer can upgrade to a new iPhone and restart the 24-month payment cycle.
Apple stipulates that the iPhone Upgrade Program is available to qualified customers only with a valid U.S. personal credit card, since the program is based on a 24-month installment loan with a 0% APR from Citizens Bank. For customers with good credit, most did not expect this requirement to be an issue. But, as launch day unfolds, some customers have had frustrating experiences.
MacRumors user onujpt writes that he was declined from the program, despite having good credit and an Apple Barclaycard with a $4,000 available balance, in the iPhone Upgrade Program Experience Thread in our discussion forums. Many other users shared similar experiences in the thread.MacRumors user inkyoto echoed similar frustration in his thread Nightmarish Experience With Apple Upgrade Program in our discussion forums, noting that he was denied approval for the iPhone Upgrade Program with both Chase and Bank of America credit cards despite having "flawless credit."It is possible that iPhone Upgrade Program approvals have been experiencing problems due to the high volume of traffic today in Apple Stores, but in the meantime some customers with good credit may be forced to pay upfront or walk away empty handed. Alternatively, some customers may opt for a carrier financing plan from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile.
Enrolling in the iPhone Upgrade Program requires visiting an Apple Store. Apple states you must be at least 18 years old and bring your current iPhone, a valid personal credit card, your personal information and two forms of identification and your carrier information, such as your wireless account password. The full terms and conditions are posted on Apple's website.
Article Link: iPhone Upgrade Program Causing Headaches for Some Launch Day Customers
My husband and I went on launch day and got denied multiple times. As everyone says, we do have good credit so we knew that wasn't an issue. Left the store 4 hrs later with no explanation other than the issue was on Citizens One end and that we would each be receiving a letter in the mail in a week, explaining why.
Not wanting to wait that long for and explanation, I called CO and after multiple transfers and different automated lines - FYI, if you don't have account, continue to hit # or 0000# til you are connected with someone -- very tiring process. Finally spoke with a live person to be told we had to wait 24 hrs from when we tried to apply for the phone. Argh!
24 hrs later, we go thru all the automated line BS multiple times, again. Spend 30 mins on the phone to be told she really couldn't give and explanation, that we needed to call Equifax. When asked if it was an issue with credit, she said she wasn't sure. 2 mins before we hang up, she tells us that people have been finding out that there's some info inputed wrong and that's why they are getting denied.
Come to find out, our credit card had PO Box address attached and not our home address. So we changed it. I went in today and had no issues applying for the phone and getting it.
Long story short, check to make sure you have street address attached to credit card!
Not wanting to wait that long for and explanation, I called CO and after multiple transfers and different automated lines - FYI, if you don't have account, continue to hit # or 0000# til you are connected with someone -- very tiring process. Finally spoke with a live person to be told we had to wait 24 hrs from when we tried to apply for the phone. Argh!
24 hrs later, we go thru all the automated line BS multiple times, again. Spend 30 mins on the phone to be told she really couldn't give and explanation, that we needed to call Equifax. When asked if it was an issue with credit, she said she wasn't sure. 2 mins before we hang up, she tells us that people have been finding out that there's some info inputed wrong and that's why they are getting denied.
Come to find out, our credit card had PO Box address attached and not our home address. So we changed it. I went in today and had no issues applying for the phone and getting it.
Long story short, check to make sure you have street address attached to credit card!
So I show up Friday to pick up my iPhone at the San Diego store. Tried three times to apply for the upgrade program. Denied, denied, denied. My FICO score is 846, and the credit card I was using had $21K of available credit. So I bought the phone and AppleCare using that card anyway.
When I got the email receipt, Apple asked me to tell them about my experience and I did. Got a call yesterday from store manager Kim. She gave me a number to call at CO and find out what happened since 24 hours had passed. The number is 888.427.9671.
CO said my DOB had been entered incorrectly and I would have to wait 30 days to try again. I entered my own DOB on the machine, and I'm pretty sure I know what it is. Anyway, Kim said not to worry, 14 days return is normal, but she would work with me to try again after 30 days and was sorry about the inconvenience.
When I got the email receipt, Apple asked me to tell them about my experience and I did. Got a call yesterday from store manager Kim. She gave me a number to call at CO and find out what happened since 24 hours had passed. The number is 888.427.9671.
CO said my DOB had been entered incorrectly and I would have to wait 30 days to try again. I entered my own DOB on the machine, and I'm pretty sure I know what it is. Anyway, Kim said not to worry, 14 days return is normal, but she would work with me to try again after 30 days and was sorry about the inconvenience.
It could have been a very simple (but stupid) thing such as entering the DOB in the wrong format.
Such as: they wanted XX-XX-XXXX and you entered XX-XX-XX.
I remember once not being able to get an application through because our address has 5 digits and on their records it was listed with a hyphen between the 2nd and 3rd number.
Computers are funny that way.
I discovered that the program "authorizes" the first 3 payments up front on the credit card you use.
Will they have to run a credit check every year if we decide to continue the iPhone Upgrade Program next year to upgrade to the new iPhone? Will it be as easy as showing up the Apple Store on launch day, trading in the old phone and leaving with the new one?
I used the above phone number and it was very useful for contacting Citizens One. Spoke to a rep within seconds.
The rep told me that I had been declined due to my SS# not matching the first time, I must have fat figured it, and then because my address did not match the current address Equifax had on file.
She then told me they are looking at several items to get approved.
1. Name on credit card matches the applicant
2. Credit card is not a business card or a debit card
3. Addresses matched across Phone Contract, Credit Card, Credit Agencies (Equifax), etc.
I am sure there are more items but these are some of the ones that were explained not related to credit history.
For me I just moved so Equifax has a different address than my credit cards currently as my CCs haven't updated the Credit Agencies. I can force an update to change my address by faxing info (Drivers License, Utility Bill) to Equifax, or just wait until my CC updates with the Credit Agencies.
After that I am told I can try again and shouldn't have a problem pending credit issues.
Tell that to Verizon, AT&T and every other carrier who has figured out how to do this without using a third party lending company. There is no excuse for botching this in the way Apple has considering the financial resources they have available.
They are launching this program to take a piece of the pie away from carriers like Verizon and AT&T who already have frequent upgrade programs in place. That's fine. If it's profitable it's a smart business move on Apple's end but I don't see any benefit for the consumer. Apple is charging more for the phone by throwing Apple Care for two years into the mix and they are making it more complicated for end users by throwing a third party financing company into the mix as well.
I'm not about to pay Apple more money just for the pleasure of jumping through more hoops than necessary to achieve the same results that I can get though Verizon or AT&T.
I'll stick with AT&T's Next program. I was in and out of the store on launch day as a walk-in without any line in under 20 minutes and I had a brand new 6S in hand. It was incredibly easy.
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Yes. The extra crap like additional id was dumb, requiring actual credit cards and not visa debit cards was dumb, they still did a hard pull even if the reason you got rejected wasn't your credit, and dumbest of all the credit line was conditioned on having a postpaid carrier line when they're selling unlocked phones that can be used anywhere including prepaid. Totally unprofessional. Apple should have done this entirely in-house and told the carriers to take a hike.
We'll see, but I'm not convinced. All of the objections I noted above should have been obvious to a monkey after 5 minutes of thinking about it. That Apple went ahead anyway with the plan suggests they're either idiots, which I don't believe, or they simply didn't care. If they didn't care now why would they change their minds?
They do care.
Like they've always said, "We're not perfect".
I remember when they first started selling if you were with AT&T and had a FAN account they couldn't do it and you had to go through AT&T. All those people who were buying at Apple with FAN accounts got turned away.
They fixed that the next go-round if memory serves.
Were you able to successfully get the un-unification of your bills processed? And were you able to re-purchase your phone upon return to Apple?
Hopefully they'll get rid of the silly restrictions. Requiring real Visa vs debit visa, locking out prepaid customers by conditioning the program on having a postpaid carrier account, requiring actual updates to and permissions on your carrier account (especially dumb on GSM) even though the financing is nominally independent of the carrier. Ideally, also dumping the third-party creditor and creating their own Apple Credit division.