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Letter from at&t: You are not eligible to buy the new 3g iphone.

H

hmfic

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 17, 2008
42
0
I sent a letter to at&t asking if I was eligible to buy the iphone for the discounted price and that if I wasn't how much it was going to cost.

This is their response.

I have reviewed your account information. Our records show that in order
to purchase a new 3G iPhone you must be eligible to upgrade on the
service. The system shows that you purchased a phone for the
number on 5/15/2007 at a discounted price with a two year
service commitment which is still in effect on the service. This
prevents you from being eligible to upgrade on the account and will be
prevent you from being eligible to purchase the new 3G iPhone. At this
time, we are not offering the 3G iPhone at a no-commitment or
non-upgrade pricing. In order to purchase the phone, you must be
eligible for a standard upgrade on the account.
 
Dang, so you can't even get it for the unsubsidized price ($524 and $624).

I always thought you could. Guess not =/.
 
I'm going to have to use the upgrade for my brothers plan and activate the phone on my account.

This is so frustrating. I can't believe they're going to be denying people the option to buy the phone.
 
If your bill reaches a certain price point you can be eligible or if you extend your contract. I called and made a visit. The AT&T global head quarters is here in my hometown.
 
so, this is the letter you got from at&t, even with the grammer as poorly written as that?

i counted 4 sentences with the wrong words in there....
 
That's bizarre. I would think that since you can switch carriers at any time (subject to a contract termination fee) that you should be able to go in and effectively break your contract to purchase a 3G iPhone for the discounted price + termination fees.

I guess you could always find a carrier that offers pay as you go on a cheap phone, terminate you at&t contract and then upgrade to the 3G when they come in. Or just wait until your contract is up and get a newer iPhone with possibly more upgrades...
 
Why is it bull? You bought a phone at a discount one year ago, signing a two year contract. You shouldn't be able to get another discount before that two years is up, as that two years of service is what pays for the discount you got on the phone.
 
hmfic said:
I sent a letter to at&t asking if I was eligible to buy the iphone for the discounted price and that if I wasn't how much it was going to cost.

This is their response.

I have reviewed your account information. Our records show that in order
to purchase a new 3G iPhone you must be eligible to upgrade on the
service. The system shows that you purchased a phone for the
number on 5/15/2007 at a discounted price with a two year
service commitment which is still in effect on the service. This
prevents you from being eligible to upgrade on the account and will be
prevent you from being eligible to purchase the new 3G iPhone. At this
time, we are not offering the 3G iPhone at a no-commitment or
non-upgrade pricing. In order to purchase the phone, you must be
eligible for a standard upgrade on the account.
Click to expand...

Why did you post this? Sympathy?
 
I think you should try to buy one and see what happens. Cause when the release day rolls around all of the employees will have the right information. Whether you benefit from said information has yet to be determined but you still might be able to purchase one.
 
I really think this is going to turn into a PR nightmare for Apple & AT&T. The new phone is being marketed as $199 for everyone, and it seems to be panning out that it clearly isn't. AT&T are being foolish not to allow current customers to upgrade to the iPhone, especially if their current cell doesn't have a data plan. I'd think the revenue generated from an iPhone plan would be an enough of an incentive to open the new iPhone up to everyone. Its a shame, really. I feel bad for everyone that signed up with AT&T and got a regular phone and planned to upgrade when the 3g was released.
 
That's bull.
I can almost guarantee the new iPhone will be $199 with upgrade eligibility for anyone.
 
I can't believe they are actually going to deny people an iPhone, even at an outrageous price like $524. Guess they don't really want to sell 10m iPhone's by the end of this year..........
 
saxamoophone said:
because a lot of people have been asking about this, maybe? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

And there are enough threads about it. Plus, this thread isn't even a question. It's a - boo-hoo I can't get an iPhone 3G. This doesn't change anything we already know.
 
M0bile said:
And there are enough threads about it. Plus, this thread isn't even a question. It's a - boo-hoo I can't get an iPhone 3G. This doesn't change anything we already know.
Click to expand...

Then stop coming back to this one thread and posting on it..........
I for one did not know they won't let people even buy an UNSUBSIDIZED iPhone and am glad I read this thread.
 
DreamPod said:
Why is it bull? You bought a phone at a discount one year ago, signing a two year contract. You shouldn't be able to get another discount before that two years is up, as that two years of service is what pays for the discount you got on the phone.
Click to expand...

If the letter is real, they are saying he can't buy it all. Period. No way, no how.

With any other phone, you can pay the full retail price regardless of your upgrade status or contract length. That letter is saying that not only can he not receive the discount, but he can't even buy it for a higher retail price.

It is bull. They are effectively telling every single person that isn't upgrade eligible and that doesn't currently use an iPhone that they can't buy the new one, even if they are willing to pay a higher, premium price.

I have never seen a phone with this kind of restriction before, and it is absolute crap. Way to piss on your existing, non-iPhone customers At&t.

My only hope is that his letter is not real...
 
Well I just got off the phone with another CSR and she told me I will be eligible to get the phone as long as I extend my contract.

So that puts the CSR answer tally at

2-No clue
2-You are eligible
1-No you cant get it.

It looks like I'm just going to have to take a chance and go to AT&T on July 11th.

And M0bile if you're really against the existence of this thread so much stop bumping it up with your responses.
 
ipodtouchy333 said:
Then stop coming back to this one thread and posting on it..........
I for one did not know they won't let people even buy an UNSUBSIDIZED iPhone and am glad I read this thread.
Click to expand...

Simply replying to a comment on a previous statement of mine, nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying that this topic has been discussed a million times over in a number of similar topics and this information has been available practically since WWDC.
 
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