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Not eligible for an AT&T handset upgrade? Here's how to avoid being overcharged

WannaApple? said:
Sorry, but I'm still not believing it by what someone says. AT&T allowed everyone to buy a 1st gen phone last year whether they were eligible or not, so why would they not do it this time? Doesn't make sense. We'll see what happens between now and July 11th, however I'm still optimistic based on what Ive been told, what I've read in other articles citing sources and how they have handled it in the past.
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Dude, seriously... How can you not understand that the 1st generation phone was not subsidized. Which means it didn't matter to AT&T because they were not paying any of the cost of the phone.

For every 3G phone AT&T will pay Apple perhaps $100,$200, $300 nobody knows. Because of this they require a contract to recoup their investment.

This is why it is not the same this time around.

You paid $599 or $699 or whatever for an iPhone when it first came out. It is now $400 less. Do you think the price of components have dropped 75% in one year?
 
I have a different situation...

I've been with AT&T for more than 3 years now. I was still using ATT without a contract before purchasing my iphone June 06. After 3 months (I believe it was some time in SEPT 07) I realized that I was still eligible for a phone upgrade from ATT even though I just bought the IPHONE because it wasnt subsidized. So i used that upgrade on a cheap phone to use as a backup for my iphone. Did I just get screwed because of this? I've been on the iphone plan from day 1 and never switched to anything else. ATT website says I'm not eligible for an upgrade until FEB 09....
 
Yaoooo84 said:
I have a different situation...

I've been with AT&T for more than 3 years now. I was still using ATT without a contract before purchasing my iphone June 06. After 3 months (I believe it was some time in SEPT 07) I realized that I was still eligible for a phone upgrade from ATT even though I just bought the IPHONE because it wasnt subsidized. So i used that upgrade on a cheap phone to use as a backup for my iphone. Did I just get screwed because of this? I've been on the iphone plan from day 1 and never switched to anything else. ATT website says I'm not eligible for an upgrade until FEB 09....
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from all the documents, you have to be UPGRADE Eligible to purchase the new 3G iPhone.
 
Yaoooo84 said:
I have a different situation...

I've been with AT&T for more than 3 years now. I was still using ATT without a contract before purchasing my iphone June 06. After 3 months (I believe it was some time in SEPT 07) I realized that I was still eligible for a phone upgrade from ATT even though I just bought the IPHONE because it wasnt subsidized. So i used that upgrade on a cheap phone to use as a backup for my iphone. Did I just get screwed because of this? I've been on the iphone plan from day 1 and never switched to anything else. ATT website says I'm not eligible for an upgrade until FEB 09....
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If you're still using your iPhone then you're automatically qualified, if not then you may be either paying the unsubsidized price for an iPhone or waiting until you're elgible.
 
marksman said:
Dude, seriously... How can you not understand that the 1st generation phone was not subsidized. Which means it didn't matter to AT&T because they were not paying any of the cost of the phone.

For every 3G phone AT&T will pay Apple perhaps $100,$200, $300 nobody knows. Because of this they require a contract to recoup their investment.

This is why it is not the same this time around.

You paid $599 or $699 or whatever for an iPhone when it first came out. It is now $400 less. Do you think the price of components have dropped 75% in one year?
Click to expand...

First, don't call me dude. Not only am I woman, but dude is not exactly respectable...to anyone. I also recently found out that I am in fact upgrade eligible, so I really don't care anymore what they do because I will be getting
one anyway.

Too many people making assumptions that they know so much about what AT&T plans to do. I wasn't assuming anything, I was hoping, but now I don't even have to hope anymore because it wont apply to me! :rolleyes:
 
WannaApple? said:
First, don't call me dude. Not only am I woman, but dude is not exactly respectable...to anyone. I also recently found out that I am in fact upgrade eligible, so I really don't care anymore what they do because I will be getting
one anyway.

Too many people making assumptions that they know so much about what AT&T plans to do. I wasn't assuming anything, I was hoping, but now I don't even have to hope anymore because it wont apply to me! :rolleyes:
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You're right about people making assumptions, but the jist of the way this iPhone release was posted here by Arn:

https://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/06/16/atandt-iphone-3g-upgrades-and-activation/

Either people don't want to believe it or expect some miracle where AT&T decided that EVERYONE gets the iPhone for $199/$299 respectively.
 
djransom said:
You're right about people making assumptions, but the jist of the way this iPhone release was posted here by Arn:

https://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/06/16/atandt-iphone-3g-upgrades-and-activation/

Either people don't want to believe it or expect some miracle where AT&T decided that EVERYONE gets the iPhone for $199/$299 respectively.
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I dont know who Arn is, however from the article you just posted:

"If you are not eligible, AT&T expects to announce the higher unsubsidized iPhone 3G price in the future. This price can be expected to be about $200 higher."

before I realized I was indeed upgrade eligible, my only concern was being able to buy one at all, not how much it would cost. I think others are in the same boat. Many here are trying to say that you wont be able to get a 3G phone PERIOD if you arent upgrade eligible. Per this Arn person, if they have accurate information, most likely everyone will be able to buy it, just at a heavier price tag.
 
WannaApple? said:
I dont know who Arn is, however from the article you just posted:

"If you are not eligible, AT&T expects to announce the higher unsubsidized iPhone 3G price in the future. This price can be expected to be about $200 higher."

before I realized I was indeed upgrade eligible, my only concern was being able to buy one at all, not how much it would cost. I think others are in the same boat. Many here are trying to say that you wont be able to get a 3G phone PERIOD if you arent upgrade eligible. Per this Arn person, if they have accurate information, most likely everyone will be able to buy it, just at a heavier price tag.
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Everyone will be able to obtain a iPhone 3G most definitely as with any cell phone. The question that comes in to play is the price.
 
djransom said:
Everyone will be able to obtain a iPhone 3G most definitely as with any cell phone. The question that comes in to play is the price.
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exactly.

$200 would kinda suck, but, I can sell my blackjack II for about $150 on ebay I figure.

I just hope apple isn't getting greedy and charging $300 to make up for the lack of profit sharing. There's no way I'm going to be stupid enough to pay $599 for a cell phone (no offense to those of you who did last year) when I could get a 3rd-generation 32gb iphone for $299.

I want to give apple my money, i just don't want to feel ripped off doing it :)
 
Sorry about not being here... WORK lmao...

Okay, first off I apolgize for not getting back with y'all sooner... Work, tiredness, and just sheer laziness has made me not want to use my beautiful Macbook Pro for a while, so here goes:

kkiran said:
An interesting situation :

What if I sign a contract with my 2.5G refurb iPhone in July and then buy iPhone 3G? Will I be eligible since iPhone 2.5G is not subsidized? It is just because iPhone 2.5G has some software/hardware issues and I have to avail warranty on it but I need to activate for warranty.

btb I am eligible for an equipment upgrade on July 17th, so what are my best chances here?
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I'd wait the 6 days... honestly... If you have a phone your using now keep using it. I don't want you to brick an okay phone... Other than that... It's up to you.

TStewart422 said:
So, here's my deal. I'm on a family plan with my mom and my little sister. They're both eligible for an upgrade and little sis plans on using hers for an iPhone 3G. My mom, on the other hand, wants my crappy Razr because she likes the way it looks. Go figure. I used my upgrade last year to purchase a BlackBerry Curve that took up toiletdiving as a hobby and is no longer with us.

From what I have gathered from this thread; I will NOT be able to use my mom's upgrade to purchase an iPhone and switch out the SIM cards. Will it brick it or will it not allow it to happen at all? Or will I have to activate it with my mom's SIM and then do the switch? Does anyone have a clue how this will go or am I just going to have to try it out?
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Okay... I am not denying that you can use the upgrade on your mom's line and switch your SIM card, but the fact is we cannot do it for you in store. I'm not sure on the new bricking policies and so forth... you can probably get away with it but I'm not guaranteeing anything...


Yaoooo84 said:
I have a different situation...

I've been with AT&T for more than 3 years now. I was still using ATT without a contract before purchasing my iphone June 06. After 3 months (I believe it was some time in SEPT 07) I realized that I was still eligible for a phone upgrade from ATT even though I just bought the IPHONE because it wasnt subsidized. So i used that upgrade on a cheap phone to use as a backup for my iphone. Did I just get screwed because of this? I've been on the iphone plan from day 1 and never switched to anything else. ATT website says I'm not eligible for an upgrade until FEB 09....
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I would talk with a Retail Sales Consultant or a manager at your local store to see if they can help you out on that one... but as of right now from the way your situation looks is you won't be able to upgrade to anything to FEB 09 (or pay the unsubzided price still TBD).
 
I thought having the first gen iphone trumped everything. So, even having a first gen iphone you have to be eligible for the upgrade to get the discounted price? Or is it that the iphone has to be the last phone activated on the account?
 
HDJulie said:
I thought having the first gen iphone trumped everything. So, even having a first gen iphone you have to be eligible for the upgrade to get the discounted price? Or is it that the iphone has to be the last phone activated on the account?
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Having the 1st gen iPhone trumps the normal elgibility requirements and automatically qualifies you for the subsidized pricing.
 
HDJulie said:
I thought having the first gen iphone trumped everything. So, even having a first gen iphone you have to be eligible for the upgrade to get the discounted price? Or is it that the iphone has to be the last phone activated on the account?
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... No precedent as of yet... so I'll ask to be sure.
djransom said:
Having the 1st gen iPhone trumps the normal elgibility requirements and automatically qualifies you for the subsidized pricing.
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*hopes djransom's right*
 
I have the additional muddy water detail of having bought my iPhone after May 27th :). I'm hoping that not only am I eligible to trade for a new phone (with possible money back) but also that I could choose to keep my phone & get a new one at the subsidized price instead.

Here's to hoping, too
 
HDJulie said:
I have the additional muddy water detail of having bought my iPhone after May 27th :). I'm hoping that not only am I eligible to trade for a new phone (with possible money back) but also that I could choose to keep my phone & get a new one at the subsidized price instead.
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Okay... Question did you buy from at&t? and is it activated?
 
Well i live in San Antonio, TX and they told me all I had to do was extend my contract for 2 more years which doesn't bother me cause the cost to cancel my contract will go down to exactly zero dollars and zero cents during the second month of the third year.
 
djransom said:
Okay maybe I said it wrong. Here's to hoping that having a 1st gen iPhone qualifies for subsidizing pricing. Better saDeRmac ;)
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It makes sense that it would qualify you since we all essentially bought it as an unsubsidized phone from AT&T + 2 year agreement.
 
My account says "not eligible for upgrade until 2009" as well even though I have had an iphone on the line since last year. So yeah, I better hear some concrete information released before I go waiting in line.
Yes I had also upgraded another phone but that should be irrelevant if the iPhone 1.0 on the line trumps everything.
 
tasset said:
My account says "not eligible for upgrade until 2009" as well even though I have had an iphone on the line since last year. So yeah, I better hear some concrete information released before I go waiting in line.
Yes I had also upgraded another phone but that should be irrelevant if the iPhone 1.0 on the line trumps everything.
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Did you by any chance purchase a subsidized phone from AT&T within the last two years?
 
tasset said:
My account says "not eligible for upgrade until 2009" as well even though I have had an iphone on the line since last year. So yeah, I better hear some concrete information released before I go waiting in line.
Yes I had also upgraded another phone but that should be irrelevant if the iPhone 1.0 on the line trumps everything.
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That's the thing the wording says that current iPhone subscribers are elgible for upgrades, but it doesn't mention prior iPhone subscribers. That's where the situation gets sticky especially for those without an iPhone, but still have the plan on their account and pay for it.
 
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