Quick question about iphone upgrade

[harryjiang]

First of all, i have never had an iphone before
So when i went to college last august, i decided to sign a family plan along with 4 of my friends so that i can get a contracted iphone with the cheapest price possible(i'm not the host account)

Since at that time the new iphone 4s(well everybody thought it was gonna be a 5 though) could be expected in a couple of months, i decided to wait and signed an Android phone. The salesperson at radioshack told me that i could go back when 4s comes out and purchase it. However, when the radioshack people have 4s in storage, they told me that i have to wait 6 months after my initial date of contract to get the new iphones with the 199 dollar price. I was frustrated, but i still complied. And today, six months after my date of contract signning, i went back to Radioshack, and the salesperson told me that i have to pay 450 cuz it is an early upgrade!! I mean seriously??

Can anybody here tell me that is it really impossible for me to get iphone 4s with 199 price now??

 

[techguy20]

Who is your carrier? Can you try calling them?

 

[grapes911]

You either misunderstood or were duped. You signed a two year deal when you got the Android phone. You need to wait until the 2 years is up before you can get the iPhone for $199.

 

[r.j.s]

You either misunderstood or were duped. You signed a two year deal when you got the Android phone. You need to wait until the 2 years is up before you can get the iPhone for $199.

This. You can only get the $199 price when either your current contract is expired or when you sign a new contract with a different carrier.

 

[harryjiang]

This. You can only get the $199 price when either your current contract is expired or when you sign a new contract with a different carrier.

they never told me that!! They simply told me that i can sell my current phone back to them and get a discount on the new iphone. i should have asked people here. I'm an international student so i don't quite know how the system runs...

----------

Who is your carrier? Can you try calling them?

it's at&t
i definitely should contact them!

 

[grapes911]

it's at&t
i definitely should contact them!

I'm not saying you shouldn't contact them, but I highly doubt they'll do anything. Frankly, I'm not sure they should do anything in this situation.

 

[techguy20]

it's at&t
i definitely should contact them!

I think they would be the ones to give you the new phone at contract price. It's happened to me in the past.

Just call and ask nicely, and hopefully you'll get a representative who is willing to offer it to you.

Let us know how it works out.

 

[harryjiang]

I'm not saying you shouldn't contact them, but I highly doubt they'll do anything. Frankly, I'm not sure they should do anything in this situation.

Well...it's worth a try
thanks anyway

 

[r.j.s]

they never told me that!! They simply told me that i can sell my current phone back to them and get a discount on the new iphone. i should have asked people here. I'm an international student so i don't quite know how the system runs...

Well you can sell the phone back to them and get a discount, which is why it is $450. An iPhone costs upwards of $700 without any kind of discount.

 

[harryjiang]

Well you can sell the phone back to them and get a discount, which is why it is $450. An iPhone costs upwards of $700 without any kind of discount.

the 450 is actually th early upgrade plan i can choose to have(199+250). the discount for the phone i can choose to sell back is only 30 dollars. I guess i'm just disappointed. The radioshack people never told me that within my 2 years of contract i can never get the full discount. And i have to blame myself for not asking clearly too...

 

[jca24]

really dude, you really don't have any idea how subsidized phones work, do your homework next time!

 

[r.j.s]

the 450 is actually th early upgrade plan i can choose to have(199+250). the discount for the phone i can choose to sell back is only 30 dollars. I guess i'm just disappointed. The radioshack people never told me that within my 2 years of contract i can never get the full discount. And i have to blame myself for not asking clearly too...

You might be best to sell the android phone to try to recoup some of the cost.

 

[Arnezie]

really dude, you really don't have any idea how subsidized phones work, do your homework next time!

Um he did say he is an international student and In most countries you don't get locked into lengthy contracts with service , you also dont get subsidized pricing either. But I can see how it would be quite a lot to understand coming from overseas. but (in my best Jack Nicholson voice) "IN THIS COUNTRY " (pointing at the ground) , you gotta sign a contract

 

[lordofthereef]

Um he did say he is an international student and In most countries you don't get locked into lengthy contracts with service , you also dont get subsidized pricing either. But I can see how it would be quite a lot to understand coming from overseas. but (in my best Jack Nicholson voice) "IN THIS COUNTRY " (pointing at the ground) , you gotta sign a contract

Regardless, if you are signing a contract, you can't exactly use the "I didn't know because I am from such and such country" excuse. If I sign a contract in the US, I read it. If I sign a contract in XYZ country, I read it. These are basic contract rules. They aren't even in the fine print like a lot of the data usage and other tack-on fees they might add.

I see this as a common sense thing. Why would radio shack hand out a heavily subsidized phone and allow you to swap it for the next flavor of the week whenever you are ready for it? What's in it for them? They aren't a charity, they are a business.

Sorry to be harsh, but it's the truth. The guy didn't understand what he was buying and signing up for. I get that. He shouldn't have bought and signed up for it without complete understanding in the first place.

 

[gmikesell]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

I was in the same boat as you and bought the Samsung galaxy S2 back in November last year. Then, last week decided to pull the trigger on a iPhone 4S. I had already used my full upgrade on the SGS2 but simply sold it on Craigslist ($300) and bought my iPhone on early upgrade ($450) leaving me with a $150 difference. Craigslist worked so maybe you can try that approach, though you might want to get a friend to help you with posting and such so you don't have to worry about what you aren't sure about with selling on Craigslist.