Swapping/Exchanging a 5S at the Apple Store

[BeeGood]

Question for anyone who knows, I have a 16GB space grey ATT and would like to get a gold one.

Can I reserve one online using my wife's upgrade and show up and exchange my phone for it instead (without screwing up our plan)?

Or will they just tell me to take a hike?

 

[CBSubliminal]

Question for anyone who knows, I have a 16GB space grey ATT and would like to get a gold one.

Can I reserve one online using my wife's upgrade and show up and exchange my phone for it instead (without screwing up our plan)?

Or will they just tell me to take a hike?

As long as you can return the space grey back within the 14 day time frame to get your upgrade eligibility back on your line. Apple store has a 30 day return policy but AT and T is 14 days to get upgrade eligibility.

 

[BeeGood]

I'm actually outside of the 14 day window, so I was hoping that by reserving it with my wife's upgrade, I could go in the store, cancel the reservation and then get the gold one by swapping my grey one.

I don't want to upgrade my wife's line. I just want to hold a phone in store so I can exchange mine (maybe this is a convoluted way to do it so I'm open to suggestions ).

 

[CBSubliminal]

I'm actually outside of the 14 day window, so I was hoping that by reserving it with my wife's upgrade, I could go in the store, cancel the reservation and then get the gold one by swapping my grey one.

I don't want to upgrade my wife's line. I just want to hold a phone in store so I can exchange mine (maybe this is a convoluted way to do it so I'm open to suggestions ).

Hmm.. I would see why that wouldnt work. You would be upgrading your wifes line however cancelling it. So basically your just reserving the phone, and swapping it out. I dont see anything wrong with that.

 

[BeeGood]

Hmm.. I would see why that wouldnt work. You would be upgrading your wifes line however cancelling it. So basically your just reserving the phone, and swapping it out. I dont see anything wrong with that.

Yup, that's the plan. I can't see anything wrong with it either, but I wanted to make sure.

I guess I have nothing to lose but a blank trip, so if one comes available online on my area, I'll snatch it and report back.

The clock is ticking though...11 days until I'm outside of the 30 day return window!

 

[D3TSURA]

Question for anyone who knows, I have a 16GB space grey ATT and would like to get a gold one.

Can I reserve one online using my wife's upgrade and show up and exchange my phone for it instead (without screwing up our plan)?

Or will they just tell me to take a hike?

Not sure why your asking people on here if you could do that. I would just call Apple and see if it would be possible to do a device swap and only pay the difference of the subsidized price even though it's been more than 14 days.

You could also contact AT&T Customer Care and find out if it would be possible to return your phone and have them reset the upgrade eligibility date on the line. They might just do it since Apple has a 30 day return policy and you just want to do a swap for a different color, but they may be more willing to do it if you them the 16GB wasn't enough space and that you want to get a 32 GB model.

Your last option is to return the iPhone and use your wife's upgrade to get the iPhone. I know that on Verizon you can use the upgrade on one line and activate it on another, so it's probably the same with AT&T .

 

[BeeGood]

Not sure why your asking people on here if you could do that.

I've noticed that often, coming here gets you faster and more reliable information.

I would just call Apple and see if it would be possible to do a device swap and only pay the difference of the subsidized price even though it's been more than 14 days.

Well, I'd rather not buy the phone off contract when I have two upgrades available.

You could also contact AT&T Customer Care and find out if it would be possible to return your phone and have them reset the upgrade eligibility date on the line. They might just do it since Apple has a 30 day return policy and you just want to do a swap for a different color, but they may be more willing to do it if you them the 16GB wasn't enough space and that you want to get a 32 GB model.

That's a good idea, although I'd rather not go up in size. I assumed they wouldn't do something like that but I'll give them a call.

Your last option is to return the iPhone and use your wife's upgrade to get the iPhone. I know that on Verizon you can use the upgrade on one line and activate it on another, so it's probably the same with AT&T .

This might work as long as they are willing to "undo" my upgrade, but since I'm outside of the 14 day window not sure if this will work.

Basically, I'd like to walk into the Apple Store with my Space Grey and walk out with a Gold 16GB on ATT and one remaining upgrade between me and my wife. I'll give your option two a try and see what happens. Thanks!

 

[mbhforum]

I've noticed that often, coming here gets you faster and more reliable information.



Well, I'd rather not buy the phone off contract when I have two upgrades available.



That's a good idea, although I'd rather not go up in size. I assumed they wouldn't do something like that but I'll give them a call.



This might work as long as they are willing to "undo" my upgrade, but since I'm outside of the 14 day window not sure if this will work.

Basically, I'd like to walk into the Apple Store with my Space Grey and walk out with a Gold 16GB on ATT and one remaining upgrade between me and my wife. I'll give your option two a try and see what happens. Thanks!

I wanted to return my 64GB Verizon Space Grey for a 32GB Silver. I purchased the 64GB walk-in on the first week. The guy told me I would have to buy online with store pick up and create a new line and "hope the manager" allows me to cancel it and do a return and re-purchase. Way too much effort to switch colors or size. He told me wait a couple of weeks until this dies down, but I only have until the 24th.

 

[techiegirl]

I thought there's a 14 day return policy if you used an AT&T upgrade. That's what I was told. If you're past the 14 day, I don't think they will let you exchange anyway.

 

[BeeGood]

I wanted to return my 64GB Verizon Space Grey for a 32GB Silver. I purchased the 64GB walk-in on the first week. The guy told me I would have to buy online with store pick up and create a new line and "hope the manager" allows me to cancel it and do a return and re-purchase. Way too much effort to switch colors or size. He told me wait a couple of weeks until this dies down, but I only have until the 24th.

So they want you to jump through all those hoops and "hope" it works out...that's nuttier than my half baked idea LOL!

Man, it doesn't seem like it should be this difficult. If it turns out to be for me I'll just keep what I have.

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I thought there's a 14 day return policy if you used an AT&T upgrade. That's what I was told. If you're past the 14 day, I don't think they will let you exchange anyway.

My understanding was that if you were past 14 days, you could get a refund but you wouldn't get your upgrade back. So you'd basically be under contract with no phone.

I could be completely wrong though.

 

[DucMike]

So just to clarify; the timeframe to return an AT&T-subsidized phone regardless of whether it was purchased at an Apple or AT&T store is only 14 days. If it was a non-subsidized purchase, it would be the full 30 day period. That sound about right?

 

[techiegirl]

So just to clarify; the timeframe to return an AT&T-subsidized phone regardless of whether it was purchased at an Apple or AT&T store is only 14 days. If it was a non-subsidized purchase, it would be the full 30 day period. That sound about right?

That's what I was told by the people at Apple.

 

[bwsteg]

So just to clarify; the timeframe to return an AT&T-subsidized phone regardless of whether it was purchased at an Apple or AT&T store is only 14 days. If it was a non-subsidized purchase, it would be the full 30 day period. That sound about right?

No...If you purchased via apple whether in store or online, the return period is 30 DAYS...However, the 14 days applies with your carrier on getting back your upgrade....

 

[BeeGood]

No...If you purchased via apple whether in store or online, the return period is 30 DAYS...However, the 14 days applies with your carrier on getting back your upgrade....

That's what I was thinking. I'm wondering if Apple employees are telling people 14 days because they don't want to deal with people coming back saying, "why didn't you tell me that I couldn't undo the upgrade?"

 

[mbhforum]

So just to clarify; the timeframe to return an AT&T-subsidized phone regardless of whether it was purchased at an Apple or AT&T store is only 14 days. If it was a non-subsidized purchase, it would be the full 30 day period. That sound about right?

Yes. If you buy the phone at full retail price, you have 30 days. It's on my Apple Store receipt and I would raise holy hell if they gave me a hard time. The issue is, their web inventory and store inventory are completely different. The store cannot pull from web inventory to handle a walk up request. It's their system and process, and it's clearly flawed as it should be one inventory.

 

[jaseone]

The only way you will be able to pull this off is if AT&T is willing to reset your upgrade eligibility after returning the phone to Apple, you would then also have to try to get them to refund the upgrade fee or you would have to pay it twice, even then you may get stiffed for an ETF.

Just suck it up and keep your Space Gray, if you didn't want that model then you should not have purchased it in the first place.

 

[BeeGood]

Just suck it up and keep your Space Gray, if you didn't want that model then you should not have purchased it in the first place.

Thanks Dad.

 

[PPFee]

You indeed have 30 days to return the device at Apple Stores AND are still entitled to your service being cancelled or rolling back your upgrade, although the upgrade part MIGHT take a little more work but that can be rectified/avoided by simply calling ATT right after you return it & letting them catch it manually. You actually have 30 days even at ATT stores to cancel service without fear of a contract obligation, the 14 days return period is a device only return period and not for the service. That said you may encounter an ignorant or simply lying or lazy employee and this is likely why apple, at the urging of AT&T is giving the info they were given, but as always the best way to protect your rights is to know exactly what your entitled to etc. Good luck

edit: For clarity and to add emphasis, you can return equipment to Apple on the 29th day for example. If that equipment is a new line or upgrade by returning it your new service or upgrade is SUPPOSED to be cancelled. The best way to be sure is to call right after but call or dont if they screw that up its not on you, it may just be a headache of a phone call explaining. For the service portion my post applies to AT&T only, not sure with verizon but it should be the same across the board.

 

[ssl0408]

I wanted to return my 64GB Verizon Space Grey for a 32GB Silver. I purchased the 64GB walk-in on the first week. The guy told me I would have to buy online with store pick up and create a new line and "hope the manager" allows me to cancel it and do a return and re-purchase. Way too much effort to switch colors or size. He told me wait a couple of weeks until this dies down, but I only have until the 24th.

I did this yesterday and I had no problems; didn't need the manager's permission. However, it took a bit of time to explain the situation to AT&T, and I had to go pick up a new sim card to transfer my number from the returned device to the new device

 

[BeeGood]

So, update for anyone interested (it worked just like ssl0408's situation), so it was a happy ending

I found a gold one at a local Apple Store for online pickup. I purchased it with my wife's upgrade and immediately contacted AT&T to see what I would have to do to swap the phones. They said all I would need to do is go in and ask them to switch the IMEI numbers and I would be good to go.

It wasn't quite that simple. They had to activate it on my wife's line before I could leave the store with it. After that I had to drive to the AT&T store and get them to switch the lines, basically making the space gray my wife's phone and the gold one mine. This allowed me to go back to the apple store and return the space gray and "undo" her upgrade.

Kinda complicated but it worked out. I got my 16GB gold, my wife still has her upgrade. If you go this route, just make sure the other person knows that their phone is about to be deactivated for a bit