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ineel

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 8, 2010
211
11
Hi, I'm currently on at&t and i have an upgrade coming up soon. I'm thinking to get the iPhone 6 with the upgrade and subsequently switch to T-Mobile and have them pay for the ETF. I'm going to use a cheap flip phone to trade in to T-Mobile and buy an iPhone 6 from T-Mobile for my sister's B-day. My question is, will this work? and will at&t unlock my iPhone 6 immediately upon paying the early termination fee? thats the only thing that seems to be keeping away from doing this. Thanks!
 
AT&T will not activate your ETF until you are at least 14 (or 30, I don't remeber) into your contract. If you try and do an ETF, it will just cancel your line and they will want your phone back, or require you pay full retail.

I do believe TMO also requires a smartphone on your plan, not a cheap flip phone. A gophone can be had for cheap though (I bought a Lumi 520 for $35at target last week).

Also... Keep in mind some carriers pay your ETF in the form of a prepaid visa (or similar) gift card. I am not sure if TMO is one of them, I know Sprint is since their commercial is fresh in my mind lol.
 
AT&T will not activate your ETF until you are at least 14 (or 30, I don't remeber) into your contract. If you try and do an ETF, it will just cancel your line and they will want your phone back, or require you pay full retail.

I do believe TMO also requires a smartphone on your plan, not a cheap flip phone. A gophone can be had for cheap though (I bought a Lumi 520 for $35at target last week).

Also... Keep in mind some carriers pay your ETF in the form of a prepaid visa (or similar) gift card. I am not sure if TMO is one of them, I know Sprint is since their commercial is fresh in my mind lol.

I think T-Mobile just adds the credit to your bill.
 
I do believe TMO also requires a smartphone on your plan, not a cheap flip phone. A gophone can be had for cheap though (I bought a Lumi 520 for $35at target last week).

Also... Keep in mind some carriers pay your ETF in the form of a prepaid visa (or similar) gift card. I am not sure if TMO is one of them, I know Sprint is since their commercial is fresh in my mind lol.

when i had t-mobile pay my etf, they didn't require a smartphone, but they did require the phone be tied to the account that was moving over (they had me call one of their phones to verify). and you're right, the etf reimbursement is in the form of a visa gift card, and it takes about 2 billing cycles for the whole process to pan out.
 
when i had t-mobile pay my etf, they didn't require a smartphone, but they did require the phone be tied to the account that was moving over (they had me call one of their phones to verify). and you're right, the etf reimbursement is in the form of a visa gift card, and it takes about 2 billing cycles for the whole process to pan out.

Thaks for the info. Pretty silly of them to allow a flipphone. Who is dumb enough to turn in their iPhone (or any other contracted smartphone)to them? lol

Is there a limit to the ETF? I know Sprints limit is $350 for the whole account, so pretty much only good for one line, unless many months have passed on multiple lines since signing.
 
AT&T will not activate your ETF until you are at least 14 (or 30, I don't remeber) into your contract. If you try and do an ETF, it will just cancel your line and they will want your phone back, or require you pay full retail.

I do believe TMO also requires a smartphone on your plan, not a cheap flip phone. A gophone can be had for cheap though (I bought a Lumi 520 for $35at target last week).

Also... Keep in mind some carriers pay your ETF in the form of a prepaid visa (or similar) gift card. I am not sure if TMO is one of them, I know Sprint is since their commercial is fresh in my mind lol.

Thank you for your reply! Okay so i have an old blackberry that i can probably use to trade into T-Mobile, if not ill buy that $35 go phone. The phone i get on contract with at&t will be the iPhone i bring over to T-Mobile to use for myself. T-Mobile does make you buy a new phone from them when you switch, so I was thinking to buy another iPhone from them and gift it to my sister for her b-day.

How about the unlocking issue? will i be easily be able to unlock my at&t iPhone after i pay the ETF? or will they hassle me or something?

Thank you!
 
How about the unlocking issue? will i be easily be able to unlock my at&t iPhone after i pay the ETF? or will they hassle me or something?

Thank you!

if you're out of contract with them and don't owe them money, i don't see why they wouldn't unlock the phone for you. refer to this link and this one, too.
 
Thank you for your reply! Okay so i have an old blackberry that i can probably use to trade into T-Mobile, if not ill buy that $35 go phone. The phone i get on contract with at&t will be the iPhone i bring over to T-Mobile to use for myself. T-Mobile does make you buy a new phone from them when you switch, so I was thinking to buy another iPhone from them and gift it to my sister for her b-day.

How about the unlocking issue? will i be easily be able to unlock my at&t iPhone after i pay the ETF? or will they hassle me or something?

Thank you!

I do not have personal experience, but I don't see why they would hassle you. You paid your ETF, your upgrade fee, and you want the phone unlocked. AT&T has been nothing but helpful for me, but I have never tried to save a few bucks in the manner that you are lol.
 
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