Carrier AT&T moving up upgrade dates

[1984]

AT&T Revises Upgrade Eligibility

June 9th, 2013

"Today, we’re announcing a 24-month upgrade policy across all of AT&T’s wireless products and services. This aligns device upgrade eligibility with our standard two-year wireless agreement and it applies to any customer whose agreement expires in March 2014 or later."

"Early upgrades. Once you’ve completed six months or more of your Service Commitment, you qualify for partial discount off the full retail price when you sign a new two-year wireless agreement."


Verizon Wireless Changes Upgrade Eligibility

April 12th, 2013

"In alignment with the terms of the contract, customers on a two-year agreement will be eligible for an upgrade at 24 months vs. today's early upgrade eligibility at 20 months. This change aligns the upgrade date with the contract end date and is consistent with how the majority of customers purchase new phones today. The first customers impacted by this change are customers whose contracts expire in January 2014. As always, customers may purchase a new phone at the full retail price at any time."

 

[ross1998]

I read they are also requiring a full 24 months between phones, rather than 18 months. You can always pay the
extra $250 for an early upgrade.

The new Next program will let you upgrade and get a new phone every year.

Atnt tried to copy tmobiles jump program but AT&T put a small twist in their next program. Basically with AT&T they didn't lower the plan and you still have to pay 20 dollars extra for 1 phone so you are basically paying for one phone twice

 

[Mlrollin91]

They did?


Pretty sure they didn't.....

You are correct, last time they did 1 year full upgrades was for the iPhone 4S.

 

[adam044]

They did?


Pretty sure they didn't.....

2nd this. I had to use my dad's upgrade because I wasn't eligible. I've NEVER heard of them doing this

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Atnt tried to copy tmobiles jump program but AT&T put a small twist in their next program. Basically with AT&T they didn't lower the plan and you still have to pay 20 dollars extra for 1 phone so you are basically paying for one phone twice

They both are a rip off...

 

[Munitalp]

AT&T now requires 24 months between full upgrades -- if you receive a partial upgrade during that time it then resets the 24 month timeline.

They used to allow a full upgrade every 24 months regardless of the partial upgrades... but that is long gone now.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

LOL a little sugar goes a long way in life.

Im a really long time AT&T customer with actually 1 family plan and 1 business plan in my name. On the family plan I have no real upgrades so it will be 449.00. I have not checked the business plan but anyway I have been able to do a lot of things in person at the AT&T stores and I always go to the same store do the camp out thing which is actually fun BTW but more important build a relationship with a store and usually they will move mountains for you. So yes there are a lot of loopholes in there system and a good rep will usually help you .

Don't every underestimate the power of being friendly. Just think your behind that counter, I would help anyone that is nice and tell anyone that is not to **** off. Sugar goes a long way.

 

[javaGuru]

Since the first iphone came out I have always been with AT&T. Every year for iphone releases they move up the upgrade dates so customers can get the new iphone on launch. I been eligible for a full upgrade on my line on launch dates. Does anyone know if they will do that again this year? I just checked my lines and they all say 9/15/2014

They moved up the early upgrade date for me. However, it's not a FULL upgrade option. I will have to pay $649 instead of $849.

 

[Macinva]

Well, I was talking to AT&T about a billing question so I asked about upgrading to the 5S. I have the 5 and typically get a new phone each year. So just like last year, I can get the 5S plus $250. They waived the $250 last year after I called in.

Like a previous poster said, kindness goes a long way. I've never been treated badly by AT&T and they have ALWAYS been willing to accommodate me. Yesterday the lady dropped a couple charges off my bill and I didn't even request it, I was simply inquiring about the charge.

I carry my phone with me more than anything else and to me, it's worth upgrading. Yes, you have to pay extra to play but I don't feel that the $250 is that bad to have the latest device.

 

[bunnicula]

They did?


Pretty sure they didn't.....

You are correct. They stopped with the 4S. That's the last year they did it.

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Well, I was talking to AT&T about a billing question so I asked about upgrading to the 5S. I have the 5 and typically get a new phone each year. So just like last year, I can get the 5S plus $250. They waived the $250 last year after I called in.

Like a previous poster said, kindness goes a long way. I've never been treated badly by AT&T and they have ALWAYS been willing to accommodate me. Yesterday the lady dropped a couple charges off my bill and I didn't even request it, I was simply inquiring about the charge.

I carry my phone with me more than anything else and to me, it's worth upgrading. Yes, you have to pay extra to play but I don't feel that the $250 is that bad to have the latest device.

Last year they were willing to cut deals, but not on iPhones (going from partial to full upgrade price). This may have varied store to store. I called in to inquire, as I'd always been eligible every year and I'm also a business customer.

They offered to give me full upgrade pricing on Android phones. LOL.

I had plenty of upgrade-eligible lines on my family plan. I just used one of them.

 

[Maverick1337]

I'll share my story. I've been with AT&T for 15 years and called in last night to see if they would waive the early upgrade fee of $250 and they didn't. I was very polite and talked very highly about AT&T always willing to help and we've never had an issue and the lady still didn't budge. I guess I'll try next week but kindness can only get you so far. You're going to need to get the right rep I guess if they're going to waive the early upgrade fee.

 

[Ramio]

I'll share my story. I've been with AT&T for 15 years and called in last night to see if they would waive the early upgrade fee of $250 and they didn't. I was very polite and talked very highly about AT&T always willing to help and we've never had an issue and the lady still didn't budge. I guess I'll try next week but kindness can only get you so far. You're going to need to get the right rep I guess if they're going to waive the early upgrade fee.

I did the same three times yesterday with different reps with no luck and I'm pretty good at talking and have been able to get credits in the past. Don't expect any credits this time around especially with them trying to promote the next program and the no upgrade fee. I couldn't even get them to take the upgrade fee off one of my lines. Ill try again today but to be honest, I'm not hopeful.

 

[bunnicula]

I'll share my story. I've been with AT&T for 15 years and called in last night to see if they would waive the early upgrade fee of $250 and they didn't. I was very polite and talked very highly about AT&T always willing to help and we've never had an issue and the lady still didn't budge. I guess I'll try next week but kindness can only get you so far. You're going to need to get the right rep I guess if they're going to waive the early upgrade fee.

Yup. Same here. Long-time customer. Have had smartphones on my account since 2003. No dice last year.

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I did the same three times yesterday with different reps with no luck and I'm pretty good at talking and have been able to get credits in the past. Don't expect any credits this time around especially with them trying to promote the next program and the no upgrade fee. I couldn't even get them to take the upgrade fee off one of my lines. Ill try again today but to be honest, I'm not hopeful.

The rep last year told me they'd gotten very stern memos instructing them NOT to give early upgrades.

I wonder if these people getting money waived are getting newer reps in trouble? Hard to say.

 

[saud0488]

How would threatening to leave, or threatening anyone in retail/sales ever work in your favor?

I've worked in retail and if you came in demanding anything or asking for discounts, well you're going to have a bad time. Nothing makes me more mad than self-entitledment.

Are you kidding? This ALWAYS works. It's a tactic used by savvy consumers. Ever heard of walking out when buying a car? The salesman always ask you to stay so that they can "talk with sales manager one more time."

Ever heard of a retention department? My AT&T service in my house isn't so good so I told them I'd be cancelling my service and they offered a free M-cell. Every major subscription based service has a retention department.

This always works in the consumer's favor.

 

[Munitalp]

Another change that I noticed is that the $36 upgrade fee is now applied directly by Apple if ordering through their site. Previously it was added to your AT&T bill, so much for getting that waived anymore I guess.

 

[Cowboy1629]

Been a long term AT&T customer all the way back to the bag phone days. I have always been able to update my iPhone until last year when I tried to go from the 4s to the 5. They refused to give me the full discount so I did a cross upgrade on one of the other lines on my account. This year my line is due for the upgrade so the 5 will be a 5s on Friday.

 

[Blorzoga]

Since the first iphone came out I have always been with AT&T. Every year for iphone releases they move up the upgrade dates so customers can get the new iphone on launch. I been eligible for a full upgrade on my line on launch dates. Does anyone know if they will do that again this year? I just checked my lines and they all say 9/15/2014

You need to change your headline so that it begins with "Will"and ends with "?".
Otherwise it is misleading.

 

[ewils19]

I'm pretty sure they moved up at least one upgrade on my family's account. My sister used the upgrade on my line last October to get an iPhone 5, but my line is showing that I'm eligible for a full upgrade now.
I'm not complaining!

 

[CarolG]

I am one month shy of 24 months, but At&T is letting me upgrade now. The rep told me on the phone that they changed the upgrade rule at the end of May 2013 to a full 24 months before you can upgrade. She was surprised that I was able to upgrade now, on the Apple app.

She said if you are close, to go to a local At&T store. She told me that the stores had been given permission to allow upgrades on a case by case basis, but not online or on the phone. She told me that on Friday, if I have trouble getting the lower price, to come into the AT&T store and they would give me the lower price.

 

[FlunkedFlank]

For what it's worth: My wife got her 4S in November of 2011 and is showing eligible for full upgrade right now. (I used the Apple Store app to check.) We are long time customers and on a family plan, not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[redshadow]

Google "ATT 250 dollar upgrade fee."



They stopped doing the yearly upgrades for iPhones some time ago. I want to say close to the time the iPhone 4S came out, or potentially the 5.

 

[Dstopsie]

I have the iPhone 5 and I Did the early upgrade to that last year. Received a credit last year on my bill of $250 to offset the early upgrade fee

This year I'm eligible for an early upgrade as of 9-15 and I called last week and was able to get Att to credit my phone bill for the $250 early upgrade fee. Remember the early upgrade requires that I pay an additional $250 in order to obtain the phone.

So for the last two years I've been able to upgrade despite their 24 month policy and also get each time the $250 early upgrade fee credited back to me

I have been with Att since 1997 never missed a payment on my bill and have about $125 month phone bill. So the credits are possible just depends on who you talk to

 

[PharmDoc]

I have the iPhone 5 and I Did the early upgrade to that last year. Received a credit last year on my bill of $250 to offset the early upgrade fee

This year I'm eligible for an early upgrade as of 9-15 and I called last week and was able to get Att to credit my phone bill for the $250 early upgrade fee. Remember the early upgrade requires that I pay an additional $250 in order to obtain the phone.

So for the last two years I've been able to upgrade despite their 24 month policy and also get each time the $250 early upgrade fee credited back to me

I have been with Att since 1997 never missed a payment on my bill and have about $125 month phone bill. So the credits are possible just depends on who you talk to

That's great that you were able to do this. I got the credit last year but haven't pushed that much this year since I don't want to repeat the process next year for the iphone 6. I've just tried chatting to see if anything can be done but no dice yet. I'll try giving them a call if I can see that the phone is worth it.

 

[Dstopsie]

That's great that you were able to do this. I got the credit last year but haven't pushed that much this year since I don't want to repeat the process next year for the iphone 6. I've just tried chatting to see if anything can be done but no dice yet. I'll try giving them a call if I can see that the phone is worth it.

i figured it was worth a shot. speak to their retention Department. Prior to last year i had a yearly upgrade time frame. So i just told them that, plus i have been a customer for 16 years and i could just port my number to Verizon cause the etf is cheaper than the $250 extra i have to pay for the phone. it worked. i get the credit off my bill for the next few months. fine by me..

 

[MJedi]

We have 2 iPhone 4S which we got in October 2011. When I checked my account on AT&T's web site, it says both lines are eligible for the fully subsidized upgrade price. However, when I checked my contract, it won't end until October 2013. Is AT&T making exceptions because the new iPhones will launch on September 20?

We are most likely switching carriers, but we're not sure if being eligible for the upgrade means we are out of contract now given the information above. Does anyone have a clue? Thanks.

 

[jdc1977]

$250 credit

I've bought the newest iPhone every year on release date with effectively full upgrade pricing each time. Until the iPhone 5, AT&T gave you full upgrades after 1 year. Last year they started offering the "early upgrade" pricing which was basically $250 more than the full upgrade. Last year i called several times to get that fee waived and it wasn't until I said I wanted to cancel my service because it would be cheaper to pay my ETF and switch to Verizon that I finally got someone willing to give me a $250 credit. This year I called once, asked politely if there's anything they can do to help offset the additional $250. I said that AT&T has worked with me every year to get the new iPhone and I've been a good customer and pay on time, etc. The guy was super nice and offered right away to give me a $250 credit.
I think it really depends on who you get when you call. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I've been a customer for 7 years and my monthly bill is about $150. I also have a corporate FAN discount so I go through "business" customer service. Not sure if that helps or not.