I have an original iPhone, bought during the first few days after it was released. I experimented with placing an order for the 3G S at the Apple site, my account was checked, and it said I have to pay full retail !! For me that's a deal killer.
Is your credit score like 300 or something? 3 months past do on a bill??
I wonder what AT&T's policy will be for customers who purchased an iPhone 3G just a couple weeks ago?
I would check and see if you can return it. I think if you return the phone and cancel service within 30 days of signing, you don't lose anything other than a certain initial sign-up fee. You might lose your phone number and go through the whole process again to get the new one. I would check ASAP, if the policy is 14 days then you may be close to expiration if not too late.
They pay more per month than you do so ATT is willing to give them some of that back. Makes you wish you weren't so stingy on the minutes don't it?
Given that I use fewer than 10% of the minutes I pay for? No. It's still cheaper to pay the higher price on the phone than the minutes. Seriously, the fact that the iPhone is a phone is largely incidental. Probably 95% of my use of the device is in Safari, Mail or an app. That's why I'd really like the iPhone 3GS for the faster processor and larger memory.
They pay more per month than you do so ATT is willing to give them some of that back. Makes you wish you weren't so stingy on the minutes don't it?
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
I'm guessing at AT&T HQ, they have a giant dart board with various dates written on it. When you check your upgrade eligibility, they have a monkey throw a dart at the board, and whatever date it hits is when you get the discounted pricing. That's why it can take "up to 3 minutes" to access your information. That makes about as much sense as any other hypothesis I've heard.
They paid AT&T a lot more money than you have, and have paid off the subsidized price of their phone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aduzik
Then how do you explain the others who also bought their iPhones on July 12 and are eligible for discounted pricing on July 12? They've posted pictures from Apple's upgrade site that prove it. What's more, December 12, 2009 is 17 months from July 12, 2009, so even that isn't 18 months.
I can understand better rewards for better customers (however it's defined), but it SHOULD BE defined so we know where we stand.
Again, I ask, you surely have never run a business, have you?
You know clearly where you stand. ATT is telling you how much the product costs. Trust me, it would have cost you far more than $200 more to get into the category where they consider you a good enough customer to get early upgrade pricing.
I have to hand it to Teckstud, he?s apparently created 100s of new accounts and have been manning them all day. Relentlessly and with an unwavering focus to twist lies into truth. Impressive.
Yeah don't think nobody had noticed how many 1-10 total post count people just appeared today...
I'm guessing at AT&T HQ, they have a giant dart board with various dates written on it. When you check your upgrade eligibility, they have a monkey throw a dart at the board, and whatever date it hits is when you get the discounted pricing. That's why it can take "up to 3 minutes" to access your information. That makes about as much sense as any other hypothesis I've heard.
I see you?ve worked for the same corporations I have.
They paid AT&T a lot more money than you have, and have paid off the subsidized price of their phone.
That makes me feel better in a sense. If I have to pay someone $200, I'd rather pay Apple for the device I like than AT&T for their terrible, terrible service. And, you can be sure those folks paid a heck of a lot more than $200 over what I've paid on their AT&T contracts to qualify for the discounted pricing.
I have an original iPhone, bought during the first few days after it was released. I experimented with placing an order for the 3G S at the Apple site, my account was checked, and it said I have to pay full retail !! For me that's a deal killer.
Either it is a mistake in their systems or you have had a very poor payment history, making you a low-valued customer to ATT. Either way, calling them should clear it up for you.
Yeah, I upgraded my original iPhone to 3G last July, and I can upgrade to 3GS on July 25th.
I've been reading that all over the internet however, when I check mine (I waited in line 6 hours on launch day last year) it says that I'm eligible 3/11/2010. Which is NOT a year from when I purchased my phone. I hope they get all of this figured out soon enough because if I only have to wait until 7/12 then it'll be fine but I'm not waiting until March as another iPhone will certainly be on the horizon (again).
You could call and check on that, it just may be a mistake.
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
Given that I use fewer than 10% of the minutes I pay for? No. It's still cheaper to pay the higher price on the phone than the minutes. Seriously, the fact that the iPhone is a phone is largely incidental. Probably 95% of my use of the device is in Safari, Mail or an app. That's why I'd really like the iPhone 3GS for the faster processor and larger memory.
Perfect, then you have no complaints!
ATT doesn't care what percentage of your minutes you use. Your use of 100 minutes does not increase ATT's costs essentially at all. So if you have the cheapest iPhone plan with 450 minutes, and you use 45 of them, you only use 10% of the minutes. But you only pay them $70 for it. Now, if you had 2000 minutes which I think would cost $140 with the iPhone, and you use 1999 minutes, you'd make ATT FAR more profit than you currently do, and they'd be far more likely to give you a deal.
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
I'm sure it's just a mistake. Quick phone call would get you the earlier pricing.
I'm eligible 10/1/09 btw - I didn't get the 2G until August and the 3G until Sept, because who has the time to wait in line all day? Don't most people make more than $200 in a day's work?
AT&T is Awful....bad service, "Less Bars in Less Places", bad customer service, no 3G Microcell even though Verizon and Sprint already have theirs out, no MMS, no tethering, expensive plans...AT&T is bad bad bad!
i really hope Apple recognizes that it's AT&T holding it back from selling more phones and being the top dog they could be. RIM is on so many other carriers, of course they will win. Palm Pre is great and I hope they do well and give Apple and AT&T a run for it's money.
I think after today that Sprint will increase it's Pre sales tremendously and Palm will continue to work on it's WebOS.
I'm very very disappointed with today's Keynote announcement on the iPhone...I think it's very lame to not have the MMS and tethering and also have to wait another week after waiting since March for this silly software to come out. It's all mind games. I think i'm about to be done playing the game.
I'd disagree that "mere mortals need not understand". I very much feel the need to understand what, from the outside, appears to be a capricious and arbitrary policy. I think, in this situation, your choices are:
Ask politely and find out if you can get discounted pricing after all
Sell your existing phone on eBay. You'll probably get at least the $200 difference out of it.
Realize that, by December 12, we'll be halfway to next year's WWDC and say "screw it".
Oh, I was being sarcastic, I very much agree that AT&T should have a straight-forward policy, and not just a "well if you meet certain conditions that we won't tell you, then you qualify". The thing is though, we're seeing how little control Apple has over AT&T in the long run. I think this is going to usher in the beginning of the end of AT&Ts exclusivity with the iPhone.
Me, I've been an AT&T customer for nearly a decade, and I've been an Apple user for nearly 15 years ... I'm loyal to both, but first and always to Apple. If Verizon or T-Mobile were able to let me take full advantage of the hardware, I'd drop AT&T like a bad habit ... and that's something that should scare AT&T. Apple, for better or worse, will always have me as a customer - my enjoyment of the brand has far outweighed the few bad experiences I've had.
In the end though, AT&T needs to comes out pretty damn soon and iron out details surrounding upgrades, tethering and MMS, or else they're going to start pulling less and less people. I don't fault Apple anymore than I would fault Nokia or Motorola in the same situation. At the end of the day, they make hardware, AT&T has to decide whether or not it's going to play ball and support the new features of the hardware or let a substantial portion of their income stream become increasingly unhappy ... I guarantee you we'll hear from AT&T before the 19th so they can try to address the myriad of questions they're receiving...
ATT doesn't care what percentage of your minutes you use. Your use of 100 minutes does not increase ATT's costs essentially nothing. So if you have the cheapest iPhone plan with 450 minutes, and you use 45 of them, you only use 10% of the minutes. But you only pay them $70 for it. Now, if you had 2000 minutes which I think would cost $140 with the iPhone, and you use 1999 minutes, you'd make ATT FAR more profit than you currently do, and they'd be far more likely to give you a deal.
Fixed costs are a bitch....
Sure I do. Don't get me started on AT&T. But here, specifically, I'm annoyed with the complete opaqueness of this policy.
Comments
There's something screwy going on here ...
I have an original iPhone, bought during the first few days after it was released. I experimented with placing an order for the 3G S at the Apple site, my account was checked, and it said I have to pay full retail !! For me that's a deal killer.
Is your credit score like 300 or something? 3 months past do on a bill??
I wonder what AT&T's policy will be for customers who purchased an iPhone 3G just a couple weeks ago?
I would check and see if you can return it. I think if you return the phone and cancel service within 30 days of signing, you don't lose anything other than a certain initial sign-up fee. You might lose your phone number and go through the whole process again to get the new one. I would check ASAP, if the policy is 14 days then you may be close to expiration if not too late.
They pay more per month than you do so ATT is willing to give them some of that back. Makes you wish you weren't so stingy on the minutes don't it?
Given that I use fewer than 10% of the minutes I pay for? No. It's still cheaper to pay the higher price on the phone than the minutes. Seriously, the fact that the iPhone is a phone is largely incidental. Probably 95% of my use of the device is in Safari, Mail or an app. That's why I'd really like the iPhone 3GS for the faster processor and larger memory.
They pay more per month than you do so ATT is willing to give them some of that back. Makes you wish you weren't so stingy on the minutes don't it?
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
I'm guessing at AT&T HQ, they have a giant dart board with various dates written on it. When you check your upgrade eligibility, they have a monkey throw a dart at the board, and whatever date it hits is when you get the discounted pricing. That's why it can take "up to 3 minutes" to access your information. That makes about as much sense as any other hypothesis I've heard.
Apple are seriously taking the pi$$ out of UK users.
$99 against £342.50? What gives?!?!
Oh my, and here I thought the "confusion" about basic economics was limited to just Americans.
Then how do you explain the others who also bought their iPhones on July 12 and are eligible for discounted pricing on July 12? They've posted pictures from Apple's upgrade site that prove it. What's more, December 12, 2009 is 17 months from July 12, 2009, so even that isn't 18 months.
I can understand better rewards for better customers (however it's defined), but it SHOULD BE defined so we know where we stand.
Again, I ask, you surely have never run a business, have you?
You know clearly where you stand. ATT is telling you how much the product costs. Trust me, it would have cost you far more than $200 more to get into the category where they consider you a good enough customer to get early upgrade pricing.
I have to hand it to Teckstud, he?s apparently created 100s of new accounts and have been manning them all day. Relentlessly and with an unwavering focus to twist lies into truth. Impressive.
Yeah don't think nobody had noticed how many 1-10 total post count people just appeared today...
I'm guessing at AT&T HQ, they have a giant dart board with various dates written on it. When you check your upgrade eligibility, they have a monkey throw a dart at the board, and whatever date it hits is when you get the discounted pricing. That's why it can take "up to 3 minutes" to access your information. That makes about as much sense as any other hypothesis I've heard.
I see you?ve worked for the same corporations I have.
It's like Apple and AT&T is holding a gun to their heads and forcing them to buy the new iPhone
Sadly, none of the people complaining understand how real life is different from what you described above.
They paid AT&T a lot more money than you have, and have paid off the subsidized price of their phone.
That makes me feel better in a sense. If I have to pay someone $200, I'd rather pay Apple for the device I like than AT&T for their terrible, terrible service. And, you can be sure those folks paid a heck of a lot more than $200 over what I've paid on their AT&T contracts to qualify for the discounted pricing.
There's something screwy going on here ...
I have an original iPhone, bought during the first few days after it was released. I experimented with placing an order for the 3G S at the Apple site, my account was checked, and it said I have to pay full retail !! For me that's a deal killer.
Either it is a mistake in their systems or you have had a very poor payment history, making you a low-valued customer to ATT. Either way, calling them should clear it up for you.
Yeah, I upgraded my original iPhone to 3G last July, and I can upgrade to 3GS on July 25th.
I've been reading that all over the internet however, when I check mine (I waited in line 6 hours on launch day last year) it says that I'm eligible 3/11/2010. Which is NOT a year from when I purchased my phone. I hope they get all of this figured out soon enough because if I only have to wait until 7/12 then it'll be fine but I'm not waiting until March as another iPhone will certainly be on the horizon (again).
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
Given that I use fewer than 10% of the minutes I pay for? No. It's still cheaper to pay the higher price on the phone than the minutes. Seriously, the fact that the iPhone is a phone is largely incidental. Probably 95% of my use of the device is in Safari, Mail or an app. That's why I'd really like the iPhone 3GS for the faster processor and larger memory.
Perfect, then you have no complaints!
ATT doesn't care what percentage of your minutes you use. Your use of 100 minutes does not increase ATT's costs essentially at all. So if you have the cheapest iPhone plan with 450 minutes, and you use 45 of them, you only use 10% of the minutes. But you only pay them $70 for it. Now, if you had 2000 minutes which I think would cost $140 with the iPhone, and you use 1999 minutes, you'd make ATT FAR more profit than you currently do, and they'd be far more likely to give you a deal.
Fixed costs are a bitch....
There is some discrepancy with their system. My AT&T account has 2 iPhone 3Gs and USB card data plan. I pay $240 a month, after taxes and fees. The issue is that the whole account is tied to me, but one iPhone and data card are in my name. The other iPhone to someone else. The one iPhone that was signed up a couple weeks after mine was singed up and with a different username, even though the whole account is tied to me, has an upgrade date of 12/2009, while my phone, signed up earlier and is the primary account holder, is not eligible until 03/2010.
I'm sure it's just a mistake. Quick phone call would get you the earlier pricing.
I'm eligible 10/1/09 btw - I didn't get the 2G until August and the 3G until Sept, because who has the time to wait in line all day? Don't most people make more than $200 in a day's work?
i really hope Apple recognizes that it's AT&T holding it back from selling more phones and being the top dog they could be. RIM is on so many other carriers, of course they will win. Palm Pre is great and I hope they do well and give Apple and AT&T a run for it's money.
I think after today that Sprint will increase it's Pre sales tremendously and Palm will continue to work on it's WebOS.
I'm very very disappointed with today's Keynote announcement on the iPhone...I think it's very lame to not have the MMS and tethering and also have to wait another week after waiting since March for this silly software to come out. It's all mind games. I think i'm about to be done playing the game.
I'd disagree that "mere mortals need not understand". I very much feel the need to understand what, from the outside, appears to be a capricious and arbitrary policy. I think, in this situation, your choices are:
Oh, I was being sarcastic, I very much agree that AT&T should have a straight-forward policy, and not just a "well if you meet certain conditions that we won't tell you, then you qualify". The thing is though, we're seeing how little control Apple has over AT&T in the long run. I think this is going to usher in the beginning of the end of AT&Ts exclusivity with the iPhone.
Me, I've been an AT&T customer for nearly a decade, and I've been an Apple user for nearly 15 years ... I'm loyal to both, but first and always to Apple. If Verizon or T-Mobile were able to let me take full advantage of the hardware, I'd drop AT&T like a bad habit ... and that's something that should scare AT&T. Apple, for better or worse, will always have me as a customer - my enjoyment of the brand has far outweighed the few bad experiences I've had.
In the end though, AT&T needs to comes out pretty damn soon and iron out details surrounding upgrades, tethering and MMS, or else they're going to start pulling less and less people. I don't fault Apple anymore than I would fault Nokia or Motorola in the same situation. At the end of the day, they make hardware, AT&T has to decide whether or not it's going to play ball and support the new features of the hardware or let a substantial portion of their income stream become increasingly unhappy ... I guarantee you we'll hear from AT&T before the 19th so they can try to address the myriad of questions they're receiving...
Perfect, then you have no complaints!
ATT doesn't care what percentage of your minutes you use. Your use of 100 minutes does not increase ATT's costs essentially nothing. So if you have the cheapest iPhone plan with 450 minutes, and you use 45 of them, you only use 10% of the minutes. But you only pay them $70 for it. Now, if you had 2000 minutes which I think would cost $140 with the iPhone, and you use 1999 minutes, you'd make ATT FAR more profit than you currently do, and they'd be far more likely to give you a deal.
Fixed costs are a bitch....
Sure I do. Don't get me started on AT&T. But here, specifically, I'm annoyed with the complete opaqueness of this policy.