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Heads up! AT&T officially changing dates AGAIN for upgrades for anyone in 2010

T

truciet

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 16, 2008
347
26
Ever since AT&T started moving everyone's update up a week or so before the keynote, a few of my lines did not get moved up. So like everyone else, I decided to email AT&T after the keynote. I get back:

Dear XXXXXXXXX,


Thank you for contacting AT&T. My name is XXXXXXXXXX and I would be happy to help you.


I understand you would like to know if you will be eligible for the upgrade to the new Iphone 4.

We know that people are eager to get iPhone 4, to let current iPhone customers quickly upgrade to iPhone 4,* AT&T will make its best pricing immediately available to any iPhone customer who would be upgrade eligible for a discounted device by the end of 2010.*

For existing AT&T customers who are not yet eligible for our best iPhone pricing, AT&T offers a special program exclusively for iPhone ? early upgrade pricing. This gives customers who do not yet qualify for an upgrade the opportunity to upgrade at a special price. Two-year term agreement and eligible voice and data plan are required.

Any customer who wants to purchase iPhone without signing a new 2-year agreement may do so at the no commitment price. An eligible voice and data plan are required. Purchase limits apply.

Upgrade eligibility is determined based on numerous factors and is thus subject to change, make sure you are verifying your eligibility by typing *NEW# send (*639# send) on your phone - this code will send you a free text message with your line's current upgrade eligibility status.

AT&T will not be going into each account individually and changing the contract date. You will be included in the blanket statement. Anyone who is eligible in 2010 will be eligible to sign up for the early pricing on 06/15/2010 and get the Iphone 4.


If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to email us, or call Customer Care at 1-800-331-0500 from a landline, or 611 from your cellular phone.



We at AT&T appreciate your business and value you as a customer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
eCare Customer Service Specialist
AT&T Business Solutions Customer Care
www.att.com
Click to expand...

After I got that, I was like whatever. 2 days later, sure enough, my 3 lines with upgrade dates of 08/2010, 10/2010, and 12/2010 moved up to 06/11/2010 :D

So after all this, AT&T has moved up 6 lines for me. Definitely a win/win situation for me. Again yours may vary since they're probably doing accounts by region.
 
Confirms my feeling more that the iPhone will go to another carrier in the coming months.
 
djransom said:
How so? They made similar changes last year as far as everyone upgrades for the 3GS and the iPhone did not leave AT&T.
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Not to this extreme. Doesn't mean another carrier for sure, but AT&T's trying to lock everyone down for some reason.
 
I have a Blackberry Bold. I am eligible for an upgrade on 7/17/2010. Will I be able to get the iPhone for 199/299 on June 15th? Or would my upgrade only be bumped up if I was a current iPhone customer?
 
djransom said:
How so? They made similar changes last year as far as everyone upgrades for the 3GS and the iPhone did not leave AT&T.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they are just learning from last year when all the crybabies cried that they were still under contract and couldn't buy the latest Apple gadget at launch.

And yet, we are still getting crybabies that have their upgrade date fall past December 31. :rolleyes:


juicexct said:
I have a Blackberry Bold. I am eligible for an upgrade on 7/17/2010. Will I be able to get the iPhone for 199/299 on June 15th? Ow would my upgrade only be bumped up if I was a current iPhone customer?
Click to expand...

Current iPhone customer I believe. So you'll be waiting 3 weeks after launch.
 
djransom said:
How so? They made similar changes last year as far as everyone upgrades for the 3GS and the iPhone did not leave AT&T.
Click to expand...

I don't recall them doing that last year; certainly not 6 months otherwise I would have picked up a 3GS.

.. and this move totally implies a sense of new iPhone carrier, think about it, if you had pissed off customers, who weren't available to upgrade until late 2010, and in late 2010 or early 2011 a new carrier arrives, what would stop them from going? Renewing a new 2 year contract so they are locked in before a new iPhone carrier arrives is a good way to keep your customer base. They won't want to pay to get out of the contract, so AT&T maintains the upperhand.

It seems like a move to 1) eliminate older iphone models and 2) allow AT&T to maintain as many customers as they can before the iPhone goes multi carrier in the US.

Of course AT&T in theory has the deal with Apple until 2012, but if Apple is getting bad PR on the iPhone due to AT&Ts network, Apple might be putting pressure on AT&T to allow another carrier. Perhaps the iPad / AT&T deal was a concession the two agreed upon so Apple could get the iPhone on another carrier sooner. Who knows! :)
 
fuzion said:
I don't recall them doing that last year; certainly not 6 months otherwise I would have picked up a 3GS.

.. and this move totally implies a sense of new iPhone carrier, think about it, if you had pissed off customers, who weren't available to upgrade until late 2010, and in late 2010 or early 2011 a new carrier arrives, what would stop them from going? Renewing a new 2 year contract so they are locked in before a new iPhone carrier arrives it is a good way to keep your customer base. They won't want to pay to get out of the contract, so AT&T maintains the upperhand.

It seems like a move to 1) eliminate older iphone models and 2) allow AT&T to maintain as many customers as they can before the iPhone goes multi carrier in the US.
Click to expand...

Last year it was about 3 or 4 months, but definitely not 6 months. It sounds good, but isn't the agreement intact until 2012 between Apple & AT&T?
 
quagmire said:
Yeah, they are just learning from last year when all the crybabies cried that they were still under contract and couldn't buy the latest Apple gadget at launch.

And yet, we are still getting crybabies that have their upgrade date fall past December 31. :rolleyes:




Current iPhone customer I believe. So you'll be waiting 3 weeks after launch.
Click to expand...


I'm just going to use my dad's upgrade, because I actually lost my blackberry and I can't use a regular phone for another month.
 
fuzion said:
I don't recall them doing that last year; certainly not 6 months otherwise I would have picked up a 3GS.

.. and this move totally implies a sense of new iPhone carrier, think about it, if you had pissed off customers, who weren't available to upgrade until late 2010, and in late 2010 or early 2011 a new carrier arrives, what would stop them from going? Renewing a new 2 year contract so they are locked in before a new iPhone carrier arrives it is a good way to keep your customer base. They won't want to pay to get out of the contract, so AT&T maintains the upperhand.

It seems like a move to 1) eliminate older iphone models and 2) allow AT&T to maintain as many customers as they can before the iPhone goes multi carrier in the US.

Of course AT&T in theory has the deal with Apple until 2012, but if Apple is getting bad PR on the iPhone due to AT&Ts network, Apple might be putting pressure on AT&T to allow another carrier. Perhaps the iPad / AT&T deal was a concession the two agreed upon so Apple could get the iPhone on another carrier sooner. Who knows! :)
Click to expand...

They moved people up 3 months last year....people who had upgrade dates in July, August and September were allowed to purchase on launch date
 
fuzion said:
I don't recall them doing that last year; certainly not 6 months otherwise I would have picked up a 3GS.

.. and this move totally implies a sense of new iPhone carrier, think about it, if you had pissed off customers, who weren't available to upgrade until late 2010, and in late 2010 or early 2011 a new carrier arrives, what would stop them from going? Renewing a new 2 year contract so they are locked in before a new iPhone carrier arrives it is a good way to keep your customer base. They won't want to pay to get out of the contract, so AT&T maintains the upperhand.

It seems like a move to 1) eliminate older iphone models and 2) allow AT&T to maintain as many customers as they can before the iPhone goes multi carrier in the US.
Click to expand...

For me, AT&T has moved up my lines. I have 3 lines that has always been moved up for special pricing 2G > 3G > 3GS > 4.

My other 3 lines were moved up too from 3GS > 4.

AT&T's service has been great for me. I get 25% off so my rates aren't bad. I don't mind renewing. They are doing us a favor by allowing early upgrades for iPhone customers. However, it does suck for people that have regular phones and can't upgrade early unless their bill is $80+ per line.

I don't even qualify by how much I spend since I have the base 550 Family Plan! I have bonus minutes on each line so my 550 is rolled over every month. I have 5k+ lol
 
I thought last year they changed it so that if you bought a 3G in the summer of 2008 you were able to get a 3GS at the best price if you bought it in the summer of 2009?? I bought my 3G at the end of August 2008 and picked up my 3GS on launch day 2009 at the new contract price. I'm not suggesting that I got hooked up, just that I thought this was their policy
 
TonyC28 said:
I thought last year they changed it so that if you bought a 3G in the summer of 2008 you were able to get a 3GS at the best price if you bought it in the summer of 2009?? I bought my 3G at the end of August 2008 and picked up my 3GS on launch day 2009 at the new contract price. I'm not suggesting that I got hooked up, just that I thought this was their policy
Click to expand...

Nope, I was only eligible for an early upgrade last year. I bought my 3G on launch day 2008.
 
dissdnt said:
Confirms my feeling more that the iPhone will go to another carrier in the coming months.
Click to expand...

Keep dreaming. Maybe a year or so from now, but not in the "coming months," which I take to mean before the end of the year.

quagmire said:
Yeah, they are just learning from last year when all the crybabies cried that they were still under contract and couldn't buy the latest Apple gadget at launch.

And yet, we are still getting crybabies that have their upgrade date fall past December 31. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It's amazing isn't it?
 
juicexct said:
I have a Blackberry Bold. I am eligible for an upgrade on 7/17/2010. Will I be able to get the iPhone for 199/299 on June 15th? Or would my upgrade only be bumped up if I was a current iPhone customer?
Click to expand...

According to the rep that emailed me, it's for EVERYONE even though their marketing materials are targeting iPhone customers.

From an AT&T email I received:

But in addition, customers who become upgrade eligible anytime in 2010 can get our best pricing right now?no waiting! It does not matter what type of device you have. We do not change the upgrade dates, our system will allow the upgrade if the phone is the iPhone 4. You will be able to upgrade your line and get the iPhone 4; of course this requires a 2 year contract, plus an $18.00 upgrade fee. It does require a data plan as well.
Click to expand...
 
djransom said:
Last year it was about 3 or 4 months, but definitely not 6 months. It sounds good, but isn't the agreement intact until 2012 between Apple & AT&T?
Click to expand...

I think eventually what will happen is that if Verizon gets the iphone. That Apple will allow AT&T to have an exclusive on each new version of it for like 6 months. Im just guessing that the AT&T iphone and when and if the Verizon iphone will have different Refresh cycles.

Sorta like how Blackberry does with some carriers getting a 5-6 month lead on others.
 
Anyone ever changed features/rate plans mid-contract in such a way that it increased your total bill to $100+? If so, what was the effect on eligibility? Did it move your eligibility up to 12 months?
 
This is simple marketing for AT&T. Of course they want to let you upgrade early so that they make you sign a new 2-year agreement. Do you recall that not long ago they drastically increased the early termination fee? They've now got you locked with the new agreement.

Also, the new iPhone is going to use more data than previous models. With AT&T's new data plan structure, they are in position to make a killing off the new iPhone when people start watching Netflix, streaming Pandora in the background, sending recorded HD video over MMS/email, etc. When iOS4 is released to the public, data consumption is going to skyrocket.

I can't stand AT&T for how they are gouging the iPhone customers. I pray for the day that ANY OTHER CARRIER in the US will get to host the iPhone. AT&T desperately needs competition here, or we will all suffer.
 
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