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iPhone Owners Start Bugging AT&T for Special Upgrade Discounts

Phillip Dampier October 6, 2011 AT&T, Competition, Consumer News, Wireless Broadband 4 Comments

Courtesy: Gottabemobile

Just two days after the less-than-overwhelming unveiling of the incrementally-upgraded Apple iPhone 4S, the “must-have-it” crowd has begun melting down the customer service lines of AT&T looking for special discounted upgrade pricing, even though many are months away from the end of their contracts.

AT&T customers are being invited to dial *639# from their phones for an upgrade text message in response.  Others are visiting AT&T’s Phone Upgrade website.  Many are not happy to find AT&T isn’t automatically throwing out the rules for two-year contract upgrade pricing, and are being offered phones that include an early upgrade penalty and a new two year contract.:

  1. $250 early upgrade penalty fee;
  2. $199 for the iPhone 4S (8GB model) on a new two-year contract (other models available);
  3. $18 upgrade activation fee;
  4. Shipping, handling, and taxes extra.

For the benefit of having the latest iPhone, AT&T customers will pay at least $467.  That $250 early upgrade fee appears to be different from the company’s standard early termination fee: $325 minus $10 for each full month of your two year contract that you complete.

Several customers are unhappy to hear that, so they are calling up AT&T and demanding the same discounts a new iPhone customer would get.  AT&T has a history of bending over backwards for their iPhone customers, because they often spend more than other customers on higher-priced service plans.  In many cases, customers got their current generation iPhone months before contract renewal time, scoring significant savings and avoiding penalties other phone owners face when attempting early upgrades.  Many customers expect they’ll get the same treatment again, but AT&T is showing signs it has few reasons to agree to every request.

Surveying several message boards, it appears AT&T is granting early upgrades only to their best, biggest-spending customers.  Everyone else gets to wait.  For those who managed to acquire the iPhone 4 on the day it was released, discounted upgrades without the $250 penalty will become available the day after Thanksgiving.

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Baxter
Baxter
12 years ago

i got the upgrade 😐 not much of a big spender, im thinkin also if your account is old with them they are offering it to u to..

i bought the iphone 4 last year in august, now i have the upgrade…., hmmm im def not gonna be orderin another iphone for a while, just not really in the budget for somthin i already have

Ron Dafoe
Ron Dafoe
12 years ago

There are still alot of people that were under contract when the 4 came out. I am one of them. I have been using the 3 GS and the 4S is a pretty big upgrade.

When looking at this stuff, minor upgrades every 2 years, with major upgrades scheduled every 2 years is a good business model. There is no need to have major upgrades every year. By ratating major and minor, you keep the customer upgrade cycle going. Anyone who has an Iphone 4 really should not be looking to upgrade now anyways.

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