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grasshopper51's profile

Contributor

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2 Messages

Friday, September 12th, 2014 8:30 AM

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Upgrade fee for iPhone 6

I am no longer under contract with AT&T so I don't understand why I have to pay $40 to "upgrade" to the iPhone 6. I can just take my business to Verizon or another carrier and not have to pay the $40. Is anyone else bothered by this unnecessary charge?

Tutor

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5 Messages

9 years ago

After over 10 years with AT&T, I will be switching carriers because of the egregious lies and poor customer service associated with a recent "free upgrade".  I have been receiving mailings for almost two years now, since my last phone upgrade was four years ago in November of 2010, telling me that I was eligible for an upgrade. While my iPhone 4 was working well, I wanted faster processing speed, so I went to my local AT&T store to get the 5s...

 

I spoke with a sales associate who assured me that I WAS eligible for an upgrade, it WOULDN'T impact my current plan, and there WOULDN'T be any additional associated costs besides the new device.  I paid my $100 and took home my new phone...

 

15 days later at the end of my billing cycle, I saw a $40 "one time upgrade fee" on my account.  SURELY, THERE HAD TO BE A MISTAKE.  With years of good-standing history with the company, I took it on faith that they would remedy the situation.  NOT EVEN CLOSE. Smiley Sad

 

  • Spoke with the store associate: He told me that AT&T's been adding "upgrade fees" since he's been there and there's no way to remove it. Not Comforting. 
  • Spoke with the manager: After I explained the original transaction, he called me a liar, telling me he "just didn't believe that the conversation would happen with his staff".  Not Curtious or Customer Centered.
  • Spoke with AT&T Customer Care: They told me to speak with the store. Refused to transfer me to a supervisor because "it would do no good anyway".  Not Helpful.

I have been blatantly lied to about the terms of my upgrade.  This is the last time I will be duped by AT&T.  

Tutor

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5 Messages

9 years ago

I've been under contract for 10 years with only one upgrade...I think they've gotten their fair share from me over the years.  

 

I can understand that they need to protect themselves from losing money with people upgrading, then switching, but that's exactly what they're driving me to do by lying to me about hidden fees!

 

I agree that it's an unnecessary charge.  They're getting my business, signed onto a 2 year agreement.  That should cover it...I should have to pay for the pleasure of doing business with them.  My long-standing relationship is now over. 

Contributor

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3 Messages

9 years ago

You guys botched this iPhone 6 communication so horribly on this Next that you need to make it right and go back to the early buyers and offer them help.  10 people in my neighborhood are screaming never again on AT&T.

 

I paid $322 for the phone at Apple, got a massively confusing text from you guys with no real explanation for what it meant to me as yoru bills are a mess....next thing I know my bill goes up $25 a month because I locked in and signed a two year contract.  Plus I get billed $40 for the privaledge to get my "free upgrade."  In two years, when I take my business elsewhere, I'll have paid $962 for the iPhone 6 free upgrade (68gig).  This is more than the phone retails for....just criminal.

ACE - Expert

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13.1K Messages

9 years ago

There is no such thing as a "free upgrade". AT&T lowered the prices of the Mobile Shared Data Plans and with that no longer subsidize phones. One way or another, you will pay for the phone. (Most of the other providers are doing the same thing.). You pay full price for the phone, using NEXT over 20 to 24 months, in which you can keep your $15 to $25 out of contract discount and you don't pay the $40 "upgrade" fee.

If you choose to get a subsidized phone, you lost the $15 to $25 out of contract discount and pay the upgrade fee.

Contributor

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2 Messages

9 years ago

You're going to pay an activation fee then an upgrade fee of 30 2 years later at verizon.

Contributor

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1 Message

9 years ago

Fee is waived when phone is bought at full retail. Fee is charged when the phone is discounted. So that proves that the fee is to only squeeze more money out of loyal customers. It's not as if the fee is charged for man hours put into a phone that is upgraded. Rediculous fee!

Tutor

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4 Messages

9 years ago

Also found this to be super ridiculous! I am not under contract and updated to the iphone 6. So you're basically telling me I have to pay a fee to be under contract. Disappointed.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

9 years ago

I can understand the upgrade fee but charging it weeks before you actually get the phone? Seriously?

Contributor

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1 Message

9 years ago

I find this whole thing to be ripoff as well..

 

I have 3 iPhones (a 3g, 4 and 5) on 3 lines and 10GB of shared data, unlimited talk/text.

My 3g has out of contract for 2 years, my 4 has been out of contract for 6 months, and my 5 is almost out of contract. 

 

I pay $145.00 plus tax p/m so it comes to $157.00 p/m.

 

I wanted to upgrade my 4 to a 5c (cause that was the cheapest iPhone that wasn't refurbished. 

 

I did an online chat with two representatives.

A. The first one said I would lose my mobile share value discount if i upgraded with a 2-year Contract, so I would be paying $25 more per/month if upgraded that phone.

 

B. The next rep said, no I wouldn't lose any discount, cause i was eligible for an upgrade with a 2-year Contract.

 

C. So I called AT&T today on the phone and the Rep said yes, i would lose the discount if i upgraded to the 2 Year Contact. She said I would pay an extra $25 p/m. She then tried to convince me that ATT Next was cheaper overall. (Sure it is!) She then sent me a link to an online ATT Next vs 2 Year Calculater... (Screen Shot below). 
After pulling up the iPhone 5c (which is valued at $450.00 on ATT Website), if i did a 2-Year Contract the phone would cost me (with "ACCESS" fees) $1000.99!!!! What a freaking RIP-OFF!
And with the Next Program (24 mo) it would cost $720.00, so still $270.00 more than the cost of the phone. What the heck is going on???
So to finance the phone through ATT it would cost me more than 50% more than the retail value of the phone, and to do a 2-Year Contract it would cost me 100% more than the retail value of the  phone. Seriously???

So where is my Upgrade Eligibilty?

Wow, seems like the only option then is to buy whatever iPhone you can afford directly from Apple, and then get the family plan with lowest amount of data you can deal with, in order to actually pay a reasonable monthly charge...

My head is spinning looking at the online Calculator.

 

I've been with ATT for probably 7-8 years now, never had this kind of issue with them, since this NEXT non-sense came around. 

AT&T has jumped the shark!

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2 Attachments

Contributor

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3 Messages

9 years ago

[Edited to comply with Guidelines]

 

You've created this mess and run off customers.

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