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Saad073's profile

Tutor

 • 

12 Messages

Friday, November 26th, 2010 8:38 PM

No Upgrade on Family Plan Line

This has been driving me nuts over the past few weeks and I was wondering if anyone here could help.

 

So my family just moved back to California in August and since my sister (who has been living here) already had a line with AT&T we signed up with their family plan and just added our new lines to hers. As it turns out, that wasn't as simple as we had hoped and we got slapped with a $400 bill the first month because AT&T's system got a bunch of stuff wrong.

 

We got that sorted out but we still paid a lot more than what we were supposed to in the first month. Then in October, I discovered that my phone (which is unlocked from abroad so I did not get a AT&T phone) was having a lot of issues like randomly turning off and restarting and being unable to get a signal.

 

So now I've been looking around for an upgrade but the problem is AT&T says the only line on the family plan that is eligible is the primary line...which is my sister who just got the HTC Aria when we signed a new contract. I checked with AT&T and they said they can only offer me the off-contract price for my line, but her line can get a great discount.

 

My main question is: Why can't I get a phone from AT&T at a normal upgrade price when I never got a phone from them in the first place?

 

You would think they would love to sign me up for an extended contract but there's no way in heck I'm paying $600 for a new phone just for that privilege. AT&T has already caused my family enough headaches and now they're doing this! Ridiculous.

 

Anyway, thanks if you read this and I appreciate any answers in advance.

Accepted Solution

Guru

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748 Messages

13 years ago


@Saad073 wrote:

 


@belome wrote:

Was your sister out of contract?  Sounds like she got 'your' free phone upgrade.


She was out of contract but she's eligible for upgrade right now which is bizarre because she just got an upgrade to the Aria.

 

 


@erichamion wrote:

Eligibility for upgrade pricing doesn't exactly depend on whether or when you purchased a previous phone with subsidized pricing, even though it usually works out that way.  It depends on whether the line is under contract and how close the end of the contract is.

 

I believe a transfer of billing responsibility may require a certain minimum contract length.  You can confirm the contract status by logging into your MyWireless account, clicking My Profile, and clicking the user information tab.

 

You can also see when the line will be upgrade eligible by dialing *3282# from the phone in question.

 

Edit:  That's the wrong code.  It was the last one I used, so it was in my mind.  If you want to actually check upgrade eligibility, rather than see your data usage, dial *639#.


 

Well like I said, the contract was just put into effect in August so I guess I would not be eligible for an upgrade. But what is actually bugging me is that my sister's line can get an upgrade even though she just got the Aria.

 

 

I just thought of an idea: What if I ordered a phone under my sister's line and, since there would not be any changes made to her plan, I just took the phone and activated it to my SIM card? Then AT&T would automatically add the data plan to my line, her contract would extend (which she said wouldn't be a big deal) and that should be it, right? But this idea doesn't sound exactly ethical 😛


It is common paractice for people to use others upgrades.  Go to an AT&T store with your sister and tehy will gladly do it for you.  There is nothing unethhical when the company freely allows it.  They are still getting a 2 year commitment to recoup the cost and make some money, which is what it's all about, right?

Scholar

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329 Messages

13 years ago

Was your sister out of contract?  Sounds like she got 'your' free phone upgrade.

Guru

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637 Messages

13 years ago

Eligibility for upgrade pricing doesn't exactly depend on whether or when you purchased a previous phone with subsidized pricing, even though it usually works out that way.  It depends on whether the line is under contract and how close the end of the contract is.

 

I believe a transfer of billing responsibility may require a certain minimum contract length.  You can confirm the contract status by logging into your MyWireless account, clicking My Profile, and clicking the user information tab.

 

You can also see when the line will be upgrade eligible by dialing *3282# from the phone in question.

 

Edit:  That's the wrong code.  It was the last one I used, so it was in my mind.  If you want to actually check upgrade eligibility, rather than see your data usage, dial *639#.

Scholar

 • 

250 Messages

13 years ago

 


@erichamion wrote:

Eligibility for upgrade pricing doesn't exactly depend on whether or when you purchased a previous phone with subsidized pricing, even though it usually works out that way.  It depends on whether the line is under contract and how close the end of the contract is.

 

I believe a transfer of billing responsibility may require a certain minimum contract length.  You can confirm the contract status by logging into your MyWireless account, clicking My Profile, and clicking the user information tab.

 

You can also see when the line will be upgrade eligible by dialing *3282# from the phone in question.


11 months if I remember correctly.

Dial  *639#  to get upgrade eligibility.

 

Guru

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637 Messages

13 years ago

Yes, I saw the wrong code when I read your post (quoting me).  Sorry about that.

Tutor

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12 Messages

13 years ago

 


@belome wrote:

Was your sister out of contract?  Sounds like she got 'your' free phone upgrade.


She was out of contract but she's eligible for upgrade right now which is bizarre because she just got an upgrade to the Aria.

 

 


@erichamion wrote:

Eligibility for upgrade pricing doesn't exactly depend on whether or when you purchased a previous phone with subsidized pricing, even though it usually works out that way.  It depends on whether the line is under contract and how close the end of the contract is.

 

I believe a transfer of billing responsibility may require a certain minimum contract length.  You can confirm the contract status by logging into your MyWireless account, clicking My Profile, and clicking the user information tab.

 

You can also see when the line will be upgrade eligible by dialing *3282# from the phone in question.

 

Edit:  That's the wrong code.  It was the last one I used, so it was in my mind.  If you want to actually check upgrade eligibility, rather than see your data usage, dial *639#.


 

Well like I said, the contract was just put into effect in August so I guess I would not be eligible for an upgrade. But what is actually bugging me is that my sister's line can get an upgrade even though she just got the Aria.

 

 

I just thought of an idea: What if I ordered a phone under my sister's line and, since there would not be any changes made to her plan, I just took the phone and activated it to my SIM card? Then AT&T would automatically add the data plan to my line, her contract would extend (which she said wouldn't be a big deal) and that should be it, right? But this idea doesn't sound exactly ethical 😛

Tutor

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12 Messages

13 years ago

 


@click_clack wrote:

It is common paractice for people to use others upgrades.  Go to an AT&T store with your sister and tehy will gladly do it for you.  There is nothing unethhical when the company freely allows it.  They are still getting a 2 year commitment to recoup the cost and make some money, which is what it's all about, right?


Really? Wow I never knew that. That's pretty great, but do you think it would apply to 3rd party vendors as well?

 

Professor

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1.6K Messages

13 years ago

Yeah 3rd party dealers can do it too, although sometimes they mess it up. You might want to go to a corporate owned store.

Tutor

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12 Messages

13 years ago

 


@UNSC_REACH wrote:

Yeah 3rd party dealers can do it too, although sometimes they mess it up. You might want to go to a corporate owned store.


Does anyone have experience using another person's upgrade with Wirefly? They have a sweet deal going on right now.

 

Master

 • 

5.9K Messages

13 years ago


@Saad073 wrote:

 


@UNSC_REACH wrote:

Yeah 3rd party dealers can do it too, although sometimes they mess it up. You might want to go to a corporate owned store.


Does anyone have experience using another person's upgrade with Wirefly? They have a sweet deal going on right now.

 


Be careful and make certain you've read and understand all of a third party dealer's additional terms and conditions if you want to go that route.  Most of them require no changes to the plan (certainly no downgrades) for the first 180 days of service or they reserve the right to charge you back for the conditional discount (usually $250).

 

As long as the line of service that is the subject of the upgrade remains open and unchanged, I'd think you'd be fine even if it's being used in a different phone; but I'd think through it well first, as having a different person using the service may introduce more likelihood of a change to the service and/or features that are a part of the commitment.  The third party resellers can be a good deal - but for the first six months you typically give up the flexibility of being able to make changes to the voice plan and/or features; you retain this flexibility by upgrading directly through at&t.

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