vB Easy Archive - Full Retail / Upgrade cost on iPhone 3G

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Full Retail / Upgrade cost on iPhone 3G - a liveperson chat's view
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Posted by: chrbut

Not sure what to really make out of this. Maybe she is just uninformed, but will I be able to present this chat to a manager at a store if I have already purchased 2 other pda phones and they won't sell them to me at the $199 cost?

Please wait for a chat agent to respond.

You are now chatting with 'Natasha F'

Natasha F: Welcome to AT&T Premier Support, my name is Natasha. I am reading your question and will be right with you.

Chris: thank you

Natasha F: I'd be more than happy to assist you with this.

Natasha F: I do apologize but there is no way to waive the activation charges for switching to AT&T.

Natasha F: Yes you can purchase the new iPhone when it is released.

Chris: will it still be for the $199 price?

Natasha F: Yes

Chris: I just want to make sure that when I go into the store on Jul 11th, they will not tell me that I'm not eligible for an upgrade since I already have a 2 yr contract and 2 phones on a family share plan

Chris: is the $199 price actual retail or the upgrade cost?

Natasha F: You will be purchasing the device at its full retail cost. It will not be considered an upgrade.

Chris: And what would full retail cost be? Is it also $199 as you stated earlier?

Natasha F: It is $199.99 for the 8GB and $299.99 for the 16GB.

Chris: oh great... By any chance are there any upgrade costs available... or is it $199/$299 for upgrades and full retail?

Natasha F: It is the same price period. There are no equipment or plan discounts available on the iPhone at this time.

Chris: Great. My other question is: If the coverage is not great in my home area, what would my options be?

Natasha F: You have 14 days to return the iPhones and 30 days to cancel your service.

Chris: I thought the new iphones are now at a 30 day return policy also?

Natasha F: They may be I have not received any information on the new iPhones other than the cost of the iPhone and the release date.

Chris: Are we still looking at July 11th? Is there a specific time that day, or is it first thing when the stores open up?

Natasha F: When the store opens.

Chris: Thank you. Do you have info on the plan changes for the iphone? I heard that the 3G iphone data cost has gone up.

Natasha F: I apologize but I have not received any information on the new iPhones other than the cost of the iPhone and the release date.

Chris: Thank you for your help.

Natasha F: You are welcome! Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

Chris: That should do it. Thanks

Natasha F: Thank you for using AT&T Premier Support. We appreciate your business.

Posted by: sthomp

holy shat i just called at&t and the woman didnt even know there was a new iphone. she said until you could buy it on the website there was no information. i just hung up on her mid-sentence. nobody knows %$#@ about this thing.

Posted by: 1G-Drew

I guarantee you that Natasha F knows far less than any poster here. They have no clue about the upgrade pricing/no-upgrade pricing because corporate hasn't decided.

Posted by: HabanoJim

I've had two conversations with friends that are AT&T customer service reps today and was essentially given the same info: their exact statement was that at this time there is no intention to treat the iphone 3G any different then the original iphone when it comes to upgrading, you sign a new contract and pay the $199 or $299 price period.

P.S. These were conversations outside of the call center and since our town is home to a very large AT&T call center we have several friends that work there, they also said that this was based on current information they received today.

Jim

Posted by: Saoirse1916

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrbut

Not sure what to really make out of this. Maybe she is just uninformed, but will I be able to present this chat to a manager at a store if I have already purchased 2 other pda phones and they won't sell them to me at the $199 cost?

Probably not. It's safe to assume that there's some fine print somewhere on AT&T's website that says, "We are not responsible for misprints, errors, stupidity of online chat reps, or incorrect hardware and software specs."

That being said I used to work for Dell and when stuff like this would happen, every now and then we'd get a customer who pitched enough of a fit and got bounced up the chain that eventually he'd get what he thought he was entitled to. But you really have to dedicate yourself to being a pain in the butt -- this kind of comp isn't going to come to you for anything less.

Posted by: Quake97

That person could be confusing the first gen iPhone with the second gen one.

Joe

Posted by: captnoir

what happened to the days of people standing behind what they said, right or wrong? If you say it and you misquote a price or screw something up in favor of the customer, roll with it, make them give you what you have in writing. I think it's amazing how all these companies get away with lying and then saying were not responsible, does that mean I can skip paying my bill then, I didn't understand all the extra charges. Sorry, had to rant, better now.

Posted by: Grimlakin

What we really need is a end user or purchaser bill of rights. But sadly that just isn't going to happen in this day and age. A SLA for the end user. (Service Level Agreement) Where the companies we work with are required to meet specific expectations with real financial penalties if they do not.

Posted by: RF9

Well the do require a 2 year contract regardless. Normally if you pay full price for a phone you don't have to sign a contract.
AT&T intends to capture new data plan subscribers with the iPhone, they don't want to discourage them because they got new Razr 6 months ago or something.
And finally, we don't really know how much AT&T is paying per handset. Speculation is it cost $100 to manufacture. If AT&T picks it up for $300 or $400, they still make a lot of money on service.

Each day that goes by, more and more, I'm thinking they will sell it for $199 to EVERYONE.

I know it doesn't make complete sense to everyone. But keep an open mind here. THEY have a plan and the iPhone isn't exactly just a normal phone.

We still have almost a month before this thing goes on sale. It may be a while before we know for sure. But it sounds like Apple has trained their CS to say what they did.