AT&T throws iPhone 3G customers a bone..

Seth Weintraub
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June 17, 2009
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We hope you guys didn't already go out and buy a Pre, because AT&T has made a change to its policy: It will now give iPhone 3G owners who purchased in the first 3 months (July, August or September 2009), the original iPhone price upgrades.  Sort of.  Log into your account to find out exacly how much of your money they want.  (via engadget)

"We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18."

 

Comments (16)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 11:06am

What about those of us who order a 3 GS already. Are they going to refund some of my money?

CripMan (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 11:25am

From web page:

"If you’re one of the customers who benefits from this change, and you’ve already preordered from an AT&T store, we’ll adjust the price of the device when you pick it up. If you benefit from the change and you pre-ordered from AT&T online, we’ll send you an e-mail and issue you a credit."

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 11:08am

What about those of us who have already ordered our phones through Apple? Will we be getting an refund of some of our money?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 11:50am

Hey Seth, AT&T's being a bit misleading here.

Only people who bought the iPhone 3G at launch and have a monthly bill of $99+ are considered "upgrade eligible" after 12 months.

The majority of people who bought the iPhone 3G at launch have a monthly bill LESS than $99, so they're not "upgrade eligible" until 18 months (December 2009).

This AT&T stunt does nothing for the majority of iPhone owners.

Alex (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 4:08pm

That 99.00 monthly bill is a "for example scenario" is what I got out of it when reading the announcement. Here's what it said,

"PRICING
Importantly, we want our customers to better understand our wireless device upgrade program. Like most U.S. carriers, we offer a variety of phones that we sell below our actual cost when customers agree to sign service agreements. In general, the more a customer spends with us, the quicker they become eligible for a price break on a new device. For example, iPhone customers who spend more than $99 a month per line with us generally are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months into their contract."

You still have to be upgrade eligble during those months though, from what I read.

I know you are upset, but seriously what can you do. How many carriers do you know will allow you to get a discount on a phone again within a year span. I have Verizon service and AT&T. I upgraded my wife's line about 7 months ago, and she now wants a Blackberry Storm. Verizon is not giving me another discount since I just upgraded hers. The same goes with AT&T....these companies have to make money so they are not going to let you upgrade within a year. It does make sense to me. The reason so many people are upset is because it's an iPhone. Apple is upgrading their phone every year and it's a hot commodity. You don't see people standing in lines for Blackberry's.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 11:54am

actually the announcement says:

"we’re now offering our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18."

which means, if you are upgrade eligible during the next three months, you can get the discount price right now.

unfortunately it doesn't equal to "if you bought your G3 during the first three months..."

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 9:22pm

What the heck is a G3? And why would someone want one?

spungee (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 12:04pm

so after a careful read of att's announcement, those of us who are "upgrade-eligible" on December 12, 2009 are still out of luck on this. The key sentence is this:

"We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18."

I have no idea how two different people who purchased the iPhone 3G on launch day can have different upgrade-eligible dates (by as much as 6 months), but I suspect it has to do with the 99.00/month threshold. After taxes and fees, my monthly bill is over 100 bucks, but even with the unlimited texting, my plan is under that 99.00/month threshold.

oh well. i'm still looking forward to having it in my grubby hands on friday!

spungee (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 12:05pm

so after a careful read of att's announcement, those of us who are "upgrade-eligible" on December 12, 2009 are still out of luck on this. The key sentence is this:

"We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18."

I have no idea how two different people who purchased the iPhone 3G on launch day can have different upgrade-eligible dates (by as much as 6 months), but I suspect it has to do with the 99.00/month threshold. After taxes and fees, my monthly bill is over 100 bucks, but even with the unlimited texting, my plan is under that 99.00/month threshold.

oh well. i'm still looking forward to having it in my grubby hands on friday!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 12:26pm

AT&T only cares about the money. Thus offering the upgrade discount to the customers that give them the most. I guess those that give them $95/month aren't worthy.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 12:35pm

AT&T will allow people who bought an iPhone 3G and spend more than $100 per month to upgrade a few weeks early saving the $200 and extending their 2 year contract. BIG DEAL.

All others get nothing at all. It is cheaper to cancel your account completely at $175 minus $5 for each month passed (about $115 for many iPhone 3G owners) then to STAY with AT&T for another 2 years! Sound like stupid business move.

I bought my iPhone 3G at launch and pay $80 a month and I would NOT be eligible for an upgrade until 1/2010. So no upgrade for me and I will hope that Apple gets rid of AT&T. Their network is far from the best, NO MMS on launch, NO thethering, Neutered apps (SlingPlayer, Netshare, etc).

Watch the exodus when AT&T loses the iPhone exclusive! Palm Pre will be on Verizon in about seven months so AT&T may regret NOT getting all iPhone customers into a new two year contract.

Raleigh NC 9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 1:57pm

Doesn't apply to me either. $90/mo bill doesn't meet their $99 PER LINE criteria, so it does nothing other than further irritate customers.

Apparently iPhone 3GS sales are lackluster. There is little improvement to justify forking over $400.

Another year from now, when we are all upgrade eligible, there should be yet another version of the iPhone, the AT&T exclusivity should be OVER, all our contracts will have run their 2yr course and we can BAIL to whoever gives us the best deal and coverage (not AT&T).

ZeroGB (not verified) | June 17, 2009 - 2:40pm

A lot of you are getting this completely wrong. It's not completely your fault. AT&T used a lot of words to say what could have been said in two short paragraphs.

Here's what the press release is saying:

"We cut some slack to people that spend $99+ on their iPhones and we let them upgrade to new hardware early, between 12 and 18 months. We're doing that for the new iPhone 3GS as well. Our subsidy of these subscribers pays back sooner because of the extra money they spend, so we subsidize them more often.

Because we're tired of getting blasted on all the interweb forum board pages, we're going to let customers that are due to become eligible in July, August, and September 2009 to go ahead and upgrade their phones at the discounted price."

That's it.

No "gotchas".

If you're due for an upgrade in July, August, or September, you're good to go as of tomorrow, no matter how much you spend on your monthly bill.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | June 18, 2009 - 8:38am

nothing for me... no difference!

I got the 3g the second day it was available and have had a contract w/bill over 100 monthly!

not sure who this applies to but i didnt get the deal =(

oh well.... the new iphone sucks anyways. nothing special, just a big let down

This is Bullshit (not verified) | June 18, 2009 - 8:01pm

AT&T's 06/17/09 press release states that any iPhone 3G customer who is Upgrade Eligible in July, August or September is now eligible, on June 18, for full subsidized pricing but my eligibility still remains at 12/26/09. So why isn't my eligibility time reduced by three months or the maximum of 104 days, like theirs? Why are some AT&T customers being given preferential treatment? If you are going to reduce some customer's contract time limits by 3 months then you must reduce all customer's time limits by the same value. I am not asking for eligibility now, all I want is for the same consideration that other customers are being given. I want my eligibility to be reduce by 3 months, (or 09/13/09), just like their contracts have been modified.

angryattcustomer (not verified) | June 22, 2009 - 11:18pm

ok so with everything being said i should be able for an early upgrade. I bought my iphone 3g back on september 20,2008. I have the $89.99 plan + $20 for unlimited text total of $110 +tax and fees. So i should get an upgrade to the 3G[s] without paying $200+ for one. But everytime i go the the website its saying im not until feb 21,2010. SO wtf!! plus i get a %20 discount from my job off my plan so i pay average about $104-108 a month.