You may need to cancel your AT&T plan for iPhone 4S | Hacker News Reader

You may need to cancel your AT&T plan for iPhone 4S

10 pointsheavymark7 comments

You may need to cancel your AT&T plan to upgrade to 4S.<p>For instance, Apple.com says I cannot upgrade my phone at normal pricing until November 22nd. Otherwise I have to pay retail for the phone (and signup still for a 2 year contract). So pay several hundred dollars more for not waiting a month.<p>On the other hand, you can simply cancel your AT&T account and then reopen your account to buy the iPhone 4S at normal pricing. And pay an early termination fee in my case of $65 and possibly $30 setup fee. Still several hundred dollars less.<p>I use Google Voice so losing my number makes no difference and I am not on the unlimited plan.<p>Why won't AT&T simply let me pay the early termination fee, change my number if they want, and let me preorder at normal pricing at Apple.com?<p>I contacted AT&T support and they said they do not know when the iPhone will be available. I sent them a link to Apple.com's site where it says when it's available. They said they don't know how much my early terminiation fee would be and I resent her the link to website calculators that show you how much it will be. So after a long conversation she agreed yes technically cancelling is the much cheaper option but did not seem happy to admit.<p>Hope this helps others out there!

It seems like your headline is overly dramatic... AT&T certainly isn't obligated to give you an early upgrade just because a new iPhone came out. It's unfortunate that in your case you are very close to your upgrade date, but you had to have known they don't offer prorated upgrade pricing.

You might want to research this a bit more. I've found some sites indicating you won't qualify for new customer pricing until after a waiting period:

http://forums.att.com/t5/Apple-iPhone/Canceling-or-Upgrading...

That said, if you go into an AT&T store and gently press the point, you may very well get your upgrade date moved up. It does require them calling Customer Care to ask, and they do need a store supervisor to sign off on it... but it can be done. I did it myself a few months ago, and I've heard of others doing it as well.

Be aware that AT&T ranks your value as a customer internally based on factors such as your total monthly bill size, etc. My bill is about $180-$200/month for three lines. You literally have a 'score' in their system, so your mileage may vary.

My understanding is that it is even easier to get an 'early upgrade' where you pay the discounted price + $250 for the privilege of upgrading without waiting. Early upgrades are still about $100 cheaper than buying the phone outright.

So.... wait until November 22nd? Its ok to not have the shiny new device for 35 days.

Your assumption is incorrect. Upgrade eligibility date is not the same thing as contract expiration.

AT&T is allowing some customers to upgrade after one year instead of two if they cross a certainly monthly threshold on their phone bill. So, you may be eligible to upgrade on November 22nd, but you're still going to pay a hefty early termination fee if you canceled your account.

The reasoning behind this plan it to thwart people exactly like you (which I am).

To be perfectly blunt, the "much cheaper option", which I fear you may have failed to consider due to your current state of consumerist paroxysm, is to just wait until your current contract is up. You've presumably managed to survive at least a couple decades without Siri. Is the prospect of having to live without it for another 40 days really so terrifying that you'd rather blow $100 than wait it out?

> I use Google Voice so losing my number makes no difference and I am not on the unlimited plan.

Is it possible to use google voice such that when you make outgoing calls, your google voice number appears on the receiver's caller id, rather than your phone's "real" number?

The difference between the 4 and 4S is so trivial that I cannot imagine breaking my contract over it. When it's time to renew for another 2 years (Dec. 2012), the 5 will be out, with LTE support. What do I miss out on in the meantime? A phone that talks back to me.

stop whining, how is this top news?

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