[tech-medic]

So one of my friends upgraded his 16GB iPhone 3G for a 3GS....I bought it for $100 and thought cool...went down to activate, no problem. I liked the phone so didn't bat an eyelash at the 2 year contract requirement even though I didn't buy the iPhone through Apple or ATT.

NOW...I like the phone so much, I want to buy the 3GS and give my 16GB 3G to my wife so she stops drooling over mine.

Now the problem.

According to ATT store rep....they need special authorization to let me upgrade because it is an iPhone...when I first activated they said that was for activation only and that the upgrade (if I chose to) would be no problem. Now according to them I need to wait 1 week to upgrade while they get authorization.

So I call corporate 611 to confirm...Now it gets better!

Not only do I need special authorization to upgrade, I need to have a letter from my friend attesting that I bought the phone from him and how much i purchased it for. Then they have to set up a dispute to allow me to spend my money AFTER they check to make sure the phone isn't stolen.

How stupid can you get.

1) Its none of their business how much I bought the phone for
2) if the phone was reported stolen, the IMEI number would have been kicked out as stolen when they activated it
3) If it was that big of a deal why didn't they check to make sure it wasn't stolen when i first activated it????
4) why is it so hard when I WANT to give them money???

I don't know if I should be pissed or laugh at the stupidity of the situation.

Just wanted to rant :-)

Jim

[mayfal]

Nice story, sometimes thay all act stooped

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jdk2]

Nice story, sometimes thay all act stooped

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I think you meant stupid. And it's no act either

[skoojam]

i was able to get att to approve a $199 upgrade on a line that activated a iphone 3g last year in sept. this is a secondary line on my account, im not sure if it was the fact that its a 5line fan account or that my employer is Boeing which is a huge contract to att but it took about 5 phone calls and 1 trip to a core store for it to happen

[sandos]

This is why I've said Apple and AT&T are weired about this phone. It is the funniest thing ever to watch a corporate store rep sweat when you ask about the iPhone and mention anything outside of just spending $200 with them, committing to 2 years and paying them $50 for data and messaging. Dude they took a page from L. Ron Hubarrd's playbook when they trained their employees on this one.

[skoojam]

i just got att to upgrade a 3rd line of mine which isnt due for upgrade til November but they pushed it thru for $199

[DaReaper911]

Wow you shouldnt have to do all that just to give them more money!!!

[skoojam]

i totally agree! that was what i agured, i wasnt trying to save money im trying to SPEND MORE MONEY, just keep aguring u will eventually get someone who can process the upgrade for u

[MNotar91]

Yeah that really doesn't make any sense at all. I deal with an authorized AT&T retailer rather than corporate and never have any problems. The corporate employees are never a help for me when I go to the corporate store.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[skoojam]

thats because they dont have to worry about their jobs.. now dealers have better relationships with customers because there income/job depends on it lol

[cobra302]

So one of my friends upgraded his 16GB iPhone 3G for a 3GS....I bought it for $100 and thought cool...went down to activate, no problem. I liked the phone so didn't bat an eyelash at the 2 year contract requirement even though I didn't buy the iPhone through Apple or ATT.

NOW...I like the phone so much, I want to buy the 3GS and give my 16GB 3G to my wife so she stops drooling over mine.

Now the problem.

According to ATT store rep....they need special authorization to let me upgrade because it is an iPhone...when I first activated they said that was for activation only and that the upgrade (if I chose to) would be no problem. Now according to them I need to wait 1 week to upgrade while they get authorization.

So I call corporate 611 to confirm...Now it gets better!

Not only do I need special authorization to upgrade, I need to have a letter from my friend attesting that I bought the phone from him and how much i purchased it for. Then they have to set up a dispute to allow me to spend my money AFTER they check to make sure the phone isn't stolen.

How stupid can you get.

1) Its none of their business how much I bought the phone for
2) if the phone was reported stolen, the IMEI number would have been kicked out as stolen when they activated it
3) If it was that big of a deal why didn't they check to make sure it wasn't stolen when i first activated it????
4) why is it so hard when I WANT to give them money???

I don't know if I should be pissed or laugh at the stupidity of the situation.

Just wanted to rant :-)

Jim

ok wait, you bought the iphone from somone else, and att is still making you sign a 2 year contract? wtf is that all about! you're bringing your own ball to the game, all you need is their court to play on. you would have been better off just buying the 3GS to begin with on a new line, then adding a line for your wife and making it a 3GS.

[robdogballa]

Thats one thing i hate about att. They make it seem like the iphone is the only cool phone out there. Well basically it is, but what makes it so special that you have to go through so much trouble