 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion Groups General General TopicsGSMBluetoothProviders AlltelATT WirelessCingularFidoNextelSprint PCST-MobileVerizonManufacturers EricssonNokiaMotorolaCountry Specific Australian GroupUK GroupRelated Topics PocketPCPalmMore Topics ... |
Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Cingular / November 2005Since when do you have to send back old phone when upgrading?
I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account for several years. I've upgraded phones a bunch of times, and they always just sent the new phone and I put the old one in a drawer. It was the same since I added family plan lines and switched to GSM. The spares have come in handy more than once to replace lost and damaged phones. Company policy seems to have changed recently, though: I just ordered a new phone to replace yet another lost one. Since they were going to extend the contract on all of the lines no matter how many of the phones I upgraded, I figured I'd pick up an extra phone on this transaction as a spare and to be able to swap occasionally. They said that they would send a replacement phone for the lost one with no problem, but if I wanted to upgrade any of the other phones on the account I would have to return the old one. Is this a new policy to avoid subscribers upgrading too often and making money selling the old ones, or did I just catch a cranky rep this time? Also, this time they said that the replacement phone was free but a SIM card would be $25.00. Luckily, I had an extra SIM and was able to activate it when the new phone came. > I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account for > several years. I've upgraded phones a bunch of times, and they always just [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Luckily, I had an extra SIM and was able to activate it when the new phone > came. I would rather doubt that this is a Cingular store. Sounds more like a reseller. What was the number you called? >> I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account for >> several years. I've upgraded phones a bunch of times, and they always [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > I would rather doubt that this is a Cingular store. Sounds more like a > reseller. What was the number you called? I dialed 611, reported the lost phone, and they set up the replacement. The person there is the one who told me that any upgrades other than the lost one would require the old phones to be returned. > >> I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account for > >> several years. I've upgraded phones a bunch of times, and they always [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > person there is the one who told me that any upgrades other than the lost > one would require the old phones to be returned. Lockline Insurance? >> >> I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account >> >> for [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > Lockline Insurance? no, never had it, and never could figure out why to get it given the generous upgrade policy. Oh well, things change, and you can't fault them for wanting to make another buck. I just wondered if this was a new policy or I just got a cranky rep this time. > >> >> I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account > >> >> for [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > for wanting to make another buck. I just wondered if this was a new policy > or I just got a cranky rep this time. Well I will tell you that I am stumped and kind of surprised. I have never heard of any wireless company asking for the old fone back. If anyone works for Cingular that knows what this is about it would be interesting to know what this is about. Is it a way to get equipment for the "LIFELINE" program that - pending FCC approval - will go into effect soon? >I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account for >several years. I've upgraded phones a bunch of times, and they always just [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >Luckily, I had an extra SIM and was able to activate it when the new phone >came. I'm on a business family account as well and have never experienced the problem as you describe. Somewhere around Thu, 10 Nov 2005 03:25:38 GMT, while reading alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from "dave d" <no@sbcglobal.net>: >I've been on an ATT legacy account with a business discount account for >several years. I've upgraded phones a bunch of times, and they always just [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >Luckily, I had an extra SIM and was able to activate it when the new phone >came. Just wondering - did they offer to pay for shipping to send back the old phone? Or are you picking up the new phone and bringing the old one? I shipping is involved, I'd ask for a UPS prepaid shipping label, or a pickup request. But I think the phone legally belongs to you if you satisfied your side of the bargain. I can see paying for a sim card; whenever I've gotten a new phone, I had to use my old sim card.  SignatureMarty - public.forums (at) gmail (dot) com "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." - Groucho Marx > Somewhere around Thu, 10 Nov 2005 03:25:38 GMT, while reading > alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from "dave d" [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > to > use my old sim card. She asked for the EIN number of the phone that I would be returning. I said that I've never had to return one before, and if that was the deal I'd just keep the one that I had. We didn't discuss it any further, just finished the transaction for the lost phone (which went through with no problem). I may just call again to see if I misunderstood, but I don't think so. There didn't appear to be the language barrier that happens so often on these types of calls. Once I returned a phone on warrantee and they sent me a mailer. They sent me a new phone without a battery to replace one that broke after a few weeks. I put my battery on the new phone and sent the old one back in the mailer. There was a letter saying that if I didn't sent it back in a certain period of time that there would be a charge. That was for a warrantee exchange, though, not an upgrade. All of the "upgrades" I've done have been one way deals. > > Somewhere around Thu, 10 Nov 2005 03:25:38 GMT, while reading > > alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from "dave d" [quoted text clipped - 51 lines] > warrantee exchange, though, not an upgrade. All of the "upgrades" I've done > have been one way deals. Ahhhhh - I see. The phone was a warranty replacement. Now that makes sense. They get the bad phone back so they can verify that the phone is defective and was not subjected to water or abuse. >> She asked for the EIN number of the phone that I would be returning. I > said [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > sense. They get the bad phone back so they can verify that the phone is > defective and was not subjected to water or abuse. No, no, not this one, that was one several years ago. I just mentioned it because someone asked if Cingular would be paying for shipping on the returned phone and my warranty experience showed that yes, they had a mechanism in place to handle a return transaction quickly. The event that prompted me to post here a few days ago was when Cingular indicated that an UPGRADE would require a return. Hi Dave, I work at Cingular, and I know that we do not require customers to return their phone to us in store for an upgrade. However, doing an upgrade over the phone may require it since a lot of online and phone orders are cheaper than in store. Maybe that is a condition of getting the cheaper price. Somewhere around 14 Nov 2005 11:48:22 -0800, while reading alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from "TabooLexicon" <taboolexicon@gmail.com>: >Hi Dave, > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >orders are cheaper than in store. Maybe that is a condition of getting >the cheaper price. My understanding is that I own the phones I get from Cingular. If I don't fulfill my contract, I have to pay a termination fee. Many of the phones require some payment by me, and some have a rebate, but I have to pay the tax on the full amount first. Nowhere have I ever read or been told that I don't own the phone. That's why I find it hard to believe that they would ever ask for it back. SignatureMarty - public.forums (at) gmail (dot) com "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." - Groucho Marx >Somewhere around 14 Nov 2005 11:48:22 -0800, while reading >alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from "TabooLexicon" [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >>orders are cheaper than in store. Maybe that is a condition of getting >>the cheaper price. >My understanding is that I own the phones I get from Cingular. If I don't >fulfill my contract, I have to pay a termination fee. Many of the phones >require some payment by me, and some have a rebate, but I have to pay the >tax on the full amount first. Nowhere have I ever read or been told that I >don't own the phone. That's why I find it hard to believe that they would >ever ask for it back. Does a trade-in make more sense to you? SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> As I said before, trading in your phone may have been a condition of the reduced price over the phone. Therefore, you own the phone, but if you would like the exclusive over-the-phone deal you may have to send them yours. I don't know if that is the policy, but it makes sense. Somewhere around 16 Nov 2005 07:05:02 -0800, while reading alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from "TabooLexicon" <taboolexicon@gmail.com>: >As I said before, trading in your phone may have been a condition of >the reduced price over the phone. Therefore, you own the phone, but if >you would like the exclusive over-the-phone deal you may have to send >them yours. I don't know if that is the policy, but it makes sense. Oh, I think I see now - they may have a deal like "Trade in your old phone and get $50 off a new one", or something similar. I think I've seen deals like that. I wasn't considering that possibility. SignatureMarty - public.forums (at) gmail (dot) com "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." - Groucho Marx |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.