At&t contract loophole?

david12795

david12795

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I know this pertains nothing to video games but i have a friend who works at ATT and he said he might be able to find a loophole for me and "end" my contract early to get an iPhone 4. My dad renewed my contract this year of June. So has anyone done this before because they know somebody who works at att? what are the chances?


and why did my dad renewed my contract? well because pays for it and didnt let me pick a phone out. but i have a job now.
 
The only loophole is that you can get the phone cheaper than just buying it outright, but you will still have to pay a little bit of markup as opposed to if you were already out of your contractual agreement.

There are no loopholes that let you get out scott free that I know of, and generally there is a cheaper rate for a phone upgrade if you were past 1 year into your contract (assuming you have the standard 2 year).

Otherwise you may just have to pay the outright if that's not even available for you because it's not always offered depending on your account history.

You could always contact ATT directly and see if they're willing to give you some sort of break and then go from there as well. They will look into your history and determine what they want to do for you.

I'm also a bit confused if you're on a family plan or not since you mentioned your dad and were you looking to just open up a separate account and port your number to that account or what exactly do you want? Please specify.
 
im on a family plan. thats why my dad decided to upgrade all of our family phones.

i mean couldnt my friend somehow manually override my family's account or "change" it?
 
why are you asking us if your friend works at ATT?

anywho, you can't cancel a contract unless they changed their contract terms. if you don't agree with the new terms you can cancel without an etf. but that requires a bit of arguing with att.
 
[quote name='david12795']im on a family plan. thats why my dad decided to upgrade all of our family phones.

i mean couldnt my friend somehow manually override my family's account or "change" it?[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately he can not.

When they try to do it manually, they will be stopped by the system and they will be told they need to contact an ATT rep directly to resolve the issue, not to mention the fact that he can most definitely get fired over it, unless he's not that good of a friend, then you can tell him to try.

And if you say, "Well why doesn't he try and if he gets stopped, then just leave it?"

That won't work either because there is also a small chance that ATT themselves will put a hold on your account for suspicious activity as part of their fraud system and then contact your dad about it, and if they can't figure it out, they're going to find where the original attempt to change the information came from and eventually track it back to where your friend works and most likely he put in his Employee number to do the check for you, so it will get back to him.

Honestly you can either pay the $250 fine (I think that's what it still is) to get out of the contract, or you're just going to have to see if they can get you an early upgrade depending on how long ago you upgraded and get somewhat of a discount, but not the full one as if a brand new line, or a contract renewal. But keep in mind if you do upgrade again, you're going to get relocked into 2 years again for early renewal.

So weigh your options out.
 
why are you asking us if your friend works at ATT?

anywho, you can't cancel a contract unless they changed their contract terms. if you don't agree with the new terms you can cancel without an etf. but that requires a bit of arguing with att.

[quote name='david12795']So has anyone done this before because they know somebody who works at att? what are the chances?


[/QUOTE]







[quote name='Squarehard']Unfortunately he can not.

When they try to do it manually, they will be stopped by the system and they will be told they need to contact an ATT rep directly to resolve the issue, not to mention the fact that he can most definitely get fired over it, unless he's not that good of a friend, then you can tell him to try.

And if you say, "Well why doesn't he try and if he gets stopped, then just leave it?"

That won't work either because there is also a small chance that ATT themselves will put a hold on your account for suspicious activity as part of their fraud system and then contact your dad about it, and if they can't figure it out, they're going to find where the original attempt to change the information came from and eventually track it back to where your friend works and most likely he put in his Employee number to do the check for you, so it will get back to him.

Honestly you can either pay the $250 fine (I think that's what it still is) to get out of the contract, or you're just going to have to see if they can get you an early upgrade depending on how long ago you upgraded and get somewhat of a discount, but not the full one as if a brand new line, or a contract renewal. But keep in mind if you do upgrade again, you're going to get relocked into 2 years again for early renewal.

So weigh your options out.[/QUOTE]


ah okay thats what i needed to know then, do you work for AT&T?
;) and thanks. i guess this means i'll have to wait for another two years. *sighs* and im not gonna risk my friend getting fired over it. ill still go in regardless and check because of the what ifs and buts, ya know?
 
[quote name='david12795']why are you asking us if your friend works at ATT?

anywho, you can't cancel a contract unless they changed their contract terms. if you don't agree with the new terms you can cancel without an etf. but that requires a bit of arguing with att.

ah okay thats what i needed to know then, do you work for AT&T?
;) and thanks. i guess this means i'll have to wait for another two years. *sighs* and im not gonna risk my friend getting fired over it. ill still go in regardless and check because of the what ifs and buts, ya know?[/QUOTE]

I used to for a few months a long time ago, and then I worked for Best Buy Mobile for awhile as well, but also awhile ago, however contractual policy almost never changes, so I'm pretty familiar with how contracts work since I've had all sorts of customers that's always trying to get out of them, or end them early.

Normally the only solution is an early upgrade for most customers, and in some cases they just pay the early termination fee, as mentioned by a fellow CAG above, so those are generally your only options in this case.
 
did your dad get new phones when he renewed? if so, are they smartphones?

its 175 for straight cell phones and 325 for smarthphones. if youre willing to pay for an iphone its a small price to pay if your dad has straight cell phones
 
ahh if only my dad didnt renew my phone. then id have a chance. i know i wont be qualified for an early upgrade soo either i can pay for termination fee or get an iphone off the att market somewhere.

thanks for the info. guess theres no way i can win.
 
[quote name='david12795']ahh if only my dad didnt renew my phone. then id have a chance. i know i wont be qualified for an early upgrade soo either i can pay for termination fee or get an iphone off the att market somewhere.

thanks for the info. guess theres no way i can win.[/QUOTE]

Not a cheap way at least.
 
[quote name='shosh']did your dad get new phones when he renewed? if so, are they smartphones?

its 175 for straight cell phones and 325 for smarthphones. if youre willing to pay for an iphone its a small price to pay if your dad has straight cell phones[/QUOTE]


LOL NO. they are a user-friendly phones. Nokia 2720. Look it up and laugh.

[quote name='Squarehard']Not a cheap way at least.[/QUOTE]


true but no way i am paying $600 for a new one. eventually, ill craiglist it or find a mutual friend that wants to get rid of theirs.
 
[quote name='david12795']LOL NO. they are a user-friendly phones. Nokia 2720. Look it up and laugh.




true but no way i am paying $600 for a new one. eventually, ill craiglist it or find a mutual friend that wants to get rid of theirs.[/QUOTE]
well in that case its 175 bucks for etf. and they do that 5 bucks off a month to make it what, 160? its not a real bad etf. you'd be better off paying that and getting a new contract for the iphone 4 instead of CL or ebay. the new iphone 4s are going for 800-1000 bucks and usually don't go down in price that much, even when the new version thatll eventually come out next summer.


but i hope you guys learned a lesson. never ever re-up a contract unless you really really really need a new phone and a good phone.
 
[quote name='shosh']well in that case its 175 bucks for etf. and they do that 5 bucks off a month to make it what, 160? its not a real bad etf. you'd be better off paying that and getting a new contract for the iphone 4 instead of CL or ebay. the new iphone 4s are going for 800-1000 bucks and usually don't go down in price that much, even when the new version thatll eventually come out next summer.


but i hope you guys learned a lesson. never ever re-up a contract unless you really really really need a new phone and a good phone.[/QUOTE]

Also if you're going to upgrade phones, make sure your dad doesn't upgrade everybody's since it's not a contractual agreement that he has to upgrade them all at the same time since each line technically have their own separate contract. I bet he did it because there was a deal on free phones if you upgrade all the phones at the same time, or he got conned into it by one of the salesman XD
 
[quote name='shosh']well in that case its 175 bucks for etf. and they do that 5 bucks off a month to make it what, 160? its not a real bad etf. you'd be better off paying that and getting a new contract for the iphone 4 instead of CL or ebay. the new iphone 4s are going for 800-1000 bucks and usually don't go down in price that much, even when the new version thatll eventually come out next summer.


but i hope your dad learned a lesson. never ever re-up a contract unless you really really really need a new phone and a good phone.[/QUOTE]


fixed ; ).

i am now stuck with a nokia 2720 for two year or my sony ericsson that is more updated than the nokia which will be on its last legs soon.



etf? whats that and how can i do it? $175 bucks got my attention ; )
 
[quote name='david12795']fixed ; ).

i am now stuck with a nokia 2720 for two year or my sony ericsson that is more updated than the nokia which will be on its last legs soon.



etf? whats that and how can i do it? $175 bucks got my attention ; )[/QUOTE]

I mentioned it earlier I think.

Early Termination Fee.
 
call att and tell them that when your dad upgraded, they upgraded your number as well by mistake, that might work as it actually happened to my gf. her dad upgraded his phone and they upgraded her phone line instead of his. they let her upgrade, no issues.
 
[quote name='david12795']I know this pertains nothing to video games but i have a friend who works at ATT and he said he might be able to find a loophole for me and "end" my contract early to get an iPhone 4. My dad renewed my contract this year of June. So has anyone done this before because they know somebody who works at att? what are the chances?


and why did my dad renewed my contract? well because pays for it and didnt let me pick a phone out. but i have a job now.[/QUOTE]

i work for verizon, and let me tell you, it's very rare to find a loophole these days in any company. if you actually read the contract, they cover nearly any situation. if a contract is signed, you're stuck for 2 years, or you can pay an early termination fee to get out
 
[quote name='Animal7390']call att and tell them that when your dad upgraded, they upgraded your number as well by mistake, that might work as it actually happened to my gf. her dad upgraded his phone and they upgraded her phone line instead of his. they let her upgrade, no issues.[/QUOTE]

that's only if it's within a certain period after the upgrade since there's a small grace period you can make a change to the contract.

he's had it changed for awhile now, so it's way past that grace period.
 
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