Possible to haggle on phone upgrade price?

I currently have AT&T, grandfathered into an unlimited data plan, with an iPhone 3gs that is on its last legs.

I'm looking to pick up a Galaxy SIII. The upgrade price is $199. Is this something that AT&T will typically negotiate on for someone who's not a new customer but is no longer on contract? If so, is the best route going in store and haggling with a rep or calling in and threatening to cancel to get on the line with retentions?

Just looking to save whatever money I can for locking myself into another 2 year deal.

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I doubt it, but it's worth a try. With any new phone or one that they don't make much of a profit on, they usually don't have any room to negotiate. They might throw in an accessory or two though. Or give you a coupon for one.

I ended up calling retentions and got $25 off the phone price, $45 off my bill, and upgrade fee waived.

That's good! I tried something similar with Verizon yesterday and they wouldn't budge. I ended up ordering an SIII through wirefly for $50 cheaper (ended up being $130 with the addition of a coupon I found)

Originally Posted by Vcize

I ended up calling retentions and got $25 off the phone price, $45 off my bill, and upgrade fee waived.

That's great! I wasn't sure if AT&T would offer anything, so I'll try to keep this in mind.

I'm glad they waived the upgrade fee. I'd never want to pay a fee to upgrade my phone. But we can't blame the company for asking for it because they're running a business so they need to get what they can get from the customer.