Since 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.

---

› See More: Since when do you have to send back old phone when upgrading?

"dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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 would rather doubt that this is a Cingular store. Sounds more like a
reseller. What was the number you called?

"Cliff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> 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 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.

"dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Cliff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > "dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >> 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 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.
>
>

Lockline Insurance?

"Cliff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
>
> "dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "Cliff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> >
>> > "dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> > news:[email protected]...
>> >> 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 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.
>>
>>
>
> 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.

"dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Cliff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news[email protected]...
> >
> > "dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >>
> >> "Cliff" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >> news:[email protected]...
> >> >
> >> > "dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >> > news:[email protected]...
> >> >> 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 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.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > 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.
>
>

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?

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"
<[email protected]>:

>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.
>
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.
--
Marty - public.forums (at) gmail (dot) com
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...
well, I have others." - Groucho Marx

"Marty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 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"
> <[email protected]>:
>
>>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.
>>
> 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.
> --

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.

"dave d" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
>
> "Marty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > 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"
> > <[email protected]>:
> >
> >>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.
> >>
> > 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.
> > --
>
> 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.
>
>

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
>> 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.
>>
>>
>
> 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.
>
>
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"
<[email protected]>:

>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.
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.

--
Marty - public.forums (at) gmail (dot) com
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...
well, I have others." - Groucho Marx

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Mon, 14 Nov 2005 14:28:12
-0800, Marty <[email protected]> wrote:

>Somewhere around 14 Nov 2005 11:48:22 -0800, while reading
>alt.cellular.cingular, I think I thought I saw this post from "TabooLexicon"
><[email protected]>:
>
>>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.

>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?

--
Best 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"
<[email protected]>:

>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.

--
Marty - public.forums (at) gmail (dot) com
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them...
well, I have others." - Groucho Marx