The Industry Standard - 3G iPhone ONLY available with 2-year commitment -- no prepaid or off-contract options - Comments

no data for iphone on

Leung — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:46:35 -0700

no data for iphone on prepaid plans with AT&T Go Phones

I'm in the US from Hong Kong and brought my not-locked iPhone with me. To avoid paying roaming charges, I decided to go to an ATT store for a prepaid card & added the data service ($20 for 100MB). The phone worked fine, but not data. The message on the phone was "Could not activate cellular data network: You are not subscribed to the cellular data service". I spent about 45 minutes in the store with the sales guy, then on the phone with first with customer service then with technical support. I was told twice on the phone that ATT identifies iPhones on the network and will not let them connect for data unless there is contract. They refunded the data part of my card. Will try T-Mobile next if I can find a store.

I have the go phone and i

gary — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:23:08 -0700

I have the go phone and i took the sim card out and inserted it into my iphone 3g and it works fine

So I got bored around about

Olly — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:47:23 -0700

So I got bored around about where people started arguing about credit scores.
I'm emmigrated to the states about 5 weeks ago. Tried to bring my wife's UK iPhone over, but it wouldn't work with an AT&T SIM. On account of not having a social security# at the time, AT&T wouldn't let me (even with the offer of a $1000 deposit and proof I have a very good salary) get her a contract that would let her have an iPhone.
Instead, we bought an AT&T GoPhone SIM and used it in a spare Motorola that I had.
I have since picked up an iPhone 3GS for her, and am pleased to report that it appears to be working as a phone (the data bit doesn't, but I guess good things come to those who wait...)

On a more serious note, I can't believe you guys put up with such crap from AT&T...how the merry hell can they happily imply that $69.99/month is a 'good deal' and how on earth did they manage to stiff you guys into *paying* to recieve calls...if anything, you need to stop bitching at each other and take these companies to task over their ridiculous pricing scams...

I've heard recently, if you

Vic — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:35:59 -0700

I've heard recently, if you are looking for a deal online with AT&T and happen to be denied due to credit reasons.

The order is canceled, and you are asked to go to a store to give a deposit. This was an associate's experience..

1. Order generated
2. Phone selected (special online price/deal)
3. Address verified.
4. Day and a half later - email sent telling customer order is canceled and a to proceed to a store. He then called and was told a small $300 dollar deposit was required but is refunded.
5. He was told that his original sale price of a refurb ipod was only a online price and is not sure if he is going to have the same deal at the store because the stores operate differently.
6. Customer went to the store and was told his order was invalid only online.

So to recap. You have a customer who you are telling they need to put down a deposit, (understandable). But that same customer is not entitled to the reduced price, after he/she is agreeing to a contract for 2 years.

But because AT&T is separating the online division with the brick and mortar, they are basically also saying that a certain class of customer so to speak, is only allowed to purchase contracts online.

Ideally you should not cancel the order, but advise the customer to go to a store to make his deposit or else the order will cancel at a certain time.

I firmly believe that every effort is made to make a customer pay higher fees, I mean canceling for a person who is willing to head right down to a store to pay his deposit? I've never seen that.

Joe Wilkins AT&T Regional

Vic — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:08:27 -0700

Joe Wilkins
AT&T Regional Sales

Mr. Joe Wilkins, hopefully your still not employed with AT&T. Your comments directed to Rick and Brandon are in poor professional taste. A general statement pointing to an official AT&T link stating
what company policy is, was not included in your post at all. All I saw where defamatory comments to 2 individuals, who did actually seem to have one thing in common...They don't have any complaints about AT&T.

With that said, I do question your creditability with AT&T and it's projection of "high customer service is its top priority"

I'm sorry, what was the

Stephen — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:47:43 -0800

I'm sorry, what was the question again? Was there one?

bottom of comment section states:
Respectful debate is welcome, but comments that are defamatory, indecent, abusive, or in violation of any law will be removed.

Seriously folks, if your

Bobo — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:51:38 -0800

Seriously folks, if your credit is so bad that you can't quality for an iPhone, you probably shouldn't have one. How bout repairing your credit first and THEN get one? Hmm, now there's an idea, actually waiting until you can afford something before you buy it. If all Americans operated under this premise we wouldn't be dealing with the current housing mess.

Hmm... you seem to have a

Kevin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:48:49 -0800

Hmm... you seem to have a bunch of unnecessary animosity for the iPhone. considering your phone needs a HACK for visual voicemail, you cant really complain... I dont need to piggyback ten laptops while camping with my phone.. I want to have internet for ME, no one else!! I dont know what iphone you used, but my iPhone has way better quality than ANY phone i have used...and I used many. Lest we forget that its also an iPod... which your phone is NOT. the Tilt is garbage... windows mobile BS... i had windows mobile before... it sucks...anything your tilt can do, the iPhone does as well... oh wait... we have a REAL internet browser, not that "pocket explorer" garbage....

But everyone is entitled to his opinion...even if he cant spell douchebag correctly...

i don't want to sound rude

lee — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:01:32 -0800

i don't want to sound rude or anything but this comment could be taken as offensive to some people. there a thousand different reasons why peoples credit is not what it could be. I personally went through a very hard time a few years ago and as a result my credit was pretty much destroyed. personally ive always thought its a ridiculous idea to need credit for a cell phone anyway. its a phone for gods sake!!
its not like its a car or a house!! dont pay it, then its cut off!!! all im saying is that people have different reasons for not having good credit and its not always that they cant be bothered to pay their bills. my credit was screwed because of a $1000 loan. $1000!!!!! crazy. the credit system sucks anyway.

no one in the usa has good

frakerman — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:17:31 -0700

no one in the usa has good credit. including you glen.

Rick, Impersonating an

Joe — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:17:36 -0700

Rick,
Impersonating an employee of any government, publicly, or privately owned company is a federal offense and could lead to federal prosecution.

Brandon,
Hacking and modifying your Iphone or any other phone with AT&T service puts you in confliction with your AT&T contract which may lead to an early termination of contract and service which will result in an early termination fee of up to $175 as well as a one year suspension from any AT&T services that you may currently subscribe to.

Iphone and other AT&T customers,
I apologize for any offensive comments that may have been put forth falsely on behalf of AT&T.
Any comments posted in non-sponsored forums and blogs by a person claiming to be in affiliation with AT&T or Apple should be disregarded. I assure you that none of our employees, to our knowledge, blog any negativity towards any AT&T or Apple products and/or customers. Sorry for any inconvenience or offense. High customer satisfaction is our top priority.

Cordially

Joe Wilkins
AT&T Regional Sales
Customer Satisfaction is our Guarantee!

Testicles....................

Scott — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:30:50 -0700

Testicles................................. That is all.

It's like a soap opera up in

Sam — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:57:35 -0700

It's like a soap opera up in here. Do you guys have a life or is it all about the phones? I mean, 3:58am? Really?

I'm not even going to argue

Brandon — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:58:09 -0700

I'm not even going to argue any further. Just look at the Income reports from Apple Computer Inc. during this period and you will clearly see that Apple is taking in far more money from other sources than Microsoft's meager $150 Million dollar investment.

First Quarter 1997: http://sec.edgar-online.com/1997/05/12/00/0000320193-97-000011/Section2....
Second Quarter 1997: http://sec.edgar-online.com/1997/08/11/17/0000320193-97-000014/Section2....

If you really want to understand, this post does a fairly good job of explaining Microsoft's situation and why this investment is meaningless in real value:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/592FE887-5CA1-4F30-BD62-...

I am in no way saying that Microsoft is a big evil monopoly but want to dispel this myth that Microsoft's investment was a life saver for Apple. Rick clearly seems to be hot-headed about the issue and I'll let readers of this argument decide for themselves whose in the right but I just ask everyone to think about how they want to be treated by a representative of a company they are a customer of. Would like for an employee to call you a douche bag three times and try and team up on you with more employees? I know I'm not alone in saying that I don't and I for one will be reporting this conversation to everyone I can at AT&T and hoping that this crazy "District Manager" will be fired. If not for his terrible anger issues then for his clear misunderstanding and distaste of the hardware he sells and the partners his company works with.

Good luck to you Rick and I hope you can see why no customer should ever be treated the way you have treated me and all iPhone owners in your comments.

You aren't my customer. No

Rick — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:12:36 -0700

You aren't my customer. No one here will ever be my customer. You haven't walked through any of my doors. Ashley found this blog on her own and commented on her own. Our customers get this information in a face to face real encounter that this text cant duplicate. If you want to meet face to face, I'm sure we could figure that out sport.

Read the article again, Apple was out of capital.....flat broke. Yes they may have had a 7 billion dollar house, but what happens when you cant pay the mortgage payment? Ashley was right. You act like you are so damn smart, meanwhile you don't know a damn thing about anything!

3G iPhone ONLY available with 2-year commitment -- no prepaid or off-contract options

Jordan Golson — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:33:35 -0700

Not only did AT&T drop the revenue sharing component of its deal with Apple, it has also dropped the prepaid GoPhone iPhone plan for the 3G iPhone.

With the original iPhone, purchasers who failed a credit check (whether because of bad credit or by entering a fake Social Security number like 999-99-9999) would qualify for special prepaid GoPhone plans. The plans are slightly more expensive than traditional postpaid plans, but for someone like myself who has poor credit because of past financial mistakes, it was a nice option -- in fact, it was the only way I could get an iPhone without paying a hefty deposit.

Now though, that's all going out the window. An AT&T spokesman tells us the iPhone "will only be available with a two-year contract." Current iPhone owners and other AT&T customers will have their two-year commitment restarted upon activation of a new 3G iPhone and current GoPhone users (like myself) are out of luck.

To put it mildly: that sucks.

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