Has anyone had experience haggling or negotiating a discount or upgrade price on a new cell phone before you were in an upgrade eligibility period?


I really want a new phone, have had the one im using now for almost a year. But i dont qualify for an upgrade. Has anyone gone into the store and negotiated a new 2 year contract and gotten the discount? how hard was it?

12/16/2008 10:36:22 AM

yup

it all depends on how long you've been with the company, how much your bill is every month, if you've ever been late or not... they actually have an index that's calculated based on this information that they can use to determine your "early" upgrade eligibility

...or, at least, that's how it works with at&t. when i went to get an iphone 3g when they came out, it was 5 months before i was eligible for an upgrade... obviously, they couldn't make exceptions for the iphone because of apple, but they were willing to give me *any* other phone for the subsidized price.

12/16/2008 10:38:18 AM

actually i believe you can get a discount after 1 year, but obviously it won't be as good as the 2 year upgrade deal.

12/16/2008 10:41:19 AM

awesome thanks evan.

i've been with AT&T (Cingular) for almost 8 years and have never been late on a payment so I shouldn't have any reasons why they would refuse me.

That new Blackberry Bold has been calling my name

12/16/2008 10:42:46 AM

threaten to leave when your contract is up
bitch, whine, and complain

12/16/2008 10:42:48 AM

it just depends on who you are getting help from


i went in before and was told they couldn't do anything... so i went across town (well from capital out to cary) and talked to someone else, and got a new phone that day w/ discount (without having to start a new contract)

12/16/2008 10:50:47 AM

Haha I did it last week. Sprint.

'Look, I've never used an upgrade with you all. I *need* a new phone, now. I've been a customer for a little over two years. I'm happy to sign a contract on my current plan. What can you do for me?'

Of course, it took a bunch of idiots going OH NO EMPLOYEE TYPE ACCOUNT MUST TRANSFER...disconnected, and one crazy bitch who called the house back three times after I hung up on her when she wouldn't give me her supervisor after she was difficult and refused to help...
The total count was 7 phone calls, and 11 or 12 people.

I ended up getting the samsung rant for $50 more than the new subscriber price ($50 for them; $100 for me) Being as that I'm broke now, but won't be so broke in Jan...this works.

Quote :

"threaten to leave when your contract is up"

Everyone does that.
Real negotiating power comes from not being on a contract.

8years, not late...sounds like you should be fine.
Post updates here, for other users to see in the future

^Yes. Call back and visit new places until you get what you want, or until you get someone willing to help you. Some people refuse to do anything outside of an existing script, and some people really want to help the customers, and most lie in between.
Be nice to everyone

[Edited on December 16, 2008 at 10:52 AM. Reason : ldj]

[Edited on December 16, 2008 at 10:53 AM. Reason : slkfj]

Another thing: don't be afraid to sign a contract, if you're tenacious. Any time your carrier changes any term of the contract (the most common are the prices for pay-per-use services like data and text, and then 'administrative fees'), they have given you a way out of your contract. You do need to be prepared to fight them on it, because they'll do all they can to not let you exercise this option, including saying things like 'well, this is for pay-per-use texting, and you have a text package, so this doesn't affect you. It's not a materially adverse change.' To which you say 'That's nice. My contract allows me to leave if you all change any terms. Not just the ones that affect me. These new terms of service are not the ones I agreed to.'

[Edited on December 16, 2008 at 10:56 AM. Reason : ldfkj]

[Edited on December 16, 2008 at 10:57 AM. Reason : ldkjf]

12/16/2008 10:51:12 AM

I've done this several times with Verizon. No problems.

Recently, I told them I needed to upgrade my phone to something with internet (Blackberry, etc.) for work purposes (which is true) but I'm about 4 months short of my eligibility for the 2-year deal. Didn't matter. I've been with them for about 5 years with no problems and they usually bend over backwards to help.

12/16/2008 11:05:22 AM

same deal with me, i upgraded my verizon phone to an email and data plan about 6 months shy of qualifying for an upgrade. verizon is always really friendly with negotiations like this but i've had service with them for a good 8 years

12/16/2008 11:38:30 AM