T-Mobile ~ iPhone 3GS

[Mike4391]

Hi, I called Apple the other day to ask if I could buy the 3GS without a contract and they said yes and told me the price. Went in today and they said they couldn't sell to me bacause I don't have an AT&T account, so even though I'm not buying it with a contract, I have to have an AT&T account. My sister has AT&T and I'm wondering if I use her account to buy the phone without a contract,

1.) After she buys it, will her plan be changed to an iPhone plan? Can it be switched back to her original plan?

2.) Will it affect her eligibility to upgrade?

 

[ericUT]

If she purchases the iPhone 3GS off contract using her AT&T account (NOTE: you must make sure that you're buying it at the off-contract price) it will not affect her service, plan, or contract. The one thing you may have to do is activate that iPhone on her line, then go back in and reactivate her old phone. Some store may not be able to sell the iPhone outright without placing it on the line first, so a call to 611 after the fact may be needed to clear this up.

I'm not sure if you need all the features on the 3Gs, but if you don't it would be far cheaper to buy a used 3G over craigslist or ebay. Since you're not getting 3G anyway, you could even go iPhone 2G although you would lose out on GPS

 

[Mike4391]

Yeah, I do want the features on the 3GS, so I don't mind paying the higher price, so you're saying that if I buy it off contract, activate it on her line, then switch her phone plan back, there will be no problem and she will still be able to upgrade in November?

 

[Jeremy]

Yeah, I do want the features on the 3GS, so I don't mind paying the higher price, so you're saying that if I buy it off contract, activate it on her line, then switch her phone plan back, there will be no problem and she will still be able to upgrade in November?

You won't have those features if you use it with T-Mobile.

 

[Mike4391]

Most of the features are hardware, nothing to do with carrier. Back to the point though. Will my sis be able to get her upgrade or will it affect it?

 

[Mike4391]

Anyone? Just want to confirm that I should be able to take my sis and buy (at full no contract price) and activate the iPhone on her line, then take the iPhone plan off her line and change it back to her regular plan without any problems and without affecting her eligibility to upgrade when she's due in Nov.

 

[ericUT]

Anyone? Just want to confirm that I should be able to take my sis and buy (at full no contract price) and activate the iPhone on her line, then take the iPhone plan off her line and change it back to her regular plan without any problems and without affecting her eligibility to upgrade when she's due in Nov.

As long as you EXPLICITLY tell the apple or at&t rep you want to purchase it OFF CONTRACT for the full retail price, her upgrade will be fine in november.

 

[Mike4391]

And I WILL be able to take the iPhone off her plan with no problem after I activate it, correct? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be sure. And thanks to everyone for your help.

 

[Mike4391]

Hey everybody, just bought the iPhone on my sis's account with AT&T, now, how do I remove the iPhone plan from her account and return it to her regular plan?

 

[ericUT]

Hey everybody, just bought the iPhone on my sis's account with AT&T, now, how do I remove the iPhone plan from her account and return it to her regular plan?

You can either go to her account online and change the device listed with the IMEI of the phone she was using before, or call 1-800-331-0500 to speak with customer service and have them do the same thing. Bingo Bango Bongo.

 

[filmore77]

So you can change data packages online with just an imei?

 

[ericUT]

So you can change data packages online with just an imei?

Just follow the links to switch equipment and the data package will fall automatically.

 

[mattgibstein]

Just follow the links to switch equipment and the data package will fall automatically.

Thanks... I was wondering