Should I be eligible for a new phone?

Question

A woman from my church added me to her family cellular plan so for the past year I have been on hers. The phone she gave me is super old. I remember my best friend having a phone like this one when I was a freshman in high school so the phone I have is at least 6 years old. Recently, her contract ended and I got a plan with my sister just last week. My sister lives 500 miles away from me so she signed the contract and switched over the phones so that we could keep our numbers and our current phones.

Well my kitten chewed through the charger chord to my phone and I can't charge it and I really don't want to spend the money on a charger for this phone when I am planning on getting a new one anyway. Well if I go to the At&t place and talk to them would they be able to hook me up with a phone that cost less than $50? Could I just trade in the phone I have? I feel that I should have been given a new phone anyway since I just paid for a new contract. Am I wrong? If I explain my situation will they just laugh at me?? Please help. I don't know what to do and I need a phone. I am probably the only college kid that knows nothing about cell phones. HELP!

Answer 1

whoa ... slow down!

It sounds like your sister did a Transfer of Service into her name. With ATT if you were eligible for a phone before it happened you will STILL be eligible now. What that means is you can get a discounted rate on a phone in exchange for a new contract and an $18 upgrade fee. You can call customer care as long as you can verify your sisters SSN or password to access the account and explain your situation. They can upgrade over the phone for you but you will need a credit card to do so. They may have access to a free phone but Im sure there are phones less than $50 they can get you. You can also go to a CORPORATE store .. they can determine the same thing and assist you in a new phone. If you go anywhere else they will not be able to do it since their system will not show you eligible... ATT can override it and get you your phone.

They will not take your old one in trade though ... you can keep it and just get a new phone.

hey dont knock the 6000 series... I still have a 6010 as a spare phone!