Another new iPhone, another new activation fee waived

When the new iPhone 6 Plus came out, I knew that I had to get my hands on one.  My eyes have been getting strained while working on my iPhone 5’s smaller screen.  This is Apple’s largest iPhone to date, and has some great features like optical image stabilization, Apple Pay, fingerprint sensor, all with amazing battery life. 

While there are much cheaper cell phone providers out there, we stay with AT&T because their cellular coverage in our area is excellent.  I need to have a reliable wireless network because I am regularly on call for my company.  I am thankful that my company subsidizes $100 towards our cell phone bill every month.  If I did not get my cell phone bill paid monthly, I would consider cheaper telephone service options such as T-mobile and Republic Wireless.  I’ve previously written about saving money on your cell phone bill here.

Since we have no intention of leaving AT&T Wireless anytime soon, I went ahead and upgraded my cell phone and signed up for another 2-year contract.  When you upgrade your phone on AT&T (and other carriers like Verizon), you wil get charged with a one time “upgrade fee.”  This year, AT&T charged me $40. 

As soon as I saw the fee on my bill, I knew I had to call AT&T to ask them to remove it.   I simply dialed 611 on my phone, then spoke with the customer service representative on the line.

ME:  “I have been with AT&T Wireless for several years and just recently signed up for another 2 year contract.  I just noticed a $40 upgrade fee on my statement and I would like to have that fee removed.”

REPRESENTATIVE:  “Thank you for being a loyal AT&T Wireless customer.  I will be happy to credit your account an amount of $40 to offset the upgrade fee.  You can login to your account online and should see a credit for $40 immediately.”

I then logged into my account and there was a $40 bill credit waiting for me. 

For those of you who don’t feel comfortable talking to a representative on the phone, you can also use the AT&T Live Chat feature on their website to kindly ask for your upgrade fee waived.  Just ask nicely and you should also be able to get your fee waived this way.

Whenever I get a fee or extra charge on any of my bills, it is an automatic cue for me to call and try to get those fees waived.  Companies want to keep you as a customer and if waiving a fee makes you happy, they will be happy to do it.  Two years ago, the upgrade fee was $36.  I was able to get my upgrade fee waived back then just by asking.   

You can read more discussion about getting your AT&T activation fee waived on macrumors (this is a tread from 2012 that is regularly updated as more and more customers get their fees waived). 

Have you been billed an activation fee?  If so, go ahead and make a 5 minute call to get that fee waived.