[Wyatt]

As you may already know, Radio Shack just announced that they're going to start carrying refurbished iPhones in store. For AT&T people, you can get an iPhone 4 (in pretty much any capacity) for free on a 2-year contract or upgrade.

My 3GS is starting to die on me. The lock screen button and proximity sensor don't work, and the mute switch is starting to flake out. I'd like to upgrade now, but I'm not eligible for full upgrade pricing until November.

I think they should let me do it, though. I have four smart phones (3 iPhones and one Android) on my contract, so my monthly bill is pretty damn big. Plus, when my line was set up, it was with a dumb phone, so the subsidy wasn't as big as it was for my wife's iPhone bought the same day. I got my 3GS off-contract by bartering with a friend, and I'm certain they've paid off whatever subsidy I was given on my shitty Pantech Laser.

I called them to test the waters last night, but I didn't want to get into a drawn out negotiation, since I was holding a sleeping baby. They offered to let me do "early upgrade" pricing, which is basically $250 + the regular (upgrade) price of the device. Obviously, I don't want to spend $250 on a "free" phone.

One of my other lines (my father in-law) is eligible for full upgrade pricing now, but I'm pretty sure that if I told him he could go get a free iPhone 4, he'd do it right now. So, I don't really want to use his eligibility.

Do you think I have any chance of persuading them to let me do a full upgrade right now?

[jdcfsu]

Just use it until it dies and get the 4S for super cheap when the next one comes out. No sense in trying to negotiate when it's still kind of usable. Set the auto-lock to as low as possible and avoid the mute switch.

[Wyatt]

The auto-lock is set as low as possible (1 minute), but standing around staring at my phone waiting for it to lock when I have two small kids to deal with is pretty inconvenient.

I can't just throw it in my pocket either, since the proximity sensor doesn't work. The screen stays active, and bumping my leg registers as a touch. When I do that, I frequently activate stuff in my pocket. I've found Pandora playing, but muted, more than once while I was on 3G. With my 200 MB data plan, wasted data can be expensive. I've actually come very close to going over my plan limit a couple of times, just because of this.

Likewise, I can't avoid the mute switch. I need it to be working. I don't want my phone ringing when the baby is sleeping.

If I can't get them to let me upgrade early, I may have to cancel my data plan, buy a shitty prepaid phone, and throw my sim card in that until November. Not exactly ideal.

[Maciej]

I'd try to find something used and cheap to hold me over until you can re-up. Basically I hate to sign a 2-year commitment with a 2+ year old phone. (Just me, YMMV.)

[jdcfsu]

Originally Posted by Maciej I'd try to find something used and cheap to hold me over until you can re-up. Basically I hate to sign a 2-year commitment with a 2+ year old phone. (Just me, YMMV.)

Exactly. Because I don't believe they'll let you cancel the data plan without paying for the cancelation.

[Wyatt]

I'm using my father in law's upgrade after all. He wants to wait until later in the year anyway so he can try to get the new iPhone. I may try to get it tonight, but it'll probably be later in the week. Thanks for helping me think through it!