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I had an interesting chat with an AT&T customer service rep yesterday that I thought I would share with you, as you might find the information useful. See, my old phone contract expired shortly after the announcement of the iPhone 3G, so naturally I decided to make the switch to AT&T. However, there is still some dispute as to whether or not you’ll be able to snag one for $199 if you are already a customer who isn’t eligible for an upgrade.

Initially I posed this question to the person I bought my service off of, however, they seemed to have less knowledge on the subject than I did (they were still claiming that the old 2.5G iPhone plan would work for the 3G phone) so I wasn’t exactly trusting. However, I really didn’t want to be without a phone until July 11th. So since AT&T still hasn’t said exactly what they’re doing for customers that aren’t eligible for upgrades, I thought I’d give their customer service line a call.

When I got a rep on the line, I explained my situation to him, and he replied that I was the fourth or fifth person today he’d spoken to with a similar situation. Fortunately, the higher-ups had sent down an email with simple instructions for those of us that had recently purchased service with them. The solution? Just go back to the store and exchange my cheap-o phone for a 2.5G iPhone, and they’ll just exchange it (minus 10% restocking, of course). That seems simple enough, right?

I don’t now if any of you have attempted to purchase a 2.5G iPhone in the last few weeks, but it’s becoming nearly impossible to find one in stock. I explained this to the rep who seemed a bit surprised. He then read off the email which stated that the 2.5G iPhone had been discounted for this exact reason, and that customers should be directed to the store where they purchased service so that they can purchase one, and thus ensure that they won’t have to pay an unsubsidized price (it was also noted that they weren’t yet sure if they were going to be selling it unsubsidized, and they were still working out the details).

I decided to try a different route with the rep and asked exactly what the new discounted price was for the 2.5G iPhone. He spent roughly 10 minutes searching for this information and came up dry. I suggested that I could simply call my local branch and inquire, and he said he’d be kind enough to do that himself. I was put on hold for a few minutes, after which time he came back on the line and sounded rather surprised. Apparently my local branch had no 2.5G iPhones, and the manager had informed him that almost none of the stores nationwide would have stock on them due to the new version.

We already knew that AT&T was caught a big off guard with this whole iPhone 3G situation, but this shows just how bad it really is. It has been known that the iPhone has been out of stock nearly everywhere for a good while now, yet AT&T is telling new customers that they need to purchase one in order to be eligible for a 3G iPhone at the subsidized price. That’s terrible.

I don’t blame the rep which I was talking to, he was simply passing on what he had been told to say. He was kind enough to make a special note on my account that explicitly stated that I was to be given a 3G iPhone at the proper subsidized price, and the manager on duty was to override the upgrade eligibility requirement.

Here’s my suggestion to anyone who has recently purchased service (or plans on purchasing it before July 11th) and wishes to get an iPhone. Call the AT&T customer service line and have a conversation similar to the one I had. It may seem like a lot of trouble, but at least you should be ensured an iPhone for the proper price. If you don’t call, there’s a chance that you’ll be presented with a much higher price at the checkout. Hopefully AT&T will have a solution to this before launch day.