I finally switched to AT&T from Verizon specifcially for the Iphone. I ordered over the phone on Thursday and finally got my terms and conditions email today 3 days later but now when I go to check my order status it says that the two refurb 16gb 3gs that I ordered under a family plan are on backorder. I ordered one in black and one in white. Does anyone know how long they will take to ship? I’m concerned since I ordered an Iphone for my husband who is currently on trial with Sprint. Next week his trial is over and I don’t want to pay an early termination fee but I don’t want him to be stuck without a cell phone. I must say that I was really hesitant to make the switch to AT&T because of the spotty service I heard about and now I’m questioning my decision even more. I explained the Sprint situation to two customer service reps when I was calling inquiring about the Terms & Conditions email and they all made it seem like the phone would ship as soon as I got the email and agreed to the terms and conditions. First, I never would have thought it would have taken 3 days to receive an email especially not in this day and age and second someone should have mentioned the phones were on backorder. Anyone with any experience with refurb phone?
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So I also placed a reservation at the Apple store. Â iPhone came in on Sunday to the store. It was part of their “Lets wipe out the reservation list” weekend blowout. I went in, and it was there. All nice a beautiful in its tiny white box. We typed in my information into the Apple store clerks iPhone to check my upgrade eligibility. BUZZ. Wrong. Apple couldn’t connect to AT&T. The people at the store said its because they use the social security number to check the account – but Corporate plan users don’t HAVE a SSN, AT&T uses the EIN (Employer ID Number?) for tax purposes or something. Â So Apple is saying that they’ve never been able to do it, and its AT&T’s fault. AT&T says its Apples fault because they’re not connecting to their system properly for that account type…I don’t care! Just give me my iPhone! 
 So the clerk tells me that I could switch from a corporate plan to a personal plan down at the AT&T store. Then, he’d be able to verify my eligibilty for the upgrade price.  AT&T store clerk says that my Boss (who is in Hawaii on his Honeymoon until next Monday btw…) is the only one authorized to release my phone number. He also tells me that I have to call AT&T to make the switch. So I dial 611. I get a nice lady who explains that she’d love to help, but my boss needs to call in to make the switch. Plus, the office that transfers these accounts is closed until 8am EST monday.  So, I go back and talk to the Apple store manager. I explain my situation and she is totally sympathetic. She tells me that she’ll hold onto it for me until the close of business the next day. I then mention to her that I’d probably have to cancel my AT&T order as well. That’s when she has a really sad look on her face.  “Well, if you placed an order through AT&T the you’re no longer eligible for the upgrade price. And once you cancel the order, it takes up to 24-72 hours for the eligibility to reappear on your account”  …so…Even IF I call up my boss and bug him on his Honeymoon (which I had NO intention of doing btw) I STILL wouldn’t be eligible for the upgrade before Apple released the phone to someone else.  I then called up AT&T to confirm this, and the gentleman told me that it would take some time for it to clear to my account.  I’ve never had this much trouble upgrading a phone. It was right there. Right in front of me. I could see it, touch the box…  But, because AT&T and Apple can’t communicate when there is a Corporate account involved, I lost 4 hours of my life that I’ll never get back.  Thanks AT&T. At least my phone is finally off of Back Order today. It would’ve been nice to have just picked it up at the Apple store, 2 days ago.  Way to treat your “valued” Corporate customers.  Look, I’m in IT. It really can’t be THAT hard to integrate the Corporate plan users into Apple’s system. It sounds to me like everyone is pointing fingers and saying its the other persons fault. Who cares? Why can’t you just fix it? The people I’ve talked to at Apple and AT&T said it’s been this way since forever. 
