Late night Hot deal impulsive Internet phone/plan buy question on whether I'm screwed

[mrpiggy]

So on very early Tuesday morning (I shoulda been sleeping, but couldn't), I got Valentine's special email from AT&T Premier about special prices. I followed the link to the premier site and on going through the ordering process for fun, I noted that at checkout, some phones were hugely discounted and even more amazing, the plans were even better! Being sleepy as hell and not wanting to miss a deal I put in an order for two iphone5's and one LH Optimus. I recieved an email on Tuesday afternoon that all three phones have shipped. Now I'm thinking instead of a INCREDIBLE deal, I might have screwed myself.

Here is what the emailed receipt looks like (sorry about the lousy formatting of the columns): Pay attention to the cost of the phone and more importantly, the "Monthly" and "Total Monthly Charges" for the plans. This is also exactly what it looked like on the website as I did my order verification prior to getting a receipt.

One-Time Charges

Phone/Device
iPhone 5 (16GB White) $199.99
Offer Discount -$130.00
Services & Fees
One-Time Activation Fee $0.00
-------------------------------------
Sub-Total(One-Time) $69.99

One-Time Charges $69.99
Estimated Tax $4.20

Shipping $14.95
Total One-Time Charges $89.14


Monthly Charges
Voice Plan
AT&T Mobile Share(R) with
Unlimited Talk & Text $0.00

Data Plan
AT&T Mobile Share(R) 1GB
with Unlimited Talk & Text $40.00
Service Discount -$8.00
Regular Promotion -$32.00
AT&T Mobile Share(R) Personal
for iPhone on 4G LTE (1) $45.00
Regular Promotion -$45.00
Features
Applications
----------------------------------------
Sub-Total(Monthly) $0.00

Monthly Charges $0.00
Estimated Monthly Tax TBD

Total Monthly Charges $0.00

So basically, the monthly charges for the service plans are at "zero". Is AT&T going to come back at me hard and swiftly or can they be held to the terms of the receipt (Note that the monthly charges on the plan sections of the checkout screens, review order confirmations screens, all include "Monthly Reoccuring Charges" of zero dollars and I do have screen shots. And no I did nothing special on the AT&T Premier corporate sponsorship site. I just picked 3 phones and the exact same three plans and all of them were a cost of zero for the monthly costs.

[lopri]

Not sure how you're screwed? So you paid 3 x $89.14 (per phone) for 3 phones and the monthly plans are free? PM me the link please.

[swanysto]

Scam site?

[blackangst1]

Originally Posted by lopri

Not sure how you're screwed? So you paid 3 x $89.14 (per phone) for 3 phones and the monthly plans are free? PM me the link please.

Yah this lol

[mrpiggy]

This purchase was done through AT&T Premier corporate website. This is where you go to get employee 20-25% discounts because one works for a large company that has employee deals in place with AT&T. It's a legit AT&T site, but you basically need a corporate email to get there. Looks like there was a "blackberry promotion" for $140ish that their systems accidentally used on other-than-blackberry phone purchases "and" also applied it to the plan prices.. Not that I feel sorry for their mistake, as I'm sure they could give a crap about my financial issues if their bill wasn't paid on time. BTW: They fixed it a few hours after I made my purchases...

I'm mostly worried that I'm screwed because AT&T won't honor the zero dollar plan pricing (which is not normal even on a corporate deal) because of some computer mistake on their part. Like basically they tack on the full plan pricing for the three new phones lines onto my existing account regardless of what my receipt says I paid for.. Not so much I actually expect them to honor two years of free plans, but I don't want some long pain-in-the-ass drawn out fight because they go ahead and charge me the normal plan prices.

In all honesty, I'll let them off without a fight on the zero dollar monthly plans contract breach if they let me keep the phones for what I paid for them! Kinda gotta wait for any other paperwork to arrive with the phones (which should be here today) to see what AT&T's expectations of the agreement are..

[Red Storm]

You should probably call and find out for sure while the order is still new. If you're worried about them upholding and just try to wait it out you might end up getting screwed.

[bigrash]

Call and speak to a CSR. Worse case scenario, just return the phones.

[cronos]

You're probably not going to get 'screwed', however you are not going to make out like a bandit either.

They can't force you to pay full monthly fee for the whole 2-year period while their own receipts say zero, while on the other hand they are not going to let you go away with $80 iPhone 5 and let three lines out of contract completely. It's not going to happen, so just forget about it.

What is very likely to happen is that they will offer you the *real* discounted prices without the typos (I'm guessing the 'regular promotion' part is where it was an error), and if you won't take it then they'll ask for their phones back.

Be ready to fight, although you shouldn't be an ass about it either because you clearly knew that this was a price mistake. However, you should try hard to hold them to it. In the end, any kind of offer with less than regular monthly fees (in addition to the phones themselves, which are a steal) is a reasonable offer to take, imo.

Make sure to update this thread with the result and don't leave us hanging

[mrpiggy]

Here's where I hope to make out with the phones (tell me if I'm wrong). I figure they will tell me that their computers made a mistake and I shouldn't have gotten the deal. My argument will be that the receipts (and other confirmation e-mails) I have and the screen shots I took of the purchase are a legally binding sales contract since they sent me the phone, charged my credit card the amount on the receipt, and made no effort to immediately contact me before I activated the phones; so if they want to "raise" the plan pricing from "zero", then they have to follow "their" service agreement rules and give me written notice, and then I have option to terminate the contract (and keep the phones).

As per their service agreement:

1.3 Can AT&T Change My Terms And Rates?
We may change any terms, conditions, rates, fees, expenses, or charges regarding your Services at any time. We will provide you with notice of material changes (other than changes to governmental fees, proportional charges for governmental mandates, roaming rates or administrative charges) either in your monthly bill or separately. You understand and agree that State and Federal Universal Service Fees and other governmentally imposed fees, whether or not assessed directly upon you, may be increased based upon the government's or our calculations.

IF WE INCREASE THE PRICE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES TO WHICH YOU SUBSCRIBE, BEYOND THE LIMITS SET FORTH IN YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUMMARY, OR IF WE MATERIALLY DECREASE THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA IN WHICH YOUR AIRTIME RATE APPLIES (OTHER THAN A TEMPORARY DECREASE FOR REPAIRS OR MAINTENANCE), WE'LL DISCLOSE THE CHANGE AT LEAST ONE BILLING CYCLE IN ADVANCE (EITHER THROUGH A NOTICE WITH YOUR BILL, A TEXT MESSAGE TO YOUR DEVICE, OR OTHERWISE), AND YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT WITHOUT PAYING AN EARLY TERMINATION FEE OR RETURNING OR PAYING FOR ANY PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, PROVIDED YOUR NOTICE OF TERMINATION IS DELIVERED TO US WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE FIRST BILL REFLECTING THE CHANGE.

[cronos]

Yup, that was part of the agreement that let me out of their (Cingular back then) contract without ETF. If you notice the last sentence though, you'll see that they require a 'one billing cycle' period to request a termination without ETF so you're going to have to pay the first monthly bill no matter what. A contract termination with AT&T before the first 30 days is treated as an 'annulment', and you'll have to return the phones.

Good luck.