Looks like AT&T may soon be taking a page from Sprint's playbook. According to the Boy Genius Report, it's rumored that AT&T is looking to launch a “Phone Trade-In” program for subscribers.
While the following has yet to be confirmed, Engadget nets it out this way: "any phone traded in must be less than two years old and in relatively good shape, and the new phone you're after won't have any subsidies attached; your trade-in value is the discount. Oh, and regardless of how awesome that shiny new whatever is, the maximum value of any trade is capped at $200."
It's worthy to note that Sprint Nextel has been rewarding customers with a "buy back" option since 2001. Here are some key advantages that Sprint customers receive through the Sprint Buyback program versus the program that AT&T is said to be considering for its customers:
Customers can sell their phones to Sprint Buyback at any time; not just as part of a trade-in / upgrade transaction
The account credit customers receive from Sprint Buyback can be added to the advertised subsidies on any upgrade
Some models more than two years old are still eligible through Sprint Buyback (as of today, the Samsung Blade A900M will net you an account credit of $25)
At Sprint, we plan to continue enhancing the Sprint Buyback program. Look for even more features in the near future. In the meantime, if you've used the Sprint Buyback program, we'd love to know more about your experience. How did it go? What, if anything, would you like to see us change?
Darren Beck | Sprint | Manager, Resource Stewardship
darren.d.beck@sprint.com | Twitter: @DarrenBeck
Gold Expert
says:
I am wanting to use this but I need some clarifacation first. I was a nextel customer and switched to sprint and I havethree phones to "sell back" and two to send in for recycling. Two of the three I want to"sell back"are from when I was on nextel (an i730 & i670).
So my question is "In the requirements it states that in order buy them back they had to be activated on your account at one time" so since I have been with sprint/nextel all along and my account number never changed(i don't believe) am I still eligable to send in these phones for the credit?