Can I Merge Two Individual Plans into One Family Plan?

[mastavic]

Hello, I hope you are well. For the last two weeks, I have been trying to figure this out myself, but have run into so many obstacles and challenges. I've spent countless hours attempting to make this work, but now I'm turning to the pros.

(The following is written in short sentences in hopes of minimizing confusion.)

I am currently on an AT&T individual plan, and my sister is on her own AT&T individual plan. Both of our plans expired recently. We would like to join together and be on a family plan together, as well as have two more lines for my mother and brother (a total of four lines). My mother and brother do not currently have cell phones, and my own cell phone is almost broken, so we need a total of three new good cell phones (preferably touchscreen ones like LG Vu offered for free for new plans through sites like Amazon.com and Wirefly.com). Also, my sister and I would like to keep our numbers.

Would it be possible to accomplish this?

Here's quick list of information:
1) Two individual plans to merge into a family plan with a total of four lines
2) Would like to keep the two phone numbers
3) Would like at least three good phones

Where and how can I go about doing this? Thank you,
Victor

P.S. If it matters, we live in San Francisco, California, and our zip code is 94133.

[hme83]

You can definitely upgrade your phone (keeping your phone number) and incorporate your sister's line of service (keeping her phone number) under your account, convert to a family plan and add two lines of service (mother & brother). The two new lines of service will qualify for new customer pricing through at&t with a two year service agreement for each line. Same for your line - you will receive discounted equipment pricing for your upgrade in return for signing another two year agreement. Your sister can remain contractless if/until she decides to upgrade her equipment.

The issue with trying to do something like this through amazon (probably Wirefly too - I'm not as familiar with them) is that amazon doesn't allow for upgrades if the line of service is a member of a family plan. And you can't do the upgrade for yourself and obtain the new lines of service for your mother/brother on an individual basis without subjecting those contracts to Amazon's requirement of no changes for at least 180 days. Amazon will charge back a $250 conditional discount for every line that is changed within this time frame. I would imagine Wirefly's T&C's are just as restrictive if not more so.

You are probably better off just working through at&t for all this - I'd probably visit a Corporate store where you can sit down with a sales representative and be certain they've made all the changes/additions in the manner you desire before you leave the store.

One other thought you may want to consider - you can start a new family plan through Amazon (I believe), so you could handle the new lines of service for your Mother/Brother that way. And you could go ahead and bring your sister's line of service into your account and convert it to a family plan. Then in six months - after the amazon stipulation for no changes has expired for your Mother/Brother's plan - you could have at&t customer service merge the two family plans.

[mastavic]

Thank you for replying, hme83!

I just gave a call to Amazon.com's Cell Phone Service customer service line (1-866-423-5351) and the representative told me that there's no way I can accomplish this on Amazon.com because I wouldn't qualify for the free phones as they are only for new AT&T members (or people who haven't had AT&T for at least 90 days). Looks like Amazon.com is a dead end.

I may very well end up with going through AT&T entirely. The only thing is that I really wish we could get some good phones instead of the cheaper, older phones that AT&T offers (third-party retailers seem to have much better deals).

Your last idea about not bringing my sister's plan until half a year from now sounds good and I'm glad you suggested it, but it seems a bit too expensive to keep two different plans for that long.

If there's a way to get better phones, please let me know. Thank you,
Victor

[hme83]

You're welcome.

You are correct - unless the additional equipment discount that you'd receive by purchasing your Mother/Brother's phones/family plan through Amazon exceeds $240, you are better off just working through at&t for all of it.

Unfortunately the third party resources seem to be more oriented toward new lines of individual service - most don't even offer upgrades, AFAIK (although amazon and LetsTalk actually do).

[mastavic]

hme83, thanks again for replying.

I'm thinking over your idea about not bringing my sister's line into ours until half a year is up and it's starting to make sense, especially with a few tweaks. Without my sister on the same plan, we can go with the cheapest plan with the fewest minutes, so it might work out in the end. I'm still going over this thing in my head. Thanks for the great suggestion!

[hme83]

Originally Posted by mastavic

hme83, thanks again for replying.

I'm thinking over your idea about not bringing my sister's line into ours until half a year is up and it's starting to make sense, especially with a few tweaks. Without my sister on the same plan, we can go with the cheapest plan with the fewest minutes, so it might work out in the end. I'm still going over this thing in my head. Thanks for the great suggestion!

Sorry - I didn't communicate very well. What I intended is to bring your sister's line over to your account and convert it to a family plan. That way instead of your both paying for individual plans (at at least $40 apiece per month), the two of you can now share a plan that is potentially as low as $60/month.

Then you set up the brand new lines of service on a family plan obtained through Amazon - so you are paying $60/month for that plan as well (as opposed to adding them to your family plan immediately at $20/month - $10 for each line). So the only way this second piece is really more cost effective than just immediately converting everyone to one family plan directly with at&t is if the equipment for your Brother/Mother is $240 less if purchased through amazon.

Hopefully that clarifies my thinking.

You'll just have to look at your individual usage patterns to decide which will be be most cost effective approach. But for example, if the three of you (excluding your sister) can easily share 550 minutes, if you need to bump up to the 1400 minute plan in adding her, that gives "her" 850 minutes for an additional $40 ($30 plan price difference + $10 additional line) - and an individual plan for $40 only allows for 450 minutes.

[mastavic]

That sounds pretty good and I might somehow combine aspects of what you just said what what I've been working on for the last hour or so.

One quick thing: My sister is adamant about keeping her phone number, but I have no problems changing my number.

So I'm thinking about doing this (you do NOT have to read this unless you want to check to make sure I'm doing this correctly; this post is somewhat for myself to figure out what I want):
Myself, my mother, and my brother will get a new family plan through Amazon.com. We do not need that many minutes, especially without my sister on the plan, so we'll get the 550-minute plan at $50/month, which comes out to be $70 after I add in lines for my mother and brother. (In six months, when my sister joins us, we'll pay an extra $10 for a $60-plan and an extra $10 for her line.) In the meantime, my sister will continue on her regular $40/month plan. Together, we'll be paying for a $70 for the family plan and $40 for my sister's, for a total of $110/month. If we do this, we'll get three new phones from Amazon.com worth at approximately $400 each, or $1200 for all three phones.

The completely different option would be that I and my sister keep our lines, and for $90/month, have two addition lines for my mother and brother. If we do this, we'll get four new phones from AT&T worth at approximately $50 each, or $200 for all four phones.

The first option, I'll be paying $110/month; the second option, $90/month. That's only a difference of $20/month, or $120/6 months. In the end, I'll be sacrificing four new cheap phones and pay $120 for three new good phones, which I think is very worth it.

[hme83]

The thorn in your option #1 is your line of service. Per amazon's terms, in order to avoid potential chargeback for the $250 conditional discount you cannot replace an existing line of service that you already have with at&t.

$250 Instant Discount Terms & Conditions

The purchase price of your device reflects an instant discount of $250 that has been provided to you by Amazon.com based on your agreement to (a) activate a new, non-substitute line of service in connection with this device, and (b) maintain this service with the selected rate plan in good standing for a minimum of 181 consecutive days.

By accepting this equipment discount, you agree that for a period of 181 days after your new equipment is activated, you will not:

·disconnect this line of service

·change your service plan to one with a lower monthly rate (e.g., from $59.99 to $29.99)

·cancel required plan options such as BlackBerry or PDA/Smartphone data features

·transfer this device to another line of service

·fail to pay your balance due each month

If you do any of the above you will be subject to additional charges by Amazon.com of up to $250, plus applicable taxes.

(from here )

What phone(s) are you interested in? Are you certain you are comparing apples to apples in thinking about the price discrepancy between at&t and amazon? Any at&t phone that amazon is carrying, you should also be able to obtain directly from at&t, albeit at a higher two year contract price. But for example, the difference between at&t and amazon at the "bottom-line" price for my SE W580i was $80.

If the additional discounting that amazon provides is enough to allow you to upgrade your phone choices and only a couple of members really care about their phones, then again - you may want to consider the two family plan arrangement - simply for that reason. Once you all receive your phones, the SIM cards can be switched around as desired so that each person has the phone they want. The phone number associated with the line of service follows the SIM card, not the phone.

As said before, the problem really is that these third party equipment providers are oriented toward new lines of service - you have some options because you do have two new lines of service that you wish to start; but I would not recommend including your existing line of service there (even though you are OK with a new phone number). An additional $250 chargeback could ruin the entire "deal" for you.

[mastavic]

Just to clarify, if I go with the Amazon.com option, I do not intend to alter the family plan at all until 181 days are up. If I wait until the 182nd day to bring my sister's line to my family plan (and then cancel her month-to-month plan), I should be perfectly fine, correct?

Can you confirm this for me? Maybe you have something that I somehow overlooked. Thanks.

[hme83]

Yes, that is correct - as long as you wait at least 181 days to make any alterations to the original plan that you establish through amazon, you will be fine in that regard.

Since you wouldn't be "reducing" the plan by adding another family member and increasing the monthly minute allotment/rate, I actually think you could make an argument that adding her line to the plan prior to the 6 month timeframe clearly is not a violation of their terms; however, my recommendation would probably be just not to chance it and leave things status quo for the time frame. People are different - you may feel that the financial savings from adding your sister's line of service to your family plan earlier warrants taking the risk and making the argument if need be.

However, as said above - my larger concern about your initiating a new family plan through amazon which includes yourself is the risk of a $250 chargeback for replacing your existing line of service. I don't know how they are able to identify it when this happens, but I presume they have their ways.

In my opinion, the better approach if you can find a way to live with only two new phones from amazon is still the two family plan arrangement to begin with. But instead of your brother/mother joining your family plan, you and your sister join the other family plan. This allows for you to use the amazon offer for the new lines of service (without violating any of their terms in initiating the plan with them) and it still allows you to merge the two family plans relatively quickly, but going in this direction you aren't violating the amazon terms. I also can't think of any reason this would be an issue for your/sister's upgrades through at&t - as long as the line of service is maintained, they don't have stipulations that disallow subsequent plan changes (although you should probably wait until you receive any applicable mail in rebates, so I'd allow for a possibility of three months there).

[mastavic]

Thanks for bringing up the "new member of AT&T" argument; I had forgotten that Amazon.com states that this offer is only for new members of AT&T or for those who haven't been AT&T members for at least nine months.

As this is the case, would they care if I open the account under my brother's name (instead of my own name or my sister's, because we're already members of AT&T), and then when I cancel my own plan, I get one of the lines on the family plan my brother started?

I tried calling Amazon.com, but as it is Sunday, they are currently closed. I'm just wondering if they only care about the person opening the plan or if they also check to see who is on the plan (and if one of the people on the plan other than the primary account holder was recently an AT&T member, they would charge the account holder).

To put it simply, this is my question:
I am currently an AT&T member, but would like to go through Amazon.com to join an AT&T family plan. I know that Amazon.com has a requirement that, in order to get the good free phones, I must not be a current AT&T member or an AT&T member for the last nine months.

What if another person in my family opens the account and is the primary account holder? Can he or she then add me as one of the lines in the family plan? Would this violate the Amazon.com requirement?

By the way, how do I properly thank you in the forums? I've been trying to figure out a way for the last ten minutes or so.

Thanks!
Victor

[hme83]

I'm happy to try to help, Victor. But you should have a "thanks" button at the bottom right of your screen that you can use to thank other members.

The way the third party dealer arrangements work is the authorized dealer (in this case amazon) receives a commission from at&t for each new line of service that they sell. This is how they are able to offer the additional equipment discounting beyond what at&t does if you buy from them directly. Speculation on my part here, but I imagine that at the end of the 180 day time period, amazon has at&t check the specifics on the account to ensure it has remained in accordance with the additional amazon terms - if not, the $250 conditional discount (per line of service in violation) is charged back to the account holder.

Amazon has no reason to care if you've joined your brother's family plan after it's initiated. What they will care about is if they've sold you a discounted device under pretense of it being a "new" line of service, then at&t identifies the phantom churn (industry term for this situation) and charges amazon back for the commission they received when your line of service was sold. Then your brother would likely incur the $250 chargeback.

I assume it is the LG Vu you are interested in from your first post - imo, what you need to ask yourself is if saving $100 (bottom line pricing difference between amazon's offer vs. upgrading directly through at&t) is worth the risk of the $250 chargeback. So you could come out $100 "ahead" or a net of $150 "behind". Everyone is different, but I don't tend to like a risk equation where the downside is significantly greater than the upside.

Hope this helps.

[mastavic]

I was checking the AT&T site but can't seem to figure out where you got the "bottom line pricing difference between amazon's offer vs. upgrading directly through at&t" of $100. Is that for each LG Vu phone, or for all three (Amazon gives three free LG Vu phones).

I am about to proceed with my previous plan, with my brother being the main account holder (he has never been an AT&T member - well, he has never had a cell phone before) and will most likely sign the contract with Amazon today.

Thank you for all of your help. For the life of me, I do not see a "thank you" link or button,
Victor

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by mastavic

For the life of me, I do not see a "thank you" link or button,
Victor

mastavic, you need to have atleast 10 posts for the "Thanks"
button to show up, so one more post to go.

[mastavic]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

mastavic, you need to have atleast 10 posts for the "Thanks"
button to show up, so one more post to go.

Thank you very much for that information, Charlyee. I have spent at least a quarter of an hour looking for that button!

Oh, and I appreciate you thanking hme83 on my behalf.
Victor

[hme83]

Wirelessly posted (Nokia E70-2: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.1; U; en-us) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 es70)

Originally Posted by mastavic

I was checking the AT&T site but can't seem to figure out where you got the "bottom line pricing difference between amazon's offer vs. upgrading directly through at&t" of $100. Is that for each LG Vu phone, or for all three (Amazon gives three free LG Vu phones).

I am about to proceed with my previous plan, with my brother being the main account holder (he has never been an AT&T member - well, he has never had a cell phone before) and will most likely sign the contract with Amazon today.

Thank you for all of your help. For the life of me, I do not see a "thank you" link or button,
Victor

You're welcome. Yes, on the amazon site I saw the LG Vu for $0.01, while at&t has it for $99 with a two year agreement. I was only considering the difference for your line of service, as your brother/mother are new customers, so no question as to being in compliance with amazon's terms for their lines of service.

[brtndr1]

another way to go . if you happen to be a Costco member,(or know a costco member) you would just need to merge the 2 lines at a AT&T store,then add the 2 lines at the kiosk at costco. right now they have the Vu for 50.00 for new lines including add a line. with free activation.26.00 a line.and a free accessorie pack (car charger,case,wired hands free ear bud. that would bring the price of the handset down to 24.00. Upgrade can be done there after you merge the 2 lines also.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

keep in mind that you can have a family plan and a single plan on the same account...

you can do upgrades on wirefly but they only guarantee their special discounts for two phones so you go to the main page at wirefly .com

1) In the left column at the top select Renew/Upgrade your contract and phone

2) Type in your zip code and hit enter

3) Select AT&T Upgrades

4) Down a little in the left column make sure Renew/Upgrade My account is selected.

5) Select the LG Vu on that page

6) On this page there should be two panes at the top. One for your phone and one for the plan.

7) At the bottom of the pane that holds the phones it should say "Need 3 or more phones?" Select that.

8) It will pull up 2 LG Vus for free and undeneath the two panes there will be a cheaper phone at the bottom because they wont guarantee a 3rd fully discounted phone.

Any body wanna argue the procedure? cuz it looks fine to me

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

nope now it's asking for the numbers that you want each of the phones on............you either have to upgrade yourself............get new phones for your parents.........or create a brandnew account for the three of you.....

since you're staying with AT&T what you can do is get a cheap Pay-As-You-Go phone to port your AT&T number out to then submit your order to port the number back in......kind of cheating.....but there's no way to really upgrade your own line.....and get two new phones to put on the same account in one online order.....they dont have their site set up like that......maybe if you called to submit the order they would be able to do that