Last chance to get your iPhone 4 upgrade or 3G/3GS rebate

By Richi Jennings. June 14, 2010.

Did you buy an iPhone 3GS recently? Today may be your last day to claim a refund or upgrade to an iPhone 4. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers figure out the twists and turns of the rebate policies.

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention Midnight at 61 North...
(T) (AAPL)
 
 
Paul Daniel Ash hits us with the ol' clue-by-four:

If you were one of the unlucky ones who bought an iPhone 3GS before Apple dropped the price, AT&T wants to make it up to you. ... The carrier is ... offering a "one-time Customer Price Protection" for anyone who bought a 16GB or 32GB iPhone 3GS in the month before the price drop.
...
You can either get $50 credit for the 16GB or $100 credit for the 32GB ... [or] have the whole purchase price put towards the purchase of a new iPhone. ... Within 30 days of purchase, though, so get a move on. ... If you bought from May 7 - May 14, you still have until June 14.

Chris Ziegler decodes the deets:

We've been able to confirm [the] information. ... AT&T is doing us a solid by extending price protection. ... If you purchased ... between May 7 and May 14, you'll have until June 14 to get credited the difference between the price you paid and the $149 / $199 they're charging now. ... so it's effectively a one-week extension.
...
If you'd rather trade up to an iPhone 4 rather than pocketing some cash ... you've got an option there, too: anyone who picked up a 3GS between May 7 and May 21 can preorder an iPhone 4 by June 21 and get the new phone for only the difference in cost.

As Marc Flores notes the fly in the ointment:

Pretty sweet deal, right? ... I might be biased but I’d say this is the better move, you can trade up completely for the iPhone 4.
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The only catch is that if you bought ... at a closeout or discounted price after June 7, no goods for you. Perhaps ... return it within your 30-day cancellation period and wait until June 24 like everyone else. Just sayin’.

But charlituna grumbles:

I suspect that these deals will only be valid for those that bought ... at an ATT store. NOT as something offered to those that buy at Apple Retail, Radio Shack, Best Buy etc.

And Carlos E waxes cynical:

I have a feeling this deal is to cover AT&T's ****. ... Could bumping up upgrade eligibility dates and offering this deal have anything to do with reducing the number of 3GS phones and dropped calls?
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AT&T has never been known for being generous.

Meanwhile, Rajesh Dhawan has a 'certain' style:

Seeing how AT&T has gone out of its way to keep its customers happy, one could only assume that unlike the last year AT&T is aiming for the role of protagonist this time around. Last year, the upgrade criteria were somewhat arbitrary, and customers who appeared to have similar profiles weren't all offered the same upgrade prices.
 
Though some would speculate that there may be a hidden agenda behind this new Avatar of a Hero. AT&T'S exclusivity contract with Apple is certain to run out in the near future so this whole price protection thing might be an effort to sign up as many of its customers to the new iPhone as fast as possible.

And Finally...
Captain Dave greases it in Alaska
 
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com.

You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.