AT&T preps for the back-to-school crowd with new trade-in program

As the summer months begin to appear in the rearview mirror, it’s almost time for school to be back in session. AT&T wants to make sure it’s one step ahead of the competition by offering the back-to-school crowd some deals.

The first deal, a trade-in offer, has potential customers trading in an eligible smartphone and purchasing any smartphone through AT&T Next, which lets you pay for your smartphone in either 12, 18, or 24 months. Called Summer Buyback, potential customers would then be given $200 in promotional credit. The $200 promotional credit will be sent as a card to potential customers within three weeks of AT&T verifying whether the smartphone they traded in is eligible.

Checking out the fine print, however, reveals that the promotional credit you’ll get can’t be used on anything you want. You’ll can only use the card toward purchases of any AT&T product and service, either in-store or through AT&T’s website, as well as toward your monthly wireless bill.

In addition, if you switch to AT&T and purchase a new smartphone through AT&T Next, you’ll get $100 in bill credit. To take advantage of the deal, you will need to have an eligible number to transfer. In addition, those on Cricket will not be able to take advantage of the deal, since Cricket is owned by AT&T and is one of the company’s prepaid offerings.

On a quieter note, AT&T announced two new additions to its phone lineup. The $80 Microsoft Lumia 640 will makes its way to AT&T’s GoPhone lineup, which can be purchased through prepaid plans directly from AT&T. Meanwhile, the $100 Sonim XP5 is a feature offering, not very common nowadays, but it’s an offering that gives potential customers a rugged design. In other words, it should handle more than a bit of abuse from potential owners. Both handsets are available for purchase starting today.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1LCJY8O
Williams Pelegrin