Great Deal on 1st Gen iPad at ATT Online Sales

We have decided to upgrade to iPad2 and pass our old iPads down to the kids.

But, we have one more kid than iPad, so to maintain equity I was going to buy a refurb 1st gen to add to the pool. Then, I saw that ATT was purging their stock of 1st gen iPads and ordered a 64gb 3G model for $300 less than I paid for mine.

Anyone looking for a deal on 1st Gen iPad may want to consider one of these.
Search - AT&T

Wow...thanks for the post.

In case someone is interested...the prices on the iPad 1's that AT&T is selling are actually $50-$130 less than what the Apple Store is selling them for:

- iPad 1.0 16gig WiFi+3G (AT&T $429, Apple Store $479)
- iPad 1.0 64gig WiFi+3G (AT&T $529, Apple Store $659)

Not sure if the iPads being sold by AT&T are:

- new, used, or refurbished
- if not new, if they carry the same 12 month Apple warranty
- they don't seem to require any sort of long-term contract or data plan (to qualify for the lower price)

...if interested...be sure to check the details before buying (you know how the cell phone companies have all sorts of "fine print")!

- Nick

I think they are new. Normally ATT clearly marks refurbs in their product descriptions.

BTW: one of the conditions is that you sign up for one month data plan before checkout, which you can cancel before renewal. In my case, and maybe still, they were offering a $25 credit toward the first month data plan. So, essentially, the data plan is no charge unless you choose to continue it beyond one month.

Razormac said:

I think they are new. Normally ATT clearly marks refurbs in their product descriptions.

BTW: one of the conditions is that you sign up for one month data plan before checkout, which you can cancel before renewal. In my case, and maybe still, they were offering a $25 credit toward the first month data plan. So, essentially, the data plan is no charge unless you choose to continue it beyond one month.

Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying!! So that would mean adding $14.99-$25.00 to the AT&T purchase price. Which would still be a better price than the Apple Store!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Thanks for clarifying!! So that would mean adding $14.99-$25.00 to the AT&T purchase price. Which would still be a better price than the Apple Store!

- Nick

Click to expand...

I'll be able to answer that better when I actually get it. But, the invoice from ATT only shows a charge for the iPad ($529) plus tax.
I suspect from what I read that I will get a separate $25 charge on my card for one month data plan along with an offsetting $25 credit for a total cost of $0 for first month data.
Since this is a gift (and my gift doesn't include perpetual free wireless) I will be canceling almost immediately. Will post back how it all turns out.

FWIW I figured even if the red tape got me and I was stuck with one month's charge for data, it would only add $15 to the cost, so still a good deal ($25 in my case since I opted for the higher level plan).

Update - Received ATT 1st Gen iPad

First the good news. Got the iPad today with no problem, came shrink-wrapped in original packaging and looks brand new. 64gb 3G for $130 less than Apple refurb.

Then came the ordeal. To order the iPad online I had to sign up for a data plan that I could then cancel.

No problem says I, go to general settings, cellular data, and cancel. Problem, no account access for this account type error message. So, I went to plan B call ATT customer service.

1) after about 15 minutes on hold I got a representative who was very nice (all six of the people I ultimately spoke to were very nice for that matter) and quickly determined she couldn't help me, so I was transferred.
2) another 10 minutes waiting and then 10 on the phone before I was transferred again, this time to iPad Support
3) again spent about 10 minutes before iPad support found they couldn't help, but was nice enough to wait with me on hold for about 5 minutes
4) final transfer of first call to ATT and I was informed that they could not cancel my plan,I would have to register my account online and then I could cancel it. Total elapsed time about one hour at this point
5) went online and began account setup. Everything was going fine until it assigned me a temporary password that it sent as a text message to my wireless device!!!!!
6) spent about 15 minutes trying to get it to give me my password by email or whatever, finally called the service number again (which the website told me to if I had problems accessing my temporary password)
7) this had the effect of putting me right back at step 2. The very helpful young man on the other end immediately started taking me back through the same proccess I had been through earlier. I stopped him and explained why I had called and told him I was running thin on patience.
8) he tried, but was unable to access my temporary password and ended up sending to iPad Support again. I wasn't really all that willing at that point and told him I was about ready just to send the iPad back. He assured me thaw person he was giving me to could help, or if not arrange for a return
9) 5 more minutes on hold then 10 minutes with iPad Support and success the time!!!!!

Total elapsed time right at two hours. I guess it was worth saving $130. But I'm not sure my blood pressure agrees it was.

Razormac said:

9) 5 more minutes on hold then 10 minutes with iPad Support and success the time!!!!!

Total elapsed time right at two hours. I guess it was worth saving $130. But I'm not sure my blood pressure agrees it was.

Click to expand...

I sure hope this isn't the process that every iPad owner has to go thru just to cancel the month by month data plan! I suppose the trouble was canceling the data plan so quickly right after purchase...maybe your signup info hadn't really hit the system yet...which made retrieval of the info more difficult.

Congrats on getting the plan canceled, having the patience to stick with the customer service folks, and getting the iPad 2 for $130 less!.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

I sure hope this isn't the process that every iPad owner has to go thru just to cancel the month by month data plan! I suppose the trouble was canceling the data plan so quickly right after purchase...maybe your signup info hadn't really hit the system yet...which made retrieval of the info more difficult.

Congrats on getting the plan canceled, having the patience to stick with the customer service folks, and getting the iPad 2 for $130 less!.

- Nick

Click to expand...

Nick,
The last service rep (the one who was actually able to help) explained the problem is the data plan you get when you order the iPad online is not the same plan as the one you sign up with yourself through your iPad. It is post-paid vs pre-paid and brand new (which is why he said the other people I worked with didn't know how to handle it).

Bottomline: Still a good deal, and relatively painless (providing you reach the right person).
Thanks,
Mike

BTW: This was a 1st gen iPad (our iPad2s aren't due to arrive till late April)

Razormac said:

Nick,
The last service rep (the one who was actually able to help) explained the problem is the data plan you get when you order the iPad online is not the same plan as the one you sign up with yourself through your iPad. It is post-paid vs pre-paid and brand new (which is why he said the other people I worked with didn't know how to handle it).

Bottomline: Still a good deal, and relatively painless (providing you reach the right person).
Thanks,
Mike

Click to expand...

So if someone else was to do this (purchase an iPad 1 from AT&T like you did)...and wants to immediately cancel the data plan...what do you think the best first thing would be to say to the customer service rep. to get things settled faster (due to the post-paid vs. pre-paid confusion/difference)?

Razormac said:

BTW: This was a 1st gen iPad (our iPad2s aren't due to arrive till late April)

Click to expand...

Yeah...guess I got confused with all this "iPad talk". You're going to have iPads coming out of your ears!!!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

So if someone else was to do this (purchase an iPad 1 from AT&T like you did)...and wants to immediately cancel the data plan...what do you think the best first thing would be to say to the customer service rep. to get things settled faster (due to the post-paid vs. pre-paid confusion/difference)?

Click to expand...

I would suggest they immediately ask to be transferred to iPad support and then explain that you are trying to cancel the post-paid plan selected during online purchase. They may want to be prepared if they are directed to do the online registration and cancellation thing to explain that:

1) It doesn't work and why (no texting with iPad)
2) Yes it is possible for them to cancel it (They did it for me)

pigoo3 said:

Yeah...guess I got confused with all this "iPad talk". You're going to have iPads coming out of your ears!!!

- Nick

Click to expand...

Only temporarily. Once we get everything transferred and the old iPads reset, they will be off to their new owners (our kids). It will just be the six of us then (my wife and I, our two dogs, and our two brand new iPad2s).

Razormac said:

I would suggest they immediately ask to be transferred to iPad support and then explain that you are trying to cancel the post-paid plan selected during online purchase. They may want to be prepared if they are directed to do the online registration and cancellation thing to explain that:

1) It doesn't work and why (no texting with iPad)
2) Yes it is possible for them to cancel it (They did it for me)

Click to expand...

I'm sure anyone else doing this (buying iPad 1 from AT&T & wants to cancel the data plan immediately)...will certainly appreciate being able to bypass 90% of the 2 hours you unfortunately spent with AT&T customer service!!!

- Nick