AT&T Confirms Device Upgrade Fee Rising to $36

The upgrade fee is an attempt to recoup some of the cost of the discount, yes.....it is also a fee that very few people actually pay and which at&t employees are encouraged to waive whenever doing so will calm down an unhappy customer...

The policy is that whenever someone asks for the fee to be waived, just waive it, it ain't a big deal, don't put up a fight over it....indeed, if an employee puts up a big fight and absolutely refuses to waive it, and it becomes an escalated situation, that employee is severely disciplined and may even lose his job

The only thing an employee is not supposed to do is proactively offer to waive it....the customer has to ask for it...but if they ask, it is almost always granted....

Basically, if you are performing an upgrade, you are expected to try to charge the fee, but if the customer complains about it, you're supposed to immediately back down and waive it...and again, if you refuse to waive it and it becomes an escalated situation, you could lose you job