[AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL] dotsquad:
How I got to keep my HOXL and got AT&T to send me a Galaxy SIII I747 free of charge

When my upgrade eligibility with AT&T came up last spring I decided that I needed to familiarize myself with the Android operating system. Having been a long time iPhone user (iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 4) with a mostly positive experience, I had always been frustrated by Apple's lack of Flash support and (at the time) their refusal to adjust their screen size. Little did I know that both Adobe and Apple were just "sitting in the corner" laughing at me when I came to this rationalization. Naturally, I overcompensated and went with the Galaxy Note, which, IMHO was probably not the best fit for an Android noob like myself. I did a little more research, and just on the outskirts of my 30 day return window, the HTC ONE XL was gonna debut. Bought it on launch day May 6th (before the embargo ruined the party). Like everyone else I had concerns over the lack of storage expansion from 16 Gigs - my previous iPhone 4 was 32 Gigs - but felt confident enough to pull the trigger since the 25 Gigs of free Dropbox space was on the table and according to AT&T was in play. Having been Grandfathered into AT&T's unlimited data plan and being a moderate user (I average 6-8 Gigs a month and have only been throttled twice) I felt as though I could transition to Cloud storage with ease.

I wanted to wait as long as possible before establishing my Dropbox account so I could get the maximum out of the 2 years. It wasn't until late September that I learned of AT&T purposely opting out of participating in the deal. I still can't fathom the rational for this, since its always been my understanding that not only AT&T, but all the Carriers had absolutely nothing to do with this promotion because the deal was between HTC and Dropbox. You would think the Carriers would welcome this since it would increase data usage, thus gaining them additional revenue. I'm sure that people, much smarter than myself, who contribute to the XDA forums, have the answer to this burning question since i'm clearly clueless.

Anyway, no worries, I'll just simply "Root", "Rom" and Voilà....Uh-Oh... As usual I'm a day late and a dollar short and I miss my window with the initial Root exploit that HTC closed ---- ( BTW this is in NO WAY meant as a backdoor insult or complaint to the Developers and their tirelessly Godlike work that they perpetually churn out on a daily basis, nor is it to the rest of the "awesomesauce" that describes the entire XDA Community!!!!) Now, I know in the back of my mind, there is an obvious workaround -- which I'm sure has been explained in this forum before - attach service to your previous phone for a day or so --- snag a WiFi connection and establish your Dropbox account and Boom instant 25 Gigs --then simply reattach service to your HOXL --- but ya know what....now I'm Pissed....time to call AT&T....

I started by calling sales not customer service too vent my complaint

1st Barrier ---- I get the initial non-decision making Dingbat ... As quickly as possible, I dispensed of this person and got a supervisor - I explained my issue and advised that AT&T did a "bait and switch" on me and strongly emphasized how ILLEGAL this practice is .....

2nd Barrier --- supervisor said he had no idea what I was talking about and that he had never heard of this "Dropbox freebie thing" (keep in mind I'm speaking with the sales department) --- this was easily refuted as I told the gentleman to try opening the box -- you know --the one with the AT&T logo on it that the HOXL comes in -- and to look at the paperwork inside --- it advertises the promotion!!!! Clearly his plausible deniability is out the window....

3rd Barrier --- "Can't help you because it's not our promotion..." No kidding -- that's the point..... I went on to explain how I was well aware that it wasn't their promotion and how it makes it worse because they purposely had to "opt out" --- emailed him the link to the Dropbox page explaining the promotion and How AT&T and VERIZON opted out (keep in mind the promotion is for any new HTC device running Sense 4.0 not just the HOXL) He continually stated that it wasn't their promotion for which I replied that I knew that and that it didn't matter whose promotion it was. I advised him, that I signed a contract with AT&T based on that information and that the Dropbox offer was used by AT&T as a selling tool to that end and that's why this is a bait and switch situation and that the practice is ILLEGAL

4th Barrier --- "How do we know that you were told about this offer and that our employees used this strategy...." I emailed him a link from androidcentral (Being that this is my very first post on the XDA forums protocol prevents me from posting the link that I sent ... but I can tell you that androidcentral was the original source for the "article" titled "AT&T HTC One X will have free Dropbox space, company spokeswoman affirms" and was dated Apr 24 2012) --- granted this is simply an unofficial "blog site" that can basically say anything they want but I advised him that this story was picked up by all the other major 'tech sites" and it has never been refuted by AT&T. In addition the "AT&T Spokeswomen" is Jackie Vettorino. Her official title is - Digital PR/Social Media Strategist for AT&T - She is basically their Top Dog when it comes to dealing with the press - She is widely known to many media outlets because of her role as the Point-man..er..Point-woman on "Throttlegate" last fall. I explained to him that because of her fairly high profile, it would be extremely remote that the story was fabricated or that she had somehow been grossly misquoted because of the likeliness of serious repercussions... but I did offer to three-way her office --- He declined. I also, again referred him to the materials that came in the box with my phone -- yes the Box -- the one produced and manufactured for AT&T with their logo splashed all over it.

5th Barrier --- "Did you purchase your phone and contract from a Corporate store or online through the official AT&T website ...." I told him that i didn't and that I used an "Authorized Retailer" (My friend works there and I wanted her to get the commission. To be honest, at the time I didn't know it wasn't a corporate store -- they only sell AT&T product and the only name mentioned inside or outside the building was the official AT&T logo all decked out in that crappy blue and orange - no offense to all you Miami Dolphin fans. It had been years since I had been in an AT&T store - all my recent dealings had been at an Apple store) He began to tell me that I would have to "take up this issue" with the store and that it was "out of his hands". I promptly asked him who my contract was with - He stated AT&T. I immediately repeated the question - he again correctly answered AT&T - I asked the question 3 additional times in succession and he scored a perfect 5 for 5. Finally, I asked him if he knew what the word "authorized" meant, as in "Authorized Retailer" and during my reading of this definition (straight from .merriam-webster.com) he interrupted me by resignedly asking me "what I wanted...."

Aah!!! ... Success. I went into this endeavor with the hopeful expectation that AT&T would credit my account the price of what I would have to pay for cloud storage for 2 years - It's soft money and almost always AT&T's go to when they screw up. Well after almost 90 minutes on the call, I quickly rethought my position and like any successful Rep will tell you "Ultimately, you always have to ask for it". I told the supervisor that there were 2 options:

1) AT&T could release me from my contract without penalty and refund my full purchase price for the phone...not something AT&T wants (nor did I ... again I stay because of my unlimited data plan) or....

2) Replace my HOXL with an equivalent phone that has expanded storage options at zero cost to me - of course we both knew that the only possible replacement was the Galaxy SIII

Without hesitating he asked me what color I wanted and to what address I wanted it shipped -- The phone arrived at my doorstep, Oct 2, precisely 27.5 hours from the time I ended the call. After 2 weeks and another lengthy call - this time to Customer Service - I was able to successfully argue that my contract start date should be reinstated to the original May 6th date and not the Oct 2nd citing that the SIII was not an upgrade but a replacement phone.

I created this Post not to boast or pat myself on the back, but rather as a template for other HOXL owners who may be feeling slighted by AT&T's consistently awful business practices. Hey, It doesn't have to be an SIII --- it may be a great way to offset HTC's poor decision of putting out a part deux a mere 6 months into release of their "flagship" X series. Why is it always the early adopters and loyal supporters who seem to get hosed ... but I gotta say the HOXL+ is looking mighty Dope. Although, I do question the decision of not going with a RAM increase, (can anyone confirm this?) While its not a huge hindrance, I do get a "load screen" every now and then. It just seems as though 1 Gig is really riding the line, at least with ICS 4.0.4.