Nokia, Microsoft and AT&T spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the development of the Lumia 900 Windows Phone smartphone in order to effectively relaunch the middling platform in the US after a fairly unsuccessful 2011 filled with discontinued hardware, cancelled handsets and increasingly marginalized perception despite being a critical darling since launch.
The April 8th launch did little to help matters, as the majority of AT&T locations were closed for the Easter holiday and those that were opened specifically to sell the Lumia 900 as part of a larger launch event either did not have the handsets in stock, or worse, only had one or two units to fulfill customer purchases without even taking into account the launch being overshadowed by AT&T’s change in policy that now allows for iPhones to be unlocked as long as certain requirements are met.
Now, the latest problem for the flagship Windows Phone handset centers around software issues that are affecting select owners with extensive memory management and data issues that have forced Nokia and AT&T to develop a bugfix update, spending yet more money on the initiative. In order to make up for that, Nokia is spending even more money by offering all Lumia 900 owners the chance to redeem an additional $100 instant rebate for all customers that purchased the phone, effectively matching the free after rebate and 2 year agreement promotion offered to new customers that pre-ordered the phone.
Of course, the catch is that the offer is good until April 21st. Additionally, owners will be able to exchange purchased launch units for brand new versions on April 16th with proof of purchase. The update which will fix the aforementioned memory management and data connection issues is expected to be offered within the next few days, but the rebate is meant to be an honest goodwill gesture towards any and all customers that may have been affected by the bug, as well as addressing complaints from those customers that upgraded to the phone about new customers getting the better deal over those that have been with AT&T for a substantial length of time, reflecting the attitude that wireless carriers take to longstanding customers compared to new customers.
