Trade in

Yea I’m aware of BOTH options. However I think you are missing the point. The AT&T associate mentioned refused to process the trade in IN STORE. TERRIBLE customer service especially when refusing the customer a service that as you mentioned is an option!! 

We definitely understand the importance of being able to process your trade in @beezst.

Your feedback is important, and we want to get you into a DM to document your interaction.

Check the message icon in the upper right hand of the page and reply. In the meantime, gather your account information, and we'll take it from there. 

Again, keep an eye out for our Direct Message. Thank you.

Alasani, AT&T Community Specialist 

Mail in is fine. Read directions carefully. 

Just document, take pictures of everything as you pack the phone.  Pack it well.  Make sure the phone is fully charged up and off before you put it in the paper sleeve and then in the box and seal it up. 

When you take it to the post office, take it up to the counter have them check it in and give you a receipt

I mailed my trade in back using the box and labeling provided, but now ATT claims they never received it.  Even though it was their labeling, they claim they can't track it.   Trade in at a store if you can (I tried but the store employees said they were too busy to accept it).  So if you're hoping to get credit for a trade in, don't go with ATT.  Find another carrier. 

Did you take a picture or write down the shipping label tracking number? ATT uses Pitney Bowes for shipping and I was able to track mine there. I had to tell the agent to use Pitney Bowes not USPS (even though that's where I dropped it off I discovered it gets handed off to PB)  idk why the agents don't have this information. They were able to see the phone was received but so far nothing has come of it. No updates on the app and no credits yet but I'm hoping it will go through by the 3rd billing cycle. Good luck

At&t will try to screw you out if the trade in deal any chance and way they can. Just keep track of everything. They won’t update you on anything you will have to find out info on your own. They will try to swindle you out if your trade in. Due diligence and a few complaints to BBB got me my trade in value. Always talk to a person not their (Edited per community guidelines) bots. &n(Edited per community guidelines)p;

Same problems.  I just posted my experience as a reply to someone else too.  

You will not get it resolved.  They are ripping us off.

I traded in five phones (all in perfect shape).  One was done separately from the others and it went totally fine.  The other four were done together and everything has been a disaster.  I’ve spent more than 12 hours on calls with AT&T about this over the last three months, after each call being told they would apply the credits properly but they never have.  The phones were sent in May and June 2023.  It’s supposed to take three months.  It is October.    

In my situation, they shipped multiple new iPhones in one box to me with only one box and label to send back the old phones.  Apparently shipping back multiple phones in one box to their trade-in department is a problem (even though they only provided one return box and label).  One rep I spoke with said he tells people to buy their own boxes and call in for additional labels because this is such a common problem that kills his day with 2+ hour calls.  It would be nice to know that in advance.

For me, all phones were received within 14 days of activating the new phones, according to the USPS tracking number.   Last month, I was told that of iPhones A, B, C, and D, only A, B, and C were received.  D went missing.  The rep then was able to get in contact with the trade-in department who “found” the phone.  He promised profusely that everything would be correct the next month.  Of course it was not.

Yesterday, I was told A, B, and D were received, but C was missing.  Then they found that all four were received but just not linked to my account.  Then they said I got a reduced trade-in value for phones A, B, and C (all were in perfect condition always in a cases, so this is baffling).  They had no ability to tell me why or for me to enter an appeal or investigation.  This feels to me like fraud.

What I think happened is that they lost or stole phone C and they gave me the credit for sending back a non-working phone with a trade in value of $35 (which gave me promo credit of $350) even though I sent in a perfectly fine iPhone 12 Pro that should have received $1000 trade in credit.  For phone D, they had a technical problem matching the phone to my order but nothing has been able fix that technical problem. They have told me that I will see a catch up credit for five months next billing cycle.  They also said they had no explanation for why this was not being credited already.  That certainly inspires no confidence.

Their contract for trade-ins gives customers no recourse.  It all feels very fishy.  It’s almost like their employees are stealing phones or damaging phones upon receipt.  Or they lure customers to do this with the plan of not giving you the actual credit.  I took photos and videos of my phones prior to sending.  I took a photo of me putting the phones in the box.  It’s interesting that Verizon is now offering an iPhone 15 Pro for free with trade-in of any other device with a guaranteed value, e.g. AT&T’s main competitor has identified this as a pain point for us directly.

Lesson is to never do trade-ins by mail.  Other lesson is that after 23 years of being with AT&T I need to leave.  Unfortunately the cost of paying back five new iPhones and terminating is prohibitively expensive for me especially after taking this hit on the reduced credits.

It’s all hugely frustrating, inefficient, and dishonest.  I hope something comes out about this - it really feels like a systemic scam from AT&T.  There are too many similar stories.

It is fishy because AT&T want to steal from you and not fulfill their end of the bargain, especially if they phone is in mint condition when trading it in. And, one other trick they like doing is they don't tell you that DHL finishes your trade in journey to its trade in center. Not USPS where you have the tracking, but you only have the tracking till it gets to DHL for the last mile. So they can lie and say that they never got it. They don't inform you that another delivery service finishes the shipment of your trade in.

It is fishy because AT&T want to steal from you and not fulfill their end of the bargain, especially if they phone is in mint condition when trading it in.

Since AT&T doesn't get the trade-in phones exactly how is AT&T stealing from you? Phones go to a completely third party business called Assurant Mobile in Tennessee. They are the same mobile refurbisher and recycler used by all of the other service providers and some of the manufacturers.

The only thing AT&T gets out of out of it is committing you to an unlimited data plan for 36 months. If you're not getting credits because you didn't document properly to prove that you mailed your phone to Assurant, then go ahead pay it off, unlock it,  and leave.

And, one other trick they like doing is they don't tell you that DHL finishes your trade in journey to its trade in center.

If DHL was the courier it would say so on the label you used to mail your phone. The label you should have taken a picture of so that you have the tracking number, and the label that you should have checked online for tracking information once it left your hands.  Don't suppose you kept any of that documentation?

My trade-in clearly had Pitney Bowes written on its label.  I still have a receipt from an October trade in from last year. Along with receipts from various returns to Amazon.  

It's a lot of complaints about sloppy service from the postal service, the couriers, and AT&T, and how neat tidy and documented are things on our end - You know just in case things go wrong.