10 Messages
AT&T won't return my trade-in phone sent by accident after trade-in plan & mobile service was cancelled
I recently setup a AT&T trade-in program and was going to send in my iPhone 12 Pro 128GB phone for $1000 credit towards new iPhone 15. The box for the new phone arrived and was empty. I reported theft to UPS and to multiple people at AT&T that basically questioned if I stole it and put my account on theft watch/to track phone. The box was cleary tampered with and most likely stolen by someone at UPS. Since I've had a lot of prior issues with AT&T and their support teams, this was kind of the last straw for me and I decided to make the switch to Verizon. Before I cancelled my AT&T trade-in and mobile service (which took talking to like 12 different people and weeks to process correctly), I went ahead and set up internet with Verizon 5G and ported my phone over to Verizon. The Verizon 5G internet was horrible in my area and I work from home and need good internet. Went through two different routers and finally gave up and cancelled internet with Verizon. Decided to keep my AT&T internet and had to return the routers. I also needed to mail my trade-in phone to Verizon. Since I had just cancelled AT&T, I still had the AT&T box and return label (not clearly labeled by brand) and in the midst of returning all these boxes, I accidentlly sent my iPhone 12 trade in to AT&T instead of Verizon. Verizon just makes you drop off phone at UPS with a QR code in their app (no box or label required) which wasn't mentioned when I spoke to someone over the phone. Stupid mistake, yes, but it happened. I no longer have AT&T mobile service and accidentally sent them my trade-in phone (was supposed to be a $1000 credit for both companies) and now AT&T won't return my phone as they are saying it was already accepted by a warehouse and that it then ships to "Tennessee" they say but it really goes to the Phillipines to be recycled. I learned this from a support person (who is in India) who gave me the trade-in warehouse phone which was a lady in the Phillipines and told me there is nothing they can do and to contact AT&T support. AT&T won't return the phone or offer any kind of compensation. Spoke to multiple support reps, a support supervisor, and a manager at a corporate AT&T store and they all told me there is absolutely nothing they can do for me. They just said, "sorry, there's nothing we can do".
I've read other AT&T forums where something similar happened and they compensated the people. I realize there is a contract that was signed and they can't get the phone back now but there should be some kind of way to compensate a still-paying (internet) customer who made an honest mistake. This is may last attempt at speaking to someone that can help me with this issue that isn't in India and puts me on hold for hours before a (Edited per community guidelines) is filed for my property to be returned.
dwill05
ACE - Master
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11K Messages
8 days ago
File a BBB complaint, which gets sent to AT&T upper management, who will contact you in a few days.
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MicCheck
ACE - Expert
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14.4K Messages
7 days ago
Not quite. Trade ins are sent to Assurant, which is in "Tennessee", which is where it is accepted at warehouse. What Assurant does with them after isn't our (or AT&T's) concern.
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jlsmith2256
10 Messages
7 days ago
UPDATE: AT&T deleted my wireless account and won't let me talk to anyone in customer service now as my phone/account # doesn't exist anymore. Even though I just talked to a customer care supervisor 2 days ago that was "looking into options they can provide me and he would note my account".
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MicCheck
ACE - Expert
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14.4K Messages
7 days ago
Non-customers call all time, but that's irrelevant. Customer Service won't be able to do anything. File the BBB complaint as suggested. They won't be able to send your phone back, but if anyone can offer compensation, that's who it will be.
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jlsmith2256
10 Messages
7 days ago
UPDATE: Filed BBB complaint and contacted AT&T through Facebook messenger.
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jlsmith2256
10 Messages
7 days ago
UPDATE: Was able to get in contact with AT&T customer support through chat and they are saying that the $1000 trade-in promotion only applies when the account/line is active. They said that a $130 check will be mailed to me in 4-6 weeks. They are also refusing to let me speak with management as that amount is a joke and the phone is worth a lot more.
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MicCheck
ACE - Expert
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14.4K Messages
7 days ago
Don't talk to customer service. They do not have the power or authority to do anything except make you more frustrated. They are correct that you forfeit the promotion when you leave AT&T. They are correct that $130 as a cash payment for trade in is correct.
If you're going to get any reimbursement at all, you will have to talk to someone with the authority to override those correct statements. Someone with that authority will contact you due to the BBB complaint. If anyone is willing and able to help, that's who it will be.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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118.4K Messages
7 days ago
🤦🏼♀️
AT&T doesn't have your phone. You sent it to Assurant Mobile. And the phone number connected to the Smart label on the package is connected to an account and a phone number that no longer exists.
This isn't AT&T's fault.
Not saying it's yours.
But it may cost you.
Assurant has a phone and There isn't any way to tie it back to your AT&T account since you canceled it. And assurant does not have to return the phone.
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Lockdowncraziness
Former Employee
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2.8K Messages
7 days ago
Actually this is 100 percent your fault. You admitted you sent the phone to the wrong place. You need to chalk it up to a lesson learned on paying more attention.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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118.4K Messages
7 days ago
No it is not. You can check on gazelle, or AT&T's own trade-in estimator. The book value of the phone is not the same as it's trade-in value. The trade-in value included a 36-month commitment on an unlimited data plan which you are no longer committed to.
That's all AT&T owes you. I
And because you're no longer a customer of AT&T wireless, they Don't feel any obligation to do any better.
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