2 Messages
Trade-in never credited
I spent an hour and 20 minutes on the phone with AT&T Customer Service with no resolution and my polite request to speak to a manager was agreed to but I never received the call I was promised.
I have been an AT&T customer for 14 years with an average monthly bill of $425.
In November 2022, there was a promotion to receive $1,000 off an iPhone 14 Pro Max if I traded in my IPhone 12 Pro. I received the new device and used the enclosed label to send back my trade-in. After several weeks, I never had any confirmation that it was received. I called customer service and the call was routed to a trade-in department. I was told that the phone had been received but it took some difficulty to confirm. I was told per the terms of the trade-in that I would receive the correct monthly bill rate for the phone in two-three months.
My bill is auto drafted from my account and I had (I own this part) failed to confirm that the credit had been applied. As it turns out one of my family’s other phone was paid off at the time so I assumed that it had been deducted. I had spoken to AT&T so I was confident in the process.
Fast forward a year and I leaned that no discount had ever been applied. I spoke to a representative yesterday for an hour and 20 minutes. I provided the trade-in confirmation to them and they put me on multiple extensive holds over that time to tell me that they could not find the related shipping information relative to the AT&T confirmation number I gave them.
The woman who had been relatively nice up to this point said they could not find the shipping confirmation so that was that. She became curt and just tried to end the call. I appealed to speak to a manager because this for me was becoming a customer satisfaction issue. She appeared annoyed at my request and quickly said that her supervisor would call me back in a few minutes. I never received a call.
I have spent more than $65,000 with AT&T (Wireless) over the 14 years I have been a customer. Yesterday’s exchange with customer service has me considering a move to Verizon. I hope to speak to someone who can better help me understand what happened and why AT&T takes no responsibility for its part in this issue.
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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118.4K Messages
6 months ago
Oh boy, it really would have been a good idea if you had followed up on this a year ago. It is way way too late for them to even confirm that your trade-in was ever mailed. Tracking information is not saved by either the postal service or the courier. So unless you have it it does not exist.
Do you?
You can try a better business bureau complaint. But the complaint is just forwarded back to AT&T upper management who will contact you and if you have no documentation, they may not be willing to give you credit.
If this is the breaking point and you're going to quit and go to Verizon then start paying off your devices and seeing what kind of offer they have if you bring your own phones
I tell people all the time *do business in a store* so that when you make your trade in you get a physical receipt in hand and there's absolutely no doubt that they will have to honor the promotion. And of course you save that receipt and absolutely do not lose it until your credits have begun on your account.
And the thing I tell people even more often is to read your bill on a regular basis. You are responsible to report errors on your bill to AT&T in a timely manner.
(Not just AT&T, but Verizon, T-Mobile, your bank, your credit card company, And pretty much every other business you do business with is going to have a limit on how far back they will correct errors)
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Epicwalkers
2 Messages
6 months ago
All of this is valid advice. No question. I’m not naive and I know that I should have better about documenting the process. I am not an angry consumer and whatever they do is what they do. I only owe on two devices so paying them off is not an issue. I do have faith that there are people in these orgs that understand churn and retraction. I actually worked for AT&T corporate in Redmond, WA years ago.
What some of these companies are learning is valuing a customer goes miles in terms of loyalty and revenue. The wireless carriers are not differentiated from each other. Maybe AT&T will step up and do something. We’ll see.
I appreciate your thoughtful and valid comments!
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dwill05
ACE - Master
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11K Messages
6 months ago
I doubt that any of the cellular companies value loyalty much beyond paying lip service to it. They are all pretty much the same. People lever AT&T to go to Verizon. People leave Verizon to go to T-Mobile. People leave T-Mobile to go to AT&T. All the churn comes around.
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ATTHelp
Community Support
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232.9K Messages
6 months ago
Hi @Epicwalkers,
The Community Forums are a public support option where other users, and AT&T, will try and assist with high level support needs. This means we won’t be able to look into account specific concerns. To get the help you need for your unique issue, please review our Contact Us page, and choose the best option to reach out to us. You can call, chat, or reach out via social media and we can review your specific issue and provide you support. If you feel your issue isn’t account specific, and can be answered generally, please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.
Thank you for reaching out to us on AT&T Community Forums.
JamesR, Community Forums Specialist
(edited)
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zoexu
1 Message
2 months ago
I have similar issue. I traded in my pixel 4 for a promotion of $1000 on Mar 2 this year (I have the USPS receipt). I have called AT&T several times, every time over 2 hrs. They said they'll apply the credit, but I never received the credit over 2 months. I'm tired to talk with them. Seems they didn't try to resolve the problem.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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118.4K Messages
2 months ago
@zoexu
I don't suppose you read the part of the trade-in offer that says it takes up to three bill cycles, 90 days for your credits to begin? If you traded in a phone in March, You should not expect bill credits until the same date in JUNE.
It is now the middle of May.
Not June yet
Please check your receipt for the exact day in March that you did your trade in. If it was the end of March you should be looking for bill credits at the end of June
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