Upgrade Fiasco

The terms of the promotion require the 36 month installment no matter how much your phone is worth. It’s a requirement. Did you read the terms of the promotion? If you had you would have read that along with the clear disclosure of not being able to get your phone back. AT&T does not even see your phone. It goes to a third party. 

Yes, my issue is that what i was trading for that contract had its worth unilaterally cut by 90%, and now ive lost a good phone, have to pay for the new one, and i am locked in to a 36 month contract.

Its just no longer a fair deal and its really apparent, if not downright criminal. 

So if you had done your part and met the requirements then it would have been a fair deal, in your opinion? 🤔 If you sent in a phone that didn’t qualify that would be your fault. All the requirements are provided and it is up to you to meet them. You don’t have to stay for 36 months, just pay off your device and move on if you want to. 

Im saying quite clearly the issue lies in a descrepency of value. 36 months in a commitment holds a value for atnt. A thousand dollar phone being traded in for 50$ is a value for atnt. Additionally, because i dont have the option of negotiation after they unilaterally decided my functional port (or whatever they decided was the issue) was a deal breaker, i lose out on deals with other companies, such as samsung. 

I cant help but feel like your judgement is a little prickly and personal here, and its not clear to me why that is. 

What I am saying is you agreed to the terms of the promotion when you accepted them and sent in your phone. You don’t get to negotiate after the fact. That’s not how promotions work. The commitment is also standard for all cell companies who have these promotions. They are going to require you to stay if they are giving you a free device. They are not in the business of giving away money. 

What does the website say your trade-in was worth?

https://tradein.att.com/start-trade/find/devices

Indeed, and i am criticizing the equitability of that deal only after the fact, like many others. Samsung was offering me 200$ for my phone, condition as is. Atnt said heres 800-1000$ off, and in the fine print a disclaimer about their ability to reassess the value of the phone upon arrival. 

My intent in bringing this up is to say:

1) hey, dont get too excited without reading that fine print or you may get burned

2) has anyone had success in addressing this kind of situation with atnt? 

3) just to vent and say (Edited per community guidelines) man, this is a random 800$ bill, and it doesnt feel good to be on the receiving end in this situation, and going from 800$ off to 50$ off gives me some wiplash. 

4) i think in my niavete i was trusting in the goodwill of the company ive been with for 15 years, and while i should expect this in late stage capitalism, it still doesnt feel good. 

I think your points are directed at addressing entitlement and trying to get me to understand that atnt did nothing wrong in this case. Im saying that regardless of right and wrong, i feel like my exchange, at the end of the day, was not comensurate in value, and i am going to remember that in the future. Is that understandable? 

Remember that with all cellular providers that run these promotions because they all work the same way. Is that understandable? 

Please say that again, it was not clear. 

You’re funny! 😂