Have pictures -- Trade-in wrongly described

The trade-in business is a completely third-party company called Assurant Mobile in Tennessee. If what they got is a phone with a cracked screen, that's what they are telling AT&T 

Have no idea if that could be disputed

No one here can help you get in touch with AT&T beyond telling you to call the standard CS numbers.  It’s unlikely they’ll do anything since all they see is the report from the recycler who reported the screen is cracked.  They aren’t going to challenge or investigate that.

File a BBB complaint.  It will get sent to a higher level of customer service from the Office of the President, who will contact you.  Provide them with your evidence and it should get resolved.

There were many instances that ATT contacted people to provide a private channel to send info.  I was hoping such a person still exists.

Is there anybody from ATT who even bothers to read these?

Hello @perfect,

Thank you for reaching out to us. We understand your concern regarding the trade-in, let's get the help you need.

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 contacting AT&T Community & Forums,
Kevin, AT&T Community Specialist

They stopped doing direct support via forum DMs a few months ago, so that option is closed.  All they will do is post telling you to contact them using the contact us link at the bottom of the page.

@ATTHelp  Dear Kevin,

I have already tried to talk to ATT and the supposed trade-in support line.  One person tells me I should contact the other!

So it would appreciated if someone could actually pay attention.

@dwill05  @formerlyknownas Thank you for your replies.  I am not ignoring your comments, and thanks again.

I think there are two parties who are screwing people over: One is the cellular provider, and the other is the trade-in companies.  The latter can just label any phone -- but especially popular phones -- as being non-functional or screen cracked, when they are in fact in great condition.  This way they get a great phone to sell as "refurbished" and pay only $30 for it.  There is no way provided by either parties for a consumer to double check and this is the real part of the scam on both sides.

But I shall pursue this even if I have to drag my local government rep into this.

@prefect 

The trade in company is at most paying book value, which is a fraction of what ATT offers to you, because they get to keep you for 3 years of service.

@formerlyknownas 

I am looking at the angle that there does not seem to be a obviously traceable path of the trade-in phone once it's left the consumer. There is no system in place that the CONSUMER can rely on that provides a record of the phone.  This is an absurd situation. Does that mean the phone IMEI is not recorded by the recipient end once received? The phone is now untraceable?? How does the trade-in company track the phones on their end for their resale?

Someone is not telling the whole story.

 Second, from a customer point of view, all 3 major providers are equal in their service and coverage for routine use. I don't think anyone in a big city can complain a whole lot since they are the same.  You can nitpick, but there is none. It comes down to phones and pricing.

If my used phone is worth $800 and my current provider has no intention of providing me loyalty benefits, I don't mind jumping. From my point of view, if I can save $100 a month, why not. If the provider is making money, that's their business. But then I don't expect to be scammed!  Looking at it now, because this system has no traceability or accountability, it is fraught with loopholes. The used phone essentially vanishes into thin air.  This whole business is a classic case for a (Edited per community guidelines) suit or investigation by appropriate federal authorities.