Tutor
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5 Messages
Don't waste your time with the AT&T buyback program
AT&T's buyback program is a total waste of time. IF you should choose to use the ATT buyback program instead of selling your valueable phone to one of the for more reliable 3rd party options, see my personal experience as to why you should avoid. I traded in 2 iPhone 5 16gb in perfect condition - got paid for one - the other apparently disappeared along with my $200 credit.
Highlights:
-The convenient prepaid mailing label that AT&T offers is worthless and the key to why this program is terrible. There is no option to insure your package, or track it - which works perfect for them when can simply "lose" your phone and not pay you a dime. If you do choose to use this program, pay for your own shipping, insure your package, and make sure you can track it and prove it was received.
-Customer service is beyond abhorrent. The buyback customer service team is actually a contractor/not really AT&T and could not care less if you get your credit. Once my phone was lost, I called 5 times over the course of 4 months, had my case "escalated" each time - which apparently is their way of getting you off the phone without actually doing anything.
-The real AT&T customer service department will tell you they have no way of helping you with your buyback program issues, and will only robotically repeat what the contractors at the "Buyback Warehouse" tell you and refer you back to them.
-Apparently even though the AT&T customer service department tells you that they "notate" your account when you have an issue like this, those notes must not be readable since no representative after the fact can seem to find them or anything else related to any previous call you've made.
-The kicker to my experience was having a "customer service specialist" call me in response to the poor scores I gave on a customer service text survey after one of my dead end, hour long calls. She claimed to have "fixed" my situation immediately and said I'd be recieving my $200 phone credit within two weeks and was sure to "notate" my account in case anything happened. Seemed like a dream right? Except apparently it was a dream. 3 weeks passed and no credit shows up. So I call customer service like the nice lady told me to, and guess what? No one has any clue what I'm talking about. Just another two hours of my life I can't get back.
In summary, avoid the buyback program like the plague. After my experience, I"m out a perfectly good iPhone 5, have no credit of any fashion and can't even get an answer as to what happened.
This was my last ditch effort to get some sort of REAL response and service from AT&T after being a customer for 14 years I was treated as if they had absolutlely no interest in helping me whatsoever.
Sorry AT&T, you failed miserably.
ATTMobilityCare
Community Support
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15.2K Messages
8 years ago
Hey there @bennys33
I’m sorry to hear that your experience with our Buyback Program has been a poor one! I’d be happy to help! Please send me a private message by Clicking Here and include the following information and I’ll get to the bottom of this:
Thanks,
Charise
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bennys33
Tutor
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5 Messages
8 years ago
Charise - I emailed you all of my information. Anxiously awaiting your response.
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cousintim
Professor
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1.7K Messages
8 years ago
For others, this is advice that has been previously posted several times:
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bennys33
Tutor
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5 Messages
8 years ago
Thanks Cousin Tim,
No offense, but this is exactly why AT&T Customers should be mad and not accepting of this process. AT&T knows darn well that providing an online option that offers a free shipping label is going to be used no by a ton of people who assume that they are acting with their best interests as an honest carrier.
In actuality, what AT&T is doing with the online buyback program, is providing themselves with a way to inherit a TON of free or highly discounted phones that they can turn around and sell for huge profit.
I've been in marketing for 15 years, I know how it works.
If AT&T had the intention of this online process being legit, the courtsey shipping label would come with a tracking number on it, and there would be a very regimented way of knowing where your phone is and the condition it was in immediately upon reciept.
Instead, people assume the process will work only to find out their phone is "lost" and now they have no way to track it, or their phone miraculously doesn't work anymore after sitting in a pile for 4 months in who-knows-what kind of conditions. The customer either recieves no money or much less than they were expecting because "oops", AT&T didn't provide a tracking number and "just has a really hard time keeping track of all the phones they are getting." The consumer gets screwed and most throw their hands up or forget and leave it at that. In turn, AT&T makes big money.
[Per Guidelines: Keep it Relevant and Appropriate]. AT&T is clearly misleading customers and if they had any intention to prove they were doing otherwise, they would have fixed the major problems with the online buyback process by now. The fact they continue to willfully let customers use this broken process tells me they are elated with the amount of free/super cheap phones they are getting and can't turn away from the new profit stream.
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sirisaac4
Contributor
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1 Message
8 years ago
This is absolutely priceless. I have the exact same issue. Mailed in two phones, got paid for one and not the other. This has been an on going process for 8 months with AT&T's customer service department(s). After being told some four plus months ago that "the phone was in our warehouse waiting to be processed, there is big pile of them to go through", we will get it to it soon. I am now being told that the phone is actually inservice and has been since January. The latest, "your phone must have been stolen in transit". I now call at least once a week, spend 30 minutes on the phone explaining the situation, get told there will be resolution and I will receive a call back. Surprisingly enough, I never get resolution or a call back. Just today, I spent another 30 mintues on the phone, was told, "don't worry, this is the last call you will need to make, someone will call you in 30 minutes." That was 5 hours ago.... I think this is quite a profitable scam for AT&T.
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PeiPei
Contributor
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2 Messages
7 years ago
Looks like the ATT Customer Service person who left a message here also gave up. There is no more follow up posts from him to further explain wether or not this issue has been resolved.
I just submitted my trade in request, I think I'm better off not use it.
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Pamcoffman1+
Tutor
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3 Messages
7 years ago
I'm having the exactly same issue. They lost two of the iPhone 6s. [Edited to comply with Guidelines]They wasted so much of my time and I'm not paying my bill until I get the 714.00 they owe me!
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Pamcoffman1+
Tutor
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3 Messages
7 years ago
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LisaC.
Contributor
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3 Messages
6 years ago
I have the same problem. 2 new phones traded-in and I was waiting for my $1200 to pay back Verizon for the early termination. I don't have $1200 to pay Verizon!
[Per Guidelines: Keep it Relevant and Appropriate].
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Lhuddles1257
Contributor
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2 Messages
5 years ago
Whoa. It’s been three years since your post and I have the EXACT same situation happening to me right now. It’s scary how even the littlest details are identical (the rep saying how they’ve “made notes in the system”, and the perpetual runaround) I wish I would’ve seen your post before I sent my phones back to AT&T. 😞 Anyway I’m determined to get satisfaction. The power of Social Media will make or break a company’s reputation nowadays. Twitter.. here I come.
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