Phone trade in with return label

That mailing label in the box with the new phone is for returning the new phone only in the event you decide not to keep it.  It’s going to a completely different address and the people who open it will have no idea what to do with the phone or where it should go since it’s not the returned iPhone 12 they were expecting.  You need to contact AT&T and tell them about the mistake.

https://tradein.att.com/contact-us

Hi @Wisduumb,

Thank you for reaching out. We understand how confusing this must be and would love to help.

To better assist with your trade in device that was wrongly shipped to the returns warehouse, please contact HYLA on 877-244-9829 and they will be waiting to assist.

Let us know if this helps

Doyin, AT&T Community Specialist.

Whatever you do don't send them back in the package the new phones came in.  We got our new phones in October but we didn't get our shipping packages either.  We started getting emails that we were not going to get credit if we didn't ship the old phones back, so we put them in the boxes we received the new phones in, put the shipping labels on them that was in the box the phones came in, and delivered them to USPS.  Now 3 1/2 months have gone by and I'm having to pay an extra $150 per month because they say don't know where the trade in phones are.  I have called every two weeks and AT&T just keeps telling me they'll fix it when they can.  Horibble!

Yeah I have called nearly every day since 1/4 to get clarity on how to resolve. The latest is that they still dont have the phone recorded in the returns warehouse. They said that since I used the "buyers remorse" shipping label it could take several weeks before the IMEI is recorded. Once they do that then I will get notified and possibly get charged a restocking fee. Since I escalated the case and have all these notes they will most likely waive the restocking fee and either send the phone back to me or send it directly to the trade in dept. ATT was vague on that point. My backup plan is to make a claim on my phone insurance which dings me for a 200.00 deductible but then I could get a replacement phone for the "lost" one and get the 700.00 credit. 500 is better than nothing. Still hopeful they find it before Feb18 which is the last day I can submit the claim. Maybe ATT will put a notice in the new phone box to reduce the error we did. I mean it is pretty easy to get fooled by a return label when doing a trade in. I for one will never ship anything ever again without getting a tracking number or taking a picture of the label. :-|

I have the tracking numbers for three of them.  On the status line it says on the way to AT&T.  It's said the same thing for months.

Errors occur, What is the recovery time frame for the Trade in device, will it will be eligible for trade in value after being located?

The only way to get this corrected is to raise a complaint with the Attorney's General office in your state (I did mine on-line). I had the same issue when I returned the trade in phones with the box they sent with the new phone. Make sure that you keep the tracking numbers.

I also sent my old phones back to ATT in there return label for my new devices.

I was later told that the return label is not for trade in but if I wanted to return the new phones back that was purchased. 

I'm assuming they have been either stolen or lost as it still shows in transit with the USPS/Pitney Bows provider. This issue started in November 2020 and they still have not received my devices and I still have not been credited the $800.00 per phone promotion as was stated in the contract.

We are at the end of April 2021 and I am still paying full price for the phones. 

I have opened numerous amount of cases Example of a few: 148202864 and 148575276 spoke to countless amount of people since November and still am being told to wait until my items are delivered.  

I just opened a case with my Attorney Generals Office to see what could be done to resolve this issue as currently I am out either out 2 old Iphones or I'm not going to get my credits and discounts I was promised for my trade-ins.

ATT if you are reading this your TRADE-IN process needs to be changed as it obviously seems to be an issue. 

I am still in the same boat!  Started in November 2020 for me as well.  Been an AT&T customer for maybe 15 years but I’m about ready to switch to Verizon.  

People can file FCC and BBB complaints.  That has the best chance of getting the issue resolved.