AT&T never gave me trade-in credit

From your initial interpretation,

"Mail in your phone and we will give you $800 credit in three months."

I don't get the feeling you understood that there was more to this promotion.  And that it was never as simple as that.

1.  The phone you traded in had to be a paid off AT&T phone, or a phone from a different service provider which you also have to pay off. If the phone was not paid off you would not have qualified. AT&T early upgrades the only credit you get is the remaining installments on the phone that you are still paying for.

You did not indicate whether or not the phone you traded in was 100% paid for. 

2.    You had to be on a qualified unlimited data plan. Qualified plans have a base price of $75 or more for one line. The unlimited value plan for example does not qualify because it's base price is $60 before $10 discount. Measured plans no matter how much you're paying do not qualify. 

You did not write what plan you were on. 

3. You have 30 days to mail in your old qualifying phone.  Every time AT&T has run this promotion it has listed every single phone that qualifies in its online promotion.   

You did not say what phone you traded in. You did not indicate whether or not the phone you traded in was done so within the 30 day time frame. 

4.   Credits are provided in equal portions over 36 months. So in other words an $800 credit is applied as $22.22 each month but it may take 2 to 3 months for the credits to start. Once they do start make up credits are made, so if they take 3 months in the first month three are made totaling $66.66. 

Your initial statement makes it appear you're looking for a full $800 in lump sum which is not how any of these promotions work from any service provider. 

If everything were to check out, the correct plan, a qualifying phone, trade it in within the 30 days, and you are not getting $22.22 credits every month, filing a Better Business Bureau complaint online is a lot easier and often is immediately productive. Better Business Bureau complaints are forwarded to AT&T upper management and someone will contact you. They will review When you entered into the promotion and if you met all the qualifications. At the very least you will be told why you are not getting credits if you did not qualify. If you did qualify they may go so far as to give you a lump sum credit just to resolve the situation.   

We do understand how important it is to get your trade in credits, Absolutely_Infuriated.

Thank you, formerlyknownas for that great information. As the ACE stated, you do want to make sure you meet all requirements to be eligible for the promotion. 

Let's meet in a DM to further review your promotion and proceed with our next steps. You will find a chat icon next to a bell icon in the upper right corner of this page. Our next message will appear there. 

Thank you for contacting AT&T Community Forums. We look forward to chatting with you soon. 

Clarissa, AT&T Community Specialist 

Formerly. Thank you for the insight.

1) My old phone was paid off completely. 2) I was told by the AT&T store worker I was on a qualified plan. 3) AT&T has admitted to me that they did receive my phone in time. 4) No credits have appeared on account or are available in my itemized paper statements.

Assuming I am wrong about any of this and I did not qualify for the promotion, then AT&T is still under obligation to determine my trade-in null and void and return my property to me.

then AT&T is still under obligation to determine my trade-in null and void and return my property to me.

No, that won’t happen. If it’s determined that you don’t qualify for the promotion, then you get the actual trade in value for the phone. They won’t return it. If the issue ends up being they received the trade in late and presuming you have the tracking information to prove it was sent within the required 30 days, file a BBB complaint to escalate to corporate.

then AT&T is still under obligation to determine my trade-in null and void and return my property to me.

You obviously did not read the terms of the promotion that you agreed to because it clearly states the device will not be returned to you. 

That's fine. I don't want it back. I don't want to deal with selling it on Craigslist. But I want at least fair market value.

It might help Grease the wheels if you have proof of when you mailed your phone. If it's under 30 days since the activation or purchase of your new phone, you do have grounds to dispute the lack of credits. In which case A Better Business Bureau complaint is the way to go. Better Business Bureau complaints are forwarded back to AT&T upper management and someone will call you. Whether you fully qualified for the bill credits or qualify for a one-time credit, upper management has the power to resolve the situation. Regular csrs do not

****UPDATE****

I am no longer Absolutely_Infuriated. I am now Extremely_Pleased.

First of all - let me give a shout out to Lisa on the Social Media team. She reached out to me; she was courteous, responsive, and gave me confidence that she was taking my claim seriously. She took down my tracking numbers and my IMEI number, and gave me a deadline for when she would get back to me with an answer. She kept me appraised of how things were going, what the status was, and when she would get back to me again. She even gave me her direct line to reach out if I had any questions.

Today, I was overjoyed to find an $850 credit on my account. They threw in an extra $50 for the hassle I had to go through. 

Thank you to Lisa for all your hard work. I really appreciate it. It truly means a lot. My wife and I are having a baby in a few months and that $850 will help a lot.

Thank you to AT&T for following through with this. I consider this matter resolved and am happy to continue business with your company. 

I have been dealing with this trade in " "scam" for 4 months and it's still not resolved.  They indicated that one of the 3 phones I traded in wasn't received on time and I even submitted a receipt from the post office proving they were mailed on the same day.  All phones were factory reset and returned on time.  All phones were on the qualifying list. One of the phones was less than a year old and I had to pay over $400 to pay off that phone to switch to AT&T for this promotion.   They said one phone was late and phones were locked even though my husband followed the directions and reset them.   They were not locked.  They were not late.   AT&T gave us anywhere from $5 to $20 per phone which was a joke as one was brand new and all were in working order.   I feel if AT&T did this to us, they have done it to more.   It should be illegal and feels like a scam.   Thanks for the idea of the BBB.  I'll try that next. I'm so frustrated and disappointed with AT&T.   I should have never switched for this lie of a promotion