Contributor
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Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer
Hi,
I was so excited to see AT&T announcing special offer to get new smartphone by trading in old smart phone.
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=24128&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=36372&mapcode=
I walked into a company owned AT&T retail store today (May 1, 2013) at 16496 Beach Blvd, Westminster, CA 92683
I currently have Samsung Galaxy S2 (I777) which I upgraded in September 2011,so I wanted to trade that in to get new HTC one 4G. Since I am eligible for an upgrade, HTC one is priced at $199 with 2 year contract. The trade-in value of Galaxy S2 came out to be $100. So ideally I thought I am supposed get to HTC one for $99. That is exactly what announcement says.
But reality was vastly different. Store representatives told me that value of the trade-in cannot be used towards HTC one upgrade. Instead they can give me a store credit which can be used ONLY for buying accessories. It cannot even be applied to my monthly wireless charges. That means I have to pay $199 for HTC one and I get $100 to buy worthless accessories.
This is utterly ridicoulous. Store representatives told that they had tried applying the trade-in store credit to upgrade to newer smartphones for other customers through out the day and it didn't work. What I don't understand is how can a widely publisized offer like this can not really be supported at AT & T stores.
After being a loyal AT&T customer for over four years now, I am extremely disappointed and frustrated by today's experience. All I want to say is if AT&T cannot ensure to make offers available,it should not advertize them.
Spliner
Teacher
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12 Messages
11 years ago
Update: After talking with the trade-in program people they tell me that not all AT&T stores participate in the promotion. The "at least $100" promotion is only covered by AT&T company stores. So when you do a store locator search on their website you have to click "details" on the store and make sure it says "Equipment Trade-in & Recycling Program" on their services. Wish I had known that before hand. The store I went to did indeed have a 'trade-in $100' program going on, but it was only for Android upgrades, not Apple products. So had I chosen a Galaxy S4 I would have indeed been given $100 trade-in. Which is actually kinda silly because I could have turned right back around and sold it on eBay for somewhere close to what an off-contract iPhone 5 would have cost me. But again.. I'd have been without a phone for a good period of time to do all that.
None of the sites I looked at that had details about the $100 trade-in promotion made the distinction between which stores were participating and which were not. So make sure you look for "Equipment Trade-in & Recycling Program" on the store details before you attempt the upgrade. Other AT&T stores may tell you they participate but half way through the trade-in you may get told otherwise which is what happened to me. I accepted the trade-in because I had already gone through the process and wasted the time to go there (I usually do upgrades on the web) and wanted to be rid of Android so badly (had hated it for 2 years).
Lesson learned that not all AT&T stores are created equal.
Funny thing is there is a 2nd AT&T retailer in my area which is flashing "half off" deals on their AT&T sign, I wonder if the same thing would have happened there had I used them (it kinda sounds like it might). I wonder if it would anger Apple to know that is happening? So fall back to "buyer beware". AT&T has been good to me for 6+ years, so I'm sure they'll either offer me a fix or take the time to educate their customers a bit more, or at the very least look into the retailers who are using the promo to lure in customers to force Android phones on them to get the discount. I won't be switching carriers any time soon because of it, but just wanted to let everyone know the outcome.
None of this means it's happening nation-wide either.. just that it happened to me. Once it's 100% resolved I may share the info with Apple (assuming they don't already read these boards). It makes no real sense to offer someone $100 trade-in on an upgrade to an Android phone and not on an Apple phone. In the end they cost about the same off-contract. Maybe Android manufacturers are offering better subsidizing terms to AT&T than Apple?
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