Contributor
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4 Messages
Family quarrel lead to my fiance's mother falsly reporting her iphone stolen, and AT&T won't help.
So this is a doozie. I'll try to keep it short. My soon-to-be wife and her sisters all got together on a family share plan under he mother. Her mother had a brand new iphone 6s shipped to us in a different state. It came directly from AT&T to us, never to her. It was activated under her mother's account on the same line and we then paid her mother for the price of the phone. About a year later due to unrelated events there was a falling out. It was over something ridiculous and petty and frankly I am embarrassed to be stuck in the middle of the drama. This is when it gets shady. Her mother reports the phone as stolen to AT&T, has it blacklisted and then send a message on Facebook bragging about how we won't be able to use that phone anywhere and we are out what we paid for it. She goes on to say that she comes up because even though we paid her hundreds of dollars in a lump that we really couldn't afford at the time, she was still making monthly payments on the device and now she won't have to pay the rest. I remind you this is from a woman to her daughter.
So we call AT&T and try to explain the situation. No luck there. We are bounced around and up the chain then sideways to departments but nobody seems to care what is happening here. All we get is that since her Mother was the primary she can do whatever she wants. I have to wonder then, could I get a contract and a new iphone 7 on AT&T Next making payments, sell it for cash then just report it stolen under the insurance? Thanks for permission AT&T, because apparently that is within the rules of the service.
OK, sorry for the sarcasm that helps no one. I am at my wit's end here. There has to be some form of recourse. If I did that with a bank issued credit card I would be in cuffs by now for fraud and nobody seems to be able to stop it this woman from doing it, not even the creditor. If anyone has any advice here I could really use it. There has to be some form of recourse. There just has to. I havn't tried contacting Apple yet but I am sure they would just say to contact AT&T. What is left the police? She lives 3 states over, which police? Community forums elsewhere have been great to me in the past, so here is hoping I can get some support here too.Thanks.
sandblaster
ACE - Expert
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63.9K Messages
6 years ago
Sorry, I don't have any advice on which law agency to contact but just FYI, her reporting the phone stolen does not absolve her from having to pay it off. She still has to pay for the phone and the service for the line. If she cancelled that line, then whatever was still owed on the phone became due.
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Cptdraco13
Contributor
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4 Messages
6 years ago
Thanks for the effort. It is of small consolation though knowing that she will just get a brand new device to replace the "stolen" one through Asurion. She will probrably then switch that one with the one on her line and get a free upgrade out of it. Then she will cancel the line when the contract terms in 5 months and sell it off adding that to her profit in with our $400 we already paid for this Rose Gold iBrick. I wish someone sold Mother-in-law insurance. She really is that evil by the way, I swear this woman is like a comic book villain. How is she allowed to report a phone stolen that isn't hers? If she wanted it off her name thats one thing but having paid cash for the thing I don't even have the option to take over the payments? You can do that with cars and not for a phone worth 1/10th the value, this industry makes no sense to me at all.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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107.3K Messages
6 years ago
She won't get a new device, and it isn't free. Asurion charges a deductible and she would be sent a refurbished phone. And as @sandblaster wrote, she still has to pay it off.
In short, she cut off her nose to spite her face, which is exactly how you should set this in your minds.
Move on. Get your own accounts. Best Buy has great unlocked phones at great prices. The IPhone SE is only $244 with a $45 aircard for Gophone.
Best revenge is living well. (And without mommy dearest). Congrats on the engagement. Have a wonderful life.
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GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.6K Messages
6 years ago
contact asurion and tell them what is going on ALSO since they are the insurance company taking the loss. She cost herself money. The deductible was 150 to 225 bucks for a refurb phone.
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