Trade-in Stuck “In Transit”

Since credits frequently take up to three full Bill cycles, and it's been less than 2 since March 2nd...

You may be jumping the gun, and their maybe no reason to worry

I wouldn’t be worried if not for the fact that AT&T have not even acknowledged receiving the phone after it was delivered 7 weeks ago.  I understand processing it takes time, and if it had reached that stage at all then I wouldn’t be concerned.  From my perspective Pitney Bowes says they delivered it.. but AT&T hasn’t acknowledged that at all aside from employees saying “yeah, tracking shows it’s delivered, I don’t know why it isn’t updating, just wait 2-4 weeks” and now it’s been 7.

Let's confirm your Trade-in promotion eligibility, appalocalypse!

As our ACE mentioned, your billing promotion credits will not reflect on your account until after 2-3 billing cycles has passed. If three billing cycles has not passed from when you accepted the Trade-in promotion offer. We advise reaching back out after you receive your third bill because we can't escalate a case for investigation until the third billing cycle has passed.  

Otherwise, we'd like to gather a few more details from you to help get your promotion applied:

• What plan are you currently on? There are select plans required to be eligible for the promotion deals.
• Which device did you purchase? Was your returned device in working condition? Certain damages aren't accepted and their are select devices that are required for purchase.
• What promotion offer did you accept? What was the credit amount for? With this information we can look up the offer and confirm the qualifications and your eligibility.    

Also, your trade-in device must meet the value amount required for the offer. You can visit the AT&T Trade-in Program for additional support. 

Please share the details to the questions listed above and then we can further assist.

Jonye, AT&T Community Specialist

My concern isn’t about my trade-in eligibility, or about the amount of time it takes to process my trade-in.  My concern is that my trade-in is still showing as “in transit” 7 weeks after Pitney Bowes delivered it to La Vergne, TN.  I’m on the elite unlimited plan, ordered a 13 pro max, and traded in an 11 pro max.  The offer was $1000.  But none of that is relevant to my concern at all.  I mailed my trade in on 02/18/22.  I received a confirmation email shortly after that I had mailed it.  That was the last communication from AT&T regarding the trade in.  Over 2 months ago.  Tracking indicates it was delivered, but AT&T does not reflect that at all.

Based on your trade-in inquiry, we want to get you into a DM @appalocalypse. Check the message icon in the upper portion of the page and reply back. 

In the meantime, we want to include some steps that may resolve your questions. 

Find everything you need to know about your order or return on the order status page. (Note: If you initiated your trade-in in store or through an AT&T representative, you can check your trade-in status anytime. From here, you can:

• Find out when your order ships.
• Get the status and track your returned device.
• See your estimated trade-in value.
• Locate your trade-in number.
• Learn about next steps.
• Request a shipping kit or reprint your shipping label.

If the above does not help, not to worry, we will get started figuring out the root cause and work towards a solution. Again, keep an eye out for the DM.

Alasani, AT&T Community Specialist 

I have the exact same problem.  I shipped a Smartwatch on March 30th from Alabama.  If I look at the Pitney Bowes Tracking, it says it was delivered to La Vergne, TN on April 6th.  However, I have not received any notification from AT&T that it has been received at all.  If I look at the AT&T website, it says it is still in transit.

Like what happened to appalocalyspe above, I am not worried about my eligibility because I have been told that my case is valid.  I am worried that it has been 8 weeks since it "arrived" at the La Vergne, TN facility (from Pitney) but is still "In Transit" (from AT&T).

To add to my confusion, the Tracking Numbers I have are different too.  The tracking number on the trade-in details is different than the Pitney Bowes tracking number.

I also decided to do some Googling and found out that there are multiple forum posts about the La Vergne facility and problems taking place.

What can be done about my smartwatch and what can be done about the La Vergne facility to ensure this doesn't happen to other people?

Thank you for your time.

The tracking shows that it was received, so that's nothing to worry about. There are other issues which can prevent credits from being applied: 

1. It hasn't been 3 billing cycles. Credits are applied starting in the 3rd billing cycle. 

2. It was sent to the wrong place. Trade in's should be sent using the trade in kit, not with the label which comes with the new device. If it was received in the wrong warehouse, there's no way to recognize credits should be applied (without escalation, that is). 

3. You don't qualify. Being told your "case is valid" is meaningless; all that matters is if you fulfilled the requirements set forth in the advertised promotion. 

If it's not been 3 cycle; be patient. 

If it's been 3 bill cycles, file a BBB or FCC complaint. Those get escalated to someone at AT&T who has more authority and resources to get things changed. If more you can help them determine what might have went wrong, the easier it will be to get things changed.

Thank you for the reply MicCheck.  My responses to your comments are:

1. I was told previously by someone from AT&T that it would be 3 billing cycles after it is Processed, which means I'm still 3 billing cycles out if it was processed today, unless I was told incorrectly.

2. I mailed it to the location that I was told to send it to via the trade in kit information.  Based on other people's complaints either the trade in kit has the wrong address or some other communication is incorrect because it appears like I'm not the only person this has happened to.

3. When I talked to someone named David with AT&T yesterday on the phone, he said that I qualified.  He also gave me an escalation case number, so hopefully, this turns out well in the next few days.

Thank you again for your reply.  I certainly appreciate it.

I have the same issue, trade in has been mailed and I’ve called 3x and told not to worry but it stuck as in transit. The cell phone that was traded in was almost new I took a picture and video before packaging and sending it off to with the label provided with the new phone when it arrived. I do not want to be responsible for a full amount of the new phone if I traded in the phone because it was valid and qualified for the promotion of $800 off. If this is a continued problem why use this logistics. Same delivery problems I’ve had with kohls with Pitney bows all items are lost or different data tracking! 

with a lot of people going through this same issue can easily cause (Edited per community guidelines) for false advertising and taking the phone with no credits