USING USPS SMARTLABEL TO RETURN PHONE

I am going through the same thing this is so frustrating! 

This is what is going on with the smart label when they can't find it or track, some of these labels are being made and they don't have two separate barcodes if the bottom half doesn't have the USPS barcode Post Office won't be able to scan it,  but it gets on a truck bound for the destination.  AT&T just needs to look for the phone at this point because you can't track it with the 610 number you need the USPS number to track it AT&T will tell you that it can be tracked with this number which is not true. So if you don't have Newgistics barcode at the top and then a solid line with a barcode for USPS AT&T is going to say no phone arrived. I wonder how many people have been made to pay for a phone because of this error could be 1,000's sounds like a big rip  off 

Here is what's happening some of these smart labels are being printed and they don't contain 2 barcodes at the top is the barcode for newgistics and the bottom half of the label should have a USPS barcode this is what actually gets scanned and tracks the package,  AT&T would have you to believe that they are tracking with the 610 number but that number will always comeback as saying "not received" looking at these posts I'm sure everyone who has been told their phone wasn't received only had one barcode if AT&T looked in their warehouse all these phones are probably there but with no USPS number to track them they can say it was never received someone else probably has your phone as a refurbished phone it would only take for them to administer the system is flawed and fix the problem.

IM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE!!!!! Going through Hades right now.  I’m being charged $1,000 for a defective phone I sent back with THEIR label.  When I kept checking the tracking, it said it had been picked up at the post office, but after that, nothing.  I called AT&T after a few days of no activity on the tracking to see if they had received the phone.  Employee Miah told me, after I read off the tracking number to her, that they did have the phone, it was there, it just had not been scanned in yet.  Now I’m being billed for it because they say they don’t have it.  Someone has it... but not me.  I’ve thought about leaving AT&T & going to another service provider once everything is paid for & we can leave our contract, but I think all companies are crooked.  Stealing, cheating, defrauding, lying... it’s how the wealthy get wealthy.  It’s how you achieve the American Dream of living like a Kardashian.  So I think when this is all done, I can go without a cell phone.  I did it for 30 some years.  I’d rather go without than to keep enabling these corrupt, crooked companies to feed their greedy CEOS.

This sounds exactly like my daughter's experience. She received a new phone DOA and got a Smart label, took the package to the PO, and checked the tracking number for about a week. Tracking only showed it being at the drop off PO. Then the tracking disappeared. So my daughter called AT&T and spoke to MIAH. She told my daughter the phone had arrived but it had not been logged in yet. My daughter assumed it would be handled, but it wasn't. Now she is being billed $999 plus extra charges for a dead phone where she followed the instructions given by AT&T. Worse, since she was told that they have it, she tossed the Tracking number. Several points: 1. This it all on AT&T. It is the system they employ. They retained Newgistics. They issue the barcodes. But it would seem, from the denying they advocate, they do not log the tracking number. 2. From this forum alone, this problem goes back to at least April 21, 2015, and continues today. 3. It is inexcusable that two bar codes should be on each Smart Label but some only have one and AT&T does not record any of them. 4. Newgistics web site indicates that the packages go to one of several centers they run, to give their customer- AT&T- the ability to easily and painlessly route the returns however AT&T wishes. Works out for AT&T; too bad for the customer, since, instead of managing the system they employ, they just bill the phone customer for a phone that disappeared, and aggressively. I wonder how many customers have a bitter taste in their mouth from their treatment by AT&T. [Edited to comply with Guidelines]

@ronsan 

It is a mess, I can't believe they're benefitting from this in any way with all the negativeness it generates.

Getting a receipt from the post office when mailing a package is up to the customer and keeping it until you have written confirmation (and then keeping that confirmation)  is also up to the customer. FYI, tossing the receipt defeats the purpose of getting it in the first place.

That said, AT&T appears to have the worst mechanism for returns out there, and it's been an issue for a long time.

The return process for Next upgrades and Asurion insurance returns seems to be filled with issues too.

Miah having it and having it logged in properly are about 5 different things (scanning, evaluation, and who knows what else happens). 

I'm putting it up to incompetence more than dishonesty.  The short term gains aren't worth the long term losses, IMHO.

Does anyone know what is contained in the Bar code Smartlabel+ information? It seems to me that the bar code is only useful if it can be referenced by both AT&T and Newgistics. I would think that AT&T would take enough interest in tracking the packaged phone to retain the tracking number themselves, but their insistence on placing the burden on the customer defies belief. What action is the customer to take when the package is shown by tracking to be at the PO and then just disappears? To what Newgistics Center was the package being directed? How does AT&T know what is happening? Let me pose this question: if the phone package is received, how does the tracking number identify the sender to issue credit, since there is no sender identification other than the barcode ? Please describe that process. 

I just got off the phone with the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.  Desmond says that it helps when more people file a complaint; it helps them with their CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION into wrongdoing.  It will not resolve your personal issues with AT&T, but it will get the law after them.  Other places to contact: FCC, PUC, and your state Attorney General.