Tutor
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4 Messages
AT&T Defective Phone Replacement Lost/Not Received. ~$400 Charge Expected
The title is the short version here, but I'll explain in a bit more detail below...
For those of you who have had to replace a phone through At&t under warranty, you probably already have something of an understanding of what's to follow. I received mmy replacement phone promptly after 2-3 days from the time my claim was originally placed. On this very same day, I mailed out my defective phone, as is required, making sure to get a copy of the receipt from USPS, as is highly suggested.
Today, I received the text/email combo from At&t warning that if they don't receive my old phone soon, I am going to be required to pay its full price, which is something close to $400. I quickly entered my tracking information in the newgistics tracking company's website (this is the sketchy company used for the defective returns). The only information that appears is the fact that USPS handed the package to them on the 13th (day after inital mailing). The destination is marked "N/A," the estimated delivery blank, and the current status "In Transit."
Beginning to worry, I took to Google to see if anyone had experienced similar problems and lo and behold, there was an entire forum dating 4 years back filled with people experiencing problems with this defective phone swap process (Found Here). From this I gathered as much that customer support will blame you for losing the phone, receive an empty box with a conspicuously placed hole, lose your information, or be otherwise unhelpful and demand you pay full price for the phone that you entrusted in the hands of some random shipping company that steals about half the broken phones that pass through it. This is, of course, after spending upwards of 5 hours explaining the same thing over and over to these people and ascending several tiers of management (according to many different folks on the forum I linked).
Has anyone out there found a solution in avoiding this ridiculous charge you shouldn't be facing in the first place or is there an AT&T employee who can help me resolve this given I have physical proof of returning the package?
I'm half-tempted to contact the BBB and FCC for both AT&T and newgistics since this little scheme has been going on for so long and still has yet to be resolved.
ATTDmitriyCM
Former Community Manager
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10.4K Messages
8 years ago
Hi @xsnook
I know we see some issues with returns on the Forums from time to time, but in reality, those are a very small percentage of all returns sent to AT&T and chances of having an issue with that are very low. I have personally exchanged a phone under the warranty through mail few months ago and it was delivered to AT&T just fine, however in some cases it can take up to 2-3 weeks.
The message you received is just a reminder (in case the phone hasn't been mailed back yet) and it doesn't mean that the charge is being added to your account at this time.
If you want, our team can check the return status for you. You can send us a private message by clicking here (you will need to log back into the Forums, please don't reply to a forums notification email this post generates). Please include your full name, phone number, account number and the best time you can be reached.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Dmitriy
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xsnook
Tutor
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4 Messages
8 years ago
Keep hope alive if you've found this post. Though it took over two weeks my phone did make it back to AT&T finally. There is hope!
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Daygoldy
Contributor
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2 Messages
7 years ago
I am experiencing the same issue. I handed mine to my postal worker in front of my house on Oct 6, the box wouldn't scan so she could not provide a receipt. The smartlabel site as of today states not found. I called AT&T cs 3 times - each time the people claim I will be charged the full price of the phone since I don't have the "required" postal receipt per their warranty exchange terms & conditions. Well, I printed out those t&cs there is no mention of the word 'required' only "recommend" the cs people outright lied. I'm wondering how many people AT&T has scammed into getting this extra money charging for phones that either the USP or AT&T loses... There has to be some internal metrics or KPI for revenue earned on 'lost phones' [Per Guidelines: Keep it Relevant and Appropriate].
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David606
Employee
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3.5K Messages
7 years ago
You didn't take it to the counter, where receipts are provided.
Of course it doesn't say required but that's your protection for a lost package. The receipt. It's recommended because that's the only verification that the package was accepted by USPS.
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semperfried
Contributor
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1 Message
7 years ago
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Charbray
Contributor
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1 Message
7 years ago
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soniaywicker
New Member
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11 Messages
2 years ago
I am currently going through this right now. I have a RING camera video of me speaking to my mail person & him scanning the phone package & taking it. Of course, USPS doesn’t have the ability to print receipts from their home pickups. & ATT says they don’t keep tracking info nor did they tell me I needed to keep a copy (if I needed a copy, why wasn’t a copy provided). USPS says the purchaser of the return label is the only one who can gain access to it after the fact. Sounds like ATT is running a scam.
It’s obviously an common issue on their end that they don’t care about. I smell a (Edited per community guidelines) coming.
(edited)
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