New Member
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4 Messages
ATT sales representatives making false customer promises
I want to bring to your notice what's going on at ATT. ATT sends sales agents at grocery stores with promotional offers. They lure the customers with promotional offers into buying ATT services and move away from their existing providers. Once the customer buys the services they ask us to send the old devices as trade-ins. When the bill starts to come it is nothing like promised at the time of sales. We call in to discuss the same but the support team tells us that "I was not there when you bought the service so how do I know what the agent promised" "Go talk to the agent's manager" "It was your decision to buy att plan the agent did not force it on you". We are not left with any choice to get back to our previous service provider or service because I will not get my trade-ins back nor the same plan from my previos provider. Moreover, I'll have to pay for the new phones in full. The only choice we have is to continue with att and pay a higher than promised bill.
Below is my case for specific details.
I was at the Fred Meyer store in Bothell, Washington, where an ATT agent lured us by saying that we can get us the unlimited premium plan with trade-in and corporate discount with a total bill of $92 per month. This included the cost of service, tax, the change/upgrade of device after 18 month, the trade in values, the corporate discount, the then store purchase discount. Also the international roaming charges would be just $10 a month. We agreed and made payments there. We dropped off one of our device at ATT store (Iphone 12 pro) , mailed in the other (iphone 12 mini) to ATT as advised by att store person because he was not be able to give the $1000 discount as mentioned on the order summary. We did as guided.
I was at the Fred Meyer store in Bothell, Washington, where an ATT agent lured us by saying that we can get us the unlimited premium plan with trade-in and corporate discount with a total bill of $92 per month. This included the cost of service, tax, the change/upgrade of device after 18 month, the trade in values, the corporate discount, the then store purchase discount. Also the international roaming charges would be just $10 a month. We agreed and made payments there. We dropped off one of our device at ATT store (Iphone 12 pro) , mailed in the other (iphone 12 mini) to ATT as advised by att store person because he was not be able to give the $1000 discount as mentioned on the order summary. We did as guided.
The first bill that we received was way higher than we expected. We followed up multiple times with customer service spending hours together. We have been calling an average of twice every month with an average of over 2 hours each call. The only answers to be received is that they cannot do anything about it. They cannot fix the bill, they cannot apply the discounts as promised, they cannot give the devices back, etc etc …They keep on transferring the calls from one department to another and finally saying that they have asked the manager and they will call back. We even tried to reach out to the initial grocery store manager and the new agent of ATT , who is currently selling the service there. We reached out to another call center, as guided by the new agent at the grocery store, which he said was specific for the sales made at the sales point. Of course !!! NO HELP.
Now, we have nothing else, but to say/feel that we have been cheated and fooled by ATT , making fake promises and not delivering. Additionally, taking away our devices and making us give away our older plans, to which we cannot even get back to. This is totally
unacceptable, unethical and not expected from a reputed firm like ATT. Please look into this and do something to make us feel justified.
MicCheck
ACE - Expert
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13.2K Messages
6 months ago
What's this? A rep in a grocery store was employed by a 3rd party so AT&T doesn't have a whole lot of control. That said, what is this discount and how much was it for?
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vg156
New Member
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4 Messages
6 months ago
in store purchase discount was $250 to be credit over 3 years (switcher offer to switch from another provider). There is no issue with this discount. I can see it on my bill.
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ATTHelp
Community Support
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215.4K Messages
6 months ago
This isn't the experience we want you to have with us. Let's work on making sure you get the trade-in credits and putting in feedback on this request, vg156.
We would like to meet you in a Direct Message for further review. Please check your Direct Message Inbox (it's the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums).
We look forward to speaking with you.
Tony, AT&T Forums Specialist
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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107.4K Messages
6 months ago
The people you purchased from were not AT&T employees. These are third-party authorized retailers which set up kiosks in stores like Sam's club, and Costco. They set up a store discount of $10 per month for 25 months which will add up to $250. That is a credit for switching through their authorized retailer. Everything else depends on you having traded in a qualified trade-in phone which you had to mail to AT&T. Approximately 2 to 3 months after you switch services and trade in your old phone you start getting credits on your bill against your installment payment.
It sounds to me like everything is working correctly. If you have not yet signed them for auto pay and paperless billing you need to do that to get the $10 per month discount on each phone line. If you traded in your old phones by mailing them to AT&T hopefully you kept the receipt that you got at the post office which has your tracking information
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MicCheck
ACE - Expert
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13.2K Messages
6 months ago
@formerlyknownas The pricing doesn't work out. Unlimited Premium for 2 lines with the autopay and store discount would be $130. Is that stackable with a signature discount? Even if so, that's still only down to $110. Adding on Next Up for 2 lines brings us back to $122. Unlimited Starter for 2 lines with store and signature discount is $92 with Next Up, so we could presume there's a misunderstanding unless something's in writing, but knowing Smart Circle, that's a leap. We also have to assume they misunderstood the $10 per day on international roaming as $10/month.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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107.4K Messages
6 months ago
@MicCheck
Yes they can get a signature discount, stacked with the auto pay and paperless discount plus the $10 per month for 25 months for switching is a credit not a discount.
Clearly the original poster was not told what to expect or they would have known that their first bill would be probably about twice what a normal bill would be. It would include the installments on all the phones they purchased plus activation fees on each line. None of the discounts or credits would be included on the first bill and could take up to three bills before they kick in. Almost all of them are retroactive.
The most significant issue here is not dealing with AT&T directly. There's absolutely nothing that was offered at Fred Meyer that wouldn't also be offered if they switched online to AT&T, and dealt directly with AT&T representatives and employees. Including the $250 deal for switching which is generally limited to two credits per account. This is why every time they talk to AT&T AT&T shrugs their shoulders and sends them back to the Fred Meyers kiosk person who doesn't even work for AT&T and doesn't have the power to fix Jack Diddley.
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vijayr
New Member
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3 Messages
6 months ago
AT&T Trade In is a biggest fraud. We sent a Samsung Galaxy in an excellent condition as a trade in and it was received and processed. But AT&T is not giving credits because a different line on the account was disconnected. No one told me that the trade-in credits will not apply if a different line which has no promotions was cancelled. Also, the contract I signed for the trade-in promotion also has no mention of that requirement. I called the customer service several times and they sent me back and forth between trade-in dept and customer service, without resolving the issue. I spent a few hours on phone with them but every time I call, it takes a very long time to re-explain everything without getting any resolution.
What recourse do I have to get my phone back or to get the credits applied ? Thinking of filing a claim in the court or complaining to BBB or FTC. Any advice is appreciated.
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MicCheck
ACE - Expert
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13.2K Messages
6 months ago
From the details of the trade-in program:
https://tradein.att.com/offer-details
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Constructive
Former Employee
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31.4K Messages
6 months ago
You can’t get your phone back it was sent to a 3rd party recycler.
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ATTHelp
Community Support
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215.4K Messages
6 months ago
Hi there vijayr, that is not the experience we want you to have with us. Let's work on making sure you get the trade-in credits.
Our trade-in promotions require an unlimited voice & data plan with certain requirements.
As stated by @formerlyknownas and @MicCheck, stores like Sam's club, and Costco which set up kiosks are third-party authorized retailers and all sales are final.
Any changes to your account within 30 days, or violated the promotions terms and conditions will cause these credits to suddenly stop.
How long ago did you trade in the phone?
You are able to double-check your eligibility for these credits.
Please share this info with us, so we can look into this together.
Ashley, AT&T Community Specialist
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