New Member
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2 Messages
AT&T Trade-In Scam
AT&T advertised a $1000 credit towards a new phone with the trade-in of my existing phone. Their online Trade-In tracker stated they received the phone on October 20th. After not receiving any credits on my bill for the months of November or December I contacted AT&T to see why I was not receiving any credits. I was informed by AT&T customer support that they had received my phone but deemed the phone to be damaged and the value was worthless.
The phone I sent in was a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, less than 9 months old. When asked how that was possible since the phone was in perfect condition when it was shipped I was told they had no more details just that the screen had Burn-In. When I asked if the phone could be returned to me so I could sell it via a third party I was told they cannot return the device.
I am now fully responsible for the total cost of the new phone, and AT&T is keeping my previous $1500 phone and offering no compensation for it. Furthermore, they waited over two months until I inquired about the status to inform me of their decision. Doing so made it so that the return period for the new iPhone had lapsed and I was now bound to a 3-year contract with AT&T.
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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110.7K Messages
2 years ago
I guess it's irrelevant to this situation, but' I'm trying to figure out why you would trade in a phone that's less than one year old and probably worth $1,000 resale if you sold it on swappa, but instead you take a trade-in deal which will pay you a fraction every month over 36 months.
Trade-in in October (20th) would credit in 3 months, 1-November, 2-December, 3-January.
Did you get an email stating the phone was damaged? Or are you just going by what someone told you when you called?
Even with that stated damage, the S21 Ultra would still pass the $190 mark, according to AT&T trade-in program it's still worth $212. Unless there's something else wrong with it, it would have met the conditions for the promotion.
https://tradein.att.com/start-trade/device-info/question/2251119?type=Smart%20Phone&brand=Samsung&capacity=256GB&model=Galaxy%20S21%20Ultra%20256GB
Credit start supposed to start for three bills after your trade-in was complete, you said the training was complete October 20th when they received your phone. It hasn't even been two months.
Wait.
If on January 20th you are not seeing credits on your bill then file a complaint online with the Better Business Bureau. Better Business Bureau complaints are forwarded to AT&T upper management and they will call you.
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cordtripper
New Member
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2 Messages
2 years ago
Honestly, I had the S21 but wanted to go back to IOS. having the trade-in disbursed over 36 months wouldn't have mattered since I had no intention of switching from AT&T as I've been with them for almost 20 years now. I also didn't want to deal with Swappa or eBay and I figured (wrongly apparently) that it would just be easier to trade it in to my carrier.
The original trade-in offer from AT&T was $1000 dollars for the device making the cost of the iPhone practically free. The S21 was in perfect condition as it was kept in a case with a screen protector its entire life.
Customer service spent over an hour trying to track down the phone at first because they didn't even have a record of it, once they finally got someone from the trade-in department that's when they said the device was damaged and was worthless and they would not provide any compensation for it. The email I received to track the trade-in said they received the device and processed it on 10/20 but the screen had "major burn-in" which is just ridiculous, why would I send in a damaged phone knowing full well that they would reject it and id be stuck without said phone and now having to pay full price for the new device.
I find it infuriating that we just have to take their word for it. Why not provide me proof that there's actual burn-in, why not give me the ability to get the phone back? ill even pay for the shipping costs. Were talking about a $1000 phone here not $50 bucks. And that apparently the accepted recourse from the community is to file a fraud report with the BBB and the FCC in order to get AT&T to uphold their end of the agreement.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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110.7K Messages
2 years ago
The phone is not with a t & t, their trade-in Department takes next return early upgrades (phones that aren't 100% paid off. You did pay off the S21 ultra right? ). The phone was sent to a 3rd party recycler, HYLA. I'm thinking this was bull cookies from the CS you talked to, they don't know anything. And even with the damage described the phone is still worth 50% ($212) of its full trade-in value ($425). $212 still qualifies for the deal.
Like I wrote, wait till January 20th, check for credits then.
It has not even been a full two months since October 20th when you trade in your S21 ultra. The promotion states that bill credits start within three bills. No way you've had even 2.
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sc5606
Contributor
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2 Messages
11 months ago
yes. I am the recent victim of this stupid at&t trade-in scam program. Traded in a year old iPhone12 which was brand new for Samsung and i got $300 instead of promoted $800. when asked for the return excellent rep tells me that it cant be returned. no more falling in this stupid trade-in or next-up scams from at&t. The irony is that they will tell you the credit will be applied to your bill after 2-3 billing cycles and eventually that traded-in value will be posted to your account without even being informed and one fine day when you check your bill that's when you find that these guys are cheating you. and this is where the whole fun game starts dealing with the reps transferring the calls to multiple departments for an hour+ long conversations with no resolution at all.
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mikect03
New Member
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2 Messages
9 months ago
AT&T is undoubtedly one of the most difficult and immoral companies to deal with. It has been over 5 months since AT&T has received and processed my phone for trade in and I still haven't seen a single penny in credit. I called over a month ago to inquire about this and they said they were escalating the issue because it was taking so long. Well, over a month later and I've heard nothing from AT&T and I still have no trade-in credit. I really wish someone would file a (Edited per community guidelines) (Edited per community guidelines) against AT&T for all the illegal things they do.
(edited)
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