Bogo=bogus

I have the same experience. Bought Note 8 with a buy one get $750 credit. Before buying them, I've chatted with ATT Customer center and asked to a representative of ATT authorized retail store. They all advised me that I am qualified for the promotion and can keep old numbers like you were informed. I've spent at least 10 hours for calls and chats, but all I heard are NO WAY TO KEEP OLD NUMBERS UNLESS I MAINTAIN THREE LINES. Even a supervisor suggested me to return saying "paying restocking fee is better than maintaining the third line unnecessarily" and left chat window while chatting. After he left, no option (email and print) to save the chat was available, and even reference number of the chat was deleted.
Regarding this issue, I have never been professionally treated by ATT Customer Center as well as its retail store. Every single employee advised me in different ways and no one takes responsibility for the results caused by wrong information given by them.
I have a lot of chat transcripts and want to share with you all one of them.
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Me: I bought two Note 8 from AT&T authorized retail shop. Before visit the shop, I asked chatting service if I am qualified for BOG$750 credit and the agent answered YES. The shop representative told me the same answer.
Chat Agent 1: Ok
Me: At the same time, I can keep my old numbers.
Me: But, it was not true.
Me: I need to give up one of the old numbers or maintain three lines even though I need only two lines.
Me: I have talked to shop manager and customer service call center. All said there is nothing they can do.
Chat Agent 1: To ensure I get you the best recommendation for your services and options , I'd like to ask you a few questions to better understand your needs.
Me: sure.
Chat Agent 1: Me just to make sure you initially wanted to set like 2 upgrades with the same phone numbers and using BOGO?
Me: Yes
Me: I got advised that I am qualified.
Chat Agent 1: Ok I ask as the promos set for BOGO will require a new activation or new number set so you have 3 options at the moment you sign for the service or order the devices if you are a TV customers to apply to the offer

Chat Agent 1: Me in this case you will need to either keep the third line for BOGO or change the phone number in one of the lines
Me: OK
Me: You advise me like this.
Me: Chat Agent 0 : So, you could take advantage of the BOGO offer. You can get the line with a new number, and once active, switch the numbers so the new phone has an existing number
Me: This is what I got advised from this chatting service.
Me: Chat Agent 0 did not tell me I need to keep three lines.
Chat Agent 1: Me do you happen to have the transcript saved with the information Chat Agent 0 provided you?
Me: Yes, I have it.
Chat Agent 1: perfect I ask as we could use the transcript and start a claim with customer care since you got the offer confirmed by an agent, do you happen to have also the chat ID somewhere in the chat?
Me: I chose an option to get the transcript via email after the chat.
Me: Also
Chat Agent 1: perfect!
Chat Agent 1: this will do, thank you very much Me
Me: I've asked after activation of the two new devices how many lines are active and got answer that two lines are active.
Chat Agent 1: for what you send basically the agent mentioned option 3 which is to get the single upgrade and add a new line for the second Note, so once it arrives and is active, you can then like remove or cancel one of the lines you have (the one that was not upgraded) so the new line with the new phone number can take its place
Me: All of sudden, I could see three lines in my account
Me: No.

Continued

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Me: Reference Number: 72405219112xxxxxxxx
DATE/TIME: 2017-08-26 09:51:23
Your chat transcript:

Me : I want to know if I am qualified for BOGO free for Note 8.
Chat Agent 0 : I understand

Me : at least one should be new line?
Chat Agent 0 : That is correct, Me. For the Note 8, you receive a $750 credit divided into monthly installments, starting within three billing cycles, paying only the difference. Of course you have the offer of a $200 credit for Note 8 when you trade in a device with a minimum trade in value of $20¿
Me : Have you checked my account?
Me : I do not have new line to add.
Chat Agent 0 : I can check on your account, if needed. May I access it?
Me : Sure, go ahead.

Chat Agent 0 : Me, your system indicates you have two lines now, being able to add up to 8 more on your current plan
Me : Yes.
Chat Agent 0 : So, you could take advantage of the BOGO offer. You can get the line with a new number, and once active, switch the numbers so the new phone has an existing number
Me : Below is a captured sentence from offer detail on ATT website: After all credits, get S8 up to $750 (credits are $25/mo. or $31.25/mo.) for free. Max credit of $750 towards S8+,S8 Active and Note8 devices priced up to $950, which will be discounted but not free.
Me : That sounds good.
Chat Agent 0 : Yes, that is correct
Me : if so, maximum credit that I can get from the promotion is $950 or $750 at a purchase of NOTE8?
Chat Agent 0 : It will be $750, which means for the Note 8 you pay the $200 difference in monthly installments
Me : OK! Thanks!!
Chat Agent 0 : I am glad to be of help, and can guide you for this
Me : Now, I will talk with and persuade my wife to get new toys
Chat Agent 1: correct as you might have added 1 upgrade for an existing line + the new Note8 as a new line on tops of the other line you had for a total of 3
Chat Agent 1: Please allow me one moment.
Chat Agent 1: I will read it real quick 🙂
Chat Agent 1: Me I just asked my supervisor if he could also check the CHAT ID for me, thank you for sending it as well
Me: No problem
Chat Agent 1: Me thank you for your patience, I appreciate it
Me: take your time
Me: FYI, my wife has used the number for 10 years.
Chat Agent 1: Me my supervisor just checked the chat with the information provided and cant find any information confirming the option to have BOGO for 2 lines as Chat Agent 0 is mainly mentioning you need a new line since you can add up to 8 more under your account or instead of setting a new line, just get the new phone with a new phone number for the BOGO offer with a new phone number replacing one of the old ones
Chat Agent 1: Oh wow thats a long time hahaha
Me: Who want to get another line that does not need.
Me: To get $750 promotion, I need to pay $20x30Month plus tax.
Me: I am not that stupid.
Me: do you think it's promotion?
Chat Agent 1: Me as Chat Agent 0 mentioned again you dont need to add a new line, you can just change the phone number of one of the lines and get the promo to save up to $750 over a second new phone
Me: His advice implicitly assumed that I can keep the two lines.
Me: He mentioned that I can keep the old numbers.
Me: I want to keep old numbers.
Me: I told you that my wife used the number for 10 years
Me: It's not easy to change number that has been used for 10 years.
Chat Agent 1: Correct and I totally understand that Me, just to make sure did you already placed the order and received the phones?
Chat Agent 1: or activate them already?
Me: Yes, I got them last week and traded in my old devices.
Chat Agent 1: Perfect
Chat Agent 1: I ask as you will have up to 14 days to cancel, return or change the device as a buyers remorse period and up to 7 days to activate it and the fees will start only after activation as well based in the billing cycle we have at the moment you activate the item.
Me: Do you suggest me to return?
Chat Agent 1: this is an option or I was also checking with my supervisor and there is one more
Me: What's the one more?
Chat Agent 1: Me the other option will be to keep that third line under your account along with your other 2 and suspend it so you can get the installments active, once suspended it will be displayed in your account but it wont have any access charge or other cost added so you can just take the promotional Note and place your wifes SIM card inside keeping her number
Chat Agent 1: not sure if that makes sense
Me: Let me tell you what I understand from your statement, then please tell me if my understanding is correct or not.
Chat Agent 1: Certainly!
Chat Agent 1: No problem. Take your time.
Chat Agent 1: 🙂
Me: I will keep all the three lines, but suspend the new line ending xx77 while paying installment. Then, I don't have to pay any fees for the new line, and I can keep the promotion as well.
Me: Is that correct?
Me: Chat Agent 1, are you there?
Chat Agent 1: sorry I lost you for a moment, I just received your message at once
Chat Agent 1: thats correct as under the offer you will need to keep the device under your account so AT&T can apply the credits for it monthly, I will recommend you though to suspend it after the promo kicks in
Me: Do I need to suspend it after the monthly credit starts to be credited?
Chat Agent 1: I will recommend it, however let me double check this with my supervisor to make sure you wont have any issue
Me: OK, take your time.
Chat Agent 1: thank you very much Me, You put out a great vibe, you must be very nice. 🙂

Chat Agent 1: Me I was checking with my supervisor and the best recommendation is to hold until the promo kicks in in the next 3 months of services, once you start receiving the credits for the second phone in your account,
Chat Agent 1: this way once the credits apply you can just suspend the line so you can get the access fee and charges for a third line like on hold but an active installment plan for the new promotional Note8
Chat Agent 1: you will see the charge for it added to your bill as the installments will continue even suspended BUT under the charge for the installments under the promotional phone, you will see also in green the credits for the device as AT&T will cover them for you
Chat Agent 1: so at the end of the day with the line suspended after the credits kick in, you will continue to pay for just 2 lines as you have been doing it so far
Me: Can I suspend the line until all installments are credited for 24 month?
Chat Agent 1: also you can just take out the SIM inside your wifes phone which is the one containing the number and plan, so you can place it inside the new Note8 suspended, this way she can use the phone with her line and the new SIM card with the new phone number can go instead in her old device
Chat Agent 1: like a switch of the SIM cards with the line suspended
Chat Agent 1: yes totally, the tops you can suspend it is 6 months so every 6 months you will need to log into your account and suspend it again
Chat Agent 1: this is the best option I can see at the moment without canceling the offer, returning the devices or change your wifes number
Chat Agent 1: is this an option for you Me?
Me: can I continuously suspend it right after 6 month?
Chat Agent 1: I think you can, however before we set into this, I will recommend you to contact Customer Care: 1-800-331-0500 to check if the suspension can be extended or set twice in a year
Me: WOuld you please check it out for me?
Chat Agent 1: let me check if I can get a hold of an agent from billing, another option will be for me to connect you with them directly through chat if you want to 🙂
Me: I want to keep talking with you.
Chat Agent 1: sure, no problem at all
Chat Agent 1: let me check what can be done here
Chat Agent 1: Please allow me one moment.
Me: take your time
Chat Agent 1: Thank you.
Chat Agent 1: Me thank you for holding, so far I am checking and the tops you can get the line suspended is 6 months so in this case to keep it suspended you will need to contact us to suspend it again or the line will be automatically active
Chat Agent 1: I was checking and based in the information provided by an agent in this department you will be able to set the suspension of the line right after is active so you can suspend it every 6 months until the item is paid off or you upgrade
Me: That sounds great.
Chat Agent 1: Certainly!
Chat Agent 1: 🙂
Me: In order to suspend, do I need to contact customer center?
Me: or Can I do it by myself via website?
Chat Agent 1: yes you will need to call them at 1-800-331-0500 and yes you can also do it online, I will still recommend you to call them tomorrow just to double check the info as the options might change because this is a BOGO offer, however so far by what my supervisor and other billing agent said, you can totally do it 🙂
Chat Agent 1: In case this cant be done , you will still have your 14 days buyers remorse period active to overcome it
Chat Agent 1: for your peace of mind you can also save a copy of this chat like you did with Chat Agent 0
Chat Agent 1: this way you will have like a back up for the information provided
Chat Agent 1: 🙂
Me: Frankly, I don't want to call because they treated me very bad and representatives do not understand the promotions well.
Chat Agent 1: Oh I see, no worries I totally understand
Me: I don't know if you can see my record, I have talked with them more than 5 hours with no assistance.
Chat Agent 1: I dont have access to the records no 😞
Me: Shop representatives are worse than call center.
Me: I feel most comfortable with chatting service.
Me: I am not going to check with them.
Chat Agent 1: some are just having a bad day but I know what you mean, this is not a reason to be rude with others , im sorry to hear you had this issue at the store, this is totally not the AT&T experience we want for our customers
Chat Agent 1: Me since the option to call them is not good due to past experiences I will recommend you to come back tomorrow and ask to be connected with customer care to double check the suspension options to not affect the BOGO sale so you can suspend it in the next 3 months once BOGO kicks in
Me: Should I double check it?
Me: I don't want to spend time any longer.
Chat Agent 1: you can provide them this following chat ID to double check with them, I will recommend it for your peace of mind as I dont want you to have issues with the promo or BOGO with the options provided, I know you already went through a lot
Me: You said your supervisor made sure that.
Chat Agent 1: correct he helped me check the options for it, however since you are connected to the sales department, and this year the processes changed for some areas, I wanted you to contact the billing department directly to make sure this havent changed yet,
Me: OK!
Chat Agent 1: for what my supervisor told me and for what the agent in the customer care department mentioned, it sounded like is still good, but you had the same issue with the first 2 agents and I really dont want you to have another head ache lol
Me: Do I need to connect Billing Department?
Chat Agent 1: you can call them at Customer Care: 1-800-331-0500 from 8am to 8pm central time or I can also connect you with them now through chat to make sure if this is possible
Chat Agent 1: I think they are still open, or you can chat with us tomorrow if you wish so you can rest some and give it a thought over the night
Me: Please connect me now via chat
Chat Agent 1: perfect I will do Me, allow me a moment to add a note to the transfer letting the other agent know what is required, this way you wont have to repeat yourself

Chat Agent 1 has left the chat
You are being transferred, please hold...

Agent Chat Agent 2 II enters chat

Chat Agent 2 II has left the chat
You are being transferred, please hold...
Agent Chat Agent-Supervisor enters chat
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Hi, this is the manager of Chat Agent 2
Me: Hi, I am Me.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: What seems to be the problem?
Me: Did you have a chance to read the chat that I have had?
Chat Agent-Supervisor: I understand you wanted to take advantage of the BOGO credit
Me: Yes, at the same time, I want to keep only two lines with old numbers.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: I am sorry we don't have a way to do that
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Our BOGO requires, one upgrade and one add a line
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Or 2 add a line
Me: What about the suggestion of the Chat Agent 1?
Me: Suspending one line?
Chat Agent-Supervisor: That's not going to work
Chat Agent-Supervisor: For the suspension will still charge you
Me: Who should I trust?
Me: I've talked with AT&T agents.
Me: Every person gives me different guide.
Me: One person says the other AT&T agent misinformed me.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: You can trust me on this
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Because I know what I am saying
Me: But, no one want to be responsible for it.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Where did you get this device from?
Me: AT&T authorized retail store
Me: at Montgomery AL
Chat Agent-Supervisor: You have to go back to that store
Chat Agent-Supervisor: And advise them that you will just return the phone instead
Me: I traded in my old phone?
Me: They will charge me restocking fees.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: That's better than being charged for the line that won't be used
Me: Where can I get my old phone?
Chat Agent-Supervisor: You have to ask it from them also
Me: ALso, I don't want to pay even restocking fees.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: You can ask them to not charge for that because it's incorrect sales
Me: Why should I be the only person who assume the loss.
Me: They are not professional at all.
Me: They have lied to me a lot when I tried to trade in under $300 promotion.
Me: Originally, I was misinformed from AT&T chat service.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: I am sorry, Me.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: There's nothing I can do make that happen
Me: Why is no one from AT&T responsible?
Chat Agent-Supervisor: I am sorry. There's nothing much I can do
Me: Is there any other person who I can talk to?
Me: You keep saying sorry.
Me: Sorry does not do anything to solve this issue.
Me: At the end, I am the only person taking all loss from this transaction.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Noone can actually change the rule
Me: Is it rule?
Me: Why your employees do not provide correct information to customer?
Me: Is that the rule of AT&T providing wrong information?
Chat Agent-Supervisor: That's not AT&T's practice. At this time, there's no way we can do what you wanted to do
Chat Agent-Supervisor: This must've been cleared out from the store the day you purchased it
Me: They keep saying that they've informed me.
Me: But, they've never informed me.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Then that has to be settled from the store. Then ask a manager
Me: No, I also heard from chat service that I can keep old number with the promotion.
Me: Chat Agent 1 informed me that I can suspend new line, but it turns out false in a few minutes.
Me: AT&T customer center has been providing wrong information to me making me confused and waste time and energy.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: I am sorry but there's nothing I can do except to advise you to go to the store
Me: I am telling you that AT&T must be responsible for giving me wrong information.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: You have to go back to the store and settle it there
Me: I am going to share all chatting logs with people through my SNS.
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Because that's where the sales happened
Chat Agent-Supervisor: I understand.
Me: OK!
Chat Agent-Supervisor: Me, thank you for contacting us today.
Thank you for chatting with us today. The agent has left this conversation. Please continue to browse our website and use our self-service options.

Wake up and smell the Java.

The point of the BOGO offer is to add business and make a profit, not to save us money.  You cannot game the system to get a free phone.  You either lose your number or wind up with an extra line.  

It does NOT matter what you are told because the written offer and agreement you sign when you get your phones follows the ATT written offer.

How did this end up working for you all?

I'm basically in the same situation as anyheon...

I've had my number for 7 years, don't really want to lose it.

What I'm hoping to do is take the sim card out of my old phone, put it in the new one so the new phone has my old number, and take the new sim/number and put it in one of the kids' phone (and cancel their old number, less hassle for a 13 year old that barely ever used his phone to have a new number).

I've run across a few things to suggest I should wait the 3 months for the credit to kick in, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried it before and what the result has been.  Its inconvenient lugging around 2 phones 😛

@nepalunaris No problem doing what you suggest. There is no requirement to use the free phone on the new line, you can use it on any line you want. You just have to keep the new line active so that you can complete the Next plan for the free phone and get all of your free phone credits. So yes, go ahead and put the sim card for the new line in one of the kids phones and cancel their old line and go ahead and put your sim card into the free phone. Just to be sure, you have two new phones, yes? The only way to get one free is to buy two.

Yes, we bought two Note 8s (we are aware the "BOGO" is a total $750 credit, so that we will still be paying the remaining $200, so in our case it isn't exactly "free").

Thank you for the reply 🙂

Is there an "optimal" way to do this to avoid hassle if I don't care about losing a phone number?

i have 3 lines now and want to have 3 lines still after the BOGO. I don't care about losing one of the phone numbers. 

Should I cancel that line before initiating the BOGO and adding back a line? Wait to cancel for some period of time (and therefore be wastefully carrying 4 lines)?

@Biggus   It doesn’t matter when you cancel a line, although “after” makes the most sense to keep service going.   

Read the offer carefully.   

Recent offers included a TV requirement.  Offers in 2016 required porting from the competition (a non ATT carrier).  Make sure you follow the fine print and save it.  

Just went through the same problem, and talked with nine separate representatives including four supervisors.

What I've learned is ATT is good at conning customers, and not keeping their words.

but anyway to the topic at hand.. after 60days, you should be able to call ATT and get back your old number if it is not taken by others.

ALSO, can ATT provide legal documents as to why in a BOGO deal, both phones are ran through the transaction instead of just one?

this result in customers paying sales tax on the FREE phone. this is absurd!

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@LordChris wrote:

Just went through the same problem, and talked with nine separate representatives including four supervisors.

What I've learned is ATT is good at conning customers, and not keeping their words.

but anyway to the topic at hand.. after 60days, you should be able to call ATT and get back your old number if it is not taken by others.

 

ALSO, can ATT provide legal documents as to why in a BOGO deal, both phones are ran through the transaction instead of just one?

this result in customers paying sales tax on the FREE phone. this is absurd!

---

Next time you’re at the grocery store and see a 2 for one item, pick them up and see how they ring up.  You pay for both items, if taxable, you pay the tax.  The second item is credited on your sales receipt.  

  Here is a photo of a BOGO.  Copies of these offers are on the website for anyone to read.  You not understanding the offer doesn’t make it fraud.  

Promotions for BOGO phones are to steal customers from other carriers, add business and make a profit off us, not save us money.