Master
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3.2K Messages
Missing Your BOGO Credits?
One of the biggest problems we see on these forums goes something like this: "I bought two phones and they were supposed to be BOGO, but I'm being charged for the second phone." It's a simple problem, but the reasons are complex. This article can help figure out what happened and what to do about it.
What are BOGO credits?
BOGO stands for "Buy-One-Get-One." The deal is that you pay monthly installments for a phone on one line, but if you buy a phone on an additional line, you'll receive credits every month that cancel out the installments on that line. If you get the credit every month for the phone, it will be free at the end.
How do you get BOGO credits?
BOGO credits are added by a computer when you buy phones under the right conditions. If you don't see credits on your bill for the phone, 99% of the time, you didn't qualify for them. Let's start digging and see what happened.
1) Has it been over two billing cycles since you bought the phone?
It usually takes 2-3 billing cycles before the credits start. Once the credits start, you'll get credited back for those first few months. So if it's been less than three bills, just wait.
2) Did you pay off the installment plan early?
Some people get the two phones, pay off one phone, and think they'll keep getting a free phone. If you pay off or cancel the "buy" line, the credits will stop on the "free" phone.
3) Did your account get suspended for non-payment?
BOGO credits require the account to stay in good standing. If your account is suspended because of an unpaid bill, even for a minute, all credits may stop and won't come back. So pay your bill.
Now that we've gotten those out of the way, we need to look into the terms and conditions of the promotion you were offered. You can look up all the deals AT&T has offered for the year by searching att.com/support for "bogo" and the year. For instance, BOGO 2019 is here.
4) Did you add a new line?
Almost all BOGO deals require you to add a new line in order to qualify. Upgrading an existing line, transferring a line from prepaid to postpaid, transferring a line from another service that uses AT&T like Cricket, those don't count. If you didn't add a brand-new line of service for at least one of the phones, you don't qualify. The majority of BOGO deal failures seem to fall here, because the customer didn't add a line.
5) Which phones did you buy?
With BOGO deals, you're always required to buy two specific devices, like a Samsung S10 or an iPhone XR. Even buying a different storage capacity (like the 32GB instead of the 256GB) can disqualify you. Check the terms of your BOGO carefully to make sure you bought the right phones.
6) Do you have TV or Internet through AT&T?
This isn't always a requirement, but it's rare when AT&T doesn't require adding additional services to get a BOGO deal. If the terms and conditions say TV or Internet is required, then you would need to already have or buy new TV and/or Internet service with AT&T at the time of buying the phones. DirecTV Now wouldn't count.
In short, if you're in the market for a new phone and want to take advantage of a BOGO, follow these steps:
- Read the terms and conditions of the BOGO on the website or the in-store promotional materials.
- Double-check to make sure you're getting the right phone, adding a new line, whether you need to have AT&T's TV or Internet.
- Make sure you wait two billing cycles
- Pay your bill on time so you don't lose the credits.
If you do all that, enjoy your free phone.
**Disclaimer: I don't work for AT&T, have never worked for AT&T, and have never been compensated by them in any way, shape, or form**
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
5 years ago
You skipped Q7, “when did you buy phones?”
And 6 is a “no” from you. Not being available doesn’t mean not a requirement, the date of purchase determines that.
And Q4, quite a few “new lines” were not new to At&t service.
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CBro70
Teacher
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37 Messages
5 years ago
I have done earthing right and they still screwed me over, never again.I will be a former customer a few days.
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Tina1231
Tutor
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7 Messages
5 years ago
Same thing happened to me. This is a copy of my post....
Transferred 5 lines from verizon and added one new line. Paid tax on all 6 phones, Samsung s9's with bogo deal. Also installed cable and internet. They said I would receive 6 Visa's with $100 on them. When shipment arrived at my house, I opened the box and there was five S9's and one s9 plus, which was already on. I waited to turn on the other phones because I didnt want to give then to the kids without a screen protector and phone case. Took about a month to purchase all 6 screen protectors and 6 cases. My first bill came and only had one phone on it, the s9plus, the phone that was already turned on. I called att, and they could not get my other s9's turned on, said the sim was too old. I had to go to the nearest store to turn on the other phones, which did not require a new sim card. Now they are saying I don't qualify for the bogo deal.
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Tina1231
Tutor
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7 Messages
5 years ago
I qualified and and feel at&t scammed me because they were having problems activating my phones and said for me to wait for their call back which lasted days. Plus I was suppose to get 6 galaxy s9's, but hey sent 5 S9's and one S9 plus. Then when I went to turn them on, i called att 3 times over a one week period because I was having problems with activation, they said they would call me back when their computers were working better and they never did, so I went to the store and had to activate them there. Here is my post.....
Transferred 5 lines from verizon and added one new line. Paid tax on all 6 phones, Samsung s9's with bogo deal. Also installed cable and internet. They said I would receive 6 Visa's with $100 on them. When shipment arrived at my house, I opened the box and there was five S9's and one s9 plus, which was already on. I waited to turn on the other phones because I didnt want to give then to the kids without a screen protector and phone case. Took about a month to purchase all 6 screen protectors and 6 cases. My first bill came and only had one phone on it, the s9plus, the phone that was already turned on. I called att, and they could not get my other s9's turned on, said the sim was too old. I had to go to the nearest store to turn on the other phones, which did not require a new sim card. Now they are saying I don't qualify for the bogo deal.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
5 years ago
You qualified, but then disqualified yourself. All phones had to be activated within 14 days and active and in good standing for 30 days.
Because you did not activate, all may have been flagged for fraud or as lost/stolen, which is why SIM cards had to be replaced.
While not giving to kids without protection was wise, there is no excuse for delay in getting them.
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Unsatisfied999
Teacher
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11 Messages
5 years ago
I recommend you file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I did and the claim was elevated to ATT office of the president. After playing phone tag 3 times (with my messages back to representative who identified himself as “Martinez” giving him call back times and dates when I could be reached) they credited my ATT account back with the full price of the IPhone 8. So my last two bills show up with $0 outstanding and I still have some credit left. Then the bills will apparently resume with the charges for all of my phones (including the one I purchased and the free one I was entitled to when I purchased my new IPhone XS and opened a new line)
i think these just likely need to be elevated to the office of the president, but I went directly to Better Business Bureau because no one at ATT could tell me how to elevate my grievance... I think the BBB needs to be flooded with these to see how dishonest ATT has been this past year. I highly suspect this was a calculated effort by ATT because it’s too widespread to be a mistake. They assume only maybe 15-20% of people will bother to elevate this this (maybe less!) and many folks don’t even look at their bill... they know we will pay it anyway. And of my $250 a month bill, only $30 was for this “bogo phone offer” so most people would chalk it up to a misunderstanding.
Better Business Bureau. No harm, and the more reports they see the more likely they are to dig in and possibly require ATT to retroactively apply credit to other customers who were entitled to the bogo but didn’t know how to resolve it.
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MoreThenFedUp
Tutor
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5 Messages
5 years ago
We all need to get together and seek legal advise or call these local news stations that I investigate these companies that tell you one thing to get you to sign and switch but never deliver! Support in numbers!! I am so sick of fighting with them every month! You can never seem to get a corporate office to physically talk to you. We even wrote to the president of the company, sent in copies of what was promised and all the bills that are way off if price. We had the “in home expert” write everything down in her hand writing on pricing to compare with what we current had. We switched and price isn’t even close! Promised to pay off our old cell company, now we are in collections!! Wish we never changed!!! What a rip off!
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
5 years ago
File a BBB complaint
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Angrycustmer2
Tutor
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6 Messages
5 years ago
I want to pursue this as well. These people are nothing but rip-off
artists and I have had it with them. *****
Not only did I get nothing for the contract I had to cancel with Verizon,
but I also NEVER received my "bundle discount". To add insult to injury,
the guy who signed me up is now a regional manager!
*****
[Edited to comply with Guidelines]
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mzzyhmd
Tutor
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5 Messages
5 years ago
I am still working with my In-Home expert to figure this out. I am in the same situation, no BOGO has kicked in and it's almost 4 months. That's absolutely ridiculous. I hope he can fix it otherwise we really need to find a way to take legal action against ATT because of this large scale scam they are running.
1) Has it been over two billing cycles since you bought the phone?
4 months
2) Did you pay off the installment plan early?
nope
3) Did your account get suspended for non-payment?
Nope
4) Did you add a new line?
yes all these are new lines
5) Which phones did you buy?
they are all iPhone XR
6) Do you have TV or Internet through AT&T?
i have att internet and uverse TV both
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