Possibly fraudulent business practices with trade ins?

If I misinterpreted the vague description of what a qualifying plan was, why didn't the rep that I talked to during this "window" tell me?

I'm not sure what you found vague about the description. Any unlimited plan costing at least $75 before discounts. What plan did you have?

The "window" to change to a qualifying plan was 30 days. It doesn't sound like you talked with anyone in that time. 

Why did they "assure" me that I was on track to get the credit? 

Probably didn't pay attention to the plan or simply told you good news so you'd be happy when you hung up.

Edit: A BBB complaint will get routed to the office of the president, which is your only hope to get any relief, so go for it. The worst they can say is no. 

I don’t know why the rep you first chatted with or talked to didn’t let you know you did not have an eligible plan but by that time you were already past the window to switch to a qualifying plan. That needed to be done within 30 days of trading in the old phone. Go ahead and file a BBB complaint, that will get you a response from corporate. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a post from someone who did not switch to an eligible plan in time say they got a resolution but if it’s possible, only corporate can do it.

I had a plan with unlimited talk and text and the description of the promotion from an email that was sent to me to outline follow up actions is pasted below. It is also misleading to say that the first credit will bill with three billing cycles from my request but then restrict any opportunity to confirm that I did the correct thing to 30 days.  

OFFER APPLIED: You're getting up to $800 off Samsung Galaxy S22%2B. Requires eligible trade-in on installment plan & unlimited plan (speed restr's apply). Credits start within 3 bills. Without unlimited

I appreciate your feedback. I'll take the BBB route and see what happens. 

Hi Feeling_Scammed, we understand how important it is to get your trade in credits. We want to look into this for you!

In order to so, we'll need to meet in a Direct Message(DM). Please check your Direct Message Inbox (it’s the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums). 

In the meantime, please keep in mind that eligible postpaid plans are required to qualify for trade in credits. 

We look forward to working with you towards a resolution! Again, keep an eye out for our DM!

Rhoda, AT&T Community Specialist 

I don't see anything vague about the wording in the offers that are published on the website. Which are pretty much the same as other service providers requiring a minimum unlimited data plan. 

Agree this is a very deceptive practice. My mother traded in her phone at an AT&T store, and the agent clearly communicated to her that she was eligible for that offer and did not mention the requirement to have a $75/mo. unlimited plan. 

There are 5 lines on her AT&T account. With that many lines on the account, the plan cost per month (pre-discount) is $55.00. There's literally no way she can upgrade to an eligible plan that meets the minimum requirement of $75/month. The only way this could be done is by reducing the number of lines on the account. In effect, this offer would be ineligible for any accounts that carry more than 2 lines. I'm assuming this was done purposefully to disincentive consumers from carrying a large number of lines on their account. Who knows?

I wonder if AT&T will be willing to return the device she "traded in" since no value was received in return. Enjoy the free phone AT&T! 

With 2 or more lines, meeting the $75 threshold is easier. There's no way she's pay $55 for 5 lines. 

Why would AT&T want to make is less desirable to have more lines? That doesn't even make sense.

We understand the importance of your mother being fairly eligible for the trade-in offer, TheVille.

Just a few quick questions:

- What is the make and model of your mother's device?

- Are you and your mother the same plan?

- Is your mother on the Next-Up program, alongside her unlimited plan?

We're asking because we want to provide precise feedback for that specific device and plan.

In the meantime, our first recommendation would be to view our help page on trade-in eligibility.

Just simply scroll down the page and click on the Terms and Conditions. The first bullet point states that devices that are traded in cannot returned per the trade-in program.

At the top of the main trade-in page, you click "How It Works" to view our frequently asked questions regarding trade-ins.

Our second recommendation would be to view our conditions for eligible trade-ins. 

Please let us know if this helps and we can continue offering more support. Thanks for reaching out to AT&T Community Forums!

Nelson, AT&T Community Specialist

There are 5 lines on her AT&T account. With that many lines on the account, the plan cost per month (pre-discount) is $55.00.

There is no way even with an 80% special old Walmart discount on the metered plans that someone can be paying for five phone lines at $55 per month total.

If that were possible, as unlikely as it may be, it would not make sense to change the really super cheap plan, to the unlimited data plans, because you wouldn't be saving any money.  It would make sense to pay for the phone. Which means any trade-in would be Book value which could be next to nothing depending on how old the phone is. 

There's literally no way she can upgrade to an eligible plan that meets the minimum requirement of $75/month

Of course she could..  but why would she. It would be cheaper to pay for the phone then it would be to change to a current eligible unlimited data plan.

If you mean she's paying $55 per line for the elite or Premium plan then her plan more than qualifies 🤦🏼‍♀️

SAME! I've traded in so many samsungs with at&t so it don't make sense they didn't make us aware we needed to get a more expensive plan. this is just after getting a Z flip and seeing all of the negative reviews not replaced with valid warranty and paying insurance to replace it for $250 right after I ordered it brand new. had to try to trade it in when the "any phone any condition" came out... what a joke. I would have upgraded from unlimited to extra special unlimited if I need to