Understanding trade in payoff

Because whatever promotion you got requires you complete the entire 30 months of payments to get all the credits. If you pay off early, you lose those credits. I’m sure if you looked at a bill you would see a phone payment for close to $30 and a credit against that payment that leaves $10 remaining. That is the way the trade in promotions have always worked.

I really hate to drag this on, but I can see owing the 20 payments for the IPhone 12, but what I don’t understand why I don’t get the remaining 20 payments for my trade in. They essentially would get by old phone for around $200. Why should I owe them the emailing balance but they don’t owed me the remaining credits for my old phone. That’s really way to one sided. 

The community is here to answer these kind of questions and we don't mind at all. Keep them coming!

Is your intention to trade in your iPhone 12 to get a big fat discount off the iPhone 13?. ( the current offer is $1,000 off if you have an unlimited data plan and trade in an eligible phone worth more than $180, which your iPhone 12 certainly should qualify for.) 

In that case you have to pay off the iPhone 12 in full. You cannot trade something in for a big discount on something else when you don't own it.

It actually might be a more Illuminating if you log into your account and look at the past few months bills. You'll notice that every month your bill was paid and a part of that payment went toward the iPhone 12. There also was a credit from AT&T which was also applied against the iPhone 12. Your payment and AT&T credit together reduce the balance that is owed on your iPhone 12 every month. At the end of 30 months it gets to 0. But if you upgrade early whatever balance still shows is what you owe on the phone. You don't make any more payments, but a T and T doesn't make any more credits either.

Okay, I owe the balance of the original cost of the IPhone 12, which is 19 payments of $36.67 for a total of $696.62. Not an issue. Agree completely. What I don’t understand is that they took my old phone in trade and have paid me 11 payments of $26.67 each for a total of $293.37. Why am I not entitled to the balance of those payments. They took my phone but haven’t credited me the value they agreed to. 

Because whether you realize it or not, you also agreed that the value of the trade in would be spread out over 30 payments. You will get the balance of those payments if you complete the entire 30 month payment plan. By paying early, you forfeit any remaining credits. 

Because someone did not read the fine print aka @A12CPA.

You have to complete the whole payments to get the full amount for the phone.  They actually have credited you monthly and will continue to do that.  you can sell that iphone 12 and ATT will still bill you for it and credit you back but you can't have 2 installment agreements on the same phone number.

I know I didn’t read the entire agreement, probably would not of understood it. I still don’t understand why you can’t take the payoff of the new phone less the balance owed on your old trade in and pay the net. In my case $200. They want almost $700 without any consideration of the remaining value of my old phone. Would they continue crediting me for my old phone for the next 19 months?

@A12CPA

Because you gave them a used phone.

I understand. But, they agreed to take and credit me for 30 months the value of the trade in. Why am I not entitled to the remaining credits just as they are entitled to the remaining charges. Seems unfair. It might have been a used phone but they did agree to a price to credit me.