Teacher
•
5 Messages
Your Trade-in Program is a complete SCAM!
I am VERY unhappy with your trade-in program to upgrade my smart-phone. Your ads are downright deceiving. I usually go to the Apple store to do my upgrade, where they always give me at least $100 for my traded in iphone. I have done this for the past 8 years. This year, I decided to give AT&T a chance after my inbox was inundated with promises of at least $140 for my trade--in. My iphone was in immaculate condition. Your promotion made it sound as though I was going to get a $140 credit when I sent in my old phone after receiving my new phone. I used the provided packing envelope to send it back. After 2months, I get a gift card from At&t that can ONLY be used for merchandise in their stores. This is NOT what was communicated in every email and ad that was sent to me. Then to add insult to injury, I look up to see the value of the card, and it is $53.20. I will NEVER go through this company again to purchase an upgrade. This was purely misleading and false advertising! I will be letting everyone I know, to use the Apple store for their trade-ins. I regret not going with them, as they are always transparent and reliable. I have been an ATT wireless customer for 12 years now, and I've always been happy with my service, but I am truly disappointed in this latest experience. Shame on you AT&T!!
RoadKing1217
Teacher
•
2 Messages
5 years ago
I have the same exact issue! What a scam! I sent in a mint Galaxy S7 Edge was promised $85.00 and two months later see a $32.00 credit on my account. I call the trade in program and CSR says that the phone was listed as broken and missing a button. The phone has been in an Otterbox from day one! Either AT&T broke it, was damaged in shipping or they are straight out lying! The third party company that manages this program says that there is nothing they can do, because that's what the notes say! They say that I will have to call customer service but they will probably route the call back to them. This is typical corporate B$! I will be calling AT&T and demanding the difference or I will be moving to another provider tomorrow. I have also been a 10+ year customer and cannot believe the aggravation that you have to go through to get a lousy $85.00 for a phone that you paid $800.00 two years prior. I am starting to believe that the only company in the United States that truly has great service and puts the customer first is Walt Disney!
0
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
•
117K Messages
5 years ago
The device trade in page clearly says “up to $. . . “. And “Value based on device, make, model & condition.”. If your devices wasn’t perfect in every way, battery running like new, it would be devalued.
If you expect a fair value, sell the phone yourself on eBay. No trade in is going to be close to retail. Apple about 1/2, carriers and Gazelle about 1/4
2
0
RoadKing1217
Teacher
•
2 Messages
5 years ago
I understand what you are saying, but I was told that the Galaxy S7 Edge was to receive $85.00 in good condition, not excellent wrapped in a box like new! I am more upset with the process and the CSR telling me that the phone was broken and with a button missing, which is not true. As far as "Fair Value" on Ebay you have to consider the 30% that you lose in Ebay and Paypal commissions and then dealing with dead beat bidders or complaints that it was not what buyer was looking for. My mistake was purchasing phone through ATT.com and setting up the trade there in order to speed up the process. I would have been better dealing with the store as they verified they would give the full $85.00. I understand also that no trade is going to be close to retail, but the $85.00 is well under retail and to see a paid out value of $32.00 is far from fair. Not only that but it is going to take up to another three weeks to get the $32.00 and if still not received another three weeks after escalation. I did call AT&T customer service and they did apologize and give me a $25.00 credit for aggravation, but unfortunately I will be jumping ship.
Verizon offered $300.00 phone credit and $150.00 per line to port over so that will make up for the loss. 🙂
0
Mori01
Tutor
•
1 Message
5 years ago
Same here. I sent in a perfectly working iPhone 6S for credit and from the time AT&T received it the screen all of a sudden wasn't working. Got $19 out of a perfectly good phone. They can take there $19 and just give me the phone back because I really question the validity of the phone all of a sudden not working. Whatever anyone does DO NOT send your phone in for trade in. Take it to the store or to Best Buy or something where you can have physical proof they are not scamming you.
0
Fl_retire
ACE - Professor
•
3K Messages
5 years ago
A little research would have revealed that the phone companies always lowballs estimates for trade-ins.
https://tradein.att.com/#/start-a-trade/discover-device-value
1
MuggleTrouble73
Teacher
•
8 Messages
5 years ago
If you spot a scam, report it at ftc.gov/complaint. Your reports help the FTC and other law enforcement investigate scams and bring crooks to justice.
0
dsolis421
Tutor
•
2 Messages
5 years ago
We had two Samsung s9's, less than a year old and perfect condition. There was literally nothing wrong with them. We were quoted $190 each. I read the fine print and understood that was to be an account credit. We were fine with that. We followed the trade in instructions to the letter. I just got an email saying that we will get $34.20 for each. I understand the valuation can go down upon visual inspection. But to go from $190 to $34, for perfect condition??? That's egregious! We never would've taken that deal.
0
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
•
117K Messages
5 years ago
Considering the resale on swappa and eBay is almost $500, yeah. Why on earth do people use these trade in deals? They pay at most 1/4 of the phones Value.
File a BBB complaint and don’t use trade in deals.
Selling on swappa or eBay is a snap.
0
gordysmum
Teacher
•
5 Messages
5 years ago
EXACTLY! You got the exact same email I did about the account credit.I know I reported them to the BBB and the FTC. [Edited to comply with Guidelines]
0
GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
•
23.9K Messages
5 years ago
@gordysmum
Have you ever read the Terms of Service? ATT can not be sued by a class or sued by a customer for that matter. Arbitration and Small Claims only.
0