AT&T Scammed me - Up to $200 turn in your old phone

I searched for a $200 trade in offer and find nothing.  The only trade in is the standard, which offers $20 for an iPhone 5s.   

Do you have a copy of the offer, which you seem to indicate was recent?

This was an offer in Nov 2017. I only have an email that talks about it..

Eligible devices

* Trade in any iPhone 7 Plus that is paid off, fully functional, and in good condition for up to $300 in credits. (The value will be determined when the smartphone is received.)
* Trade in any other smartphone that is paid off, fully functional, and in good condition for up to $200 in credits. (The value will be determined when the smartphone is received.)
* This offer excludes AT&T Next upgrade trade-ins. If you have an eligible iPhone on any AT&T Next installment plan, you'll need to pay off the remaining installment balance before you trade it in.
* Check the value of your device before mailing it in.


-Vaughn [edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, employee ID numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, etc.]

Okay, the problem is it doesn’t say “$200 for any smartphone”. It says “UP TO $200”.  

The trade in value is determined by their website.  

https://tradein.att.com/#/start-a-trade/discover-device-value

It explains why I cant find a promotion, there was none.  The trade in option is always available, it just doesn’t pay very much.  

It’s a public trade in offer.  Use the link.  It says in the email “value is determined when they get the phone”.  

  It should not surprise you the recycling offer on a 5 year old phone isn’t going to be $200 when a one year old iPhone is worth only $300 (or LESS , as the iPhone 7 offer was also worded as “up to $300”).   

We alway recommend selling a phone as the trade in offer is a fraction of actual worth if sold second hand.   

Unacceptable that a big company as ATT will scam people into sending their used equipment back in.  No one is going to agree that a Gold 128Gig iPhone 5 in great condition is only worth $20.   Moral of the story:  CUSTOMERS BE AWARE:  DO NOT USE THE TRADE IN YOUR PHONE OPTION THINKING YOU WILL GET MONEY BACK.  ATT IS RUNNING A SCAM.  YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TALK TO ANYONE AND NO ONE FROM ATT WILL CALL YOU BACK AFTER YOU SEND IN YOUR PHONE.

I have never in my life dealt with such poor customer service or anyone willing to help me get to the bottom of what happened. 

I think you over value that iPhone 5. Are you sure it’s a 5, there was no 128GB iphone 5. I just priced out what Gazelle would pay for a 64GB iphone 5 in perfect condition, it was $20.

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@vduarte wrote:

Unacceptable that a big company as ATT will scam people into sending their used equipment back in. 

Scam? Did they twist your arm?

You can't just take someone's phone that you could clearly get over $100 for selling it on craigslist or ebay and then just give them less than ¼ what it's worth. 

So the dealership won't pay as much for your car trade-in than you could get selling it somewhere else?

No one is going to agree that a Gold 128Gig iPhone 5 in great condition is only worth $20.   

No one is going to agree that a Gold 128Gig iPhone 5 actually exists. They didn't make a 5 in gold or 128GB.

The first gold iPhone was the 5s, and they didn't make that in 128GB either.

At Gazelle, they offer $20 for a 64GB iPhone 5. 

https://www.gazelle.com/iphone/iphone-5/at-t/iphone-5-64gb-at-t/495191-gpid

And you know AT&T doesn't clean these up and sell them on their lot right, they turn around and sell them to someone else who wants to make a profit.

As you can buy new iPhone SE that will work on AT&T for less than $200 (pretty much a 6s in a 5 body) I'm not sure why anyone would pay much for a used 5...

Iphone 5's arnt worth over $100, on swappa they are going for $60. You gotta realize it's a 6 year old cell phone that's no longer supported. 6 years old is ANCIENT for a cell phone.