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5 Messages

Monday, January 19th, 2015 6:53 PM

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Warranty issue - phone returned as damaged

Upfront I admit that:

I didn't read the paperwork close enough before I signed on the line so let this be a warning for anyone with warranty issues (and have a magnifying glass handy).

 

Story:

August, 2014 went into a local ATT dealer and bought one phone for my daughter and one for my son on payment plans along with the bill for wireless service.

 

After about 2 months my daughter's Samsung Galaxy 4 started to randomly turn off and on.

Sometime at the end of November or early December I took the phone back to the place I bought it and they said there was a problem-they called ATT and both agreed it was beyond repair and sent me a new phone.  I sent the defective one back and thought we were done with it.

 

Yesterday I got the old phone back with a letter stating, ..."Unfortunately, we are returning your phone due to the following condition:  Cracked, Damaged, Smashed, Chewed Plastic/Faceplate..." and ATT stated there would be a charge of $469.00 on my next bill.  This is in addition to the other Galaxy phone I'm paying for on a monthly basis.

 

I was on the phone for half the morning, getting nowhere (and I felt really bad for the first woman I spoke to from Kentucky-she was very nice) with anyone (I did speak with the first woman's manager). 

 

I bought my daughter a cover for the phone for her birthday in August and the face of the phone is in perfect condition.  It turns out that there is "damage" where the plug goes in to charge the phone.  After getting a magnifying glass out I could see some wear inside where the charging chord plugs in but that was all.

 

My issue:

1.  The ATT store I bought it did not find any damage when they originally called about getting me a replacement phone and did not say anything about any damage preventing repair or replacement due to something like this.  Neither did they mention anything about having to pay for it.

2.  As a common, untrained person, having no trouble with the phone charging how in the world would I know to look inside this space (and had I even thought to do that, how would I know that it was damaged when it has always worked fine) or that a $75 repair would be cause to be charged $500.  The rest of the phone doesn't have a scratch on it.  If the store didn't find it how would I be expected to???

3.  The phone was charging fine-the issue is with the internal electronics.  I have no problem with any "damage" that might be in the charging port.  Honor your warranty, fix that part that is the issue and send the otherwise "damaged" phone back to me and I'll send back the new phone both you and your agent decided to send me.

4.  The charging port is a $14.00 part on line-you can't replace that and fix the electronic issues (but it was working fine so it didn't need to be replaced anyway)?  If you can replace the electronic issues I'll pay for the charging port part.  If you can't fix the electronic issue then does it really matter whether the $14.00 charging port is "damaged" or not?

 

I have contacted Samsung and they're going to take a look at it to see if it is under warranty and if not they are going to have someone call me with an estimate to fix it-but they are not going to charge me almost $500 for a phone that stopped working 2-3 months after it was purchased. 

 

I've been with ATT almost since the dawn of the cell phone, have paid for a number of phones for a number of kids and currently have three lines.  I'd rather not go somewhere else but of course I think this is an insane policy no matter what paper I signed (what choice did I have-I don't sign it you don't warranty it-I already had the new phone-I'm over a barrel).  I have no problem with the phone charging despite the "damage" that is there-I just want you to have the integrity to stand behind the product you advertise and sell. 

 

I'll see what Samsung has to say in a few days.  At the least they will call me back and talk to me before charging me for a phone that was defective to begin with. 

 

I'm sure there is a very reasonable explanation for this policy but I'm fairly sure it's not one that keeps customers (but I'll admit, I'm a bit biased at this point).

 

Respectfully submitted.

 

[Subject edited for better exposure] 

 

Contributor

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2 Messages

8 years ago

I am so confused right now. I got the samsung edge phone. The first one I got, I dropped and had the insurance so I sent it back and they sent me another. Unfortunately, they sent me the wrong one and agreed to send the correct one and I sent the wrong one back to them. When I got the next one, it was in a cardboard sleeve. No packing. No plastic. Just cardboard.  The screen froze. Then it worked, then it froze, then it worked. For a couple months. Finally, I called ATT and the nice man in service aske me questions and we tested things on the phone it was deemed to be a hardware problem. Warrenty sent me another phone.  I sent them mine. Two weeks pass and mine comes back and they say there is a hairline crack on the back of the phone. I never, ever saw that. As a matter of fact, I rarely used the phone at all. Now they are charging me $700.00.  I am furious and believe this is some kind of scam.  Seems to happen quite often as I see here.

Employee

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3.5K Messages

8 years ago

There is no scam. If a phone comes back damaged via warranty, it's marked as physical damage and you're charged the value of the repalcement. The defective phone is then returned to you and both are yours to keep.

 

All warranty returns have detailed photos taken of the packaging, the phone, and contents of the package. Ask to see those. If the box shows no damage whatsoever, it wasn't damaged in shipping. If it was packaged properly in the sleeve and inserted into the box correctly (basically the exact same way it came to you) it wouldn't have been damage in transit. Return shipping is the customer's responsibility. The carrier delivered a non-damaged phone to the end user, now on it's trip back it's essentially the customer who needs to ensure it gets back to the carrier undamaged.

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

I am on my son's account,i.m 63,never have had a problem with any phone I have ever had, my Samsung Galaxy, 6 edge started freezing up after an update,my poor son was on the phone with a representative for over an hour,we ended up sending the new phone back,outside no cracks,perfect condition, same thing happened to us they sent the phone back and charged him $700.00,said it had water damage, I have a side pocket in my purse where I carry it,don't swim,there is no way it could have water damage,it is never around water,very disappointed with at&t,I have had Verizon for years with no problems, I have read the edges are prone to overheat,which is what I think happened.

Contributor

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2 Messages

8 years ago

My stepson has an account through my wife.  His phone stopped charging.  Warranty told him to send it in.  He sent it in (it was undamaged) the way they requested.

 

They sent a replacement phone to him.  Then warranty apparently received the phone with a crack (they sent the pictures).  They then sent the phone back to him and said they were charging the $800 to my wife's bill. 

 

Now, the insurance company will not repair the phone since it was sent to warranty so we cannot send it back to warranty.  Warranty will also not take the new phone back since it has been over 10 days, when most of that time was spent with Warranty sending the original phone back with a note saying it was denied.  Now warranty will never take the phone back, apparently and the insurance will not take the phone to fix the screen (not to mention the phone is now completely dead)

 

My wife has spent over 5 hours on the phone with AT&T; this is a horrible scam where there is no recourse to do anything other than pay $800 by the end of next month.  I have advised my stepson to go to the ATT store to attempt to get help resolving this since we can't seem to make any headway on the phone.

Contributor

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2 Messages

8 years ago

My wife is saying that yesterday is the first time she was aware of the situation; we have email showing it was the first contact from Warranty that there was notification of issue, so I'm having her call back; it still has to be under the 10 day period if that was our first notification that something was wrong.

Contributor

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2 Messages

8 years ago

I have done quite a bit of research and found that this is very common and yes, it is a scam. We could have easily sent the phone back as we had insurance. We would have paid the $200.00 and that would have been that. They insisted we send it to the warrenty dept because it was under warrenty. I have no idea when the back cracked or how but, I am deeply suspicious after seeing this problem being discussed by loads of people.

Contributor

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1 Message

7 years ago

Similiar thing here, S6 active wont power up, took it to an ATT store it was inspected deemed a warrenty item (phone is in perfect condition otherwise),  a replacement sent to me, I send the broken phone back them per thier instructions in thier prepaid box and a week later broken phone is back in my mailbox with a broken screen same problem (wont power up) its mine to keep, gee thanks! And 500 dollars added to my bill which they convienently pulled all at once this month in addition to my regular charges from my debit card info..Guess I dont eat this month, thanks ATT..500 dollars I need to pay bills and eat, great customer service (insert sarcasm) loyal customer for around a decade will be leaving you shortly.

Tutor

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6 Messages

7 years ago

Looks like a common scan. They burned us too. Phone looked fine at store. Was told to send in for warrenty replacement. Then after i got my replacment phone the phone came back with a cracked back. Now we are out 700 dollars. ATT has no customer service. We spend over 10 hour on phone with them trying to get something done. Even called Samsung theycouldn't help. We have been with ATT since the bag phone. Guess they got to big and don't care who they lose as customers. They turned my phones off till we paided for phone. Everyone we talked to couldn't belevie how they were treating us.  (even their store manger and samsung) The people in the warrany department were very rude and told us they would even try to help

Employee

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3.5K Messages

7 years ago

If the phone looked fine then it was damaged in shipment which is not the responsibility of the carrier. Return shipping is in the hands of the end user. If it was damaged in transit and the box shows zero signs of mishandling then the device was not packaged properly.

Tutor

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5 Messages

7 years ago

Going through the same issue now.  Got an update on my Moto X2 an immediatly the phone starts having issues.  Took it in to ATT and they checked it over, did something and it was working.  Next week screen goes green and then black.  Took it back in, they checked it over and said it was under warranty and to send it in.  I called the warranty rep. She walked me through the process.  She had me take the sim card out to see if the water damage strip was pink/red.  I looked, and did not see any color to the sim or in the sim slot (the ATT store looked at this also).  Got the replacement phone and sent my phone in.  Received it back saying it had water damage with a red arrow pointing to the sim slot.  I used a magnifying glass and still can't see red/pink in the slot.  I did not drop my phone in the toilet, in the sink or dump water on it, and it is in a protective case. So how did it get water damage?   I took pictured of the phone just as a precaution prior to sending it in, but did not photo the sim slot.    ATT says they will charge me $425.  Can I still get reimbursed from my phone insurance for part of the charge?   If the ATT store had said it was damage and not a warranty issue, I would have used my insurance.    Oh, and the phone they sent me is not a new phone.  It is already having battery life issues.  If I have to pay $425, I want a new phone.    Have ATT and Direct TV.  If this is not resolved, probably will drop both of them.  Seems to me, that I should be able to sent the phone they sent me back and use my insurance.  This smells like a scam.

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