Carrier AT&T Next Program - Phone Return Lost

[redman042]

well I got a partial credit. [no clue why they only gave 517.00 but when we called again the new guy could see their screwup and said it will get fixed.

The same thing happened to me. I'm in chat right now trying to resolve it. The charge on my bill for the non-returned phone was $1149 (the cost of a new 128GB iPhone X). The credit they just applied was $805.73.

It doesn't make sense why they are penalizing me the cost of the new phone for a non-returned old phone (which they actually received). It also doesn't make sense why the credit is lower.

Everything that can go wrong is going wrong.

 

[jav6454]

Murphy's Law... That said, how far have you reached into AT&T's CS to get this fixed?

 

[redman042]

Murphy's Law... That said, how far have you reached into AT&T's CS to get this fixed?

After reaching a CS agent early last week who knew about this issue and knew what she was doing, the proper case was filed and I've been able to rely on that ever since when starting new CS chats. I haven't needed to go to a supervisor or anything above.

I just got off chat this morning and the agent recognized that the remaining charge was fully eligible for removal from my account and she filed a priority case to get it removed. She promised 24-48 hours max. She also put the charge on a "payment plan" to basically buy time for the equipment team to remove it without any risk of service shutoff.

So my contacts with CS over the last couple of weeks have been much more productive than in December. Back in December, they didn't seem to recognize that they had the returned phone, and wanted me to go deal with USPS. But lately, they are recognizing right away what the problem is, that it's their problem not mine, and are filing cases to get it cleared. The problem now is those case filings haven't been completely effective. But we're getting there. It's just taking way more of my time than I'd like, and I'm very reluctant to use Next again.

 

[jav6454]

I think that December is a bad time for any company that sells and receives things. Too high volume. Not to mention the CS logistical nightmare. I beleive you most likely got unlucky and got new CS recruits.

 

[redman042]

I think that December is a bad time for any company that sells and receives things. Too high volume. Not to mention the CS logistical nightmare. I beleive you most likely got unlucky and got new CS recruits.

Yes but it's more than that. I had similar problems with a return last year (though it was not this hard to resolve). And a quick google search shows that scores of people have reported problems with phone returns getting lost, and reps telling them "it's their problem" going back to 2015 (which I think is when AT&T introduced Next).

They have had three years to recognize the problems with their returns system and fix it, as well as problems with staff training. The fact that I had to invest something like 5 hours in repeated chats and calls to sort this out, and it's still not fully sorted, would have made me walk from AT&T a long time ago if I didn't have five family phones on this account.

The fact that over a month ago they confirmed to me that they see evidence the phone was received by them, but they can't just hit a button and clear the stupid charge, and instead have to file case after case and then have those cases mishandled, and I have to keep contacting them to sort it out, is freaking ridiculous.

AT&T Next is supposed to be about convenience. It's turning out to be anything but. They need to cancel their contract with Newgistics and completely revamp their system.

 

[jav6454]

Yes but it's more than that.

[...]

AT&T Next is supposed to be about convenience. It's turning out to be anything but. They need to cancel their contract with Newgistics and completely revamp their system.

So it's not a direct AT&T thing? I thouhgt AT&T handled the entire op. If AT&T sub-contracts that work, then I can see where things go wrong.

 

[redman042]

So it's not a direct AT&T thing? I thouhgt AT&T handled the entire op. If AT&T sub-contracts that work, then I can see where things go wrong.

All I know is that Newgistics is a company they subcontract with to ship the phones to them. You take the phones to USPS with an AT&T provided label, and then USPS hands them off to Newgistics. Whether the receiving warehouse is run by them is anyone's guess.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

After just reading the first page of three, I'm fairly sure AT&T should be looking at a class action lawsuit for this behavior. I'm not what you would call the litigious type, and hate people that sue for every little thing, but this treatment of customers by AT&T is abhorrent to me.

 

[Peter K.]

Had this exact same experience with ATT. After numerous calls with most lasting 30 minutes or more, it finally got escalated high enough and they credited my account and it was finally over. 3 months later I receive a box from ATT with the phone I had traded in.

Haha, I was shocked too when I got the package. It even came with a note saying that they couldn't accept it since it was past the trade-in due date.

My guess is it got lost in the warehouse somehow.

F 'em! You deserve more than that as compensation for the time spent and heartache suffered.

 

[redman042]

Another update on my status... I'm STILL not done resolving this with them. The call-back promised a week ago in 24-48 hours never came. I checked in with an agent about 4 days later. He said it was still pending and put a rush request on it. Still nothing. Now today, I'm in another chat trying to resolve this. Agent couldn't help. Kicked it to supervisor. Supervisor reviewed case and said "you'll get your credit as soon as warehouse receives the phone". I said "receipt of phone was already confirmed by AT&T". He checked again and finally was able to agree with me after finding the right information in their system (agents have the hardest time pulling up info in their system - their software must suck terribly).

In the end, the best he could do was "wait for the refund team to process it" and put in a callback request for 2/9.

Based on history, I fully expect the callback will never come, and I'll be back in chat fighting to keep my service active on 2/9, because I'm not paying the damn charge.

This sucks.

Does anyone know how to email the CEO or someone high up the chain?

 

[steve knight]

well I have a update. we got a partial refund 514 I think of the 949.00 we have been calling to get the rest. so what happens today I get the phone back again. I will wait a bit then sell it.

 

[Mascots]

Do you have access to a store? I went there today with all of my info and a man helped me out DRASTICALLY - more than any phone support person did. The gentleman also spotted several other issues that were related to it on my bill from the last month plus gathered together all of the notes and materials I need just in case more issues arise from it, including IDs of people he contacted and worked with. It was really assuring.

Anyway - at the moment I'm sitting in the limbo of: I either will get the iPhone 7 for free with it written off on their end, may be able to pay the remainder I owe, keep it and sell it to make my money back + profit, or they may end up being able to accept it back (like how it was supposed to happen). Personally, I don't really care, as I told him, I just want it done. But it's looking like I'll be walking away with a free phone. I'll know on Monday

 

[steve knight]

I went to a store all they were able to do is add a note to our account to say he saw my printout of the tracking number and when I shipped it. If they don’t give any more money I can live with it since I have the phone.

 

[960design]

The dilemma is if I don’t pay, it goes to collections or service shut-off. If I do pay, then like you said I’ll probably never see it again. And we’re talking about $1000 here.

What about insurance? When you mail it off, can you get insurance?
Just asking, I've been doing the next 12 with three phones for the last 3 years or so.

So far, I've had no issues.

I tried turning it into a local AT&T and they would not accept it. After waiting for an hour and having pretty much every employee and manager on two shifts speak with me, it was determined the best course of action was to mail it off.

 

[steve knight]

What about insurance? When you mail it off, can you get insurance?

no because there is no address to mail it too. it is picked up by a agent so insurance is not valid. plus it would not matter since it seems att has them they just can't find them.

 

[redman042]

My understanding is that the corporate stores can do very little to help other than enter information into the system and file support cases just like the phone support people. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if a few employees here and there know how to do more. In general, it seems like a crapshoot with AT&T support.

I did find the CEO email (rs2982@att.com) by googling it. Not sure if it’s valid but I sent a long and detailed email with all my backup documentation attached. It hasn’t been kicked back so hopefully someone will review and help me.

 

[steve knight]

so does it seem like I can just sell the 7 I have or will there be issues? I mean they refunded me some but sent the phone back.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

so does it seem like I can just sell the 7 I have or will there be issues? I mean they refunded me some but sent the phone back.

Well, they way they treated everyone in this situation, I'm sure that some people [might do the wrong thing and] wont tell ANYONE that the phone re-appeard on their stoop, and they'd just tell AT&T that they never got the phone and sell it (i.e. do unto AT&T as AT&T did unto them).

 

[steve knight]

the problem is it took a week to get it returned the second time. we had to call so many times. then we had to call over and over to to get any refund at all. I can't imagine trying to get it returned for the 3rd time. Olys they still owe me money. and selling it would not even cover all of that. I will be out at least 150.00 if I do sell it.

 

[jav6454]

My understanding is that the corporate stores can do very little to help other than enter information into the system and file support cases just like the phone support people. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if a few employees here and there know how to do more. In general, it seems like a crapshoot with AT&T support.

I did find the CEO email (rs2982@att.com) by googling it. Not sure if it’s valid but I sent a long and detailed email with all my backup documentation attached. It hasn’t been kicked back so hopefully someone will review and help me.

Doubtful... he'll look at it and most likely just forward it.

 

[redman042]

My email to the CEO worked like a charm. I received a call first thing this morning from a representative of the office of the CEO. By the time he called me, he had already cleared the charge and applied additional credit towards the next month's bill. He spoke to me at some length about the firm's recognition of issues with the shipping system and the way the non-returned charge was being applied, and efforts they are undertaking to address the issue. He pointed out that, since I received an X on release date, I was one of the early customers with this returns processing problem, and that's why it took some time for AT&T to recognize the problems on their end and help me out. He said new cases like this are rare now because they have better determined the problem and what is needed to fix it. They are having some problems with USPS communications that they are trying to resolve with them. They also had an error in their system regarding the amount charged to customers for non-returned devices (charging for the value of an iPhone X rather than the value of the trade-in) which they have since fixed.

He listened to my concerns and was very apologetic. He encouraged me to try Next again in the fall when I upgrade (assuming I do), claiming that they are getting the problems worked out.

I'm glad to finally report that my issue with the trade-in is fully resolved. I hope they work on support staff training so that we don't have to escalate it to the CEO office in the future.

If you are having major problems getting your case resolved, I highly suggest emailing the CEO. Make sure to give them as much detail as you can and attach any relevant evidence to your email.

 

[eagleglen]

My email to the CEO worked like a charm. I received a call first thing this morning from a representative of the office of the CEO. By the time he called me, he had already cleared the charge and applied additional credit towards the next month's bill. He spoke to me at some length about the firm's recognition of issues with the shipping system and the way the non-returned charge was being applied, and efforts they are undertaking to address the issue. He pointed out that, since I received an X on release date, I was one of the early customers with this returns processing problem, and that's why it took some time for AT&T to recognize the problems on their end and help me out. He said new cases like this are rare now because they have better determined the problem and what is needed to fix it. They are having some problems with USPS communications that they are trying to resolve with them. They also had an error in their system regarding the amount charged to customers for non-returned devices (charging for the value of an iPhone X rather than the value of the trade-in) which they have since fixed.

He listened to my concerns and was very apologetic. He encouraged me to try Next again in the fall when I upgrade (assuming I do), claiming that they are getting the problems worked out.

I'm glad to finally report that my issue with the trade-in is fully resolved. I hope they work on support staff training so that we don't have to escalate it to the CEO office in the future.

If you are having major problems getting your case resolved, I highly suggest emailing the CEO. Make sure to give them as much detail as you can and attach any relevant evidence to your email.

This is actually encouraging to hear that their upper echelon is aware of the issues with the Next Program. I also got my iPhone X on launch day and got billed the wrong amount when I didn’t return my old device. Hopefully going forward, and with the launch of the next iPhone, the process will go much smoother. Thanks for letting us know the feedback you received.

 

[redman042]

This is actually encouraging to hear that their upper echelon is aware of the issues with the Next Program. I also got my iPhone X on launch day and got billed the wrong amount when I didn’t return my old device. Hopefully going forward, and with the launch of the next iPhone, the process will go much smoother. Thanks for letting us know the feedback you received.

I came away feeling a whole lot better, and I was stunned not only that the email got any attention at all, but how quickly it did (first business day after I sent it). The guy that called me was on top of it, and clearly had plenty of authority.

Now they just need to train the support staff and reach out to the poor customers who have this issue and wouldn’t know to email the CEO.

 

[newellj]

After just reading the first page of three, I'm fairly sure AT&T should be looking at a class action lawsuit for this behavior. I'm not what you would call the litigious type, and hate people that sue for every little thing, but this treatment of customers by AT&T is abhorrent to me.

Or vote with your feet. Although as I say that, things would have to get really bad (well, really worse) to get me to switch carriers. I've had both AT&T and VZW here and it's really pick your poison (and I'm not interested in the other carriers).
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Another update on my status... I'm STILL not done resolving this with them. The call-back promised a week ago in 24-48 hours never came. I checked in with an agent about 4 days later. He said it was still pending and put a rush request on it. Still nothing. Now today, I'm in another chat trying to resolve this. Agent couldn't help. Kicked it to supervisor. Supervisor reviewed case and said "you'll get your credit as soon as warehouse receives the phone". I said "receipt of phone was already confirmed by AT&T". He checked again and finally was able to agree with me after finding the right information in their system (agents have the hardest time pulling up info in their system - their software must suck terribly).

In the end, the best he could do was "wait for the refund team to process it" and put in a callback request for 2/9.

Based on history, I fully expect the callback will never come, and I'll be back in chat fighting to keep my service active on 2/9, because I'm not paying the damn charge.

This sucks.

Does anyone know how to email the CEO or someone high up the chain?

This seems to be working out for you, but I really have to say that the way AT&T has treated you (and others) is a shocking waste of your time, all these weeks later.

 

[Islanderon]

Just started a case with ATT customer loyalty about a Samsung book2 ($999) that i gave to the post office using the ATT supplied return label on November 23rd 2018 and was picked up by Newgistics on November 24th 2018. As of today its still in freaking transit! Apparently I'm another victim of the scam of a shipping company called Newgistics. Obviously Newgistics isn't a shipping company, they're a front that contracts to pick up a company's returns but instead of delivering items they open up every package ( especially from ATT knowing any returns will be high priced electronics ) and resells the stolen goods overseas or on the black market. Apparently them and another front under them had scammed the usps out of millions in postage:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/...lion-settlement-resolve-claims-unpaid-postage