Yes, but the consumer should also weigh in their options and know the terms they sign and agree to.
Not like the OP's friend oh I didn't know is not much of a defense on his part.
Live and learn I guess
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Help! Cancelled AT&T and They Won't Give Trade In Back
- Thread starter kngelv
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Yes, but the consumer should also weigh in their options and know the terms they sign and agree to.
Not like the OP's friend oh I didn't know is not much of a defense on his part.
Live and learn I guess
Sure, there's all of that. But it still doesn't really change the that there's something off about it.Yes, but the consumer should also weigh in their options and know the terms they sign and agree to.
Not like the OP's friend oh I didn't know is not much of a defense on his part.
Live and learn I guess
It's simple... If AT&T has a 14-day cancellation period, they SHOULD hold trade-in devices for this same period.
It's just the right thing to do...
It's just the right thing to do...
Nor am I. I tried calling him twice today and a recording said voicemail is not set up. So something has happened. We can only use wi-fi fir our company tablets - which are Dell and horrible - not our personal devices.
James
Does he have wifi at his work? If so he can use wifi calling. At&t should give him decent signal. For the most part anyway
This. All the carriers do this. Sprint, TMo, Verizon, and AT&T. You can't get your trade-in back.
I am not disputing this IF he were to have cancelled his service early but according to the OP, it is within the 14 day return period. Within that 14 days, you have the right to cancel your service as if nothing ever happened. After that period, you are locked in.
Moral of the story:
use ATT
use iPhone, never sammy
always pay cash for phones
use phone for a yeat or two
don't jump around diff companies
use ATT
use iPhone, never sammy
always pay cash for phones
use phone for a yeat or two
don't jump around diff companies
According to what he agreed and signed they don't owe him anything.
Should and maybe and other things don't make any difference.
iPhone upgrade won't tie you to a carrier
Returns are often a privilege not a right (check your state and local laws)
Anything with a trade in, unless it just happened, can't be undone regardless of the return policy
I don't quite understand the hostility towards AT&T. I can't see any other company that would either still have the phone or break the contract that you signed, because you made a mistake. There would be no reason for you to sign anything. Plus they give you a copy.
I guess this is where we fundamentally disagree. The carrier isn't getting something for nothing so long as you abide by the agreement you enter into with the carrier. As mentioned, carriers don't just hand you cash for trade; they don't actually want your phone, they want to keep you as a customer for 24 months and then some. There are plenty of other options for getting cash for your trade, but again, generally going to be far less than the carrier offers you.
FWIW most carriers allow this to be deferred until the trial period (15-30 days) ends, meaning you can fully test out the network before you commit to trading in your device. If I am not happy within 30 days I get every dime back that I would have paid. If I am happy in 30 days or less I apply my trade to the account. For special promotions this has to be notated though (for example they are no longer doing the free iPhone 7 promo). Knowing about this depends on how competent a rep you have though and IME that is a crap shoot with all carriers (but moreso with TMO lol).
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It sort of does... if I am currently on ATT Apple won't let me buy a Verizon or Sprint phone. So... I can only really hop to TMO or a GSM pay as you go like cricket. I realize your point though.
I am unsure why the require you to already be on a carrier to buy the phone (unless that has changed. It may have). The entire point of their upgrade program is lost on me in this way. If I am going to pay full MSRP out of pocket I am going to be getting the most capable world phone. Ironically the issue this year isn't even about being a world phone. The AT&T and TMO devices simply cant be used on VZW and Sprint CDMA network. And I think this is going to be far more confusing for the average customer. "Hey, I had ATT, why no signal on this UNLOCKED phone when I hop over to verizon?!"
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But if you leave earlier, especially within the return period that is provided, it doesn't mean that the carrier should benefit in that case since they would no longer be providing anything from that point on, yet get to hold on to your device.
Again, when it's the other way around where the carrier provided subsidy in exchange for a contract commitment then there was an early termination fee in place for the carrier to recover something if the contract was severed earlier. So provisions to protect the carrier there in that situation where the carrier stands to lose something, but nothing like that to protect the customer in a similar situation where the customer stands to lose something. And again this all seems to be even within the return period, which is that much more different.
I know this thread is discussing AT&T, but Verizon gives you 30 days to send your trade-in to them. This allows for you to retain your trade-in while testing the network/device to make sure it will work for you. Does AT&T require you to hand over your trade in immediately?
If they do not require an immediate on the spot trade-in then it seems like it would be better to hang onto your trade-in device until after the return period is over.
I get your stance I just don't agree with it. When I hand my phone in I agree that to get full credits I must stay with the company for X amount of months. It's a simple contract. If I don't agree I simply don't trade.
You think it shouldn't be this way. Your stance is Perfectly fine with me. Just don't know that the dead horse can be beaten anymore at this point.
I'll leave it with this. I'm going to guess the vast majority of customers are happy with trade in deals especially those where they give you much more money than your phone is worth (in the case of the "free" iPhone 7 deal). But again, and I can't stress this enough, nobody should ever agree to hand in a device under conditions they don't agree with. Consumers truly need to do their due diligence here. If you get ****ed by not being aware of a relatively simple cell phone trade in, good luck in the rest of the world. You're likely to get eaten alive. (Note: using the universal "YOU" here)
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I think it's only 14
Edit: misunderstood. You're right.
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I still have not heard from my friend so I have no idea of what is going on. A lot of you have made really good points. Whatever the legality or the fine print says I still think it unethical to promote the fact that you have 14 days to decide if you want to stay but they still keep your trade-in. I just looked at their website where it says he had 30 days to trade in the old phone and also where it said the phone must be paid off. This whole thing is ridiculous. IMHO they stole his phone. At the same time he traded in a phone he did not fully own which is also unethical and foolish. The whole cell phone model in this country is crazy. I understand signing a contract for a car or house or some other big ticket item but if you can't afford a phone outright then don't buy it. I recently bought an LG phone for my older son and only paid 79 bucks for it. Sure its not a smart phone but he can call and text just like I do. To lock yourself into a contract for two years is crazy. I'm under an old Verizon friends and family loyal talk and text plan that gives me a $20.00 discount for each of my two smart phones and $10.00 for the non-smart one. That $50.00 a month pays for an iPhone in about 16 months.
James
James
Why is it crazy to sign a 2 contract?
If you fully understand what the terms are and you plan on staying with the company till you fulfill your agreement then you can take advantage of special offers.
What doesn't make sense is signing deals you don't understand and don't bother researching at all and then blaming others that is not right or that's unethical and they stole your phone and so on.
There's many good and bad deals out there and companies look after their own benefits. Shouldn't the customer look after his own and figure out what he's getting himself in before switching, signing deals, signing up for bill credits deals and then backing out and so on.
It's part of life and if your "friend" continues the same approach in general he will continue to have issues in life and blame everyone else because he just didn't know any better.
Not sure why you're worrying so much about his bad choices. I know I wouldn't post a thread on an online forum asking others about my "friends" wireless plan mishaps.
If you fully understand what the terms are and you plan on staying with the company till you fulfill your agreement then you can take advantage of special offers.
What doesn't make sense is signing deals you don't understand and don't bother researching at all and then blaming others that is not right or that's unethical and they stole your phone and so on.
There's many good and bad deals out there and companies look after their own benefits. Shouldn't the customer look after his own and figure out what he's getting himself in before switching, signing deals, signing up for bill credits deals and then backing out and so on.
It's part of life and if your "friend" continues the same approach in general he will continue to have issues in life and blame everyone else because he just didn't know any better.
Not sure why you're worrying so much about his bad choices. I know I wouldn't post a thread on an online forum asking others about my "friends" wireless plan mishaps.
All I'm saying is that it's not that way when the providers were doing it (with subsidies and contracts and early termination fees), so why should it be different when it's the other way around? And all of that should be different within the return period too.
Actually you can buy a sim free phone and hook it up to either at&t or T-Mobile for iPhone upgrade. The kinder you are, the further the folks are willing to go.
Interesting. I wondered if they could be salvaged for parts. Money has to be made some how.
Gotcha, I wasn't sure what AT&T's policy was, thank you. Since it is 30 days it seems like the friend should have waited until day 15 to send in the trade, since the service didn't work out they would've been able to keep the device had they done that. However, my guess is that it wasn't made clear to the friend that they had 30 days to send in the trade-in.
When subsidies were more popular, they were fulfilling their end of the bargain by giving you a low upfront cost in exchange for you to remain a customer for the duration of the contract. It was also clearly outlined that if you chose to terminate the contract, you would be required to pay an early termination fee (ETF). I understand your point, however, you don't have to trade in the phone within the return period. So it's best to wait until after the return period if you're test driving the service. That way if the service or device doesn't work for you, you can cancel/return the device for no fees and you still retain your trade-in.
I understand the perception is that the device was stolen from your friend, but they (AT&T) should have done a better job of explaining how it works to your friend as the carrier model in the US can be confusing. My recommendation would be to pay full price for an unlocked phone that works on all carriers. Then you can test out each carrier to see what works best and since you'd own the device outright, you wouldn't have to worry about remaining a customer for X amount of months.
I agree. The carriers offers work in favor of the carrier. However, there are a lot of deals out there that could work out in the favor of the customer as well. That said, it should be up to the customer to do the research or ask questions so they fully understand what they are agreeing to.
When you trade your phone into AT&T (or any other carrier) they explicitly state that you won't be able to get it back. It's something your friend agreed to, whether he realized it at the time or not.
So no, unfortunately its not possible.
So no, unfortunately its not possible.