Help! Cancelled AT&T and They Won't Give Trade In Back

[xaqt93]

Why hate it? The customer isn't forced to sign. I assume you explain to the customer this clause? If not, you are not better than AT&T.

However, this mess started because a customer did not check with peers on AT&T's reception.

I always told the customers what was going to happen. Once that paper is signed its done and the phone now belongs to AT&T. He didn't check with peers which really blows, but he was mad because AT&T wouldn't give him the phone back. It is a huge deal if the customer getss mis-informed on what is happening.

However, I was not a sales rep, my job was to send off these phones and I made sure alll papers were signed by the customer. And as for AT&T as a company...I hate them and wil never use there service again let alone work for them. They had terrible practices and customer service was terrible.

 

[ViceSe7en]

But they really don't. The compensation you get was in terms of bill credits that he is now forfeiting. He traded a tangible good for a service and he is declining that service.

Similarly many people decided to get free iPhone 7 by trading in a 6 or better. They get it free via monthly installment. If they cancel service they aren't eligible to receive the money they were "supposed to get" towards the iPhone 7. The stipulation isnyou get your money if you stay with the service.

It's a tough life lesson but it is what it is.

As an aside I was just in T-Mobile the other day returning a router since I didn't need it. The guy in front of me was livid because he had an LG something or other on the next program. It not only had a crack on the screen but also wouldn't turn on. He wasn't willing to accept that the phone needed to be in working order to upgrade.... or he could pay the deductible.

Some folks simply don't think about what they are doing or what they are signing up for. If either case was a matter of fine print in a wall of text I might have sympathy but this is basic trade in upgrade stuff here.

Exactly. With trade in offers, no matter what carrier; it'll clearly say that once you cancel your service you don't get the bill credit anymore nor will you get compensated in a different form for the device you traded in. OP's friend should have read that part.

 

[C DM]

Exactly. With trade in offers, no matter what carrier; it'll clearly say that once you cancel your service you don't get the bill credit anymore nor will you get compensated in a different form for the device you traded in. OP's friend should have read that part.

Which doesn't make it good/right, simply that it is that way.

 

[Phone Junky]

Which doesn't make it good/right, simply that it is that way.

Exactly, which means you don't have to accept the offer as presented, and walk away.

 

[CaptMarvel]

No sympathy here.

If your "friend" didn't pay off the device fully, yes that is unethical to trade it in under the premise that it was owned to acquire the credits. Maybe it's all karma?

Reading if fundamental, and as bad as that sounds, anyone must always read the fine print or do their research before taking advantages of deals like this. Yes they benefit the company but they also benefit the budget conscious consumer as well. No matter the carrier, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon or T-Mobile...once you sign on the line surrendering something, you sign over the rights transferring ownership, thus creating a contract. They didn't steal anything, your friend willingly turned it in.

Apple themselves, with their Recycle and Reuse program, however do allow you to view the value of your trade in and accept/deny the offer they make. If you deny they send your phone back. But still you can't accept it, get a new iPhone change your mind and ask for your old device back which is what your friend did.

Sounds equivalent to trading in a video game to get the most current version and purchasing a season pass but then realizing you like the old one better and asking for your old game back...Gamestop or anyone who manages trade-ins is going to deny that expediently as well as the company who you purchased that season pass from.

Sounds harsh, but sorry for your friend. Encourage them to read the fine print next time.

 

[kngelv]

Still have not heard what happened at the AT&T store. We work a week on, week off schedule so I won't see him till friday. I tried to call him yesterday but he has a recording saying "voicemail not set up."

James

 

[C DM]

Exactly, which means you don't have to accept the offer as presented, and walk away.

And can discuss and even complain about the bad parts of it all. Just because it's an offer that is a choice and things are in the terms it doesn't mean that it necessarily makes it fine. We've certainly seen it with all kinds of offers and terms where just because things are spelled out somewhere and it's all optional it doesn't mean that they are actually allowed even legally.
[doublepost=1478529165][/doublepost]

No sympathy here.

If your "friend" didn't pay off the device fully, yes that is unethical to trade it in under the premise that it was owned to acquire the credits. Maybe it's all karma?

Reading if fundamental, and as bad as that sounds, anyone must always read the fine print or do their research before taking advantages of deals like this. Yes they benefit the company but they also benefit the budget conscious consumer as well. No matter the carrier, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon or T-Mobile...once you sign on the line surrendering something, you sign over the rights transferring ownership, thus creating a contract. They didn't steal anything, your friend willingly turned it in.

Apple themselves, with their Recycle and Reuse program, however do allow you to view the value of your trade in and accept/deny the offer they make. If you deny they send your phone back. But still you can't accept it, get a new iPhone change your mind and ask for your old device back which is what your friend did.

Sounds equivalent to trading in a video game to get the most current version and purchasing a season pass but then realizing you like the old one better and asking for your old game back...Gamestop or anyone who manages trade-ins is going to deny that expediently as well as the company who you purchased that season pass from.

Sounds harsh, but sorry for your friend. Encourage them to read the fine print next time.

I don't understand your hate. The job you were doing explicitly informed customers what was going to happen to the phone after the Trade-In. Hence, there was no deception, instead it was all parties agreed deal. What terrible practices might I add? I worse as Verizon's? Doubt it.

Basically this. In any trade-in promotion it's going to say right in front of their faces that once they cancel service they also relinquish the bill credit and you don't get anything back. If people don't learn to read the terms and actually do their research before getting involved in something like this they will always screw themselves over and shift the blame to their carrier

Certainly the reading part applies yet we all know of past history and situations where just because something is in the terms it doesn't mean that it can hold up actually or is even legal, like let's say various predatory landing practices or something else similar.

 

[jav6454]

I always told the customers what was going to happen. Once that paper is signed its done and the phone now belongs to AT&T. He didn't check with peers which really blows, but he was mad because AT&T wouldn't give him the phone back. It is a huge deal if the customer getss mis-informed on what is happening.

However, I was not a sales rep, my job was to send off these phones and I made sure alll papers were signed by the customer. And as for AT&T as a company...I hate them and wil never use there service again let alone work for them. They had terrible practices and customer service was terrible.

I don't understand your hate. The job you were doing explicitly informed customers what was going to happen to the phone after the Trade-In. Hence, there was no deception, instead it was all parties agreed deal. What terrible practices might I add? I worse as Verizon's? Doubt it.

 

[ViceSe7en]

I don't understand your hate. The job you were doing explicitly informed customers what was going to happen to the phone after the Trade-In. Hence, there was no deception, instead it was all parties agreed deal. What terrible practices might I add? I worse as Verizon's? Doubt it.

Basically this. In any trade-in promotion it's going to say right in front of their faces that once they cancel service they also relinquish the bill credit and you don't get anything back. If people don't learn to read the terms and actually do their research before getting involved in something like this they will always screw themselves over and shift the blame to their carrier

 

[jhearty99]

Basically this. In any trade-in promotion it's going to say right in front of their faces that once they cancel service they also relinquish the bill credit and you don't get anything back. If people don't learn to read the terms and actually do their research before getting involved in something like this they will always screw themselves over and shift the blame to their carrier

This really isnt the issue in this case though which is the problem. This is not an early termination of service. AT&T has a 14 day "no hassle" return policy where you can cancel service with zero penalty. I find it very disconcerting that you can sign up for a new service that supposedly comes with a 14 return policy and when you go to exercise your right within those 14 days, AT&T says "ok, but we are keeping your $600 iPhone". Now, if he went back after the 14 days, then its a completely different story.

 

[CaptMarvel]

This really isnt the issue in this case though which is the problem. This is not an early termination of service. AT&T has a 14 day "no hassle" return policy where you can cancel service with zero penalty. I find it very disconcerting that you can sign up for a new service that supposedly comes with a 14 return policy and when you go to exercise your right within those 14 days, AT&T says "ok, but we are keeping your $600 iPhone". Now, if he went back after the 14 days, then its a completely different story.

Signing up for new service with a trade in for collateral to reduce said out of pocket expense is different though. Surrending that collateral and signing a contract acknowledging transfer of ownership is what that covers.

How is it disconcerting? The consumer isn't forced to trade in their device. That's only if they want to take advantage of the offer. eBay and plenty of other mediums to sell a device are available, or even keeping the device.

Now signing up for new service without a trade in or collateral would be a different story.

 

[jhearty99]

Signing up for new service with a trade in for collateral to reduce said out of pocket expense is different though. Surrending that collateral and signing a contract acknowledging transfer of ownership is what that covers.

How is it disconcerting? The consumer isn't forced to trade in their device. That's only if they want to take advantage of the offer. eBay and plenty of other mediums to sell a device are available, or even keeping the device.

Now signing up for new service without a trade in or collateral would be a different story.

So you are saying, if you traded in your car for new car at a dealership that had a 14 day return policy and you went to bring the new car back, you wouldn't expect to get your old car back or at the very least the monetary value of the trade in?

 

[C DM]

So you are saying, if you traded in your car for new car at a dealership that had a 14 day return policy and you went to bring the new car back, you wouldn't expect to get your old car back or at the very least the monetary value of the trade in?

Some people are basically saying that because things are in the fine print then that's just how it is. Even though we all know that just because something is in the terms somewhere it doesn't mean it's right or would even necessarily be enforceable. I guess if a carrier said that if you return something within the return period you would also owe them the full retail price of the phone you are retuning on top of anything else, it would be just fine as long as that was in the fine print somewhere.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Common sense would tell most that you will not be getting a phone back that you traded in.

 

[jhearty99]

Some people are basically saying that because things are in the fine print then that's just how it is. Even though we all know that just because something is in the terms somewhere it doesn't mean it's right or would even necessarily be enforceable. I guess if a carrier said that if you return something within the return period you would also owe them the full retail price of the phone you are retuning on top of anything else, it would be just fine as long as that was in the fine print somewhere.

Exactly lol I would like to see where it says that in the fine print though. Ive also chatted with 2 reps who both said a request would be made to return the device that was traded in.

 

[CaptMarvel]

So you are saying, if you traded in your car for new car at a dealership that had a 14 day return policy and you went to bring the new car back, you wouldn't expect to get your old car back or at the very least the monetary value of the trade in?

No. If I traded in a car and relinquished ownership, how can I expect it to be returned to me free of charge if I no longer own it or gave it away in the first place?

From the other end, that would be like a company selling you something refurbished, but saying hey Joe who just got rid of it may want it back, so it's not fully yours yet until he makes up his mind. But that's a whole different tanget.

 

[Applejuiced]

So you are saying, if you traded in your car for new car at a dealership that had a 14 day return policy and you went to bring the new car back, you wouldn't expect to get your old car back or at the very least the monetary value of the trade in?

Terrible analogy.
Apples and oranges.
The dealership will take your old car and bring to the auction within days and sell it.
If you decide you dont want the brand new car you bought the old trade in vehicle is still gone.
Other terms and conditions and different contracts and agreements. Wireless service is not the same as purchasing vehicles obviously.

 

[jhearty99]

lol I guess we all have different definitions of what a "no-hassle return policy" is.

 

[C DM]

lol I guess we all have different definitions of what a "no-hassle return policy" is.

That is definitely one part that is getting overlooked in all of this.

 

[CaptMarvel]

lol I guess we all have different definitions of what a "no-hassle return policy" is.

I agree to disagree. A hassle free return policy includes cash paid that is refunded to the consumer, not non monetary collateral traded in.

 

[TWO2SEVEN]

Some people are basically saying that because things are in the fine print then that's just how it is. Even though we all know that just because something is in the terms somewhere it doesn't mean it's right or would even necessarily be enforceable. I guess if a carrier said that if you return something within the return period you would also owe them the full retail price of the phone you are retuning on top of anything else, it would be just fine as long as that was in the fine print somewhere.

The OP's friend agreed to the terms. How is it the carrier's fault?

 

[C DM]

The OP's friend agreed to the terms. How is it the carrier's fault?

Are you saying that anyone can put anything in fine print and just because people sign things that makes them right or even enforceable/legal in some cases?

 

[Applejuiced]

Are you saying that anyone can put anything in fine print and just because people sign things that makes them right or even enforceable/legal in some cases?

There's many bad deals out there.
I can name a bunch of them like rent to own stores that sell appliances/furniture that after the 24 month payments the $500 TV ended up costing you $3000, payday loans with crazy interest rates and other very bad deals for consumers out there.
If you agree to the terms and get yourself into a binding contract weather that's morally right or wrong you have to abide to what you signed.
No?

 

[kazmac]

Awful, but not surprising. sorry to hear that OP. Part of the reason I ultimately quit AT&T was the trade in screw over I got with my iPhone 5. The $200 AT&T card they gave me worked nowhere, not online to add credit to my bill, not at any store etc. Even with my receipt they wouldn't do anything.

 

[TWO2SEVEN]

Are you saying that anyone can put anything in fine print and just because people sign things that makes them right or even enforceable/legal in some cases?

I don't have a law degree, where did you get yours?

Right and enforceable are vastly different. The point is, the OP's friend agreed to the terms.