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I used AT&T's Trade-in Program & my iPhone 5 is missing.

Eckscaliber

Eckscaliber

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 30, 2012
816
87
I used AT&T's Trade-in Program for my iPhone 4 & 5. I shipped them both (in seperate boxes) at the same time, but only the iPhone 4 made it there. Has anyone else had a similar issue in which their phone went missing enroute to AT&T's Recycle Center?

I used the shipping label they provided, and there was no way to officially track, or confirm, that I sent them out. All I have is a picture of the packages before I shipped them. I have a feeling I'm screwed.
 
Eckscaliber said:
I used AT&T's Trade-in Program for my iPhone 4 & 5. I shipped them both (in seperate boxes) at the same time, but only the iPhone 4 made it there. Has anyone else had a similar issue in which their phone went missing enroute to AT&T's Recycle Center?

I used the shipping label they provided, and there was no way to officially track, or confirm, that I sent them out. All I have is a picture of the packages before I shipped them. I have a feeling I'm screwed.
Click to expand...

No tracking? You are screwed unless they find it.
 
When I drop off my packages to my local UPS store, even if its with a prepaid label, I get a receipt that they accepted the package for delivery.

Did you get that, to open a dispute with the carrier?
 
Eckscaliber said:
I used AT&T's Trade-in Program for my iPhone 4 & 5. I shipped them both (in seperate boxes) at the same time, but only the iPhone 4 made it there. Has anyone else had a similar issue in which their phone went missing enroute to AT&T's Recycle Center?

I used the shipping label they provided, and there was no way to officially track, or confirm, that I sent them out. All I have is a picture of the packages before I shipped them. I have a feeling I'm screwed.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, why you didn't just walk your phones into an ATT store and had them send the phones in so that you would have a receipt for them?
 
maflynn said:
When I drop off my packages to my local UPS store, even if its with a prepaid label, I get a receipt that they accepted the package for delivery.

Did you get that, to open a dispute with the carrier?
Click to expand...

This. UPS will always give you a receipt. They will even email you one if they have it on file.

I will say they usually try to push people to just drop the package off and leave if they are busy though. They almost seem annoyed when I say I want a receipt.
 
The store I go to, almost always pushes me to wait if I'm in a hurry. I like them a lot because they make sure all the Ts are dotted and the Is are crossed :p
 
did you use UPS ? they're the worst shipper out there. just yesterday they dropped my 2 packages at my neighbor's house. years ago they delivered my package about 4 houses away from mine. then so many times they will misplaced or will leave my package at their facility and will update the tracker to say that my package has been re-scheduled as box was left at their facility. this happened not once but 4 times already. if it's UPS that you used - good luck.
 
Eckscaliber said:
I used AT&T's Trade-in Program for my iPhone 4 & 5. I shipped them both (in seperate boxes) at the same time, but only the iPhone 4 made it there. Has anyone else had a similar issue in which their phone went missing enroute to AT&T's Recycle Center?

I used the shipping label they provided, and there was no way to officially track, or confirm, that I sent them out. All I have is a picture of the packages before I shipped them. I have a feeling I'm screwed.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing - they give you a prepaid label to ship it USPS so you don't get a tracking number unless you pay for the shipping yourself. I had no record of the shipment and after 3 weeks I was nervous and called AT&T - they were no help - you're supposed to get an email confirmation when they receive it.

Anyway, about 4 weeks after I shipped it I received a $200 Visa Debit Card in the mail for the trade-in. No warning, it just arrived. I breathed a deep sigh of relief...
 
mattopotamus said:
This. UPS will always give you a receipt. They will even email you one if they have it on file.

I will say they usually try to push people to just drop the package off and leave if they are busy though. They almost seem annoyed when I say I want a receipt.
Click to expand...

Well, Verizon FiOS has a setup with UPS where you just drop your hardware with them and UPS does the rest. I never got a receipt (was never offered and was stupid not to ask). Verizon ended up billing use an additional month because they didn't get the hardware on time... for a while I was bervous because they value their crappy modm at a couple hundred bucks alongside a DVR for another couple hundred, but in the end it made it there.

I learned my lesson. I am normally all about recepits too, but I must have had a brain fart that day.
 
lordofthereef said:
Well, Verizon FiOS has a setup with UPS where you just drop your hardware with them and UPS does the rest. I never got a receipt (was never offered and was stupid not to ask). Verizon ended up billing use an additional month because they didn't get the hardware on time... for a while I was bervous because they value their crappy modm at a couple hundred bucks alongside a DVR for another couple hundred, but in the end it made it there.

I learned my lesson. I am normally all about recepits too, but I must have had a brain fart that day.
Click to expand...

att does the same thing with their uverse equipment. I was not offered a receipt, but did not leave until they gave me one. The last thing I want to do is pay $500 for DVRs.
 
lordofthereef said:
Well, Verizon FiOS has a setup with UPS where you just drop your hardware with them and UPS does the rest. I never got a receipt (was never offered and was stupid not to ask). Verizon ended up billing use an additional month because they didn't get the hardware on time... for a while I was bervous because they value their crappy modm at a couple hundred bucks alongside a DVR for another couple hundred, but in the end it made it there.

I learned my lesson. I am normally all about recepits too, but I must have had a brain fart that day.
Click to expand...

mattopotamus said:
att does the same thing with their uverse equipment. I was not offered a receipt, but did not leave until they gave me one. The last thing I want to do is pay $500 for DVRs.
Click to expand...

OT but I always get a receipt at Comcast and yet they STILL claimed I did not return some equipment, even after showing them the receipt! I asked when they were going to credit my account for equipment I no longer had and the nice Comcast person said as soon as they find it!

God, I hate Comcast!
 
So you took a phone that retailed for up to $850 and just left in a box, without any sort of tracking, confirmation, or insurance?

And this seemed like a better idea than just taking it to the store or paying $6 for shipping?
 
Xenomorph said:
So you took a phone that retailed for up to $850 and just left in a box, without any sort of tracking, confirmation, or insurance?

And this seemed like a better idea than just taking it to the store or paying $6 for shipping?
Click to expand...

I just think he forgot to get a receipt. Like others have said, they have a contract with att/verizon/etc and you do not have to pay the shipping or for insurance. That is part of the contact between the two companies.

The problem is that the shipping companies really do expect people to just leave the equipment and walk out with no receipt. "Oh just leave the equipment here, we will take care of it."
 
Newtons Apple said:
OT but I always get a receipt at Comcast and yet they STILL claimed I did not return some equipment, even after showing them the receipt! I asked when they were going to credit my account for equipment I no longer had and the nice Comcast person said as soon as they find it!

God, I hate Comcast!
Click to expand...

Verizon isn't much better. We recently moved, and so we "inherited" the tenants box who lived there before us ("box" is all I know how to call it. It's something in the wall that needs to be installed for fios service). It has a battery inside to keep phone lines working in a power outage. Battery died and it was beeping so I called for s replacement. They wanted to charge me $50 but I told them i shouldn't have to. Ended up getting it shipped... It was sent to the wrong address (don't ask me how that's even possible). Now they are "invesrigating" before they send a new one. The kicker is I even called them twice about getting tracking info with incorrect address. The response, both times, was that it shipped akready so let's see if it makes it to me. How on earth would it? The address was not mine...
 
ET iPhone Home said:
I'm curious, why you didn't just walk your phones into an ATT store and had them send the phones in so that you would have a receipt for them?
Click to expand...

Even the corporate stores do not take a lot of things back. I experienced this with tmobile. I ordered an iphone 6+ online, and I had to ship it back. The corporate store and online customer service said it cannot be taken to a store.
 
ET iPhone Home said:
What's a safe practice to prove you've sent in your device?
Click to expand...

Get insurance if you are paying the shipping and keep the receipt showing your tracking. Always verify the address is correct. If the package gets lost the insurance you paid for will reimburse you (it is like $3 for every $100 of insurance). If they say they did not receive the package you have the tracking verifying they did. Most places require a signature for an insured package.
 
ET iPhone Home said:
I'm curious, why you didn't just walk your phones into an ATT store and had them send the phones in so that you would have a receipt for them?
Click to expand...

At my local AT&T store, they told me that the $200 Visa card had to be spent in the store on accessories for the iPhone 6/6+. Since they charge MSRP for accessories and I didn't need any anyway, that wasn't an option. Apparently that kind of BS is at the discretion of the store manager.
 
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