Upgraded 2 phones and ATT stole the turned in phones!

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Upgraded 2 phones and ATT stole the turned in phones!

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OK this is what happened. Beginning of November 2020, when the iPhone 12 first came out, my husband and I both upgraded our iPhone Xs for the 12s. At the time there was the upgrade option for $1000 back when turning in your iPhone X.   This was right as Covid was hitting. Well, they said we would get our return box within a month to ship our phones back.

About 45 days later still no package I contacted AT&T.  They said because of Covid pandemic that’s probably taking longer to get to us and to wait. I tried to return the phones to my local AT&T store and was denied because it had to go through proper channels. I waited a little longer and contacted them again so they sent out a second package January 20, 2021. Over the next few months, the world stopped, and call centers/businesses were shut down. Yes even AT&T. So by the time I got a hold of somebody and they had sent out a third one, that also had never arrived. I tried contacting AT&T, called customer support, but they were never open during hours. I was able to call, (worked graveyard hours for essential employees).

finally was able to get a hold of somebody and they sent out an email to have the phones returned. I received the email October 1, 2021. It was packaged up and shipped out and AT&T received the phones November 11, 2021. I have tried contacting them since, and they stated that they hadn’t received them in their system and to wait another month.

AT&T call centers were still closed later in the afternoons so I was unable to get a hold of anybody. I finally got a hold of somebody and they escalated it up to management. Management finally got back to me and stated that they can only give me $130 credit for trade-in value, per phone. That because my phones didn’t make it to them within the first 30 days, they weren’t required to credit me $1000 per phone as promised. 

So where it sits, AT&T, not only has charged me in full for the iPhone 12 upgrades on both lines, (of which I had to pay monthly to avoid cancellation), but they have also kept my iPhone X’s that I returned. Refusing to acknowledge, they even had them until management looked into it. They didn’t give me a credit when they received the phones, I had to call and complain almost a year later.  Every time I called asking them about the phones, they said that they couldn’t find them. I gave them the tracking number and the RMA# and they always said “one more month, it should show on your bill”.

So here I am, a long time, AT&T loyal customer of over 20 years. I have seven lines on my phone plan, plus TV and Internet. Here they’re trying to steal my hard-earned money and offer me peanuts. The manager even suggested I shouldn’t have paid my bill.  Honestly I think it’s time I consult with a lawyer and fight this.