Logistic Mismanagement, Failure To Communicate, BBB Complaint

This is a direct copy of a BBB complaint I was forced to submit due to AT&T failing to communicate properly:

In October of 2020, I saw a promotion to switch to At&t and trade in my iPhone X for a $800 credit when opening new accounts. This was a great deal, so I jumped on it. I followed the process online perfectly and signed a contract, and they shipped me an iPhone 12 as my new device. I was told I would receive a trade in box for my iPhone X. I did not. I reached out to customer support and they told me "Return the phone in the buyers remorse box that came with your iPhone 12". I did this on 11/05 via USPS. The tracking number is [REDACTED FOR PRIVACY]. AT&T, as you would imagine, first blamed me for not shipping it- then shifted blame onto USPS for losing it. I have spoken with my areas USPS Postmaster in depth and they have explained to me that At&t hires 3rd party companies to pick up returns- and this happens all the time. They went as far as to call it shady practice themselves, for what it's worth. AT&T has the info in their system. They have confirmed the package has arrived via tracking the package from their 3RD party shipping agent, Newgistics. They have lost the contents of the package, an iPhone X with the IMEI number of: [REDACTED FOR PRIVACY].

I have contacted them once if not twice a week for the last 6 months. Each time I do, I am told there is nothing they can do be create an elevated request and someone will reach out to me in 1-2 days. This never comes to fruition. I have opened what I would assume to be over 20 elevation requests. To date, I have not received a call from them. I have to reach out myself every single time. The latest "ticket" I have opened with them is: Request ID: ##728973##. There has been zero follow up on their end and the last person I talked to hung up on me with only adding "we will call you when we find it." This is unacceptable.

I am currently making payments on a device that was supposed to be paid off through promotional credits on the trade in. This is costing me money every day that passes and the overall experience is so poor that if it were possible to just get my old trade in device back, I would likely leave the service and return to doing business with Verizon. I have given them every single piece of information I can.

If they lost the package, I would suggest they open a shipping insurance claim to cover any financial losses they face for their mismanagement of this package. This is not my problem to solve but rather theirs, yet here we are. 



Related threads of other customers, this has not occurred in a bubble:

https://forums.att.com/conversations/other-phones-devices/att-lost-my-tradeins/5e94ee374d24af3ef3e961ed?commentId=60593b8865be02147c231519

https://forums.att.com/conversations/wireless-account/trade-in-device-issue/5e39f41cc17a06415630a1c6

https://forums.att.com/conversations/apple/trade-in/5fc3f9abafb79826028632c4

https://forums.att.com/conversations/wireless-account/tradein-still-in-transit-after-4-months/605a0db4c1d6a3767951dc00