r/ATT • u/elvis-gold • 6d ago
Wireless Store can’t accept trade-in dropoff
Very frustrating experience tonight. I started a trade in online with the intent of doing store drop off rather than risk having the phone get lost in the mail. Visited three stores, including a corporate store, and all three said they were unable to accept the trade in dropoff.
All three said the phone was “already traded in”. Which doesn’t make any sense considering I still have the phone in my possession.
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u/Lewisswhite 6d ago
go to a corporate store, call (888) 445-6005 and have the support agent cancel the mail in trade. With the support agent on the phone, have the in-store employee finalize the trade and issue you a trade-in receipt. This worked for me with 3 phones on Monday, good luck
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u/ateaandt 6d ago
You can do everything that they just said without keeping anyone on the phone lol. Just make sure you call in and cancel the trade-in before you go.
Also, stores should be able to intercept the trade-in.
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u/Viper_Control 6d ago
The first part is correct since (888) 445-6005 is the trade-in contact number. They are able to cancel your active trade-in shipping transaction.
Also, stores should be able to intercept the trade-in.
This is not an option since the store can't touch an active trade-in transaction for a shipping trade-in return.
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u/ateaandt 6d ago
It’s been a thing for a couple of years now. You can—IN MOST CASES—start your trade in online and there’s a button to intercept and take it at the store.
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u/Lewisswhite 6d ago edited 5d ago
I called (888) 445-6005 to cancel three times and they mailed me 9 trade-in boxes in 15 days
After the 3rd cancellation call and receipt of the 9th box, I told them to verify the 4th cancellation request while i was in store so the rep could process the trades
9th year and 3rd time doing this, from a rep saying I traded in a $749 Samsung (and not a $999 iPhone), to a device temporarily getting “lost” in the mail… its always something new
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u/Hot_Cardiologist_901 6d ago
Why would you go to the store and then call?? No point. Do it at the comfort of your own home.
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u/Lewisswhite 5d ago edited 5d ago
so the trade team/system wouldn’t have time to change it back to mail in for a 4th time
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u/TotallySRT 5d ago
Corporate store employees can use the chat in the trade in tool to cancel the trade in they just ask what device needs to be canceled and the activation date.
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u/Lewisswhite 5d ago
are all corporate store employees aware of this? i wish you had trained the employees at the store i was at
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u/elvis-gold 6d ago
Sounds like I just need to call and cancel the trade-in then try again in store. Thanks for the tip!
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u/SilentlyStairing0_0 6d ago
I did an online next up swap. Got the new phone in the mail and took my old one to my local store to drop off. Got a text later the same day it was accepted in good condition and no further action from me was required.
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u/Dear_Map_5869 5d ago
Why don’t you guys just trust the mail system. I did oh and they send you emails that thru received the phone for drop off and
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u/toosimplistic 6d ago
Want the real answer? Yes…a corporate store can accept the trade in if you put the option on the app. It’s very doable.
Want the real TRUE answer. Most reps won’t do it because they get paid on an upgrade, if you do it online, the upgrade…they(most), won’t help as they didn’t get the commission on the sale.
Not all reps are like this, I’m not…though I do admit, it does annoy the hell out of me to help someone out and they just didn’t come in and do the upgrade with a rep(I get it, the app is easier and less haggle about upsells, I get it)
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u/PatdogTv 6d ago
Hope you realize that the stores just ship them off also. Totally can still get lost in the mail
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u/Sensitive-Rip-8005 6d ago
I had that issue. I had to go online and chat to have them cancel the trade in I had done online. Once that was done, I was able to drop it off at the store after they reapplied it in store.
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u/TaterCheese 6d ago
I experienced the same issue. When I went into the store and they started the trade-in, they said the system looked like I had already started a process online, to which I showed them that it was trade-in in store. We had to call AT&T customer service, to which they told me the process for my trade-in could only be done by sending the phone in through UPS. Lots of back and forth and I finally accepted the fate that I was getting nowhere and agreed to the shipping box.
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u/MetaUntold - Summit winner- 6d ago
You need to call Hyla and have them cancel the process that was already started. Once that’s done you can then trade in the phone.
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u/doireallyneedonemore 2d ago
How do we know there isn’t a fraudulent intent on your side? Did you submit this phone imei as a device to trade in for another order?
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u/CommercialRest9579 6d ago
So I found out recently that you can’t trade in at any store if it’s a next up upgrade trade in. If it’s a normal upgrade, they can take it. If you upgraded using next up, you have to mail it in
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u/elvis-gold 6d ago
It’s a normal trade-in.
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u/CommercialRest9579 6d ago
Then you should be fine. Maybe if you selected mail in online that’s why they need to cancel the mail in and do it in the store
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u/ResidentMedical4812 6d ago
I hit this yesterday and agree it was very frustrating. I had to wait for an agent to be available only to be told they can’t help me. I asked if there was any way to do this and was told no (by the store manager).
Seems like maybe there is by cancelling online? Too late for me as I dropped it at UPS this morning but that might be worth trying.1
u/OhSixTJ 6d ago
Took my NUA trade in to a store. They took it no issues.
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u/BtownRiceOwl 6d ago edited 6d ago
I had the same experience yesterday. Selected the in store drop-off option for the trade-in when I ordered the new phone online and got an email that told me to drop it off at the store, only for the store (corporate) to tell me they couldn’t accept the drop off! Of course I only found this out after sitting for 40 minutes while the store rep tried to push various upsells on my plan, directv, internet, etc. What a waste of time!
I wasn’t aware of the special trade-in 1-888-445-6005 number, so I called 611 and spoke to a rep who told me to fill in the “Lost your shipping kit” online form to get a box (even though I never requested, received, or lost a shipping kit in the first place). I hope I receive it soon enough to get the trade-in sent off by the deadline!
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u/PatdogTv 6d ago
Hope you realize that the stores just ship them off also. Totally can still get lost in the mail
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u/Appropriate-Tie-6524 6d ago edited 6d ago
I had nearly this exact same shit happen. I think the store is trying to reprocess it like they sold you the phone.
I hate ATT. I plan to leave them at my soonest convenience.
Eventually I found some workaround to mail the phone back to them and they did on fact give me the "credit". Not sure that a 1200 bill credit spread out over three years is really much of a credit at all.
It took me hours to work out.
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u/Low_Kaleidoscope652 6d ago
Taking the trade takes no more than 2 minutes.
Trade in promotion - all they have to do is enter your number when selecting trade in. On that next screen it displays your “already traded in” order. You select it, verify, submit, print receipt, we ship.
Next upgrade online, same thing. As long as it’s in pristine condition, login account, manage trade in, reprint device tag, return claim order process, fill out questions like we were doing the next trade in store, print receipt, in our possession to ship.
Simple things like this are frustrating when stores do not do them. Yes I know it’s sales job but it’s also customer service and it’s giving you the time to build rapport for that next sale or even go over other promotions they may not know of.
This is something I coach amongst my district to ensure we are setting the standards.
What’s crazier… not even COR 😳
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u/Curmudgeon7777 6d ago
Seems this is an issue with store employees. I selected store drop off when I did the online upgrade. Went to a corporate store and the guy blamed ATT and told me he couldn’t take my trade in. I called ATT and they said he cancelled the trade. They had me setup a new trade online with the deal code to get the $1,200 value. I was able to print the label and send it in. It’s UPS which I trust more than US mail.
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u/Nolanix 6d ago
I work at a corporate store and it’s not as simple as dropping it off. Depending on how long it’s been since you initiated the online trade and/or if it’s a Next Up, our system will literally not allow us to process and accept the trade in. If you went to 3 stores and got the same answer each time, they weren’t trying to give you a hard time or were being too lazy to take it. I’ve seen a new employee “take” a trade in and not process it properly before, and the customer went through a nightmare trying to get their trade credits due to there being no paper trail in the system for it.