The Verizon iPhone trade-in scam of 2016 - After being a loyal Verizon customer for a few years, I got pulled into the same scam that many other Verizon customers have gotten into – the ‘trade-in scam’. You trade your old iphone 6 for a $650 credit that goes towards paying for your new iphone 7.
The catch is that the older phone MUST ONLY BE mailed in a prepaid UNINSURED package provided by Verizon. My barely-used, scratchless, in original packaging old iphone 6 was in excellent condition when it departed my hands. Verizon sent me a picture of a damaged phone which they received and refused to give me the promised $650 credit. The same picture was sent to other friends and colleagues of mine that went in for a Verizon phone trade-in.
However, my friends that chose the Tmobile or AT&T trade in did not have such complaints.
Verizon should release statistics of how many trade-in phones were offered the full credit.
I just got the same scam! Perfectly operating phone that always had a cover and screen protector suddenly has chips out of the corner of the glass When they received it! What a scam!
Word to to the wise, don't use the Verizon trade in program!
I was 6 for 6 on my trade ins.
Yes the $650 promotion is a scam. When I purchased 5 new iPhone 7's in September and October of 2016 I purchased the phones with the premise that I would pay $0/month after credits. Well guess what? Only have gotten one $650 credit as Verizon claims the other phones were upgrades. No where on the site did it say I couldn't trade in a phone I was making payments on. No where did it prevent me from ordering the new device that said $0/month. I have called repeatedly about this problem and nothing gets done. They say they will call you back to follow up and don't do it. Their customer service has gone down hill. Never have I had so many problems and I have been a customer for about 15 years. Called a couple of weeks ago again and they told me they would put a request in for the $650 credit for my other 4 phones since the rep said I was not properly informed. Still no credits on my account. Will be looking to switch to AT&T as I have DirecTv and they are offering unlimited data if you bundle as well as $$$ to buy out your phone and terminate early with Verizon. I am usually extremely loyal but enough is enough with the run around and poor customer service, and the fact that their representatives cant figure out how to solve my issues.
Oh I have one better for you all. Check this out.
In October 2016, when the iPhone 7s came out, I did a preorder for them in store to ensure we could use Verizon's trade-in promotion. The promotion stated that when you preordered the iPhone 7 and traded in your current device, Verizon would give you a $650 credit toward the cost of the new phone (per line) that was being traded in. I traded in two iPhone 6 Pluses for two iPhone 7 Pluses. The paperwork I received to send in the iPhone 6 Pluses were both labeled with my wife's phone number (ending in 0715). I asked the Verizon agent about this and I was told that it would show up in the system as one phone for my wife's line and the second phone would be for mine (ending in 8351). I was told not to worry, the system would register that they were being traded in on two separate lines per the conditions in the promotion. Shortly after sending the phones back to Verizon I received paperwork stating that we would receive $650 on one phone but only $235 for the other. I called Verizon and I was informed that it was a problem in the system and that Verizon was aware of it and it would work itself out. In November, I received a $235 credit . I logged into my Verizon and started speaking with an agent via chat. When I explained the situation, I was told that several customers were encountering the same issue and they were working quickly to resolve it. I was then told that the credits would be corrected and would show on my next bill. Over four months I tried to get this issue fixed. Then yesterday I was informed that my paperwork was filled out incorrectly by the Verizon rep that did my trade in and he also did not submit all the paperwork. I was then told that I would have to pay back the $235 in order for them to fix the credit. I also have not received the credit for the other phone I sent in. Verizon has refused to fix this issue until I pay them $235. At this point Verizon has already received my two phones but is unwilling to fix the credit. So I filled a complaint with the BBB. They in turn contact Verizon.
So at this point Verizon would like me to return as a customer or Verizon will keep the two iPhone 6 pluses and void the credits I should have received under the contract that I signed.
Is this the stance of Verizon at this time?
So I have yet to hear back from Scott O.
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chat transcription removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service
Message edited by Verizon Moderator
ERNRUN wrote:
Yes the $650 promotion is a scam. When I purchased 5 new iPhone 7's in September and October of 2016 I purchased the phones with the premise that I would pay $0/month after credits. Well guess what? Only have gotten one $650 credit as Verizon claims the other phones were upgrades. No where on the site did it say I couldn't trade in a phone I was making payments on.
So you really expected to get a $650 credit on a phone you did not actually own??? If you are making payments on a phone, you DO NOT own that phone.
Verizon may have agreed to give you $650 in credit for a trade in, but you also agreed to make 24 monthly payments on that phone you traded in. When did you expect to make the remaining payments on your original phone? Were you expecting to be making 2 monthly phone payments on a single line and receiving credit for one of those phone payments? You are not allowed to have more than 1 phone payment on a single line of service. Phones traded in must be fully owned by you in order to receive the credit.
You say "No where on the site did it say I couldn't trade in a phone I was making payments on", can you point to the location where is says you CAN "trade in a phone I was making payments on" and get the credit???
It is infuriating that a big business like Verizon can scam their customers like this and get away with it. What they advertised and what they do is fraudulent. I was wary of this promotion in the store, and so I asked the representative a series of questions before switching four lines from ATT over. I was provided complete reassurance from the store that they would buyout my contract with ATT. Biggest mistake ever. Today they tell me otherwise and that they have fulfilled their obligation. $650 is a big amount of money from most people, and I am not in any different position. I regret fully switching to Verizon.
Any luck in getting this resolved favorably? I am going through the same thing and not sure what to do.
Apparently they are doing a recalculation which takes 45-60 days to process. So I may not find out till March. Customer service has been terrible. They didn't tell me it would take that long and when I called to follow up they said you are good to go as they are working on it. We'll see if I get the credit eventually ? Otherwise not much you can do but file a complaint with the BBB or switch carriers and get them to buy you out.
Sent from my iPhone
Send an email to Diego Scotti, be polite when they call, usually within 24 hours.
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