BALTIMORE — A simple phone trade-in took an unusual turn. The customer mailed in his old phone, but then received an even older one in exchange.
Nicholas Kline wanted to upgrade to the latest iPhone. He was offered a statement credit through AT&T if he mailed in his iPhone 13 Pro in exchange for the iPhone 14 Pro. He did that, but two weeks later, he received a package from the AT&T returns service center with a letter.
“Dear KLINE, NICHOLAS, in all caps. We received your returned device, however, we're unable to complete your return because it was the incorrect device. We are returning your device to you,” Kline read from the letter.
The letter continues:
“The correct device must be received by NA or you will be charged for the remaining installment balance.”
Inside the box, there was another phone. Kline said it wasn't his iPhone 13 Pro that he mailed in, instead, it was an old Nokia Cingular wireless phone. This model can be found on eBay where it’s being sold for $20 or less to vintage collectors.
“When's the last time you saw one of these phones?” WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii asked Kline.
“2000, maybe?” Kline responded.
AT&T and Cingular merged back in 2004.
Kline was confused, suspicious, and didn't want to be penalized for this mix-up, so he called AT&T customer service.
“They just didn't understand the situation,” said Kline. He added that the value of his trade-in device was around $600.
Kline went back and inspected the tracking information and could see the package made stops at different USPS facilities before being transferred to Pitney Bowes, the shipping agent. The package was then delivered in Texas to the AT&T return service center then mailed back to Kline. It's unclear when his phone was swapped out.
“When did you finally hear from AT&T?” Sofastaii asked Kline.
“Only after I was in touch with you and you had reached out to them did I get a call from the Office of the President of AT&T and they told me that their internal fraud unit was starting an investigation,” Kline responded. “And she said that we've seen this same thing before, but we just need to verify that it is, in fact, the same thing as those occurrences.”
“They confirmed that something like this has happened before?” Sofastaii asked.
“Sure. Yeah,” Kline replied.
Kline also found several Reddit posts where customers reported receiving the same letter and even older phones. And there’s an AT&T community forum thread with customers alleging the same thing.
Sofastaii contacted AT&T about this incident. In an email, a spokeswoman wrote:
“Our goal is to make the experience as simple as possible when customers need to return a device. We handle millions of returns a year without any issues. If there is ever a problem, we do our best to make it right.”
Sofastaii asked if the letter came from AT&T, the spokeswoman confirmed it did and added “this was not fraud.” We then asked how this could've happened, and if the fraud unit was still investigating. A spokeswoman said they don't have any additional information to share.
Kline said he received another call from AT&T confirming that his account would be credited the promotional amount. He added that when he trades in his phone in the future, he plans to do it in-person at a store versus mailing it back from home.
Any customers with questions about their account can contact AT&T at 800.331.0500.