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Carrier Decided to not submit my AT&T trade-in; am I crazy?
- Thread starter dljeffery
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Sure, if you're trading in an iPhone 11 Pro like OP, you're right. But the same rules apply if it was an iPhone 14 Pro. I stand by what I said -- they are locking you into a term in which you're penalized financially for canceling early if you've traded in a device with any value that you haven't received in the form of monthly credits by the time you cancel. If you re-read my original comment, I didn't actually call it a "termination fee," I said it's like one, so we don't need to get pedantic about specific legal meanings.
This makes no sense. You've already paid for the phone out of pocket, cost-wise. Just trade in the old device. Now you get $830 in credit for a used device, a value which you would likely not get anywhere else. And if you decide to leave AT&T, just pay the phone off, like you've already done.
People make such a stink about being "locked" to their carrier. This is 2023, nobody is locked in. You can pay the device off at any time.
You are walking away from free money here.
People make such a stink about being "locked" to their carrier. This is 2023, nobody is locked in. You can pay the device off at any time.
You are walking away from free money here.
In this post you further qualified your earlier statement (underlined). Which is true. When you terminate the installment plan makes all the difference. At $10/month in credits, though, it doesn't take too long to get back at least $100 so the risk is low that it will be any sort of financial loss.
In addition, it is possible the remaining balance is less than the trade in value, so paying off the phone and tehn trading in may be a better deal; especially on some of the upgrade every year deals.
Most do for older plans. I plan to stick with my old plan as long as possible and just buy a new phone outright. Since I tend to keep phones for several years the TCO is reasonable.
I wasn't really talking about terminating an installment plan. Personally, I pay off my phones outright before trading them in. "Jump" programs are not very cost ineffective for annual upgraders, and also don't qualify for trade-in credit. You're either trading in a fully paid off device for promotional credit, or you're on an upgrade program that lets you trade in and wipe out your balance and start a new EIP. Unless there's a carrier out there that lets you double-dip like that and I'm just not aware. It's been awhile since i've been on AT&T but I know T-Mobile definitely doesn't do that.
Then what are you talking about? No one said anything about upgrade programs or double-dipping or early terminations or annual upgrades. You are all over the place with your comments.
There is no financial penalty to trade-in when AT&T is offering $830 for an iPhone 11. Period.
To me old iPhones are usually worth much more as a backup device than the quick cash id get for a trade or resale
Yeahhhhh I don’t know if you’re deliberately misunderstanding me or just genuinely confused by my posts but either way I don’t think it’s worth the effort. ✌️
That's why I prefer to trade direct with Apple if possible. I did it once with Tmobile but my concerns were high enough I did just go to a Tmobile store and traded it in there. That way an employee verified it. That turned out fine. Still I feel better just doing it through Apple. Usually FedEx is the shipper. Still I'm always concerned it'll arrived damaged and they wont' accept the trade.
Had the same concerns with T Mo earlier this year. Took the trade in to a local store where they were able to view the phone & offer the credit right away. No worries about someone in a warehouse disagreeing with my perception of the condition of the phone. Went really smoothly & I'd recommend it to anyone. Of course AT&T might be different than T Mo, but if they allow it, totally worth the effort to me, as you know the value when you turn it over. If they say $830, you'll be happy. If they say $350, you can just keep the phone & go back home.
Not sure what you mean about double dipping, but you always can payoff the balance if it is less than the trade in and then trade in your phone for the higher value, even on TMobile.
In case anyone wondered, I did end up not following through with my trade-in. (I hate it when people ask questions on forums and then just disappear; didn't want to be that way.)
People made some good points, and all the input was much appreciated. I do of course agree that my old 512GB iPhone 11 Pro doesn't have anywhere near a street value of $830, which would have been my full trade-in benefit, assuming AT&T didn't decide my particular phone didn't qualify after all. And I even agree that the next tier down, at $350, is still a good deal if you only look at it as getting $350 for a four year old phone.
But as I said, I wasn't looking at it as just that; I wasn't going to sell it privately or just stick it in a drawer if I didn't get the $830 trade-in value for it. I do have some use planned for it; a few, actually. At $830 in credits, I felt like I would have been fine giving it up and essentially being locked in for another three years with AT&T on a premium plan. At $350, I didn't see the same value in it for me personally. And I didn't want to take a chance on AT&T not giving me the full $830. I noticed that even if you go through their trade-in calculator and say that your iPhone has a broken screen and dings on the frame, it says it's still worth up to the full amount, but I was reading too many reports (and not just this year) of people saying AT&T gave them a severely reduced trade-in credit when they sent in very much non-damaged phones (I do have a couple tiny dings on my frame; no damage on any glass; phone works absolutely perfectly). Plus the AT&T policy of once you've sent it in, you can't get it back, no matter what. If I feel like gambling, I'll go to the nearest convenience store and buy a lottery ticket.
Also, as it turns out, I've been researching various MVNOs over the last week or so. Toying with the idea of paying off the new 15 PM sometime in the next few months and finding a cheaper service provider. When looking at my lock-in vs. no-lock-in options with AT&T, I also started looking at the real cost of my service as well, and wondering why I've been paying over a thousand dollars a year for a single cellular line, without any device financing included. And that's after deducting $20/mo of discounts (FAN plus autopay). Haven't made any decisions yet; still evaluating pros and cons all around.
Anyway, thanks for the responses! Gave me a lot to think about.
People made some good points, and all the input was much appreciated. I do of course agree that my old 512GB iPhone 11 Pro doesn't have anywhere near a street value of $830, which would have been my full trade-in benefit, assuming AT&T didn't decide my particular phone didn't qualify after all. And I even agree that the next tier down, at $350, is still a good deal if you only look at it as getting $350 for a four year old phone.
But as I said, I wasn't looking at it as just that; I wasn't going to sell it privately or just stick it in a drawer if I didn't get the $830 trade-in value for it. I do have some use planned for it; a few, actually. At $830 in credits, I felt like I would have been fine giving it up and essentially being locked in for another three years with AT&T on a premium plan. At $350, I didn't see the same value in it for me personally. And I didn't want to take a chance on AT&T not giving me the full $830. I noticed that even if you go through their trade-in calculator and say that your iPhone has a broken screen and dings on the frame, it says it's still worth up to the full amount, but I was reading too many reports (and not just this year) of people saying AT&T gave them a severely reduced trade-in credit when they sent in very much non-damaged phones (I do have a couple tiny dings on my frame; no damage on any glass; phone works absolutely perfectly). Plus the AT&T policy of once you've sent it in, you can't get it back, no matter what. If I feel like gambling, I'll go to the nearest convenience store and buy a lottery ticket.
Also, as it turns out, I've been researching various MVNOs over the last week or so. Toying with the idea of paying off the new 15 PM sometime in the next few months and finding a cheaper service provider. When looking at my lock-in vs. no-lock-in options with AT&T, I also started looking at the real cost of my service as well, and wondering why I've been paying over a thousand dollars a year for a single cellular line, without any device financing included. And that's after deducting $20/mo of discounts (FAN plus autopay). Haven't made any decisions yet; still evaluating pros and cons all around.
Anyway, thanks for the responses! Gave me a lot to think about.
Do it at a physical corporate att store. It’s done properly. I got monthly credits for my daughter’s line. Easy. You get a print out receipt of the trade in at the att store.
Figure what the break even point is for ur iPhone 11 Pro. It’s probably worth $350-400 on the “open market”. If att is giving you $23/month in monthly credits.
Your break even point is really around 18 months $23 x 18 months equals $414.
You can always pay off the phone early as well. Will you own the phone for 18 months? Most likely considering you still own iPhone 11 Pro already for 3 years.
Figure what the break even point is for ur iPhone 11 Pro. It’s probably worth $350-400 on the “open market”. If att is giving you $23/month in monthly credits.
Your break even point is really around 18 months $23 x 18 months equals $414.
You can always pay off the phone early as well. Will you own the phone for 18 months? Most likely considering you still own iPhone 11 Pro already for 3 years.