T-Mobile customer goes through hell after the phones she traded in go missing
Thanks to a video on TikTok that has received nearly 130,000 views, we know about the trip through hell made by T-Mobile subscriber Trisha (@trisha0208). The plan was for her and her son to trade in their iPhone 12s (one was the iPhone 12 and the other an iPhone 12 mini) toward the purchase of two iPhone 15 series models this summer. She says that she really wasn't in the market for a new phone but the rep at her local T-Mobile store suggested that she take advantage of a trade-in deal (or was it for her to be taken advantage of for commission dollars?).
An iPhone 12 and an iPhone 12 mini, being used as trade ins toward the purchase of new iPhone models, have gone missing
Apparently, there was a delay when it came to sending the trade ins phones to T-Mobile. Trish said, "We had to wait for the box so we could ship the phone back [to T-Mobile]. The worker said you could ship the box through UPS or bring them to me, and I’ll ship them." What Trish decided to do was to play it safe and she brought her iPhone 12 mini and her son's iPhone 12 to the local T-Mobile store to get shipped to the warehouse.
@trisha0208 @T-Mobile#cellphonehorrorstory#horriblecustomerservice#wherearemyphones♬ original sound - Trisha D.
But Trish knew that there was an issue a few weeks later when she received an email that said she needed to "get her trade-in value before it expires." Once she received that email, Trish panicked because she realized that this meant that the devices she expected her T-Mobile store to send to the warehouse never made it there. Calling T-Mobile's customer service number, Trish was told that the phones could take several weeks to arrive and get registered at the warehouse. But on the last day of the promotion, Trish received an email stating that the trade ins still had not arrived.
Calling T-Mobile customer service again, Trish was told by the person on the phone, "Oh, we have your phones actually. They’re just going through processing." Hearing that relieved Trish for only one day since the very next day she received another email asking her to mail the phones being traded in. Once again, she called customer service and was told that her phones were being processed as they spoke.
For a few months, Trish didn't hear anything from T-Mobile until she received a bill in September that was for $80 more than her usual bill. The reason for the higher bill? Her trade-in phones were not processed. Trish ended up returning to the store where she dropped off the two iPhone 12 units that she was trading in. The manager of the store and the rep who helped her called corporate and were told that they could not find her phones and didn't have them.
Perhaps Trish should have contacted T-Force or the police
Trish and T-Mobile went back and forth with the customer explaining that she was told that the trade-in phones were being processed and the carrier was unsure why she would be told that they were being processed by a phone operator. Trish called customer service once again and once again was informed that T-Mobile had her phones but they were not scanned in. Trish received a promise that she would be emailed once the phones were scanned. That's a promise T-Mobile never kept as she never received an email.
After six days passed without any word from T-Mobile, what could Trish do? She called customer support again and a different worker told her that T-Mobile didn't have her phones. Perhaps Trish should have started her investigation by getting in touch with T-Mobile's elite T-Force customer service team via "X" by clicking on this link. T-Force is often able to resolve tricky issues between customers and T-Mobile. They can be reached between 3:00 am - 9:30 pm PT (6:00 am-12:30 pm ET).
Another TikTok user left a good suggestion on the social media site. "Call the police and file a report for theft, it sounds like the store employee and the manager stole your phones. I bet it gets taken care of right away."
A T-Mobile employee points out where Trish went wrong by following, ironically, the advice of the customer support rep who suggested that she drop the phones off at her nearby T-Mobile store to be shipped to the warehouse.. "As an employee of T-Mobile I always have the customer ship there phones back that way you can have a tracking receipt. I'm sorry this happened to you."
You can point your fingers of blame at almost anyone on the T-Mobile side of this story. Once we hear about a resolution, we will post an update. Check in often.
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