IPhone Trade In Scam

[Dan_F]

I just want to post a warning here for anyone thinking about trading in their older iPhones or any phones for a "gift card". 

DON"T SEND YOUR PHONE TO VERIZON.

Here's why...

I recently upgraded my iPhone4s to an IPhone5s and hoped to receive what Verizon told me would be a $200 gift card for my old phone.  I answered all the questions in the condition questionaire truthfully and was sent confirmation by email that I would be receiving the "$200" gift card once Verizon received my old IPhone 4s.

I sent the IPhone4s to Verizon last week in the envelope and packaging provided to me.  I folllowed all the steps clearing the IPhone and disabling the IPhone Finder function.

Yesterday I received an email saying that my gift card was only going to be $76 instead of the $200 promised.  There was no number to call on the email so I ended up calling Verizon's main line and talked to a woman named Wanda who also had a very hard time finding the correct number to call about the gift card.  I spent about 45 minutes on the phone and finally was transferred to the Verizon Gift Card department where I was told by a not so helpful representative that the reason why the gift card was $76 instead of $200 was due to a problem with the charging port.  There is no problem with the charging port.  I have owned the phone for the past 2 years and charged the phone without issue up until the day I sent the phone to Verizon.  In fact the phone probably had a full charge when they received it.

I asked what Verizon will do to correct this problem and the representative told me it would take 7-10 days for them to research it.  I was counting on the promised $200 to help pay the Verizon bill due in a few days.  10 days to research an issue like this is excessive.  It took them 2 or 3 days to appraise the value of the phone at $76.

I have been a Verizon customer for the past 12 years.  I currently have all my services with Verizon including phone, FIOS internet, and FIOS TV.  I spend over $250 a month for Verizon services.  Is Verizon willing to lose a paying long standing customer over a $124 error that they are refusing to correct?  At this point it seems like it and I want this post to be a warning to anyone who is thinking about trading in their older phones.

[edurborow]

I wish I had seen this sooner. I just traded in 2 iphone 4s and was promised $200 for each. I did receive the $200 card for one but they claim that the other would not turn on and gave me a credit of $36 for it. Ummmmm, no. I'm outraged. I called the number I found on their website (877 247 3846) for anyone else who falls victim to this scam and needs to call. He claims that he will have them look into it. I will be informing them that I am cancelling my plan if not given the money promised because they get enough of my money for their overpriced cell phone plans. I'm absolutely disgusted that a reputable business such as Verizon would treat their customers in such a way. Just appalling.

[Dan_F]

I'm surprised you were able to easily find a phone number for the correct department   I think they are hiding it to limit the volume of complaints.   If you search this forum there are a huge amount of complaints about the trade in program.

[edurborow]

It wasn't easy to find but I'm pretty relentless when it comes to people/companies trying to STEAL my money. I wanted to be sure to post it so that anyone who was having difficulties finding it would have an easier time. I'm not convinced it will help but I did call twice and I will be filing a complaint with the better business bureau if it is not resolved.

[hurtcustomer]

This is so disgusting. Mine was only given $36 too and I know I did everything right! Infuriating. I wish we could all sue them. I am beyond upset.

[matthewood]

The most "awesome" /sarcasm part of my interaction with Verizon on this one was NO proof that the lock was in fact activated. They sent me screenshots of a random iCloud login screen with a reference to a serial number that wasn't my phone! There is no clear communication path to get this resolved. They kept my phone, and also kept the money. Total scam. I even contacted Apple and they confirmed that no devices were using "Find my iPhone". Very bad system in place, and I hope this thread helps get the word out that this is a total scam. My message in this thread from 7 months ago details my plight. It's hard to hear everyone go through it again with the iPhone 6 release. Bad policies, Verizon!

[CHernandez5]

I too feel frustrated, I made a complaint with the BBB. Verizon has not been able to give me a clear answer for months. I wish I would have know about this Scam before sending my IPhone 4s in great condition.

[Dan_F]

So just to follow up, Verizon credited me with an additional gift card bringing the total credit to what it should have been to begin with.  - $200.00.   This took an effort on my part to make this happen, but they did get it right in the end.

[edurborow]

I received my second gift card as well, an additional $164, which, combined with the initial $36 given, is equal to the amount it should have been to begin with. They clearly think they are going to get away with this shady business. From the time that I read the email saying they would give me $36 instead of $200, I made 2 phone calls and posted here and received the additional gift card in less than 24 hours. Wise decision on their part. I had my letter to Verizon outlining my disgust and disappointment stamped and ready to be mailed. At least they righted the wrong in the end- I hope everyone else has the same outcome!

[estes1976]

They did the same for me 🙂

[matthewood]

Hi there. Any chance you got a name or number or email of someone to contact? I haven't been able to plead my case to anyone who will listen, and I have all the documentation and a similar situation. Glad you got it resolved!

Thank you!

Matthew

[estes1976]

I called the executive dept for colorado...search verizonwireless.com to find the executive rep for your region.

[JornZ13]

I just did exactly the same thing and called them today, HOPEFULLY I will have the same result you did. What exactly did you say to them to get it? The site said my iPhone 4S 32g didn't turn on... I know my phone looks and works perfectly. If they tell me I am not receiving the difference I am definitely telling them I am switching to T-Mobile! Wish me luck....

[Jylphoenix]

To all with you who are dealing with this.  Verizon had done the same thing to me. I was very close in escalating it to the BBB... I found out on October 4th, and it was over a month long ordeal.  They originally gave me $36 and claimed I never deactivated the phone.  total bs....  I tweeted to VZWSupport and complained.  The stores were unable to help because I did the trade in via online... eventually Verizon did give me a $164 credit which basically totals to $200

stay persistent

[anconnell]

Many thanks to all of you helping those of us who are still ³stranded². It

is much appreciated. Just sad that Verizon¹s not doing the right thing the

first time around.

[Beefstu79]

I am also having some serious problems with this bogus program. I turned in my iPhone 4s 16gb with an appraised value of $200. All directions were followed (turn "Find my iPhone" off, clear personal data, reset phone) and sent in. A few days later I received an email from VZW with a virtual gift card of only $36. My iPhone was in excellent condition and all steps were followed before sending it in. According to VZW, the reason was that the "Find My iPhone" was not turned off. I called VZW's trade in department to dispute this as I know with confidence that I followed all the steps - including turning off the "Find My iPhone" function. The woman on the phone said that I should try signing in to my iCloud account (which I never even used), deactivate the phone, and respond directly to the email that I first received from VZW. I hoped that this would solve the issue and I would be getting my full and rightful amount of $200, but to my disgust, I received an email response stating that the "Find My iPHone" cannot be turned off through iCloud and that I would not be getting any adjustment to the gift card amount.

Long story short, I called two more times and even spoke with a supervisor to get someone from the Trade-In department to call me back to correct this issue. The supervisor said that she would escalate the issue and send the Trade-In dept. an email to have someone call me back. But of course no one called me back, instead I received another email stating that they will not change the value of the gift card.

Believe me VZW, I will not let this go! My iPhone was in excellent condition and the Find My iPhone app was turned off before shipping to you guys. I don't care what it takes, either send me my phone back or give me my $200. I will be calling everyday and emailing everyone at corporate until this gets corrected.

[Jakeman1]

Normally Verizons response when you trade in an iPhone is to give one of the three below reasons for chopping your pay to bits

1) the Charging Port is Damaged

2) The phone does not charge or will not hold a charge

3) the phone is water Damaged

You can see hundreds of complaints on here exactly the same, and thousands online.  I guess after reading so many horror stories on this, I would question why you would want to trade in your phone here instead of a third party (a reputable one) that will also pay more for the phone and not pull these little devalue the phone games

[Brookelg]

Interesting, this exact thing just happened to me! I received only the gift card email for ~$36 after the appraisal was for $199. I was transferring a line from AT&T to Verizon to consolidate and the phone I sent in was only 7months old! When I called they said the same excuse about find my phone. They also said that I received an email telling me this prior to me getting the gift card which I did not receive. Just like everyone else I was told it was getting escalated and that I would get a call. I have not received any calls nor any emails confirming that I was contesting the amount like I was told. Does anyone know who we can really escalate this to?

I'm not even going to mention how the activation on the phone I did purchase was a nightmare to get activated and it took over a week to even have the phone work!

I wish I would have read the reviews prior to sending it. I was worried they would try to claim some kind of damage since they send you these flimsy envelopes to send it in. I took pictures of that, but never expected for them to totally scam a good paying Verizon customer.

[roadrunner223]

I never knew there was a forum here on the website.  I wish I would have investigated a little more about the Verizon Recycling Program!  As a  loyal customer with Verizon for over 10 years, I never had any issues with them until now.  I recently traded my iphone4 16gb appraised at $100.00 for the rebate Verizon was offering.  My iphone4 spent its entire life in an enclosed DEFENDER OTTERBOX case and was in excellent condition.  What do I get for it, $18.00!!!!  Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[ChevyCamaroGirl]

I never even received my code to do a trade in. The only reason I upgraded to a new phone was because of this offer. Verizon has a seriously flawed system that is costing them more than they realize. It's not good business practice to lie to your customers.

First of all I question if the trade in place you send the phone to is even Verizon. When they answer the phone they don't say they are Verizon and sound untrained and unprofessional. This leads me to believe that everyone is sending their phone into some partner company that does the "inspections" and the phones coming up with a less than expected value end up for sale on ebay. That would be a huge money making opportunity for someone.

If I ever get the code for the trade in, I have already video documented my phone is working, powers on, holds a charge, show ports, test ports, mention meid or esn for reference, date, purpose of video and promotional offer, show water damage indicator if you can remove the battery, make a test call, etc. Document your esn, that way you can search to see if is possibly on ebay. But isn't it strange that the find my iPhone has to be deactivate. What, is that so chances are you do deactivate it, and they mysteriously never get it, or it can never be traced? I think your best bet is to make a  video of your actual phone. This  might be your only proof.

[pipllc]

I've had the same problem, I never received the confirmation e-mail.  Here's where it gets really weird.  When I just went to sign in here, they had the first letter of my e-mail address wrong.  I checked and prior to September 20 when I filled out the online form, I was receiving e-mails from Verizon such as billing info and payment info, but I have not since then.  In addition, when we got our iPhone 6's a few weeks ago, we confirmed that e-mail address more than once.  Yet today it's different.  I'm not sure I'm going to even bother with trading them in through Verizon and may try selling them on ebay myself instead.