Missing Phone Trade-In (Verizon Authorized Retailer)

[zach8800]

Hi All,

I've turned to the Verizon Community Forum because I'm unsure of the best course of action to take regarding a local authorized retailer losing my phone I traded in. It feels like I'm getting nowhere with my local store despite my repeated efforts. For context, here are the details (apologies for the length as I've been chasing this for almost two years now):

• I went to a nearby Verizon authorized retailer to trade-in my device in May 2022 to claim an $800 credit Verizon was promoting nationally
  • The trade-in went fine and was able to transfer all of my data to the new device in store. I was told by the store representative who helped me that the trade-in credit should be reflected on my account by next billing period and to come back if it isn't shown.
• One month after trading in my device, the credit is not reflected on my bill and I'm now paying full price for the new device. I go back in store and am told that sometimes it takes a bit longer to process the transaction which in good faith I take that reasoning and leave the store.
• Another month goes by and the credit is still not reflected on my account. I go back into the store and am told to call the national customer service number for help. I call the national service number and eventually they say they can't locate my phone.  I'm told by the national representative that I need a tracking number that the local store should've provided me with. I then return to the store and get told by a person working there they don't have a tracking number for the device on hand but do provide me with the IMEI.
• I call the national customer service number another time and am told the trade-in credit will be processed on my account (this ends up being a common theme).
• I visit the store in November 2022 and at this point am told they can't locate the trade-in tracking number for the phone because of "how long ago" the store visit was.
  • It's at this point I start taking more detailed notes from the visits/calls.
• I call the national customer service number again in December 2022 and January 2023 with the same request to have the credit applied to my account. Both times I'm told it will be applied and then again, no credit to my bill. 
  • I also called the local store in January 2023 but not given any additional information.
• I called the national number again in February 2023 but this time to file a complaint with the local store who I've determined has misplaced my trade-in. 
  • The national representative calls the local store I went to for the trade-in and I learn it's now under new management.  Additionally, I'm told a complaint has been submitted with the store and that they will review the trade-in for my account which I'm hoping at this point finally resolves everything and the $800 credit gets applied.
    • I never heard back on the status of the review from the local store from this call.
• I called the national phone number in March 2023 and have them apply the $800 credit
• I called the national phone number in later April 2023 and learn that the credits which previously had been attempted to be applied did not go through because they can't locate the original phone I traded in back in May 2022. Their solution is for me to go back to the store and ask for the trade-in number (a repeated cycle at this point).
  • I go into the store and learn someone had taken ownership of the device I traded (in May 2022) in June 2022 for exactly one day. I take this as evidence that they do have a record of the phone switching owners so hoping the national customer service team can finally assist me and end the run arounds I've been doing.
• I called the national customer service line again in early June 2023 and early September 2023, both times being told the credit will be applied in 1-2 billing cycles. I was given a reference number from the September call
• I called the national phone number again in later September and was told by the representative that a "promotion fallout' would be applied in 1-2 billing cycles.
• After numerous times of being told the credit would be applied to my account, by late November 2023 I still don't see it. At this point it's been a year and a half since I traded in my device and am still putting effort in to get the promotional credit applied to my account. I call the national customer service number again and this time learn why the $800 credit has not been going through all of this time.
  • The national representative tells me there's no record on Verizon's side that the store took in my old device and given the change of ownership in June 2022, it looks more like a peer-to-peer transfer. From here, I'm told my best course of action is to go to the store (again...) because this needs to be handled in store. The representative compiled all of the necessary notes onto my account, which have to be extensive at this point from all of the calling, to assist the local store for what I need to finally complete the trade-in.
    • I go into the store and they are baffled at how long ago the trade-in was that I'm requesting assistance for. I understand it's a new management team from 2022 to 2023 but it's still the same authorized retailer. I bring in the initial invoice from my May 2022 trade-in and they take down my contact information for review. I'm told by the manager that I'll hear back from them once they have something and again get my hopes up that some sort of solution will be found so I can get my trade-in credit.
• I don't hear anything for two weeks, despite the store manager taking down my contact information, so I go back into the local Verizon store in December 2023.
  • I'm told they submitted a ticket to review my account and were waiting on the review. They told me that at this point they would have to possibly review store security footage. Fair enough.
• Another month goes by and I still don't have any updates. I go to the local authorized retailer store in January 2024.
  • The manager isn't there but I'm given his email to follow up. I email him a week later in February 2024 (this month), submit a complaint on the authorized retailer's "Contact Us" page and then follow it up with an in-store visit. The district manager is there and he doesn't have any updates on my account by I get his contact information, saying he'll have a better update by next Tuesday.
• I called the district manager last week and he has no update on the tickets I submitted in both November and December 2023. 
  • The reason I'm posting all of this here is because the district manager told me on the phone "I'm not sure if anything is going to happen with it, to be in honest" in regards to the investigation on my phone trade-in. I'm essentially being told I'll be out $800 (the phone trade-in credit amount from May 2022) from the incompetency of this local authorized retailer.

Given all of this information, what is the best step forward to get my trade-in credit? I haven't seen a formal process to submit a complaint against an authorized retailer and every time I call the national customer service phone number they either tell me that the $800 trade-in credit will be applied or to visit the store I traded in my old device at. I don't have trust in the authorized retailer to handle this anymore as I'll soon be approaching two years since my initial visit. 

Any advice is appreciated as I'm determined to get my trade-in credit. At this point, it appears nothing will happen if I stop following up on the transaction from May 2022.

[zach8800]

Adding in @vzw_customer_support to help assist.

[PeanutButter281]

I'm having an issue that Verizon can't tell me if they have shipped the trade in kit to me and Best Buy says contact Verizon, Verizon say we can't help but yet Verizon is the ones that mail out the trade in kit. How can I get help??

[vzw_customer_support]

Hello, PeanutButter281, we know it's important that you receive your trade-in return kit. So we can best assist, we will be reaching out via Private Message.

-Lauren