Unresolved iPhone 16 Trade-In Promotion Issue

[hmtsai]

On March 7, 2025, I received a message from Verizon advertising a promotion to trade in any iPhone in any condition and receive an iPhone 16 for free. I logged into my Verizon online account and saw this "Just For You" offer under my profile. I proceeded to upgrade my device on March 11, 2025, selecting the iPhone 16 and trading in my iPhone 13 mini, which I returned via mail.

On March 28, 2025, Verizon issued me a $130 trade-in credit. I called the Loyalty Team on March 29, 2025, and was told that this credit was incorrect. The representative confirmed that I was supposed to receive $830 in promotional credit spread over 36 months, and the initial $130 would be reversed. I was told the correct credit would begin appearing on my next bill.

However, on my April 21, 2025 statement, no trade-in credit appeared. I called again on April 25, 2025, and was told by another representative that because I paid for the device in full, I was ineligible for the monthly credit, as there was no payment agreement. He escalated the issue to a supervisor and created a ticket, stating that I would receive a refund for the full device price within three days, after which I could establish a monthly payment plan and begin receiving the $830 credit.

As of April 29, 2025, I have not received the refund, and in an online chat, a Verizon representative claimed there was no record of the ticket number. I called the Loyalty Team again today (April 30, 2025), and was told this time that I was never eligible for the promotion due to paying the device in full—and that nothing could be done.

When I placed the order on the Verizon website, I specifically selected the one-time full retail payment option, and even then the website still displayed that I would receive $830 in trade-in credit over 36 months for trading in my iPhone 13 mini 128GB. At no point during the checkout process was there a warning or disclaimer that paying in full would make me ineligible for the promotion.

In fact, one of the Verizon representatives even admitted that the messaging on the website was misleading. All of the representatives I spoke with were courteous and genuinely tried to help me resolve the issue. However, it was clear that the system Verizon has in place severely restricted their ability to fix the problem, even when they acknowledged it. This acknowledgment, combined with my experience, makes it clear that Verizon’s promotional offer was not properly communicated, and I made my purchase decision based on inaccurate and incomplete information provided by Verizon’s own platform.

This entire experience has been extremely frustrating and feels misleading at best, if not outright deceptive. As a loyal Verizon customer of 17 years, I am extremely disappointed with how this has been handled. If this issue is not promptly resolved and the promotional trade-in credit of $830 honored, I will be filing formal complaints with the FCC and BBB.

[vzw_customer_support]

We truly value your 17 years of loyalty and would never want to see you go, hmtsai. It's important we are setting the correct expectations and providing the correct disclosures when placing an order. Promotional offers with a 36-month trade in credit require that the device be purchased on a device payment plan. We can check the account to review your purchase agreement and trade-in value at the time of purchase. We will be sending you a Private Message to discuss this further. 

-Danielle