I did one of these, and I was paid and reimbursed promptly by the MSC. It had all gone smoothly, or so I thought. One month later AT&T sent me an email collections notice. They said I owed them $177.13 for 3 days of service. Even though I cancelled the service and returned the phone on the 3rd day, Monday. And I had an email stating clearly that I did not owe them anything, and the receipt for the return of the phone.

That took a 2 hour phone call, switched to no less than 4 customer service representatives and at least 2 different "supervisors." And the final person I spoke with promised an email stating that I do not owe anything and that I had returned my equipment, which they never sent.

This Sunday, I received another email. This time billing me for the cost of the phone, that I returned. I've already learned at this point that calling after hours or on a weekend will get you to someone overseas who can't understand you and can't help you. So I waited until today to call. I talked to 3 customer service representatives, two of which hung up on me. And 2 "supervisors". One of the customer service representative tried to turn my service back on (according to what the first supervisor told me), this same supposed supervisor said all I had to do was wait until AT&T's warehouse received my phone and the charges would just drop off. But I returned it to the store I bought it at over a month ago, and I have the receipt to prove it.

It may or may not be fixed at this point, I'm just not sure. The second supervisor opened a "case" for me and said she would follow up with me no later than Friday..

So.. if ya all are going to fall under the spell of a good payday for a simple purchase and return, THINK TWICE.

That happened to another shopper recently. S/he posted in the Company section. I don't recall what the resolution was.

I forget about this and had a shop scheduled for Saturday. Luckily, the big box no longer displayed AT&T as a carrier.

That is exactly why I refuse to do those shops! In my area they're offering a $100 to do them and I don't want any part of it! Sorry you went through all that!

This is why these shops are still on the boards. They need to find a better way to do these shops. How about send me a visa gift card for the purchase, flag the assigned number for cancellation and I will mail you the phone (via a USPS shop to make a little $ on the side) Any MSP listening?

Thanks for letting us know. The cautionary tale is appreciated.

I need to get a new iPhone, and a ton of these for my carrier has been on the board since the beginning... I have been holding out to see how high it goes (currently at $100 but there are SO MANY). I am going to do it eventually... but holding out. It will be a nice little coupon on a purchase that I would be making anyway.

I would never do it though if I wasn't going to buy the phone anyway and use it - WAY too many headaches.

These went up to $150 when they were with the prior MSC.

@MickeyB wrote:

I need to get a new iPhone, and a ton of these for my carrier has been on the board since the beginning... I have been holding out to see how high it goes (currently at $100 but there are SO MANY). I am going to do it eventually... but holding out. It will be a nice little coupon on a purchase that I would be making anyway.

I would never do it though if I wasn't going to buy the phone anyway and use it - WAY too many headaches.

This is exactly my situation. I am considering doing it to upgrade. I pay for 4 iPhones, and I have the oldest one of the 4....

I did it for a new phone that I needed. It was difficult to find a location that still had the phone I wanted in stock since I had to order online and pick up in store. But it was easy once I located the phone and store to get it. Report was painless. I bit at $80...should have waited a bit longer.

@MickeyB wrote:

I need to get a new iPhone, and a ton of these for my carrier has been on the board since the beginning... I have been holding out to see how high it goes (currently at $100 but there are SO MANY). I am going to do it eventually... but holding out. It will be a nice little coupon on a purchase that I would be making anyway.

I would never do it though if I wasn't going to buy the phone anyway and use it - WAY too many headaches.

I was seduced by the good pay for something that seemed extra simple. But I also wanted to know if AT&T's coverage in my area is better than my current carrier. And the answer is yes. But I won't deal with a company that uses bait and switch to get sales. ALL of their advertising said it was $50 per line for the "best" unlimited plan. What it doesn't say anywhere in the advertising is that the cost of the plan is in addition to the cost of the service.

I would suggest using the direct tv signup option for this. It is like $20 I think to sign up and then you cancel installation and get your $20 back. No need to worry about if service was cancelled and if phone was received as returned. I did one when they were with the old company (Elders on the phone) that had their MS division purchased. It was at Walmart and the phone dept said I had to sign up with The Direct Tv Table booth elsewhere in the store. Well no such table that day. I reported and was paid think I got $100 or $150 great pay. Not sure if the new MSC would have paid had this happened with this shop for them.