The Dreaded Samsung Trade-in Strikes Again

[bhameyedoc]

I am so glad I read these forums before I traded in my S10+ for a S21 Ultra! I received an email from Samsung this morning stating that I had agreed to trade in an S10+, but the phone Samsung received was not an S10+, and they were going to charge me $200 towards my trade in. I called Samsung support, and the woman asked if there was a picture in the email of my trade-in. I told her no, and she asked me to send her a picture or video of my trade in. Luckily, I listened to people on here, and I recorded a video of myself packing my S10+ to send to Samsung. When I emailed her this, I received a return email from Samsung stating that I would not be charged the $200 since they did not prove I had sent the wrong phone. Always have proof of the phone that you're trading in before you mail it!

 

[nyc_rock]

That's crazy. I just completed my grade in with my old pixel 3. Went as smooth as possible.

 

[pags11]

Good job making sure you took video.

 

[Zorrak]

I traded in an S20+ for a preorder S21. I got my phone and all the other things and no word on my trade in. Took over month for them to say they received it, so now i'm passed the return time already. I called them several times in the mean time and I have posted this in another thread. Eventually they said they have video of someone opening my package and nothing in it. But also immediately gave me the credit back. Taking video proves nothing.

 

[lmandl]

I sent in my S20 trade in the day after I received the S21. I had done a double factory reset on it, just to be sure everything was erased. It said "erase data/factory reset". Well I guess it still held my lock screen through both. So they emailed me a month ago that my card will be charged the $700. I called them and said I'll just send back this (S21) phone. Well thru 3 employees they chose to hold off charging me because Samsung has the 'technology' to override the screen lock. They can see that it was factory reset and the one guy (Fil) said that it's now their problem since I did everything right. They said to give them a week to get the phone to the right department. After a week passed I never heard from them again so I assumed all was taken care of. Friday, almost a month to the day of the last email, I get another email saying I would be charged again (pretty much the same email as the first one.) I was on the phone with them for an hour and a half. Customer service, technical dept, supervisors, everyone. They all said the same thing. They know how to unlock it but it's in the 'wrong department'. So frustrating! I'm playing a waiting game with them again. At this point I'm so frustrated dealing with them that I'm thinking of going with the Pixel. I've had Samsung since the S3. I've never bought directly from them (always bought thru Verizon) until this year when the deal was too good to pass up. It's turned into a nightmare that might never end!

 

[bhameyedoc]

I showed myself factory resetting my phone in the video I recorded, to prove that I had done it. This is also the first time I purchased directly through Samsung, and it has certainly lessened my enthusiasm for doing it again.

 

[Kilroy672]

This could be Samsung's way of being sneaky and saying we never got the right phone so they don't have to credit you. At this point it's more of a he said/she said thing of who's right and who's wrong. I'm glad I never went through the Samsung trade in program.

 

[docfreed]

It's no wonder. The senior Samsung management somehow seems to routinely wind up in Korean jails.
No connection of course!

 

[lmandl]

This was my first time buying directly from Samsung and will definitely be my last. They have caused more frustration over the last month than necessary. Especially since they ALL say "I see you did perform a factory reset but it held your lock screen information" and "we have the capability to override your lock screen but your phone isn't in that particular department". Ugh! I feel like a hamster in a wheel!

 

[Roadijeff]

I traded in an S10 for an S21 Ultra and I followed the instructions to send my old phone back. I did not record a video but I did take many pics of the front and back of the phone to show that it was not scratched. I had kept a screen protector and cover on it when I was using it and that thing looked brand new after I removed those to ship it to Samsung, so if there was going to be any dispute about its condition I had pics to prove what it really looked like. I did the factory reset and rebooted the phone to make sure the screen was not locked and that it came up in first time user mode before putting it in the shipping box. Someone is going to get an excellent condition used S10.

I received an email from Samsung the other day that said everything checked out and that my trade-in was accepted.

 

[pags11]

These stories do scare me. There are enough of them on the internet to make me flinch every time I send my trade-in back to Samsung.

 

[Gary02468]

I had done a double factory reset on it, just to be sure everything was erased.

Did you reset via the Settings or via the recovery menu?

 

[J Dubbs]

Did you reset via the Settings or via the recovery menu?

Out of curiosity, would that make a difference? I always thought it was the same either way. I pretty much always factory reset through the phone settings.

 

[mustang7757]

Out of curiosity, would that make a difference? I always thought it was the same either way. I pretty much always factory reset through the phone settings.

Through the phone settings it erases all accounts on the device which is the correct way , Through recovery it erases content on the device but your account is still tied to the device .

 

[swebb]

1) The same things have happened to people trading in Samsung Watches. Samsung is all kinds of shady with their trade in process.
2) When I reset a phone I first delete my google account on the phone, then do a factory reset through the phone settings, then reboot the phone and factory reset from recovery. Probably some overkill, but with so much of your personal and financial information on your phone, it doesn't hurt to be extra careful.

 

[J Dubbs]

Through the phone settings it erases all accounts on the device which is the correct way , Through recovery it erases content on the device but your account is still tied to the device .

Thanks Mustang I learned something new again today from the forums

 

[lmandl]

Did you reset via the Settings or via the recovery menu?

Recovery menu. I did 2 of them. When I restarted the phone after doing them there was no lock screen, so I assumed it worked. I turned it off and shipped it back.

 

[Gary02468]

Recovery menu. I did 2 of them. When I restarted the phone after doing them there was no lock screen, so I assumed it worked. I turned it off and shipped it back.

If you do a reset via the recovery menu, it doesn't unlink your accounts in order to remove Factory Reset Protection. It does erase everything that's on the phone itself, but the whole point of FRP is that your account remains externally linked to the device, as an anti-theft mechanism. If you factory reset via Settings, the phone removes your Google and Samsung accounts first, which disables FRP for the device. But if you factory reset via the recovery menu, you first have to remove those accounts manually (which is what Samsung's trade-in instructions say to do).

 

[bhameyedoc]

Almost two months since I placed my order, and I still have not received any of the accessories. I am glad I got the phone, though. I called Samsung to price match the $200 price drop on Amazon and Best Buy, which they said they would do, but now I am getting emails from them saying my pending payment won't process, and today the email I got said they cannot do a price match because the payment won't go through, and I should check with my bank. Well, the charge posted yesterday to my credit card. This is on top of the situation I described in my original post above. I think this will be my first and last trade-in preorder with Samsung.

 

[lmandl]

If you do a reset via the recovery menu, it doesn't unlink your accounts in order to remove Factory Reset Protection. It does erase everything that's on the phone itself, but the whole point of FRP is that your account remains externally linked to the device, as an anti-theft mechanism. If you factory reset via Settings, the phone removes your Google and Samsung accounts first, which disables FRP for the device. But if you factory reset via the recovery menu, you first have to remove those accounts manually (which is what Samsung's trade-in instructions say to do).

Well I know that now. But they also told me that they can override my lock screen and do the reset there because they are, in fact, Samsung. I had asked them if I did a factory reset on this phone, if I need to return it, and the same thing happens what would they do? They said they'd override my lock screen and do a factory reset.