Trade in stolen

[nuangel2]

A few years ago I sent my trade in appropriately with label and to to FedEx and kept my receipts. I also filmed trade in and packing it. FedEx lost it Samsung never received it. Started to charge me full price for new phone. I challenged them hadbvideonand FedEx receipt once Samsung had my proof. They approved my new phone with trade in. As if they received it. They blamed FedEx for loss.

 

[Catman51]

Just had same happen to me. Returned a pristine Fold 3, get an email nothing in box. I freaked. Got a hold of Samsung chat and he straightened it out. Told him I had 2 witnesses watch me pack it. Samsung lies.

 

[Shellcracker]

Yikes this would be pretty scary stuff!! And I can only imagine the absolute stress it must have been or still is. I had no issues with my trade in-- got notification they recieved the old device and accepted it at full appraisal value of $800.

In the future however I will be video recording me packing it up, delivering it to the UPS/FedEx/USPS service, and I will take still photos of the device in the box and take pics of the shipping label, showing the parcel weight.

If they haven't already, OP I hope they get this resolved soon and compensate you for the stress it has caused/is causing.

 

[Catman51]

Never happened before, every other was accepted.

 

[Shellcracker]

Never happened before, every other was accepted.

I wonder if there is a way to get security footage and see if they can find whomever poached the device.

 

[Catman51]

Though it would have to be FedEx or a Samsung employee

 

[Gary02468]

I wonder if there is a way to get security footage and see if they can find [who]ever poached the device.

The contractor that processes the returns for Samsung takes videos of the unpacking of each box. If they say the box arrived empty, it did. It was stolen somewhere along the way.

 

[MoreDef]

You know what would really help the situation (at least on the consumer side) is if brick and mortar stores would accept the trade-ins instead of making you ship something out yourself. In-store, an employee could verify the condition and packaging of the phone, and it would be in company possession right then and there. This would also expedite the credit coming your way and make it less of a waiting game. This would take all the stress and worry from the consumer, and place the responsibility of loss entirely on the company shipping out. I don't know why this can't be the case, and instead, were left to roll the dice and deal with the potential of loss.

 

[Catman51]

Excellent point. May never trade through Samsung again.

 

[danhartman26]

For all the horror stories you hear, there are many good experiences you don't hear about. Nobody comes to the forums to tell you how good their trade in experience was. I've traded multiple phones to Samsung over the last several years, and never had any problem.

I feel terrible for those that have a bad experience, but I don't believe that is the norm. And it seems to me for most of the complaints I seen, contacting Samsung has led to satisfactory results. I don't know what else Samsung could do...

I certainly don't want to see them putting out millions of dollars to build and staff brick and mortar trade in locations; because they would have to pay for that by charging me even more for my devices.

 

[Catman51]

I've traded in through Samsung many times without a problem. One problem scares the hell out of you.

 

[MoreDef]

I've personally never had anything happen to phones I've traded in or shipped out, but just like gunshot wounds, I don't need to have it happen to me to know it's not something I want to experience.

Conversations like this are important because they let people know they're not alone and it gets the ball rolling on how and where the process can be improved.

 

[s2kdriver80]

Bring a mini tripod to the FedEx store and set it on one of their work tables. Start the video rolling using the ultrawide lens. Show the phone/device in mint or stated condition, pack it into the box, seal it, apply the shipping label, hand the box over to the employee, show the receipt with tracking info... all in one video take. I had 3 returns/trade-ins in the last couple of months and luckily, I didn't have a single incident.

One time a few years ago, receiving claimed there was a gash on the display. They checked their unboxing footage and acknowledged one of the workers went too aggressive with the knife. Which I can't understand, since the phone was packed deep in a large box with layers of padding, but whatever. Probably a disgruntled employee who opened up the box in a fit of rage or something.

 

[Mike Vandre]

Add another victim. This happened to me today. I was charged $1k because the box was empty. I'm on the phone as we speak with samsung. I keep going in and out of hold for the last 45 minutes. Luckily my phone rep seems competent.

 

[Catman51]

Another thing, if it's in FedEx's possession aren't they responsible?

 

[Zorrak]

This happened to me the first and last time i will trade a phone in by mail. I traded my S20+ for a S21 during the pre order period. They said they had video of opening the box and it was empty. Through Samsung chat they pretty quickly let it go and didn't charge me. I was really worried for a while before it got settled
i never get the video and picture stuff. this is not proof of anything. I always wondered why the delivery guys now take pictures of the packages on the door steps.

 

[s2kdriver80]

You can protect yourself and do a boxing video.

 

[Catman51]

It may not be a large percentage of phones that get stolen while on route, but Samsung ends up losing money. Why don't they come up with a better and safer idea?

 

[B. Diddy]

You know what would really help the situation (at least on the consumer side) is if brick and mortar stores would accept the trade-ins instead of making you ship something out yourself. In-store, an employee could verify the condition and packaging of the phone, and it would be in company possession right then and there. This would also expedite the credit coming your way and make it less of a waiting game. This would take all the stress and worry from the consumer, and place the responsibility of loss entirely on the company shipping out. I don't know why this can't be the case, and instead, were left to roll the dice and deal with the potential of loss.

Indeed! A little while ago, I traded my daughter's iPhone 8 for an iPhone 12 at T-Mobile. They didn't have any 12's available in stock at the store, so I had to order it, and therefore had to send the 8 in by mail once the 12 arrived at home. A few months later, I noticed I was getting charged way too much in my monthly bill, and when I contacted T-Mobile, they said that the 8 they received had a nonfunctional screen, and was therefore ineligible for trade-in. I argued with them that it was definitely working when I sent it, and asked that they produce evidence that it was nonworking. The agent said the facility had no proof, so they ultimately said they'd honor the trade-in.

The agent did say that if I had been able to trade in the phone directly to the store (where a store agent would've tested the phone and confirmed it in working order), then any further issues in the trade-in process would be their responsibility, not mine. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible in this case since I had to wait for T-Mobile to send the new phone by mail. In the future, if I ever have to do a trade-in like this, I will always wait for the new phone to be available in stock at the store, so that they can handle the old phone.

 

[MoreDef]

Right! It's not like they have to build new stores specifically for this one purpose. Retailers can handle the trade-in, and at worst, it can be pawned off to places like CVS, Kohl's, and Walgreens, who do similar things for Amazon. I have no idea why these places insist we ship out ourselves and go through the hassle of potentially having to go through a they-said/we-said argument. Just take our working phones and give us new ones. We live in an age of databases, I don't get the need for this archaic process to still be instituted.