T-Mobile Bait and Switch scam on December 2021 "Free" upgrade to IPhone13 + airpods

I’ve gotten scammed for the 2nd time now - shame on me!!!  The first time was in November of 2020 when we were told the new phone we were upgrading to was on a free promotion.  We continued to be billed and kept being told after 2 billing cycles, you will see credits each month.  NEVER HAPPENED!!!!  Trying to reach anyone who will help in impossible.  Nothing but a run around.  Then, in December 2021, we also fell for the FREE IPHONE 13.  Both of my daughters traded in their perfectly good phones (one of which we actually paid $150 to fix the screen so we could trade in).  I am now being charged for one of the phones and I continue to be told this was a buy one get one deal.  Why in the HELL would I do a BOGO deal when they had a free promotion for the phone!!??!!  I am now going through the same hassle as before.  They have you sign so many papers and sit in their building for so long (we were there a total of more than 6 hours over two days!) that you don’t know what is going on.  Despite the repeated assurances that “both phones are completely free - I promise” we are once again paying for what was supposed to be a free phone.  I WOULD LOVE FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN ACTUALLY HELP FROM TMOBILE TO CONTACT ME AND FIX THIS.

Sorry to see we are not alone.  We have been T-Mobile customers since 2018.  We wanted to reduce our bill and switched over from AT&T.  Service has been okay, at times spotty and frequently slow downloading. 

In April 2020 we upgraded one of the i-phone 8s for the 11 with a promotion they were running.  They never applied the credits.  We had to jump through hoops and after several months they made good and we were satisfied with the outcome.

But now...here we are again!

We upgraded to Magenta Max to qualify for the free I-phone 13 pro promotion in November 2021, expecting an improvement in service.  Totally scammed.  The rep I spoke with yesterday apologized for the rep that originally processed the order saying she was sorry they didn’t fully explain the promotion and there was nothing that could be done since they complied with the promotion.  I was assured many times over  by the original rep processing the order that the phone would be free and the charges billed would be credited each month.  As it turned out, we only received partial credits.  I would never have committed to 30 additional months plus “upgrade” to Magenta Max since we are still experiencing dropped calls and areas with spotty service.  VERY disappointed with T-Mobile!!  I will be seeking legal advice in hopes to resolve this matter.  

Same thing happened to me. The promotion in December 2021 was iPhone 13 on us with trade in and free AirPods.  I traded in 3 iPhone 11s and and iPhone 8.  I am being charged for 2 phones was told that the promotion in December 2021 was buy one get one free.  That there’s nothing they can do.  They cannot find any promotion in December for free iPhones with trade in.  They apologized that the person I spoke with didn’t properly explain the promotion.  They were running commercials starting around Thanksgiving 2021 for free iPhones and now they can't find the promotion.  Totally ridiculous.  I only switched to TMobile because of the free phones.

Yes this happened to a lot of people. I was also scammed by T-mobile! I have pictures of the promotions as proof but they still said it was not  ON US but there was an amount attached to the model of the iPhone being returned. Which is not true. They hid the information to the public so we would send in our phones to find out later they we were not going to get iPhone on them but only get a portion credit from the iPhone we sent in, this is BAIT AND SWITCH! 

They used the promotion as a bait and switch. I was scammed also! But I have pictures of the promotion.

I got scammed too! I called multiple times, went to different stores and can't get any help. I'm not giving up yet. We had 2 new iPhone 12s and was told if we hand them in we get 2 free new iPhone 13s. So that's a no brainer. Wrong. They took the phones, gave us a total of $510 of credit and gave us a buy one iPhone 13 get one free. So we have to pay 500 dollars now for the other phone. The deal was 2 free phones not one. Why else would we give them full paid for brand new phones?

Next I signed up for t mobile hone internet. They say hey u want a watch for free. I say sure. Wrong again. I was given a choice between the 44mm and the 40mm so I choose the bigger one cause I'm a bigger man. Well it turns out I have to pay $4 a month for it cause the bigger one isn't free and I have to carry the line of $10 a month. If I cancel I have to pay for the watch outright. These guys are some great taking advantage of us. 

For promotional trade ins (meaning higher trade in than fair market value), here is how the math works:

• As long as you get the quote for your phone model with accurate condition, you should get the full amount. For example, if the promotion tells you the trade in device qualifies for $1000 for your selected new device, then that is what you will get.
• Once you accept, your phone will get assessed “fair market value” as decided by TMO 3rd party trade in service Assurant. For example, let’s say FMV says your phone is worth $500 even though you qualified for $1000 trade in.
• The $500 FMV will be spread over 24 months statement credit. In this example the monthly credit will be 20.83. Your last credit will be a little more to true up rounding.
• Since the $500 in monthly credit does not cover your $1000 trade in promotion, TMO will issue you a one time $500 bill credit up front on your next bill.
• The monthly credit and the one time up from credit will equal $1000.

Now for what you get charged for your new phone is a little confusing:

• Let’s say you buy a $1000 new phone and that makes the trade in basically “free”. However, you still have to pay sales tax, shipping, and activation. You get charged this up front and cannot use credits to pay for it, This does not show up on your bill since you have to pay when you order your new phone.
• Now what you basically have is a zero down, zero interest loan over 24 months so you will be charged $41.67 per month with the last payment a little less to true up rounding to total $1000.

On your first bill, you will see the following:

• One time credit of $500.
• Monthly equipment installment charge of $41.67
• Monthly trade in credit of $20.83

On your 2 of 24 bill and onward thru 24 of 24 you will see:

• Monthly equipment installment charge of $41.67
• Monthly trade in credit of $20.83

If those on this thread did not get the up front credit and the monthly credits fall short of the full credit promised, then there is definitely a problem and you might want to escalate directly on TMO twitter help thread.

Hopefully this information is useful. I’ve traded in promotions many times and it always calculates out to the exact amount as promised. I have to admit though a couple months after trade in I do occasionally go “WTF why am I being billed for this phone?”. I just forget that I got the offsetting credit up front in one lump sum.

Same here I paid the amount owed less the credit so the phone would be paid off , yet they are still trying to charge me after disqualifying me as a change of plan (thety  changed without my knowledge) scammers lets sue them.  If any one wants to join me im in So California email me at Bondocean69@gmail.com.  They also screwed me around on a free line, which I will add, so lets see how a judge will do with this lie...T Mobile is a Bull sh_T company…..

i too became part of this. i clearly remember seeing that if i switch i would get 24 months credit of 50dollars for getting the s22 ultra i know because it made sense since it would 0 out the 50dollar equipment fee making the phone essentially free. first thing i notice it wasnt mention anywhere in the contract however i did read that we (ALL OF US WAIVE OUR RIGHTS TO SUE THEM AS A CLASS ACTION) so thats that. patetic that now that they merge with sprint they would go this low in their promise no wonder they added on their website page FULL TRANSPERANCY and ITS OUR PROMISE yeah things to make you lower your guard. i called and called they always tell me the same thing oh we never had that promotion it must have been with some other carrier B&&%$ please i know what i saw and the only reason i went for it its because of the credit that would zero it out so i got two phones now im on the hook for $2200 plus the initial fees and taxes. been customer since 2014 and they didnt care they are much bigger now with that union it seems they dont care anymore they are too big to fail. well i guess collections it is. i have a better fighting chance against collection agencies since i did not have a contract with them. “””awe thank you mr collector for paying that debt i really apreciate you for doing that.   its been a very difficult year. however  you and i dont have any contract that says i need to pay you. 

Same EXACT SAME THING HERE IN PHILLY!  Traded in phone, had to pay around 200, For taxes line set up etc. Then they’re telling me I have a $10-$20 phone payment each month? I did not finance anything it was “free on us” there was nothing free if I have Apple support for a year why am I paying another $18 for  

Apple support also. 

You actually can make a complaint there are several, if you go to ACP. You were able to directly make a complaint through the FCC and broadband service. There are several hundred thousand right now just for this year for tmobile. They have placed me on the wrong billing amount 4 months  separate occasions. Also I was never able to get my Apple TV subscription yes I’m complaining about that too. But worst of all is my service is such shit. Drop calls never ever had so many spam calls in my life as with this service. People telling me that they’re going to fix my phone issues, just let on to re-explain what the problem is after they finally read the months of weekly notes, I did not get the right phone on the promotion, because they were a  ordered” but the phone that I got was still a free promotion. It was not I’m paying monthly for the same exact phone I gave them. Disgusted is a very simple word, they are typical trash cell carrier of America. Boost mobile has better qualifications in these dudes

They also lied to me. I'm paying 3 phones right now. They told me  to buy one and get 2 phones free. Any advice on how to resolve this huge  issue? 

Do not trade in your phone like I did. Mine was in mint condition they approved me for $800 value but now they are charging me full price for a new one? WTF, they also threw in a google watch and said it was free but then added a line for it so Im paying $29 for the line and charged me full price for the watch? WTF so my first bill was over $400, and now Im paying $200 that's $100 more than I paid with CC. They have the stores scaming people left and right and lying to customers to get commission. Do not switch to T mobile