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I am considering the Note 9 trade in promo.  It specifically says that the trade in must be in "good condition".  I've read some horror stories online about how some other companies handle trade ins (although I've specifically not ever seen anything about TMo's process) so I'm wondering what is considered "good condition"?  Can a trade in be taken to a corporate store for a binding assessment of the condition?  When I've turned in JOD phones in the past, they basically had to turn on, not be cracked, have no water damage, and not be software locked.  Other than that, it was acceptable.  Is this the same?

I'd advise you not to trade in with T-Mobile. Any defect at all and they give you nothing but they still keep the phone. Better to get it unlocked and sell it on Swappa.com. At least then if there's a disagreement, you get the phone back.


This is kind of what I'm afraid of.  I heard that Samsung was doing something similar when you traded in with them directly, and the stories have made me very cautious about just sending off a phone blindly.


I'm not saying that it will necessarily turn out that way but it does often enough to make me doubly cautious. The thing that's terribly unfair, is that when they decide that they don't like something about your phone, they don't send it back, they keep it and give you nothing. You have no recourse, no appeal. What you get is entirely at their discretion. I just don't like the idea of doing business that way. At least with Swappa, you should get something and you have recourse. Just get the phone unlocked first.


You're welcome to Trade in your device at one of our T-Mobile store if you'd like to have our retail team look at it. You can also get an estimate using our Cell Phone Trade In | Trade In Your Old Phone For A New Phone | T-Mobile page before you make the trip.


“You're welcome to Trade in your device at one of our T-Mobile store if you'd like to have our retail team look at it. You can also get an estimate using our Cell Phone Trade In | Trade In Your Old Phone For A New Phone | T-Mobile page before you make the trip.”

where can I find/read the fine print regarding the ‘qualified condition” for an upgrade/trade in?