‘We have your phones’: Woman buys iPhone 16 from T-Mobile and uses UPS for trade-in. Then she gets her bill

A woman recounts a frustrating saga with T-Mobile’s trade-in promo, sparking outrage on TikTok.

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In a video with over 127,000 views, TikToker Trisha (@trisha0208) said she and her son traded their iPhone 12s for the latest device this summer. While she wasn’t in the market for a new phone, the salesperson at her local T-Mobile insisted that she take advantage of the trade-in promo.

“We had to wait for the box so we could ship the phone back [to T-Mobile],” she explained. “The worker said you could ship the box through UPS or bring them to me, and I’ll ship them.”

Wanting to play it safe, Trisha had the worker ship the devices to the warehouse for trade-in. But weeks later, she got an email prompting her to “get her trade-in value before it expires.” Trisha panicked and realized that her phones didn’t make it to the warehouse.

@trisha0208 @T-Mobile #cellphonehorrorstory #horriblecustomerservice #wherearemyphones ♬ original sound – Trisha D.

A chain of frustrating calls

She called T-Mobile’s customer support number, and the operator assured her that phones could take several weeks to arrive and be registered at the warehouse. But on the last day of the promotion, she got another email stating that her phones hadn’t been received. She called the support number again.

“The person on the phone said, ‘Oh, we have your phones actually. They’re just going through processing,’” Trisha said.

Trisha was relieved that T-Mobile received the phones. But the next day, she received the same automated email. She called support again, and they assured her her phones were being processed as they spoke.

“They said the email was just automated. Don’t worry about it,” Trisha said.

Billing issues

Trisha didn’t hear any updates for several months, and two billing periods passed without a hitch. But in September, she received a bill for almost $80 over her typical amount due. The change in billing amount was because her phones weren’t processed.

The next day, she called the store where she originally submitted the UPS box containing her phones. But they told her they couldn’t help unless she came in person.

When she arrived at the store, the manager and worker who helped her with her original trade-in called corporate to explain the situation. But corporate insisted that they didn’t have Trisha’s phones.

Trisha explained that multiple phone operators told her her phones had been received. But corporate said they didn’t know why a phone operator would tell her that.

“I know I don’t have the phones. They said, ‘There’s nothing we can do for you,’” Trisha explained.

More confusion

In a final attempt to solve the trade-in disaster, Trisha called the customer support number one more time. This time, another man confirmed they had her phones but said they hadn’t been scanned in.

The phone operator promised to email Trisha to confirm that the phones would be scanned. But she never received an email.

“I need to know that someone has physically laid their eyes on my package,” she said. After waiting six business days for an email, she called the number again. A different worker told her they didn’t have her phones—still no solution.

Viewers respond

While Trisha said she would continue to escalate the situation at T-Mobile, viewers gave her other suggestions in the comments.

“Call the police and file a report for theft; it sounds like the store employee and the manager stole your phones. I bet it gets taken care of right away,” one said.

“File a better business bureau complaint. The phone companies seem to resolve things like this when you do that. My brother had this same issue, and they fixed it,” another suggested.

“Contact your local news stations and an attorney,” a third wrote.

The Daily Dot reached out to Trisha via TikTok comment and direct message. We also contacted T-Mobile and UPS via email.

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