What to do?? Extra phone delivered...

[RugerN]

Long story short...I preordered a 32gb iPhone 5 from AT&T on the 14th. On the 21st, the local AT&T store had plenty in stock, so I went to pick one up. After much rigamarole, they managed to talk to someone who was able to cancel the preorder (took two hours because they were saying they wouldn't cancel preorders). So I walked out with my new phone and an email stating the preorder was cancelled.

A week later, when I get home from work, my preordered iPhone is at my house. In my inbox, I have a shipping notification email immediately followed by another cancellation email. I was charged, and paid for the phone with my debit card which was my original method of payment when I preordered. It was automatically deducted from my account.

My question is, can I do what I want with this phone? My son, who's upgrade date is six months away, is anxious for me to give it to him. Someone else is anxious for me to sell it to her. Would there be any issues with someone else taking this phone?

 

[kch50428]

If you legitimately paid for two phones, do as you wish with the extra. If you only paid for one, keeping the second is theft.

 

[RealNeal]

Well, you paid for it, right? So I guess its yours to deal with however you like.

 

[RugerN]

Yep. I paid for the one I use when I bought it in the store and paid for the one they delivered when they automatically deducted it from my account.

 

[kch50428]

Then do as you wish with the second phone.

 

[ibanana]

This happened to me sort of. They canceled my preorder somehow, so I bought my phone at Apple on release day. My canceled order showed up at AT&T and it was paid for, so I took it home. 2 phones on 1 upgrade they couldnt figure it out, but because my account was already charged the $200 they gave it to me. I sold it that night on eBay...

 

[RugerN]

Thanks! I'm thinking son may be out of luck until his upgrade date. Selling it seems to be the best option right now.

 

[ghostface147]

You paid for it, do what you want. As for your son, you can upgrade his phone at anytime...not just when the upgrade date is due.

 

[cardfan]

Except he didn't really fully pay for the second one. 199 isn't the cost. He should only get one phone at subsidized cost.

 

[ibanana]

Except he didn't really fully pay for the second one. 199 isn't the cost. He should only get one phone at subsidized cost.

But if the error was on the end of the provider he should'nt be penalized for it. Same thing happened to me and AT&T manager said its not your fault and you paid for it, so here is your phone.

 

[anon(4698833)]

I would say don't worry about it, sell it or do whatever you want with it, but i remember last year reading a thread about a similar situation, and when AT&T caught it, the person saw the remainder of an out of contract purchase price charged to his account a few weeks later.

Will they catch it? Maybe not...but if they do, expect them to get their money back.

 

[Peligro911]

Make sure you sell it for at least full contract price so if they do try to make you pay rest it won't be out of your pocket

 

[Ginbill]

I would sell it especially if you did pay for it fair and square.

 

[scorpiodsu]

If you for both of them for discounted prices expect AT&T to catch the error when you least expect it and charge you for the full price. Especially after the phone has been activated. You can do what you like but just expect AT&T to catch the error at some point. And if they don't then lucky you .

 

[ibanana]

If you for both of them for discounted prices expect AT&T to catch the error when you least expect it and charge you for the full price. Especially after the phone has been activated. You can do what you like but just expect AT&T to catch the error at some point. And if they don't then lucky you .

I made sure that everything was covered. Where my part is different I actually bought one at apple and the other at AT&T. They were showing that the upgrade was only ever used once and that was on my phone from them. I made sure that because the error was on their part I would not have any issues if the did try to charge me for the extra. Its all in writing as well. I made sure of that.

 

[Peligro911]

I made sure that everything was covered. Where my part is different I actually bought one at apple and the other at AT&T. They were showing that the upgrade was only ever used once and that was on my phone from them. I made sure that because the error was on their part I would not have any issues if the did try to charge me for the extra. Its all in writing as well. I made sure of that.

Your in the clear then sell sell sell

 

[ibanana]

Your in the clear then sell sell sell

Sold for $800

 

[scorpiodsu]

I made sure that everything was covered. Where my part is different I actually bought one at apple and the other at AT&T. They were showing that the upgrade was only ever used once and that was on my phone from them. I made sure that because the error was on their part I would not have any issues if the did try to charge me for the extra. Its all in writing as well. I made sure of that.

I hope everything stays good. Yes they show 1 upgrade now but that's exactly why I said they MAY catch it later. And even if its their fault, that may not hold up. It's like a bank depositing $1,000,000 into your account and you knew it wasn't yours but spent the money. You'd have to pay it back even though they made an error. Having said that, I hope it doesn't happen to you and you keep your profit.

 

[CandyBean]

How much did you pay for the phones? Did you pay the full price or contract price??

 

[Rocket_Girl]

Purchase price may not catch up with you, but contract could. If you purchased a phone on contract pricing, you may see the service show up on your bill. And if you try to close contract without returning the associated device, you will get hit with ETF's.

I learned this because I had a pre-order phone and a launch-day phone, one from Apple and one from carrier. turned out that carrier phone was jacked, so when Apple phone arrived, I figured it would be easy to return the bad one, keep the second one, all on my existing line. One contract, one subsidized phone, no problem, right?

Wrong. There was still a line, with 2 year contract, attached to EACH phone. If they had been purchased through same vendor, it's easy. This way, it was impossible.

Be prepared to see ETF at some point: they may lose track of the phone, but the service line is there, with contract, and they will likely track thaat down one day. Now, your $800 sale more than covers what you paid for the phone + ETF, so you could still come out ahead as long as they don't bill you the full price for the phone. And if they bill you full price for the phone, well, they can't also justify an ETF, right? so worst case, you more or less break even.. . .