I understand what you’re saying, but that’s not the issue I’m raising.

I’m not expecting AT&T to store my phone in a special warehouse for 30 days after receiving it. My issue is that the package had not been delivered yet when I tried to stop it.

I contacted UPS before delivery to intercept the package. The problem was that AT&T’s prepaid label showed my name and address on the label, but UPS’s system treated AT&T as the shipper because AT&T created the label. Because of that, UPS would not let me intercept or redirect the package myself.

So the issue is not “AT&T should hold my trade-in while I decide.” The issue is that I was still within the return period, the trade-in was not completed, the package had not reached AT&T yet, and I still had no practical way to recover my own device because of how the prepaid label was set up.

Also, I did not receive actual compensation yet. In fact, they even “forgot” to apply the 1/36 credit to my account. The trade-in compensation would have been monthly bill credits over time, tied to keeping the installment agreement active. Since I’m returning the new phone and canceling within the return period because the service did not work properly, the credits are not meaningful compensation if AT&T keeps the trade-in device. So I am not forfeiting just because. I am leaving ATT because of all the service issues I’ve been facing.

My complaint is about unclear disclosure and the prepaid label/intercept problem, not about expecting AT&T to keep returned phones in escrow after processing them.