keep-and-switch = bait-and-switch

I have been a loyal Verizon customer for over 20 years, primarily due to their service reliability. However, during our frequent camping trips in Northern Michigan, I found that Verizon's coverage is lacking. Consequently, my wife and I began exploring alternatives and determined that T-Mobile might provide better coverage based on comparative maps.

Recently, T-Mobile has been promoting their "Get iPhone 16 Pro and enjoy Apple TV+ ON US with our Go5G Next plan." The wording implies that customers receive both an iPhone and Apple TV+ without additional costs, which I find misleading. Seeking clarity, we visited our local T-Mobile store to discuss this promotion.

Upon speaking with a representative, we learned that while we could trade in our old iPhones (we have iPhone 13 models), we would need to pay off our existing devices first (155 remaining for each). However, the only method presented to us for settling this was through the application for virtual T-Mobile cards. The representative agreed to write our applications for us.

After submitting the applications, we were informed that it would take 15 to 30 days for processing. On the 16th day, I received notification that my application was accepted, while my wife's application was declined due to unspecified missing information. When I contacted customer support, the representative was unable to clarify the nature of the missing items and mistakenly mixed up our accounts multiple times.

After a frustrating exchange, the support representative suggested that he would provide a link to my wife's card by the following Thursday. He claimed from his end hers was accepted also.  Concerned about this process, I visited the T-Mobile store again for assistance with both the application and a separate issue with FaceTime, which had stopped working. 

During this visit, I learned that the support representative was likely creating a link for my wife to reapply. I found numerous online reports about the "Keep-and-Switch" rebate, indicating that many customers experienced lengthy delays and difficulties, often resulting in abandonment of their claims.

It is noteworthy that T-Mobile switched our phones to their network by replacing our SIM cards. A review of the steps for their rebate application revealed that the process appears intentionally convoluted, leading to frequent failures.  If that tech provides me with a link to resubmit my wife's application after it was filled out by someone who new what they were doing.  We are going to have a problem.  In fact, if I still have access to my Verizon account, I will report on their site that people should not fall for this shady T-mobile deal and stick with Verizon.

Given these experiences, I am compelled to consider escalating this issue to the Better Business Bureau due to what I perceive as deceptive practices.