Phone Restocking Fees: What Every Carrier Charges to Return a Phone

Restocking fees and return windows by carrier

Verizon: the longest window, a flat $50

Verizon gives you 30 days from purchase or delivery to return or exchange a phone, the longest of any carrier. The fee is $50 plus tax on any phone return or exchange, except in Hawaii. Accessories have no fee. You get one exchange. If you bought from an authorized retailer rather than a Verizon-owned store, that store's own policy applies, so check your receipt.

AT&T: 14 days, up to $55

AT&T gives you 14 days from purchase, or from shipping for online orders. The fee is up to $55, except in Hawaii, and there's no fee on an Apple device you return unopened. Accessories priced $100 or more carry a 10% fee. Like Verizon, AT&T allows one exchange in the window.

T-Mobile: the highest fee, tiered by price

T-Mobile raised its fees by $5 in March 2026, and they're now the highest of the big three: $75 for a phone with a full retail price of $600 or more, $50 for $300 to $599, and $25 under $300. The tier is based on the phone's full price, not what you paid, so a $0-down iPhone on a payment plan still costs $75 to return.

The window depends on how you bought it: 14 days from purchase in a T-Mobile store, or 20 days from the shipping date for online and phone orders. Refunds also take off any rebates you received and shipping costs. T-Mobile-branded stores run by authorized dealers, which includes many Metro by T-Mobile stores, follow the dealer's own policy.

Cable carriers: Xfinity and Spectrum

Xfinity Mobile gives you 14 days from shipping or in-store purchase, with a $35 fee on most phone returns and exchanges. You get one exchange, and the 14 days don't restart after it. Accessories can go back within 30 days.

Spectrum Mobile also gives you 14 days, from purchase in a store or from the shipping date for online orders, and charges $50 (no fee for store purchases in Hawaii, and none on accessories). Store purchases must go back to a Spectrum store; shipped phones must go back by mail, and Spectrum has to receive them within 10 days of approving the return.

Prepaid carriers: shorter windows, smaller fees

• US Mobile: 14 days from delivery, a flat $50 on all phone returns, with a free return label.
• Visible: 14 days from purchase, whether you paid in full or used Affirm. Visible doesn't list a restocking fee.
• Mint Mobile: 7 days from delivery to request a return, then 15 days to ship it. There's no listed fee, but Mint can refuse or charge for a phone that isn't like new, and it counts more than 25 minutes of talk time as used.
• Cricket Wireless: 7 days, with a return fee of up to $25. In-store purchases go back to the same store.
• Boost Mobile: 30 days from shipping for online orders, or from activation for store purchases. Restocking fees of up to $50 a device may apply, except under Boost's 30-day money-back guarantee for new customers.
• Metro by T-Mobile: 14 days from purchase and activation in a store, or from delivery for online orders. Metro doesn't list a restocking fee, but accessories bought online are final sale, and prepaid service charges aren't refunded.
• Google Fi: phones bought from the Google Store can go back within 15 days of delivery. Google doesn't list a restocking fee for unused phones in like-new condition.
• Straight Talk: 30 days from delivery for phones bought on straighttalk.com, with no restocking fee listed, but you pay return shipping. Straight Talk phones bought at Walmart follow Walmart's 14-day rule.
• Tello: 30 days, with no extra charges, and Tello supplies the return label. The phone must be factory reset with your accounts removed.

Best Buy and Apple

Best Buy gives everyone 14 days on phones, cellular tablets and watches, or 30 days for Verizon devices, even with a paid membership. It charges a $45 fee on opened activatable devices, but not on prepaid phones, unopened boxes, or in states that restrict the fee. Best Buy's holiday return extension doesn't cover phones.

Apple charges no restocking fee and gives 14 days, including for phones activated on a carrier. If you're not sure about a phone, Apple is the cheapest place to buy it.

When you won't pay the fee

• The phone is defective. A phone that fails on its own is a warranty case, not a change of mind. Ask for the fee to be waived, and get it noted on your account.
• You haven't opened it. AT&T (on Apple devices) and Best Buy skip the fee on sealed boxes.
• You live in Hawaii, or in another state that restricts restocking fees. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Spectrum all carve out Hawaii.
• You ask. T-Mobile's policy says you may be required to pay, not that you will. Store staff sometimes waive it, especially if you're staying with the carrier and swapping models.

What else a return costs you

• Bill credits stop. Deal credits are paid monthly on the phone, so they end when the phone goes back.
• Trade-ins can be clawed back. If you already sent in your old phone for a promotion, ask how its value is handled before you return the new one.
• Returning the phone doesn't cancel the line. Cancel service separately, inside the same window, to avoid early fees. Verizon and T-Mobile both say this outright.
• Activation fees usually aren't refunded.

How to avoid a restocking fee

• Try before you open. Check size and color in a store first; most fees only apply once the box is open.
• Buy unlocked from Apple for iPhones: no fee and 14 days.
• If you're unsure, buy from Verizon: 30 days to decide, more than any other carrier.
• Set a reminder for the return deadline the day the phone arrives. Windows are counted in calendar days from purchase or shipping, not from when you opened it.