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Amazon trade-in is completely worthless

A

AppleFan360

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 26, 2008
2,217
735
So, I send my iPhone 3GS to Amazon for trade in to get a $200 Amazon gift card.

I followed the instructions carefully. Wiped everything from the phone and removed the SIM card. It has iOS 5 so when it's powered on it gives you the activiation screens. Packaged it up and sent it off to Amazon via UPS ground. Took a week to get there.

A few days after they received the iPhone they posted this to my account:

iPhone: Unacceptable
Reason: Data could not be reset

What a crock! Apparently the iOS 5 startup screen confused them or something so it was rejected. So now it's going to take another 1-2 weeks to get it back.

What a complete waste of time. Never again will I send a phone to Amazon for trade-in.
 
Oh my GOSH!!! I just discovered yesterday my iPhone 4 was sent back to me last week because it was not in the condition I stated (like new, or whatever the equivalent of that is). They claim it is "acceptable", which is the lowest they take...they didn't even consider it "good". I was SO upset. They claim there are scratches on the screen and/or dead pixels. The phone is due to arrive back to me today and I am beside myself with waiting because I KNOW that screen is in perfect condition.

I know how well I take care of my electronics and I've always sold my phones like new on ebay with not a single complaint. I even sent it back in the original box WITH the original accessories still in their plastic wrap stuff.

I'm actually concerned I'm going to get a phone back that's not in the condition I sent it to them in.

So like you, I'm really upset with Amazon. I sent mine in on the last possible day for them to honor the higher value ($300). How convenient that now its trade in value is only $240 or so. I plan to video the opening of the package coming back from Amazon, and taking pictures. I'm disputing it. I know it's not going to get me the trade, but I'm VERY angry about it. I know there is nothing wrong with the phone I sent them.
 
It sent in my old iPad and my iPhone 4. Both were accepted very quickly. Worked out great. I was granted credit right away.

I did the same as you. Reset the phone and removed the Sim so that it came up to the activation screen. No problem at all.
 
Amazon is not who you should be angry at. It is a 3rd party company who works with Amazon to do the trade ins. The 3rd party company takes the product and then resells it to companies that sell refurbished iPhones.

If the company is trying to be greedy then it is an issue that should be brought up with Amazon because there is a good chance that Amazon might not know that this is happening to so many people.

You should make a point to take pictures of your phones when you get them back and then notify Amazon directly of what has happened to you.
 
Something similar happened to me. But in my case they said I sent in the wrong color iPhone 3GS, which of course was not true. Coincidentally, they currently quote $30 less for this device than when I got the quote before sending it in! At least, they are only 1 state over, so delivery time in both directions was fast.

Unfortunately, they neglected to return the charger & USB cable, which I had included! So far, it's been about 17 hours since I emailed them about this without a response, despite the fact they say they respond within 12 hours.
 
Small White Car said:
Greedy? What do they gain from sending him the phone back?
Click to expand...

I am not sure their motive. I just said greedy as one possibility and was more towards the case of them marking an unblemished iphone 4 as lowest in quality. Therefore they pay him the lowest amount and then sell it as refurbished at a much higher amount.
 
They are greedy because they (IMO) didn't want to honor the higher $300 trade in value so claimed an issue where there is none. If I still wanted to trade with them I would have to haggle with them and then send it back in, and my guess is they would offer the current going rate at that point so I would be offered less than what my phone was valued at when I originally tried to trade it in.

To the poster that pointed out it isn't Amazon, but rather a third party company, thank you. I didn't realize/look at it like that. I'll definitely be figuring out my next steps after opening the box I get back today. Until I see with my own two eyes it was not damaged in transit and that I get everything back, and it is indeed in the impeccable condition I know I sent it in, I don't have much to go to them with.

ETA: To be clear, if they do not feel the merchandise is in the condition you state it is when you send it, they automatically send it back. They don't just downgrade it and pay what they want.
 
macguy360 said:
Therefore they pay him the lowest amount and then sell it as refurbished at a much higher amount.
Click to expand...

Would that be like every business in the world? Have you heard the word "profit"?

You trade in your car - they give you $4000 for it against the new car. Next week you see your old car on the lot with a bit of tyre shine on it and $6999 on the screen. Is that also greed? :rolleyes:
 
HellDiverUK said:
Would that be like every business in the world? Have you heard the word "profit"?

You trade in your car - they give you $4000 for it against the new car. Next week you see your old car on the lot with a bit of tyre shine on it and $6999 on the screen. Is that also greed? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

This isn't a fair comparison. Everything to do with used cars automatically equals greed.
 
HellDiverUK said:
Would that be like every business in the world? Have you heard the word "profit"?

You trade in your car - they give you $4000 for it against the new car. Next week you see your old car on the lot with a bit of tyre shine on it and $6999 on the screen. Is that also greed? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


Really? Is this what macrumors forums have fallen to. petty comments being made over people trying to provide helpful advice. Look, your not saying anything new. Your comment was completely useless since you arent providing any advice but are just trying to make me look bad for trying to help someone out.

I was giving advice to one of the posters to contact Amazon directly about the issue. If they offer 3 different price points for items but are giving you the lowest price even though the item is clearly higher in quality enough to be trade as like new, then the person should contact Amazon about the problem.

Obviously used car dealers are in the business to get as much profit as they can and yes that is greed. It is the same reason the company CarMax became such a popular company for showing their prices up front.
 
French said:
ETA: To be clear, if they do not feel the merchandise is in the condition you state it is when you send it, they automatically send it back. They don't just downgrade it and pay what they want.
Click to expand...


That's an option that I have always selected. I let them downgrade if they want to. They never have. :)
 
macguy360 said:
Really? Is this what macrumors forums have fallen to. petty comments being made over people trying to provide helpful advice. Look, your not saying anything new. Your comment was completely useless since you arent providing any advice but are just trying to make me look bad for trying to help someone out.

I was giving advice to one of the posters to contact Amazon directly about the issue. If they offer 3 different price points for items but are giving you the lowest price even though the item is clearly higher in quality enough to be trade as like new, then the person should contact Amazon about the problem.

Obviously used car dealers are in the business to get as much profit as they can and yes that is greed. It is the same reason the company CarMax became such a popular company for showing their prices up front.
Click to expand...

If his comment is useless, your comment addressing his, is also useless.
 
French said:
They are greedy because they (IMO) didn't want to honor the higher $300 trade in value so claimed an issue where there is none. If I still wanted to trade with them I would have to haggle with them and then send it back in, and my guess is they would offer the current going rate at that point so I would be offered less than what my phone was valued at when I originally tried to trade it in.

To the poster that pointed out it isn't Amazon, but rather a third party company, thank you. I didn't realize/look at it like that. I'll definitely be figuring out my next steps after opening the box I get back today. Until I see with my own two eyes it was not damaged in transit and that I get everything back, and it is indeed in the impeccable condition I know I sent it in, I don't have much to go to them with.

ETA: To be clear, if they do not feel the merchandise is in the condition you state it is when you send it, they automatically send it back. They don't just downgrade it and pay what they want.
Click to expand...

Your welcome. The thing is, Amazon is all about customer service. If Amazon is working with a 3rd party to provide a service such as this and the 3rd party is treating customers badly in repeated instances, then Amazon will drop them and go with another company. Amazon strives to provide the highest quality in online sales. That is why they are one of the number online retailers.
 
Am I the only one who got a good deal with amazon trade-in? I basically sold my iPhone 4 for $375, I stated the condition was like new even though there were a few scratches on the metal band and a couple chips on the bezel. I was expecting them to lower me to acceptable but they paid me the like new price :eek:. (guess my standards are a bit high:eek:) In fact I even included a non working wall charger and fake sync cable bought for $1. I was really surprised when they didn't lower me to acceptable since that was what I was expecting. :cool: Maybe they let me slide because I also sent them the $5 ebay bumper that I used on my phone lol.
 
Dangerous Theory said:
Expand on this claim, logically.
Click to expand...

Some people come on these forums just to grief others and provide no useful help. They find a single thing that you say in a post and point it out and then find some kind reason to make you sound stupid so as to make themselves look smarter than the person they are griefing. It is rather juvenile and just makes these forums frustrating. I am getting to the point to where I will probably just stop using the forums.
 
macguy360 said:
Some people come on these forums just to grief others and provide no useful help. They find a single thing that you say in a post and point it out and then find some kind reason to make you sound stupid so as to make themselves look smarter than the person they are griefing. It is rather juvenile and just makes these forums frustrating. I am getting to the point to where I will probably just stop using the forums.
Click to expand...

Please, this forum is full of kids. Very few even put the effort into typing correctly. Tons of "pot and kettle" nonsense here too. I tell you what, come join this forum - http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/, and see how long you last. We get rid of the stupid real quick there. The terribly thin skin around here just proves my point.

I fail to see how things like pointing out someones total lack of sentence structure, spelling, grammar, is juvenile. I just found it ironic that someone would claim "useless post" and back it up with something also useless.

On topic though, that kinda sucks o.p.. You could try selling it somewhere else. I'm sure you could get a nice penny for it.
 
Last edited:
M87 said:
I always use gazelle for trading in. They're great.
Click to expand...

gazelle gave me a great deal on my iPad 1, gave me $600 for my 64 gb 3g+ wifi. A few days after, you could buy new units for less....lol :cool: This time around though, amazon and ebay have been offering more than gazelle.
 
By the way, to the OP...my phone had iOS5 loaded on it when I submitted it and not a word was said about that being an issue.
 
I sent in my iPhone 4 and was quickly given my gift card.

I sent in a DS and said it was "good" condition and they upgraded it to like new and gave me MORE money! Yay
 
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