This happened to me. A perfectly working MBP was mailed in and they claimed it had screen issues. I made them send it back and sold it myself.
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Apple's Trade-In Partner Phobio Has Reportedly Faced an 'Alarming Uptick' in Complaints
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I'm with you. I always trade in at the Apple Store if I'm not selling or gifting to someone I know.
How does in-store trade in work if you decide to return the new device you bought? When doing it via mail, you have 14 days. I guess one could buy a new machine, when one is sure of keeping it then trade in at store and get a gift card. Then use the gift card for a future purchase.
I just did a trade in back in January, I traded in my 27in iMac back from 2014 for the new M1 mac mini and had zero issues. Within a week of mailing it I got the email saying my trade in was good to go and the iMac I sent in was pretty beat up with some cosmetic damage and screen retention to it so I was happy but I can definitely see where people could have problems but honestly it can happen with any trade in company, I had a horrible experience with Gazelle for example. I really think it all depends on the service tech who inspects the devices and how "Picky" they want to be with the device.
I’ve had this situation twice, once with Apple Watch and once with iPhone. Both times I got them back and traded in elsewhere for more $$ without issue. What a scam!
they screwed me over. I did not get $700 for my iPhone 8 Plus and it was almost a new phone already examined by ATT and found to qualify for the $700
I got so pissed off I sold the iPhone 12 Max for $900 and went to a Samsung Ultra S21 unlocked.
Probably the last iPhone I ever buy. Left a very bad experience to get over.
I got so pissed off I sold the iPhone 12 Max for $900 and went to a Samsung Ultra S21 unlocked.
Probably the last iPhone I ever buy. Left a very bad experience to get over.
How can you blame Apple for that problem? Seriously!
Could be something new for Phobio. I traded in four things end of last year, got surprisingly good amounts, and otherwise had a good experience.
Used them recently. Took 3 weeks to get my payment. Really? Why does it take 10 days to inspect an item once received, and then another 5-7 days to get your Digital gift card.
Contracting doesn't work in the business world and I wish companies would stop doing it already... It's annoying, pricey, and inefficient for everyone involved except for the middle man. Apple needs to handle their own device trade ins, not hand them off to Phobio.
Contracting doesn't work in the business world and I wish companies would stop doing it already... It's annoying, pricey, and inefficient for everyone involved except for the middle man. Apple needs to handle their own device trade ins, not hand them off to Phobio.
Apple’s customer service has gone down the toilet in the past few years. I complained about something and they didn’t even have the curtesy to reply. They have become far too arrogant and don’t care about their customers.
I haven't done a trade in + purchase on the same transaction in years, but if it works anything like it used to (I'm sure it does), the trade in value is shown as 'Store Credit' on the transaction. So if you buy an iPad for $999, trade in one worth $300 and pay $699 out of pocket, if you return the new iPad during the 14 days you would get $699 back in cash or credited to your card and the $300 would be put onto an Apple Gift Card.
Note, the cards nowadays are all-around Apple cards. When you redeem it, it credits your account and anything that Apple would bill you for (eg, iCloud Storage, monthly AppleCare plans, iTunes and App Store purchases) will be pulled from that balance instead of your credit card. Just a heads up.
I had one trade-in with Phobio about 2 years ago and it was stressful, yet successful. There was supposedly a time limit for me to get my trade in back to them which I did within the specified time limit. But Phobio "couldn't find the item" even though the tracking info gave the time/date/location where the the item was delivered. Even after the time limit had expired, they weren't very communicative with me but finally did give me the agreed upon trade in value.
My experience has been that Apple’s price (here in Europe) is crazy lowball... few months ago my 2016 loaded MBP offer was 600Eur... found an online buying firm that was the same process but gave me 1400Eur... iPhone X - Apple 60Eur, reseller 300Eur. So at least here in the Netherlands it’s crazy to trade-in with Apple.
as outlined in my post in the merged "bad phobio experience" they took my macbook air down from $420 to $170 due to screen issues. i was pretty livid and was convinced that they inspected a different machine. i had them send the machine back.
when i got the machine back, the image of the keyboard was imprinted on the screen. it wiped off easily with a microfiber cloth. upon close inspection i could see a tiny horizontal scratch where one of the keys hit the screen. IMO this is not enough to lower the quote so much.
i then took a nitecore tactical LED flashlight and illuminated the screen. to my surprise there is an image of the keyboard and trackpad cutout visible on the screen. this was not highlighted by phobio but there is clearly some damage.
however, i then did the same thing with another, newer macbook air that we have at home. i see the same exact thing. under normal usage none of these blemishes are relevant - i didn't even know they were there. i'm thinking that most all macbook airs probably have this "damage" as the keyboard probably does touch the screen when the computer is shut. so while this will give companies like phobio an out, in reality this 'damage' is completely irrelevant.
i guess i will try taking the machine to a store; i had been avoiding that due to covid but things are looking a lot better here.
when i got the machine back, the image of the keyboard was imprinted on the screen. it wiped off easily with a microfiber cloth. upon close inspection i could see a tiny horizontal scratch where one of the keys hit the screen. IMO this is not enough to lower the quote so much.
i then took a nitecore tactical LED flashlight and illuminated the screen. to my surprise there is an image of the keyboard and trackpad cutout visible on the screen. this was not highlighted by phobio but there is clearly some damage.
however, i then did the same thing with another, newer macbook air that we have at home. i see the same exact thing. under normal usage none of these blemishes are relevant - i didn't even know they were there. i'm thinking that most all macbook airs probably have this "damage" as the keyboard probably does touch the screen when the computer is shut. so while this will give companies like phobio an out, in reality this 'damage' is completely irrelevant.
i guess i will try taking the machine to a store; i had been avoiding that due to covid but things are looking a lot better here.
Had a mess with one of their previous trade in folks. Sent off the ex's phone in fine condition. They then sent back photos claiming it was damaged and showed the screen was pulled away from the body. Their policy was to not only not send it back but not give you any trade in. I sent them photos of when I'd mailed it and told them to file a case with UPS.
Still took over a month of back and forth to get it escalated and get them to pay.
Had I not taken those photos before I sent it off, we would have been out the phone and the money.
Looking into it, others have experienced the same with them. Almost feels like a scam. They're likely going to take the phone apart for parts anyways, so they bend the screen or even have the same photos of the same broken phone they send to many claiming it's broken. They said the shipping box wasn't damaged, so I don't see how in the world the phone would manage to be bent where you could see light coming through from the screen, on the side of the display. Simply not possible.
Still took over a month of back and forth to get it escalated and get them to pay.
Had I not taken those photos before I sent it off, we would have been out the phone and the money.
Looking into it, others have experienced the same with them. Almost feels like a scam. They're likely going to take the phone apart for parts anyways, so they bend the screen or even have the same photos of the same broken phone they send to many claiming it's broken. They said the shipping box wasn't damaged, so I don't see how in the world the phone would manage to be bent where you could see light coming through from the screen, on the side of the display. Simply not possible.
I was quoted $350 for a Late 2013 15" MacBook Pro, they reduced it to $120. The system was in great shape - except for the screen edge delaminating that pretty much every MBP of that era has. That's such a common issue it should have been part of the questionnaire before wasting my time and theirs. Opted to have it sent back to sell myself, $120 is a joke.
Had same issue with Phobio with a perfectly working IP7. I use Gadget Gone now, they have been excellent.