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iPhone XS Trade In Gone Bad

LarryJoe33

LarryJoe33

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
2,669
1,140
Boston
My son exercised the annual upgrade program and ordered the 11 Pro for in-store pick up in NYC. This was shortly after the release. He isn't the most well versed on trade-ins and iPhone purchases. As many have noted, the process at many Apple Stores shortly after release was a ****-show. He said he had to wait a ton of time.

Long story short, he have his XS back to the genius but the genius was so busy he took the phone and didn't process the trade-in in front of him. I wasn't there, but I told my son this was a big mistake. He called the store after wen he didn't get any emails acknowledging the trade in like we all do. They said it was "all set".

Today, almost a month later, he got this email. This is going to be messy I think. How do we go about disputing this and proving the sequence of events? He does not have the phone. The quality of Apple Store service has gone so far downhill.

InkedTrade in email_LI.jpg
 
Remington Steel said:
If he knows the date, they should be able to pull up the transaction at the store.
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If there was a transaction. I pre-ordered my iPhone 11 Pro Max and indicated I would be trading in my iPhone X. Afterwards I decided not to trade in my phone and give it to my son instead. When I told the Apple store employee this on the day I picked up the phone she said "Ok...that's fine". I was fully expecting to pay the difference out of pocket right then but when I asked the employee said "the system didn't ask for anything". Strange response, but I let it go. I got the same email as the OP a few days ago. So until that point, Apple's system was under the impression that I had given them my phone in trade. This seems like a crap way of doing things to me.
 
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TopherMan12 said:
If there was a transaction. I pre-ordered my iPhone 11 Pro Max and indicated I would be trading in my iPhone X. Afterwards I decided not to trade in my phone and give it to my son instead. When I told the Apple store employee this on the day I picked up the phone she said "Ok...that's fine". I was fully expecting to pay the difference out of pocket right then but when I asked the employee said "the system didn't ask for anything". Strange response, but I let it go. I got the same email as the OP a few days ago. So until that point, Apple's system was under the impression that I had given them my phone in trade. This seems like a crap way of doing things to me.
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Exactly, except he gave his phone to the store employee except the employee didn’t do his job, hence no receipt or phone.
 
But he got a new phone, right? And he paid the price of the new phone minus the trade-in credit. That should all show on your in-store receipt.
 
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chabig said:
But he got a new phone, right? And he paid the price of the new phone minus the trade-in credit. That should all show on your in-store receipt.
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No it doesn’t work like that. The new phone is a new purchase with a new loan for the full price. The trade in is a separate transaction that pays off the old loan. This is why you can keep the old phone if you want and keep the loan like the poster a few posts up.
 
Oh, right. I've been on the IUP plan for a few years. I should have known.
 
Does he have a receipt? It probably has an employee number. That employee might remember. Also, you might talk to Apple Support and explain the situation. They might be able to locate the phone by serial number if it's in their system somewhere.
 
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I'd go to the store; the receipt for new phone shows date and time of the transaction, and possibly it shows the associate who helped. Talk to the manager. Maybe they can pull video footage showing your son gave the old iPhone to the genius.

Good luck!
 
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Yeah, I lost a lot of money last moth (~$4k which is huge money in my country) and now I know all the tricks. Although my case was with one-to–one trade I am going to have long run in the court...

Best of luck! F$@%!$% dishonest people.
 
chabig said:
Does he have a receipt? It probably has an employee number. That employee might remember. Also, you might talk to Apple Support and explain the situation. They might be able to locate the phone by serial number if it's in their system somewhere.
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roguester said:
How about matching the old phone serial number to something in their system.
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If they can pull up the serial number it more than likely is still “tied” to his son then how can he prove that he actually gave it to the store associate if there is no paper trail? He and the store manager needs to get ahold of the associate.
 
Sorry this happened. If you don't get anywhere with the store, you can always try emailing Tim Cook/Executive Relations (tcook@apple.com).

This is why I don't trust ANYONE in my family to do anything trade in related. I handle all this stuff myself.
 
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Definitely get involved as the dad when you talk to the manager. They may not take him serious.

I have two older sons, kids, he didn’t know any better.

Yeah I traded 2 old phones in this year.
Apple scans the trade in IEM’s and supposed to bring load white AppleCard’s you leave the store with.

Hope it works out keep us posted.

Added: Wonder if there’s a way to trace the IEM? If the power still on the phone maybe can you login iCloud and ping it? Show location?
 
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LarryJoe33 said:
Great ideas. Some sort of audit trail. Thanks.
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Ewww, and sympathies for sure. Question: does anything come up if you run "find my [iphone]"? It's probably been turned off or the battery has died, but it's worth a shot.
[automerge]1572448403[/automerge]
chabig said:
Apple will track the reprocessing of the phone by its serial number. If it's in their system, it will prove that they are in possession.
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I like this suggestion, too.
 
I know this type of shenanigans happens at T-Mobile and co but at an Apple store? Wow I’m throwing my wishes at you guys since this happened to me with t mobile trade in, they somehow lost 3 iPhones I trade in within their warehouse, had to escalate short of small claims court to get that resolved.
 
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