Beware short time limit for Apple Trade In 11 February at 6:21PM in Praise, vent & warnings 8 replies 290 views

SashikoStitcher

Just a quick cautionary tale. Apple offer a trade-in if you buy direct from them. You pay in full for the new phone and you tick a box to say that you want to trade in your old one. You give details and they give you a value, which they say they will honour, as long as the phone is indeed in the condition you described (mine was £95). 

Crucially, they say that they will credit this amount back to the payment method you used for the new phone. 

A pack arrives in the post. You also get an email saying that the VALUE is not guaranteed unless you return within 14 days. 

I ordered mine close to Christmas and didn’t get round to sending it back within 14 days. Never mind, I thought, I’ll just have to risk that they might value it lower.

However I have now been told that the right to trade it in for credit was completely lost after 14 days.  I can still send it in, but all they will give me is a gift card against future purchases. That’s annoying as I have no plan to buy anything new from Apple for many years. What I wanted was for the price of the phone I just bought to be reduced by the value of the trade in. 

I do not think that this is made clear at all in any of their material, legal Ts&Cs, FAQ, email confirmations etc. The customer service person can’t get his head round the fact that saying the value guarantee is lost after 14 days is not the same as saying “sorry, you’ll only get a gift card after 14 days”, so I’ve hit a brick wall. No point pursuing it, as they were already being generous offering a trade-in at all. 

So my warning is this- make sure you send it back within 14 days if you want to take advantage! 

goater78

I’ve done the part exchange and thought it was a great service. The timeframe was well advertised when I did it online and 14 days is I think reasonable as they do provide all the packaging you need and it’s very low hassle to send it back. In addition you can log in and extend it by another 7 days if you can’t return in 14 days. 

Still sorry to hear that you have had this problem. Maybe treat yourself to something a bit extravagant like Apple Music for 9 months or Apple TV for a year. 

sheramber

So you thought that because you were out with the 14 days you would get a reduced trade in price.

but it doesn't state that anywhere.

You are lucky to get a goodwill offer of a gift card.

Sell it on Ebay

SashikoStitcher

What do you mean “but it doesn’t state that anywhere?” It was stated in an email that I received. 

The gift card isn’t a goodwill offer, it’s standard for any standalone trade-in (ie one not set up while you are making a purchase). 

sheramber

SashikoStitcher said:

What do you mean “but it doesn’t state that anywhere?” It was stated in an email that I received. 

The gift card isn’t a goodwill offer, it’s standard for any standalone trade-in (ie one not set up while you are making a purchase). 

You also get an email saying that the VALUE is not guaranteed unless you return within 14 days. 

Where does it say but we will give you a lower  offer if you return it after 14 days.?

If a gift card is standard out with the offer then they have given you what you are entitled to.

SashikoStitcher

You’re not understanding me. Let me explain again. 

Trade in as part of a purchase- you buy the new phone first, tick the “I have a trade-in“ option and then send the old one to them. They credit the value of the old phone against what you paid for the new phone  by refunding it to the same payment method. 

Stand alone trade in - you send your old phone back to Apple before buying a new one. You get a gift card that you can use against future purchases. 

goater78

sheramber said:

So you thought that because you were out with the 14 days you would get a reduced trade in price.

but it doesn't state that anywhere.

You are lucky to get a goodwill offer of a gift card.

Sell it on Ebay

I think you may have misunderstood how this works. The gift card is not a goodwill offer. It is in the terms of the trade in scheme that you will receive a gift card. The value though may be less than originally stated if the trade in was received after 14 days. 

sheramber

SashikoStitcher said:

You’re not understanding me. Let me explain again. 

Trade in as part of a purchase- you buy the new phone first, tick the “I have a trade-in“ option and then send the old one to them. They credit the value of the old phone against what you paid for the new phone  by refunding it to the same payment method. 

Stand alone trade in - you send your old phone back to Apple before buying a new one. You get a gift card that you can use against future purchases. 

As above, nowhere does it say you will get a lesser value if you trade in after 14 days.

That trade in offer is only valid for14 days..

You were out with the trade in offer period so default4d to normal trade in terms of a gift card.

MattMattMattUK

You did not comply with the terms of the Trade-In scheme therefor you do not get the money paid into your account as per the trade in scheme, hardly suprising.

Two weeks is hardly a "short time limit" either.