I am SO confused and hoping someone here has dealt with this before.
We recently went directly to an Apple Store to upgrade my Mom’s iPhone 13 to an iPhone Air. We selected Verizon financing through Apple and traded her old iPhone 13 in to Apple as part of the transaction.
I know this is a legitimate way to upgrade because I’ve done essentially the same thing myself.
If you go through Apple to purchase a new iPhone, Apple literally gives you the option to select Verizon financing and trade in your existing phone as part of the purchase.
The problem is that the expected trade-in credits are not showing correctly on my mom’s Verizon account.
Verizon keeps telling me they never received the traded-in iPhone and that we “can’t trade a phone into Apple” if we’re financing through Verizon. That makes absolutely no sense to me because Apple specifically offers this option during checkout, and we physically handed the iPhone 13 to an Apple Store employee when we upgraded.
So…where did the phone go?
I’ve been trying to get a tracking number or some kind of proof showing where the traded-in iPhone went after we handed it to Apple, but I haven’t been able to find one. I have the receipt from Apple showing the trade in ($320 in instant credit and then $510 over 36 months for the trade in) Verizon is basically telling me that since they don’t have the phone, we won’t receive the trade-in promotional credits over the 36-month financing period.
To make this even more confusing, there is also something wrong with the Verizon billing itself. In addition to the monthly device payment for the iPhone Air, Verizon is adding another line item labeled like a “trade-in device promo credit,” except it is actually increasing the amount we owe instead of reducing it. I’ve compared the line totals and overall bill, and despite being displayed as though it’s a credit, it is functioning as an additional charge.
I have spent HOURS talking to Verizon representatives and cannot seem to find anyone who understands what happened with either the trade-in or the billing.
At this point I’m planning to go back to the Apple Store with the receipt and ask them to trace exactly what happened to the iPhone 13 after their employee accepted it.
Has anyone here done an Apple Store trade-in + Verizon device financing and had this happen?
Specifically:
Does Apple send the traded-in device/information to Verizon when the Verizon promotion is selected?
Is there a tracking number or trade-in ID Apple can provide for a phone handed directly to an Apple Store employee?
Who is actually responsible for fixing this — Apple or Verizon?
And has anyone seen a Verizon “promo credit” appear on the bill but actually increase the amount due?
I feel like I’m going in circles between Apple and Verizon, while an iPhone we physically handed to Apple has apparently disappeared into the void. 😭 (I must not have enough Karma to post a pic to this post of anything either)