Apple Watch Trade in Fiasco

[jahall05]

I recently traded in an Apple Watch. I was quoted $160. First attempt it was rejected for “unable to delete user data” and returned to me. Spoke with a manager who restarted the process for me and I tried again. Yet again “unable to delete user data” even though both times I unpaired the watch.
This is what I’ve done:
Opened Apple Watch App…
Chose the watch and chose “unpair watch from this iPhone” and let it do its thing after entering my iCloud password. The watch returns to its “hold near an iPhone to pair” screen and I shut it off and package it. Before I sealed the box I opened my settings app on my iPhone and looked at my iCloud settings to make sure the old Apple Watch was no longer listed under my devices. It wasn’t.
I then checked the find my app. The watch is not on there. I then login into iCloud on my MacBook and check there as well and again the watch is not there.
A couple of days later I see my watch is delivered to this Phobio company. I anxiously wait for them to approve it but start checking my iCloud again. The DAMN WATCH appears in there. I quickly remove it from my iCloud hoping I caught it fast enough. But no… “unable to delete user data”
At this point I’m at a loss… what do I do? What am I doing wrong?

 

[mollyc]

In the watch app on the phone under General there is a Reset option. Have you tried that?

 

[jahall05]

In the watch app on the phone under General there is a Reset option. Have you tried that?

Yeah that is what I did the first trade in that was rejected. I want to trade in at a store but I keep getting told I cannot.
I got the watch back and then did the unpair and all of that because that’s what the instructions seemed to suggest doing. Here I am again though.

 

[robotica]

Maybe try repair it with your phone then unpair it again.

 

[jahall05]

I spoke with a manager at the web store and she said that because this has gone on for a month or so now that she has instructed them to approve the refund and trade in value. I walked her through what I did and she checked the lock status on the watch on her end and said it should not be rejected.

 

[wilberforce]

I sometimes think they use reasons like this as an excuse not to give you the online price they quoted, perhaps because there is something else undesirable about the trade-in item.

I got a trade-in quote for an old iPad that was considerably higher than I expected, so I of course sent it in after carefully erasing, unlocking and resetting it back to factory condition per Apple instructions. Well, unsurprisingly they responded by saying that it could not be unlocked and offered me a much lower value. I 100% know it was unlocked. Anyway I agreed, as the reduced value was not actually unreasonable for the old iPad. But I would have preferred they had just said that they made a mistake and could only offer the reduced value.

I realize this (not honoring a quote) would drive some people ballistic, but it does not bother me that much.

Another case was when I traded in a camera lens (which was in perfect condition) with an unexpectedly high quote. Well, they responded that could not honor the quote because the lens had "fungus." Which was complete BS, but since I understood the real reason was the original quote was a mistake, I was OK with them sending it back to me. Again, I wish they had just said they made a mistake on the quote, rather than using a BS excuse. I later traded it in through another organization (for a lower and more realistic quote) with no fungus found by their inspection.

Anbother factor to realize is that Apple subsidizes the trade-in value, effectively providing you a "repeat customer" discount incentive to upgrade. Notice how the Apple trade-in never provides you with cash, or cash equivalent. It is always credit towards a new purchase, or an Apple gift card (which is the same thing as credit to a new purchase.)

 

[jahall05]

I sometimes think they use reasons like this as an excuse not to give you the online price they quoted, perhaps because there is something else undesirable about the trade-in item.

I got a trade-in quote for an old iPad that was considerably higher than I expected, so I of course sent it in after carefully erasing, unlocking and resetting it back to factory condition per Apple instructions. Well, unsurprisingly they responded by saying that it could not be unlocked and offered me a much lower value. I 100% know it was unlocked. Anyway I agreed, as the reduced value was not actually unreasonable for the old iPad. But I would have preferred they had just said that they made a mistake and could only offer the reduced value.

I realize this (not honoring a quote) would drive some people ballistic, but it does not bother me that much.

Another case was when I traded in a camera lens (which was in perfect condition) with an unexpectedly high quote. Well, they responded that could not honor the quote because the lens had "fungus." Which was complete BS, but since I understood the real reason was the original quote was a mistake, I was OK with them sending it back to me. Again, I wish they had just said they made a mistake on the quote, rather than using a BS excuse. I later traded it in through another organization (for a lower and more realistic quote) with no fungus found by their inspection.

Anbother factor to realize is that Apple subsidizes the trade-in value, effectively providing you a "repeat customer" discount incentive to upgrade. Notice how the Apple trade-in never provides you with cash, or cash equivalent. It is always credit towards a new purchase, or an Apple gift card (which is the same thing as credit to a new purchase.)

The issue here was they quoted me $160 and then adjusted it to $0 because “user data unable to be deleted”

which is funny because it was not locked… also I wiped it before sending so there was no data to be deleted.

the manager did push the refund through as I got an email this morning it was approved and processing. Still though… what a bunch of running circles to get this done.

 

[Phobio Support]

The issue here was they quoted me $160 and then adjusted it to $0 because “user data unable to be deleted”

which is funny because it was not locked… also I wiped it before sending so there was no data to be deleted.

the manager did push the refund through as I got an email this morning it was approved and processing. Still though… what a bunch of running circles to get this done.

Hi jahall05,

Sorry to hear you had to jump through all of those hoops. That's not the experience we ever want anyone to have. It sounds like our Manager was able to help you, but if I can do anything to help, let me know. (ClarkS@phobio.com)

-Clark with Phobio Support