Does this sound familiar?
Since your MacBook isperfect, youre expectinga big payout.
You send it in to Apple (or really, the third-party company Apple contracts to handle inspections).
They take a look at it, find a few faults, and lowball you an offer.
Your dreams of getting a nice taken chunk off of your next purchase are dashed.
Thats the scenarioThe Vergetalked about this week in an expose of the companybehindApples trade-in service, Atlanta-basedPhobio.
Some peopleeven Statt himselfcant find these faults when they receive their MacBooks back after refusing the trade-in offer.
How big are these drops in value?
Hundreds of dollars, in some cases.
And thats awfully frustrating, especially if you cant actually uncover whats wrong with your system.
Dont feel obligated to say yes simply because Apple/Provio has your unit.
Say no, and youll get it shipped back to youcompletely free.
They didnt even back it in the bubble wrap envelope that you send it in.
Also I see absolutely no white spots that they claimed my screen had.
But, now had to send it in.
Got the trade in canceled with a very generic response and no explanation.
But, when I got my laptop back it was bricked.
This is not the service you expect from Apple.
That includes the boot process and the display, powered up and displayinga test pagethat shows no discernible flaws.
(To that end, capture a video of the unboxing process when you get your MacBook back.)
In other words, pretend youre selling your MacBook to someone on eBay.
If you do go with the latter route, dont admit defeat: Demand proof of the inspection.
Take your faulty MacBook into an Apple store for a second opinion.
No matter what, dont feel pressured to take a lowball offer.
